After letting the loss settle a bit, this is going to go down as an underappreciated team in my book.
I really REALLY enjoyed watching these dudes play....well, the starters anyway...
Harris is just suck a smart player, he makes a ton of plays he has no business making. Sure it would be better if he was able to score better, but he is an old school facilitator the basketball purist in me loves. Pettiford and Yesufu deserve credit for exposing just how many things Harris does well...
(I don't hate those 2 as much as most here, but GODDAMN the wheels fell off every time Harris sat down).
Dick is similar, except scoring. The game is just so easy for him. It was really ****ing fun to watch. That's the purest shot I've seen in awhile. We'll see if he can translate to the NBA, but on paper, he should, and I don't think he's afraid of work. His defense improved demonstrably through the year. Goddamn he was fun to watch.
McCullar is similar, I know he's a one and done guy, but I like watching him play. He does a ton of little things, especially defensively that I appreciated very much. I was always annoyed by him when we'd play Tech, and it was nice to be on that side of those plays for the year. Plus, when I read how the ****ing assbag Tech fans ran him the **** out of Lubbock (seriously perplexed by this level of stupidity), I'm rooting for him hard. I don't think he translates well, but the dude is ****ing long, and you can't teach that. Maybe he'll carve out a role. But the reality is I really appreciated what he brought.
Wilson earned every bit of the conference player of the year honors he got. He was outstanding. It wasn't smooth like Harris or Dick, or particularly savvy like McCullar. He just **** you'd his way to a hell of a lot of production. And I'm here for it. Goddamn he had himself a season.
I was probably one of the biggest KJ detractors out there, but he made himself a player. Kind of inexplicably, but he did it. At one point during the season I was asking myself why the hell everybody was letting him catch lobs all game long. And the answer became evident. 1. Harris was really good at lobbing. And 2. KJ was really good at screening and getting off of it. I think he ended up the most improved player in the conference, and that too is also earned. He was refried ass early, but definitely earned his starting spot.
This team winning this conference is a goddamned basketball miracle. And Self deserves a ton of credit for that. Consistency matters and Self is the master.
Never fun getting dumped in the first weekend, but at least we didn't get dumped by a 16 (still don't know WTF Purdue was doing), and it was to a real program with real athletes. This one doesn't hurt 10% as bad as the UNI game, maybe most of that is equity earned through last years championship, but this tournament loss barely registered on the emotional scale, comparatively.
All in all, it was a ****ing great year, and if there is anything Mahomes has taught me, it is soak up everything. It won't be great forever. And I really REALLY enjoyed this team and this year. I'll probably go back and put some of these games back on.
PS we should start a 23-24 thread.