Leftover KU thoughts and the rest of the season

Photo Attribution: US Presswire

Last night was rough, wasn’t it?

That game had a chance to go down as the poor man’s Durant 3OT game and instead we’ll remember it for being a foul festival stolen by the warlock of Lawrence himself, Mr. dubstep.

Sometimes 10 thoughts just isn’t enough, plus I want to talk about what we have to look forward to for the rest of the year.

Here we go:

– Nash is exasperating, we’ve been over this, I know. I’ve often referred to his split game personality as “good Nash” and “bad Nash” but I think somebody on Twitter said better, it’s really “angry Nash” and “passive Nash.” I’ve never seen someone with such an acute ability to dominate games disappear so grandiosely in big spots. There are times I completely forget he’s on the team, much less on the floor.

There’s really no solve either. I feel like Ford (as well as the rest of the team) is as frustrated as the rest of us. I guess we’re just at the point where we pray “angry Nash” shows up for at least 20 minutes and go from there.

– McLemore and Smart didn’t really settle the whole Big 12 POY thing last night, did they? I would assume McLemore gets it because I think KU wins the Big 12 and if he plays like he’s been playing all year in the next five games, it’ll be tough to not give it to the best player on the best team.

Somebody on Twitter last night made a good point though: Smart’s worst was a lot better than McLemore’s worst. I don’t know if this settles any POY race, but it’s true. Smart was horrific and yet he still found a way to put up 16 and leave his mark on the game. McLemore left KU’s Big 12 title hopes in the hands of a guy named Naadir. So…yeah.

– Saturday at WVU might be one of the three biggest games this team plays all year. Lose there and it’s tailspin time with at ISU and K-State at home coming up. Fortify the walls in Morgantown though and you still have a chance at a 4-seed in the tournament. On that note too, I like the presser Smart and Markel had last night.

First, Markel on OSU blowing the Big 12: Is it too late? We’re still going to go into practice and fight for the number one spot. It’s not too late.

Then, Smart on playing KU in the Big 12 tourney: I can’t wait for it. We’re going to be ready for it, just like we were tonight. We’ll go out there and play just as hard as we did. We definitely can’t wait for another shot at them.

– Phil Forte started the year 46-119 (39%) from three-point range. Since then he’s 12-47 (26%). Hopefully it’s just a mid-season swoon but something tells me he’s getting those end-of-conference weighty legs all freshman in the Big 12 get[1. Besides Smart, of course.]. For should consider using him in spots over the next five games to get him rested up for the tournament.

– What’s more fun? The evolution of Markel or the evolution of Mike Cobbins? The former is certainly sexier — deep treys, monster dunks. But the latter is just as important to OSU’s trajectory. Here are Cobb’s points-boards-blocks totals in his last seven games:

ISU: 10-6-1
at KU: 8-8-4
Baylor: 9-13-2
at UT: 4-3-0
at Tech: 13-12-1
OU: 4-4-3
KU: 8-14-3

He’s been 80% or 85% of what Ivan McFarlin used to give you back in the day. It’s been a pleasure to watch.

– I hope the taste of top-shelf GIA is enough to keep everybody coming back. The last two crowds were about as good as GIA gets — if Smart had hit that bomb we would have seen ultimate GIA noise…honestly, Vance Air Force Base might have deployed forces after hearing that noise[2. I probably shouldn’t use “bomb” and “Vance Air Force Base” in the same sentence in case, you know, somebody in Enid is monitoring SEO stuff.].

I know some of y’all didn’t believe us about the levels it could get to but it’s here, go keep it.