These are your defending NATIONAL CHAMPIONS - KU preview

The following is an e-mail exchange between and my pen pal from Poland. Yes the blog is multicultural.

polsih-
SUp? So how fired up are you for this season? I'm assuming you have been in
Lawrence for the last couple of days, sleeping in your car by the towers to
get the twins autographs, right?
Anyway, I was looking for your opinion on this year, I'm going to try to get> up a preview on le blog.

I'm think sweet 16 is a good goal, first round bye in the conference
tourney.

Other than that, I'm going to be really curious to see if Collins blows up, and goes league, someone is gotta leave if Self signs 3 guys like he is trying to do so the most logical is Collins or Cole. other than that I think it'll take me at least 5 games before I figure out which twin is which, one of them should have to wear a fro wig and a different colored shirt just to make it easier for fans, but maybe this will work well against other teams, i know missery and ksucks will have no idea who is who, so that'll be fun.
hope all is well
rock chalk
rb

R Bauer!
Yea....I am pumped bro!? It is a different?excitement b/c we really do not know what to expect.? That is the exciting part of it.
I've been reading my media guide and still reminiscing about last season. I love this years>poster with all the boyz walking through the Phog....it's hella tight!?
I'm going to rewatch the Villanova game on Wednesday night, can't wait!? If your bored, feel free to join me.
First and foremost, I love your blog! Keep that shit up. It is under my favorites and I love reading it while I'm on the can.
Secondly, this season is going to be a roller coaster I have a feeling. Obviously it reminds us of the 05 squad with JuJu, B Rush and Rio coming in as Frosh. I remember their first game against Idaho St., thinking that this team might ot be bad, and then being so frustrated with all the TO's and the 61-49 loss to AZ the next game. Starting the year off 3-4 and then> gelling as a whole.? I think the first light I saw was during the Cal game in KC when we were struggling and then Vinson came in and we started to play as a team. Then of course the UK game, where we just anally raped them at AFH. Then, even though we lost to MU, with Moody clanking the freebies, I saw how good Mario was going to be. Can't forget that memorable OU game at home, Chalmers was just nails. I loved that year b/c we grew into men by the end of the season. Yeah, we lost to Bradley, but we just weren't up for that game. It was just one of those days. I really think this team will be the same, in it's own way. The one thing that we do have is obviously a big man in Cole and a leader in Sherron. I do think our schedule is a lot of tougher this year than it was back in 06. Yea, AZ was #7, Nevada #20, UK#19 - overrated at that time, OU#18 and Texas #7 and #8. The only true road test we had was the can of whoop ass that Texas opened up on us in Austin when they destroyed us from the tip and ended up winning by 25. Then of course we got them back when in counted in the Big 12 'Ship. This year, we are going to get tested and get tested early, before Big 12 play. Which is a great thing. We get Washington, who is a top 30-35 squad, then we either get the Cuse, who again is a top 30-35 team, or we play Florida- who is #19. Then we get a month of teams that we should beat. Our first real test will be that road game in Tuscon. Yeah, AZ ain't ranked, but we will be going into what could be a hostile environment. Any time you go on the road, it's never a gimmie. Then 10 days later, we got Tenn at home. The fieldhouse should be rocking, UT will be a top 10-15 team. A week later will be the biggest test of the season. Going into East Lansing, where we have not played since Magic was the PG for the Spartans. This will be a HUGE game for our guys. MSU will most likely be ranked in the top 10 if not the top 5. We will see how far we have come and how we can compete with a damn good Izzo coached team. At this point in the season I can see us at about 11-4 or 12-3,at worst 10-5.
Then, we will have the conferece season, where the South is going to be pretty good. OU and Texas will most likely be top 10 teams all year long, Baylor will be tough as will A&M. I see us getting about 11 or 12 wins. I think the tough non-con slate will prepare us well for our conference. I think the North will be weak, as usual. I forsee us getting a 1st weekend bye in the Big 12 Tourney. I have a feeling we will either be a 3 or 4 seed. OU and Texas will be 1 and 2. Then again, don't count us out on on grabbing a 1 or 2 seed! If the South beats up on each other and we take care of business, we could very well be winning our 5th straight conference title. I think all this will depend on how the Frosh develop. We do have a strong core with Cole and Collins. Don't count us out on getting to the Big 12 'Ship again but I see us maybe going out in the semis.
I really think we should be able to continue our tourney streak and make it for a 20th consecutive year. I think AZ's streak will either be snapped this year or next year and we will take over with the most consecutive appearances. Go into the tourney with 7-9 losses and probably get any where from a 3-6 seed. I could see us losing in the 2nd round or the Sweet 16. I think most fans will take this coming off a NCAA Title, losing 8 players and 83% of our scoring. The one thing that we do have going for us this year, which we did not have in 06, is leadership. Two individuals who contributed and played in the Final Four.
I think the Morris twins could absolutley become beasts. Watching them at Late Night, they remind me of Gooden. The way they walk, their game, their moves and they are the first set of big man or men that can both go inside and outside since Drew and Nick. I did not really consider Wayne an inside outiside type of player. Yea, he could hit the 15 footer but these guys just have something about them that I have not seen since Drew, especially Markieff. He has the perfect body, 6'9 235lbs.? I think he could become unstopable. The talent on these team is there, Releford is a slasher and great defender, Taylor is a stud- the kid has that "it" factor. Great floor general, passer and he knows how to play the game...ala Russ Rob except with more talent. Thomas and Appleton will be role players that will get their 4-6 points a game. Maybe more like Darnell Jackson type of numbers his soph campaign. I am interested to see if Little can stay healthy. I think he kind of has the body of D Rose or a Frank Williams. He could be a big part to this team if he gets this stress fracture healed and is as good as advertised. I don't really see Reed, Morningstar or Teahan getting much playing time. I could almost throw Appleton in this bunch, but I really can't put my finger on it. I am juiced for Tuesday to come and see how we play. I wish Little was healthy b/c I would like to see more of his game. I think we will get Xavier this week. With a class of Robinson, EJ and Xavier, the 09-10 squad is going to be sick. They will most likely be preseason top 5 and could very well be picked to cut down the nets in 2010. I don't see Sherron sticking around. He will get his 15-18 shots a game,put up his points and leave for the money, as long as he stays healthy. Otherwise, I could see him sticking around for his senior year.
Anywho, this is more than you probably wanted to hear but you did ask my opinion:)? I would love to watch a game with you this year.
Rock Chalk!
PZ

