Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider:
After the B12 tourney, I felt E8 was the floor with a finals appearance as the ceiling. Before the B12 tourney, S16 was where I felt the floor lay, with a ceiling of E8.
Yep. At times I cringed at Bill Self putting the pedal to the metal in the B12 tourney, iirc Mason got banged up against Slaps Virginia one year and never looked 100% in the NCAA Tourney. This year I had bad feeling about our matchup against TCU in the second round (they reminded me of that nightmare athletic #7 seed who turned it on and sent us home early on the first weekend). I remember checking my phone during my plan and being stunned at the score, and once I saw Remy turn it on against Tech (and Bill trusting him enough to put him in). Seeing Remy help guide us to two dominant wins over teams we struggled with in the season made me think that with this field "if Remy is 100%, why not us?"
I think a huge factor compared to last year was the transformation of Ochai. Watching every game we were well aware of his weaknesses compared to national broadcasters looking at a statsheet, but his three point stroke, combined with him not disappearing in huge matches was huge. Comparing his performance vs USC last year to the matchup against North Carolina is stark. In both, he was against great defenders and huge size inside, but despite him having the yips at the line against UNC, he refused to disappear as he did in the past and still tried to create his shot. Yes, it resulted in him missing a contested layup down the stretch, but it also resulted in that massive, momentum swinging and-1 that led to that 9 point, 1 minute stretch to take a 6 point lead against Carolina. Ochai's emergence ensured that we had 6 players who could put up double digits at any time.
Add in the fact that we had so many players who had been with the program for multiple years, players who had a local connection (Ochai, Braun, Lightfoot and even Harris - because apparently Mizzou was too flush with point guards to recruit him, or something). It's also sweet thinking back on McCormack and Remy's redemptions, and Wilson being the unsung hero throughout the tourney. It was fitting that the comeback against UNC couldn't be attributed to one person, but a total team effort to come back at the biggest stage.
This is such a great year to look back on, and it's only felt all the more special as I've had time to fully appreciate it. [Reply]
“New NIL rules have allowed Kansas to be the first college basketball team to make money off its national title run”
this is like a marijuana grower getting hired by a LA startup company while simultaneously facing charges for growing weed before he was allowed to. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
I looked him up after I posted that and his Wikipedia page said he signed with a team in Colombia last year. Looks like it is one in Mexico now.
Originally Posted by SithCeNtZ:
And to another point, people also judge last year's team way too much off of the last game. Yes, it sucks that we lost big, but it also sucks we were matched up with a future 10 time NBA All Star inside who we would have no answer for. If Drake would have beat them and we beat Drake, then the narrative is completely different this year. In some ways we were the complete opposite of UCLA, who went on a miracle run to the final four and were a trendy pick to win it all pre season and ended as a 4 seed. If UCLA loses to Michigan state in overtime in the first round, they would have never been picked that high and a 4 seed was fine. But because some things went their way, now this year is more of a disappointment.
In retrospect, the first round game last year was more indicative of this year's team. A midmajor team with a stretch 5 bombing threes, everything looks bleak, and yet we found a way to win after a career game on their end. That type of resilience was evident in the Creighton win especially, but we didn't just develop it this year, we were just too focused on the USC game to notice.
Huh, I had to go back and look at that game. I had forgotten how hot Eastern Washington was, especially from 3.
Originally Posted by smithandrew051:
Born in 1989, so I limit this to just my lifetime
1. Nick Collison
2. Frank Mason
3. Paul Pierce
4. Jacque Vaughn
5. Mario Chalmers
I limit mine to who I really watched. Didn't really start watching until Roy and didn't start following carefully game by game until I went there for school (96/97). [Reply]
