I said I was going to do it, and now I'm following through. The execution of my threat is accompanied by the sound of ripping nylon.
On my recent Jayhawks Basketball Blast post, I dropped hints that NCAA hoops might play a larger part on the blog, and the feedback I got was positive. As R. Sherman said,
I like the idea of a combined theology/basketball based blog. It would certainly serve a much neglected market in the blogosphere. As for my beloved Tigers, yea verily, they always step it up with the KU.
His first two sentences make a lot of sense...in a counterintuitive, eclectic, BitterSweetLife kind of way. Several other hoopsters stopped by to fulfill their daily smack allotment, and my spirits rose considerably at the mere prospect of dishing a little out myself. As I told R., he'd inspired a "New tagline: Hoops and da Word- you dig?"
The 2nd-century theologian Tertullian might ask me what "basketball hath to do with Jerusalem"; a more fitting question might be what basketball hath not to do with it? So, for my own enjoyment and for the mental health of all readers, I will unapologetically add hoops content whenever the opportunity presents itself. I can only hope that the level of jivin' smack talk will rise accordingly.
So, as I was about to say: Bill Self just locked up another top recruit, Sherron Collins. Collins is a Chicago product, and though it won't show up in press releases, the agile point guard's proximity to Bruce Weber of the Illini had to add spice to Self's latest recruiting coup. Last season, Weber held a mock funeral for Self, presumably to exorcise the former coach's lingering influence. If I was Weber now, I'd be wishing some of that magic had stuck around...
Collins averages 25 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds, and will appear on the KU roster in 2006-2007. Who will be the next to get on board? It would be sweet to see Self steal big man Darrell Arthur from Roy Williams... Jeremy, the KU-crazy author of Phog Blog, thinks it might just happen.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Jayhawks Stock Up
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4 comments:
This was discussed last year. If Illinois consistently snared all the emerging ballers from Chicago's high schools, the NCAA would start having a tourney for second-place each year cuz the champs would be crowned already. But these recruits get lured away either by other schools' winning traditions and/or by the glitz and glamour from ESPN's rusted-in-place spotlight. Add Sherron Collins to the long list.
But seriously, who do these baby Jayhawks think they are? Giddens got the point and bounced. Galindo left. Simien, Miles, Langford--see ya. Self's got his work cut out for him.
Rusted indeed.
Scott
The following comment is from my 14 year old daughter, point guard for a local Lutheran School team seeking an unprecedented "3-peat" in the St. Louis Lutheran Schools Hoops Championship and first assistant official scorer in the Sherman Family NCAA Pool:
"Quinn Snyder has better hair than Bill Self or Bruce Weber. Plus, he doesn't cry as much as Roy Williams."
Cheers.
I can't help but admit the legit nature of Oneway's argument. If Weber could clean up on Chicago-area recruits, IL would contend every year. But the same is true of CA schools, Texas schools, various East Coast colleges, etc. Is it possible that Roy Williams could be staring down the barrel of the Self recruiting cannon soon... I can only hope so.
But seriously, who do these baby Jayhawks think they are? Giddens got the point and bounced. Galindo left. Simien, Miles, Langford--see ya. Self's got his work cut out for him.
Partially true. Giddens got the point, yeah - of a knife. I'm glad he's gone; he caused all kinds of chemistry issues last season. Galindo is more of a loss, but he freed up the schollie that allowed Self to snare Brandon Rush. I'll take that trade-off anytime. This season, everything hangs on the question of Self melding the baby Jayhawks into a team that can play defense as well as run up the score. ESPN's Preseason Picks has Illinois at 23 and KU at 25.
Scott: Rusted indeed.
Who is this guy, Scott? What's he talking about? It seemed like IL got a lot of love last season...I could see them moving up on the national radar.
R. Sherman, your daughter is an astute observer. Quinn's hair is arguably better than Self's. The more crucial issue is whether a pretty-boy coach is a self-justifying commodity...
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