Was It the Refs? Connecticut 73, #7 West Virginia 62. Jim Calhoun has definitely inspired his listless team in the last two weeks, and it could be no more apparent than tonight when the curmudgeonly old coach picked up a tech less than a minute into the game after his team found itself down 5-o early. WVU’s Da’Sean Butler missed the two ensuing FTs, and the ‘street fight’ as Calhoun called it, was on. The game featured a total of 45 fouls and 65 foul shots, leading Bob Huggins to state that “you can’t win” when the home team shoots two-thirds of the foul shots in a given game. For his efforts, Huggins was thrown out of the game in the last minute for complaining about fouls. Butler had his own opinion on the foul situation, but after throwing up a lousy 2-10 shooting night, he may be better served focusing on how the long arms of the UConn defense repeatedly frustrated him into tough shots. On the UConn side, the story tonight was the continued emergence of Kemba Walker as a Devan Downey-style slasher who can get to the foul line for 10+ points per game. In the Huskies’ last three wins, Walker has paraded to the foul line a total of 36 times (making 31) and is averaging 22/6 over that period. When he’s playing at his best, UConn becomes a much more offensively diverse team, with Jerome Dyson bombing away from outside and Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards cleaning up the mess inside. UConn has now defeated three top ten teams this season, but they still have work to do to ensure an NCAA Tournament bid. You figure that they can get the Louisville game coming up next Sunday at home, but it’s the final two on the road — at Notre Dame and at South Florida — that have us worried. This team is prone to letdowns, and those are two ripe situations for one.
Is Kansas a Great Team? #1 Kansas 81, Oklahoma 68. KU wrapped up its sixth consecutive Big 12 regular season title with another dominant performance, overwhelming the Sooners with a 9-0 start and never looking back in a second half that hovered around the 20-point margin throughout. Xavier Henry looked like the stud he is surely becoming, with a 23/5 evening on 9-13 shooting from the field. Sherron Collins (now the winningest player in KU history, along with Brady Morningstar) added 17/6 assts and Cole Aldrich 7/12 in their typically consistent way, but the reason we’re even asking the above question has mostly to do with the re-emergence of Henry on the offensive end. After suffering through a bit of a January slump, the super-frosh has come on strong in his last five games, averaging 18/5 on 53% shooting and 10-21 from deep. It’s no coincidence that the Jayhawks have not been seriously tested in four of those five games (A&M was the exception), and they’re the odds-on favorite to win the national title in Indianapolis six weeks from tonight. KU is now three games from running the table in the Big 12 for the second time in its history (Roy’s ‘Hawks did it in 2002), and if they can do that, they’ll join a select but ignominious company of teams in the last decade to enter the postseason with only one loss (2008 Memphis, 2005 Illinois, 2004 St. Joseph’s, 2004 Stanford). This KU team, however, is better than every one of those one-loss teams, and might just be the best team they’ve fielded in Lawrence since the 1997 Pierce/Vaughn/LaFrentz juggernaut.
Other Games of National Interest. Zilcho.
View Comments (5)
Best KU team since 1997? This isn't even the best team of the past 3 years. The 2008 Jayhawks had better offense, better defense, and more experience.
I agree with David. 2008 Kansas was a better team and would beat this group 6 or 7 times out of 10. In 2008 I was so sure Kansas would win the title (yes I did have my doubts in the final minutes against Memphis) just from watching them through the season. I am not so sure this year's team will. They'll be the favorite, yes, because of their record but I think someone will beat them. Just don't know who, probably Syracuse, Kentucky or Purdue. Maybe Kansas State if they get a rematch.
I hear you guys, and it's too early to tell at this point, but if 2010 KU goes 39-1, they'll rightly or wrongly be considered the better team.
The 2008 team lost three games in the regular season and of course had two near-misses in the NCAAs with Davidson and the Memphis debacle. I thought they were the best team that year also, but it wasn't clear b/c UNC, Memphis and UCLA were also very good. This year I think Kansas is a half-step ahead of everyone else, including the group you named, Brian.
But, of course, anyone is beatable in March, so that'll ultimately tell the tale.
Yes if they go 39-1 then yes they'll be national champions and better than 2008 Kansas. I don't think that'll happen though.
It's easy to second-guess Kansas the day after a loss but here's why they just don't do it for me. Their margin of victory is quite small against half-way decent teams. Their out-of-conference schedule is comparable to that of a high school team. Try Radford, Alcorn St and Tennessee Tech on for size. And I imagine Kansas playing in the Big East and I just laugh my ass off. I do the same thing when I hear Bob Knight and Jay Bilas continue to hail Kansas as the best team in the country. If Kansas played in the Big East, they'd easily have 5 losses and be ranked 10-20th and thats being kind. Their level of competition playing in the Big 12 and out of conference is laughable. Bill Self did win a national title recently so obviously he knows how to recruit but this team, like many recent Kansas teams aside from the 2008 Champs, come tournament time they get shocked by a jump in competition. LOOK FOR THE JAYHAWKS TO GET BEAT AGAIN THIS YEAR IN THE TOURNAMENT BY A TEAM THAT ON PAPER HAS NO BUSINESS BEATING THE "BEST TEAM IN THE COUNTRY."