I can't complain about another top 5 preseason ranking, though. Though they mean nothing (as KU loves to prove, reprove, and prove again) it's always better to at least be in the mix for a title. I mean, I could be a Northern Iowa fan, and boy would that suck. I think there is a big gap between the top 3 and KU though, at least until Brandon Rush comes back. Memphis, UCLA, and Carolina are absolutely LOADED, and in most other years, each would be the hands-down #1 team.
Losing Julian hurts, but a lot of that hurt was from the unexpectedness of him declaring. I think that Rush is much more important to KU's title chances, as we have Darrell Arthur ready to come in and get big minutes, provided he can stay out of foul trouble. Look out for freshman Cole Aldrich too, he'll be special. The backcourt of Russell Robinson, Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins is the best defensive backcourt in America. If RussRob and Collins improved their outside shooting as much as the buzz indicates they did, look out. Through two games it looks like it.
Collins and my Facebook friend Brady Morningstar. What's that? Oh, yeah, I'm friends with a KU player on Facebook. No big deal. Maybe I'll drop him a line right now, see what's goin' on. Maybe he wants to go shoot around or something.
Rush's injury (and now Collins' too) helps the team depth quite a bit. Rodrick Stewart will get huge minutes now, and Jeremy Case will get some more too. This helps the "Please don't go in and shit your pants" feeling that I get sometimes when Case plays important minutes. So expect some bumps and bruises early on, but in the long run these injuries will pay off (provided Rush and Collins come back full strength.)
Darnell Jackson, who as a freshman looked woefully out of place on a basketball court, might be my favorite player on this year's team. I feel very comfortable when he is involved in things, and that might be the biggest compliment I can pay to a college basketball player. And lastly, Sasha Kaun. Oh, Sasha. One night he looks like a lottery pick, and the next night he looks like a seven-foot tall Jewish kid who came straight from his barmitzvah, and is dribbling a basketball for the first time in his 14 years on this earth. Although I should mention that his new Schne-fro automatically bumps my confidence in him up to about a 5.And so now we see if I am able to hold it together this year. I have been living and dying with this team since I was 8 years old. In '91, after the championship game loss, I cried my eyes out. In '97, I tore up every magazine featuring KU that I been saving over the years. In '02, I skipped the next day of class and stayed in bed until 9 pm. In '03, I didn't talk or interact with a single person for 48 hours. In '05, I drank myself stupid and slept on a bridge in downtown Indianapolis. In '06 I walked back to my hotel and packed instead of enjoying my last few hours in Vegas. Vegas!!! And now I live here. Where was my life caddy to talk me out of that club selection?
Will this be the year they win it all? Will this be the year they lose in the Elite 8 and I go on a multi-state killing spree, change my name to Remus Kofax, sell all my possessions and go live downtown holding up Armageddon signs to passing cars? Stay tuned. I believe it was Screech Powers who said, "It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." Or somebody.
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