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View Full Version : ‘There’s a serious sense of urgency’ for KU’s Self


Mr. Laz
03-16-2007, 09:54 AM
Posted on Fri, Mar. 16, 2007

‘There’s a serious sense of urgency’ for KU’s Self

His Jayhawks may have plenty of upside, but the coach is also a poster boy for disappointment.

By JASON KING
The Kansas City Star

CHICAGO | His dad declined an interview Thursday, and his wife sent word that she didn’t want to talk.

Reliving Kansas’ consecutive first-round NCAA Tournament losses is simply too painful for those closest to Jayhawks coach Bill Self, who this week agreed to discuss the Bucknell and Bradley debacles on one condition.

“All I ask,” Self says, “is that you don’t make me sound like a whiner. I’ve got the best job in the world. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than Kansas.”

Self pauses for a moment and looks out his office window. His voice softens.

“But those losses … I think about them every day, maybe every hour,” Self says. “Those aren’t the kinds of things you easily forget.”

Apparently not.

The Jayhawks won their third straight Big 12 title this year and enter the NCAA Tournament with a 30-4 record, yet all anyone wanted to talk about this week are KU’s opening-round upsets the past two seasons.

Self has won 45 of his last 51 games, but every time he turns on the television or logs on to the Internet, he’s beset by fans and analysts who question whether he can coach.

“I don’t think anyone can comprehend what he’s had to deal with the past two years,” said Tim Jankovich, Self’s assistant and close friend. “I’m sure it cuts him up inside.”

As ruthless as the criticism has been, Self knows it could get even worse if the Jayhawks stumble against Niagara in tonight’s first round game at the United Center. He said he’s tried not to put too much pressure on his players — or himself.

But the situation is what it is: Self and the Jayhawks have to win.

They have to.

“I hope I don’t give the appearance that there’s a weight on my shoulders,” Self said. “But let’s face it: Whether I want to admit it or not, there’s a serious sense of urgency to play well in this game.”

• • •

Two Marches ago, not long after he slammed the hotel room door at the Oklahoma City Marriott, Bill Self cried.

The moment was a rare one for Self, who’s known for bottling up his emotions, sometimes not even allowing his family and closest friends to see him grieve.

But that night was different. Kansas had lost to Bucknell, one of the most shocking upsets in NCAA Tournament history.

“I’m not into the whole public emotion thing,” Self said. “But for the first time in my professional life, I was experiencing what everyone else in college coaching goes through at some point in their career.

“Up until then, I’d led a pretty charmed life.”

Self sprawled out in the king-sized bed that night with his wife, his son and his daughter. He told Lauren and Tyler (then 13 and 11, respectively) that they’d probably hear some negative comments about Dad on television, and perhaps a little razzing at school.

“Let it roll off your back,” Self told them.

Truth was, Self didn’t know what he should expect. He’d led three different programs to the Elite Eight and had been crossing his fingers for a Final Four berth that spring.

After the loss, he had stood in the Ford Center locker room in his home state of Oklahoma, trying to figure out what to say.

“The locker room wasn’t as emotional as you’d expect after a loss like that,” Self said. “It was silent, because everyone was completely stunned.

“Losing to Bucknell was a big deal. It came from left field. I don’t believe anyone ever thought it could happen.”

Self said he had seen signs early on that Kansas might be in trouble. The Jayhawks entered the season ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press poll, but his team was rarely healthy. Still, KU began the season 20-1.

“It was an ugly 20-1,” Self said. “That was a good team, but we probably weren’t as talented as what a lot of people thought. The seniors on that team had been to two Final Fours, and they assumed they were going again.

“I remember talking to Aaron (Miles) midway through the season. I said, ‘Aaron, we’re not playing well. We’re not doing this and that.’ He said, ‘Relax, coach. All we have to do is win six games.’ ”

But the Jayhawks’ second-best player, Keith Langford, had missed the three games leading up to the tournament with an ankle injury and wasn’t even 50 percent against Bucknell.

“That’s true,” Self said, “but that’s an excuse, and people don’t want to hear excuses. Regardless of where our team was at that point in the season, regardless of our health … it’s all irrelevant. We’ve got to win that game. We’re Kansas, and we’re playing a team from the Patriot League. That’s right, isn’t it? The Patriot League.

“We’ve got to win that game.”

Self thought about those things as he lay on a beach in Cancun less than a week after the loss. His wife, Cindy, had suggested the family trip so her husband could get away from the negativity and regroup.

Instead, the wound festered.

“Worst vacation I’ve ever been on,” Self said. “I just sat on the beach and sulked.”