On 11/2/08, ryan bauer <ryanbauer9@gmail.com> wrote:
Super stuff, agree very much.
I think Little is a guy that does have a lot of talent and anytime you have a guy that can get his own shot and get to the tin whenever he wants and with a young team that could be key.I'm looking at it as making the bumps bumpier, but I think its a blessing. Baptism by fire, and it'll give more minutes to TR and Marcus.
That michigan state game reminds me of when we played them in detroit in the great 8 and chenoworthless got owned and Mo Pete got all nuts on us.Here's the 4 things I'm most interested in seeing this year
1- how do the fans react when things get rough. KU fans are the most passionate in the country and when things are going well everyone is happy but you know how it goes when things go wrong, so it'll be interesting.
2- how does Collins do this year with an increased roll and a decreased supporting cast. How will he respond. His talent is immense and he's a bulldog, hopefully he sees this year as an opportunity, ifhe just buckles down and kicks ass for 5 months he'll never have to attend another class and he can more than provide for his kid. I think he'll be up to it.
3- Taylor, you nailed it, the kid has "it" and he played in such a successful high school program and you can never have enough winners.I think he'll play a lot, be vocal and keep things from getting too chaotic.
4- the twins, I think when you mentioned gooden that is a decent comparison, I think the thing that has me excited is they know each others game so well, that'll help. And they both represent the new PF,gone are the days of a banger, these guys can collectively play the 3through 5 and make plays. You know them stretching the floor out to the arc is going to give Collins and Taylor a lot of space to operate and drive and also TR when he's in there. Since the knock on him is alack of an outside J. So a spread out floor could enhance his ability to drive.We'll for sure get together for some games.
Rock Chalk-Rb

