Interesting SI article

According to SI KU is one of three super powers and has the highest ASM rank. Interesting numbers and stats to back it up. Have a look: SI

Worth the Wait, But...

Gee, and I was worried Selby might have some jitters. He sure looked like Self's best recruit ever, if one game is any indication. I thought his strength was supposed to be at getting to the hoop -- he didn't do that, but what he did do was stroke it from deep -- which is exactly what this team has been needing. He was a bit of a liability on defense, which is probably why Self sat him from about 12: to 6: in the second half -- but that was exactly when we played our worst.

I guess Self was right when he said at halftime that our veterans were already standing around waiting on Josh to make plays. TT was terrible, and the twins once again got outmuscled by some admittedly talented Pac-10 big men. (What is the deal with all these unranked Pac-10 teams taking us to the wire?)

Other than Selby's shot and a couple of plays here and there, we played like garbage in the 2nd half. UCLA almost beat us a few weeks ago by making circus shots, whereas USC just broke our asses down on both ends of the floor. And again, the free throws. This team freezes up a bit at the Fieldhouse; we seem to be begging someone to take this home streak off our backs.

(While Markieff and Marcus weren't great, Bob Knight noted that "Maurice" Morris was making some contributions. So there's that.)

Aaron, are you out there? I think I caught some glimpses of you.

Christmas Comes Early: Countdown to Selby

I've sort of gone back and forth on how much we need Josh Selby, considering we're undefeated with the best offense in the nation. Did the Colorado St. game expose some offensive weaknesses? In that game, we shot less than 50 percent; fortunately, our defense also held them to something like 25 percentage points below their shooting average.

It has seemed to me that we could use one more perimeter scorer; guys like TT and Releford have shot well from outside so far, but that's not their forte, nor is it for Brady. Reed shouldn't be our only deep threat. Selby by all accounts can score it from anywhere on the floor.

Self says he probably won't get the start. I'm sure that won't last long.

More from ESPN on Selby's imminent arrival.

Also, do yourself a favor and revisit the scouting report on Selby. He's actually pretty good.

May-emphis at the Gahh-den

Once again KU finds itself matched against those RUBES from Memphis. (Just playin,' Scott.)

It's our first ranked opponent, but the scouting report makes them seem awfully similar to those Pac-10 teams -- raw but talent-rich and super-athletic.

What do you think of the Tigers, Scott, if you're out there? It's hard to get too scared of a team that had to go to OT to beat Arkansas State. Of course, they'll be slightly more interested in this game. So should the 'Hawks.

Lots of fun facts to be found in this ESPN preview. Did you know that the 'Hawks have lost 3 straight at Madison Square Garden since Hinrich and co. beat St. John's in 2000? I recall Jay-Z being on hand for that game. Remember that guy?

Another fun fact: Kansas leads the nation in field-goal percentage. Not too shabby.

The Bruins Cry Foul

I hate the fact that it takes a b.s. controversy to get Kansas any national attention at all, but at least the NCAA is backing us up. Yes, it was a foul against UCLA. No, it was not a foul that normally gets called with 0.7 on the clock in a tie game. It was probably a makeup for the previous play when Reed turned it over after apparently getting bumped on the inbounds.

Whatever, Self is right: We would have lost that game on the road. It was frustrating in a lot of ways, but I thought UCLA deserves credit.

Howland seems to sort of have Self's number -- beating us with (somewhat) lesser talent in '07 and putting up a fight at Pauley last year with (very) lesser talent. Howland made all the right moves; our overplaying defense gave them a lot of trouble (10 steals), but they countered by backdooring us again and again. And, though I got sick of Fraschilla pointing it out endlessly, bringing their Shaq-like freshman off the bench was a good move.

UCLA, like 'Zona, is a talented, young sleeping giant that will make some noise this year, I think.

I'm not too worried about the free throws -- terrible though they were -- that just seemed like an anomaly to me. The bigger concern is whether our big men are really ready to tangle with the toughest frontcourts in the nation. In fairness, I don't know if there are a lot of big men in college hoops who are as powerful and as talented as 'Zona's Williams and UCLA's Smith. We shall see.