• • •

As he drove down the third fairway of South Shore at Lake Las Vegas golf course a few months later, Bill Self slunk down in his seat and shook his head.

There, sitting on a parked beer cart, was a young blond woman wearing a gray Bucknell shirt. Jay Davis and Phil Giachino — two of Self’s buddies from high school — had ordered the outfit on the Internet and talked the 20-something into wearing it in front of Self.

“It was a joke,” Self said, “but it didn’t sit very well.”

Neither did the comments Self heard that autumn as he made his way to the lectern at the Jimmy V kickoff luncheon, when the emcee said: “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Bill Self, the man who ruined all your NCAA Tournament brackets.”

Everywhere Self went there were reminders of what had happened that dreadful night against Bucknell. He spent a whole year working to erase the memory, striving to make things better.

And then it happened again.

This time it was Bradley, a No. 13 seed, ending the Jayhawks’ season after just one NCAA Tournament game. That loss was different, Self said, it didn’t sting as much. The Jayhawks started three freshmen and two sophomores in that game, and Bradley, he said, was an underrated squad.

But KU fans didn’t care.

“Fire Bill Self” threads were commonplace in Internet chat rooms. Joanie Stephens, Self’s secretary, monitored the e-mails he received and chose which ones to delete.

“She probably never sent me half of them,” Self said.

Through it all, those closest to Self said they were amazed by his resiliency.

“Only a special person can coach at Kansas,” Jankovich said. “Only a special person can succeed through all the things that a coach has to endure that the public can’t possibly see. Somehow he stays above the fray. He doesn’t allow anything to bring him down, to break his spirits, to overflow onto his staff or players.

“He has about as much internal strength as anyone I’ve ever known.”

One of Self’s former assistants, Norm Roberts, the coach at St. John’s, has no doubt that Self’s recent NCAA Tournament woes will end soon. He noted that Self has won seven conference titles in the last nine seasons.

“And the other two times he finished second,” Roberts said. “Remember this about Bill: He doesn’t stay down long. You always want to be judged on your body of work but, at some schools, all people remember is your last game.

“The NCAA Tournament is the best sports spectacle in the world. There’s nothing better than March. But sometimes, if your guys didn’t eat the right eggs that morning, anything can happen. It doesn’t mean you’re bad coach.”

Self doesn’t want anyone to think he’s had a woe-is-me attitude while enduring criticism the past two seasons, because here’s the thing: There’s a part of Self that understands it.

“I have absolutely no problems with people feeling how they want to feel,” he said. “There’s no right or wrong way to feel.

“We’ve had a good year. No one can take that away from us. But in order to say it was great, I agree with the consensus: You’ve got to play well in the tournament. The postseason is what makes a good season great.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily fair. But I think like that, too. I believe it.”

Niagara vs. Kansas
6:10 tonight on channels 5 and 13 and KCSP (610 AM)

@ How will KU do? Go to KansasCity.com to cast a vote.
To reach Jason King, call (816) 234-4386 or send e-mail to jking@kcstar.com.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/16913693.htm

TrickyNicky
03-16-2007, 10:33 AM
Oh man, bad eggs is right. Bad eggs! Finally we have an answer to why we've lost two years in a row. Those damn bad eggs.

Redrum_69
03-16-2007, 11:04 AM
K U will lose in the first round


ITS GOING TO BE AWESOME, BABY!!

crazycoffey
03-16-2007, 11:07 AM
Not a big KU fan, I like MU better, but KU has a pretty good team and I have them going to the final four.

I'd be shocked if they lose before the eight.

Pitt Gorilla
03-16-2007, 11:14 AM
I'm an MU fan, but I'll say it again: This year's KU squad is one of the best teams I've seen in quite a while. Honestly, I will be surprised if/when they lose in the tournament. I'm not a fan, but it's difficult to find a weakness.

crazycoffey
03-16-2007, 11:19 AM
I'm an MU fan, but I'll say it again: This year's KU squad is one of the best teams I've seen in quite a while. Honestly, I will be surprised if/when they lose in the tournament. I'm not a fan, but it's difficult to find a weakness.


I have them winning it all in one bracket and out in the final four on another, I agree, they've been playing very well. [/swallowing my pride]

Redrum_69
03-16-2007, 12:27 PM
I'd be shocked if they loose before the eight.



Your mom was loose before the eight too

crazycoffey
03-16-2007, 12:45 PM
Your mom was loose before the eight too



unlike your mom, that was a nice catch

Baby Lee
03-16-2007, 12:48 PM
unlike your mom, that was a nice snatch
FYP