another chain of communication-

Broseph-
Let me know what you are hearing on X, there's so much shit out there right now, I'm trying to take it all in, but I feel and have seen enough to think that X will be at KU next year, so needless to say we should get sleeping bags and go crash at the towers to get his autograph since dude is crazy good.
His game kind of reminds me of this guy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t86PSp1X8wk

I'm mean very similar shot, right?
anyway let me know what you're hearing I think this is gonna happen, which I called before Late Night but even I didn't see him doing the Alma Matter and the Rock Chalk, that was excellent, and its not really his fault, weird things happen to people when they step into the Phog, its magical.
RB

(i did not include PZ's reply to this, just because there was some info that will get both of us in trouble, regarding X. Let's just put it this way, there's reason to think X is going to be at KU, which means there's reason to think I will dance with no pants)


also got this little nugget from kelting on the squad and basically, its unfair to Kelting to have him below the insane knowledge from above, but it would also be a blogtrocity to give kelting his own entry on this topic, but here's what the kid with red hair has to say....

I was asked by RB to share some thoughts on the upcoming basketball season. This surprised me for two reasons. One, it's still football season, why are we talking about basketball? Two, I get most of my thoughts from Bauer, why does he want mine? And to be honest with you, I don't know what I'm going to add.

So here it goes. I haven't read one single preseason article. There, I said it. It feels good to be honest will all of you. I realize that Late Night was a few weeks ago and we have an exhibition game tomorrow, but I haven't been thinking about KU basketball. Depending on what polls you read, we are ranked around 24th in the nation. This is something that we haven't been used to in recent years so I decided to look at preseason rankings for the last several years. Did you realize that for the 2005-2006 season we were unranked in the preseason polls? Then I got to thinking…Bill Self remarked that this team reminded him of our team three years ago (that 2005-2006 team). Let's take a trip down memory lane. Giddens gets stabbed, my all time favorite Puerto Rican KU basketball player transfers, we beat Kentucky in the Field House by a ton, Moody misses some free throws against Missouri, KU starts1-2 in the Big 12, we open the Booth Family Hall of Athletics (real nice Clark), we say goodbye to Jeff Hawkins, Christian Moody, Stephen Vinson on Senior Night (still upset that Hawkins isn't playing anymore), Max gets 60 retired, we go on to share the Big 12 title with Texas, KU wins the Big 12 tournament over Texas, Julian has a SICK 360 dunk at the end of that game, then we lose to Bradley.


Well, I gotta think we'll see some of the same with this team. Hopefully the Morris twins won't get stabbed and hopefully Moody isn't coming back to help us shoot free throws, but look big picture. That season had a lot of ups and downs. A talented freshman class of Chalmers and Rush gave us an idea what the future looked like. We started that season slow, but we were able to rally and share the Big 12 title and win the Big 12 tournament. This season we'll see a large, talented freshman class grow. We'll see if some JUCO transfers are able to play at this level. We'll see if Cole is the leader and ball player we think he's capable of being. We'll see if Sherron is good enough to carry a team and if he's good enough to play in the League. I think we'll be a better team without Witherspoon. We'll have loses that piss us off and wins that make us believe, even if only for one night, that we can make it to the Final Four. To be honest, we'll likely finish 2nd or 3rd in the conference, and get knocked out in the Sweet 16. But this team will be fun to watch, we'll just have to let them play, let them mature and cheer them on.

And remember, no matter what happens this year…we got our championship.