bball!
So, as we play Kansas State in a little under an hour, someone yesterday on the Phog put up a link to a youtube of KU beating KSU in the 1988 tournie run. That was one of the few years that KSU was better than us. We'd beaten them one out of three that year and they were higher seeded, coming off a win over the number one seed, Purdue. They were second to our third in the Big 8.
It's interesting to watch not just because of our inevitable win or because the guy I went to high school with who is now bald was so damn young (and hit long jump shots--wish our big guys now could do that consistently, though we don't actually have any starters as tall as Piper or Manning), but for several reasons.
Three of our starters played the entire first half. (Unheard of for most of the elite teams these days to even have one starter do that).
There were a total of three time outs called in the first half. (There are more TV timeouts than that these days plus the zillion each team has and USES.)
Charge calls galore. (Would be block calls now.)
There was very little to no transition basketball. (A staple these days for most teams.)
Ankle socks, one tank top, t-shirt under it only if you have some kind of injury or illness, short shorts, wraps or "girdles" on just a couple players. (Long socks on many players, tank tops under sleeveless tops or sleeveless tops over t-shirts are standard today, long shorts, leggings are common this year, a lot of players wear some kind of support especially on arms and knees.)
Hardly any substitutions. (Kentucky has two whole freaking "platoons" and every teams subs all the time, often calling timeouts to do so.)
God Manning was such a pure shooter. (I got nothing.)
Forty five second clock. (Thirty five now and it needs to be shorter.)
Big 8. (Big 12, but really 10.)
Amusing comment from the announcers about how Larry Brown is definitely coming back as coach. (Before the NCAA violations that led to him quitting and us getting banned from the tournie the next year.)
The score popping up on screen with the time remaining every three or so minutes, otherwise pure game. (Score and time always there, scroll of other games around the bottom, screen cluttered with these things, sometimes ads for future tv shows or games.)
Players were held all the time without fouls being called. (Players barely brush against someone and they get called for a foul.)
Most points came from long shots or pull up jump shots. (You can't win a game with just that anymore; everyone goes inside for dunks and layups. Our best lay up guy is our 5'11" PG.)
A center was a center--the announcers mentioned how Manning was forced to be the center due to injuries on others--a point guard was a point guard and rarely shot. (Positions are so fluid; we often have two point guards out there and rarely have a traditional center this year. Small guys go in for shots, big guys step out*; teams sometimes have three guards out there.)
*Big guys back then could shoot the outside shot as I mention below but the positions were more rigidly defined and you always had a center, two forwards and two guards on the floor.
Things I'd forgotten: Little Marky Turgeon as a grad student assistant (now the HC at Maryland). How even when we got a fast break we'd pull up! How the game flowed without constant time outs or an overabundance of foul calls. That Chris could shoot the long ball. That Danny could shoot the three (both being 6'11"). How little we substituted. How young Kruger looked. That we'd actually been a favorite for the Final Four earlier in the season before losing Marshall to injury and a couple others to academics. That Pritchard wasn't always our starting PG that year. That Piper played with a stomach injury and played so damn well. And that Danny finally went out with forty seconds left and KU with a fourteen point lead.
A thing that never changes: KSU still has a stupid mascot which is a wildcat head on top of a human body while KU has the adorable and unique Jayhawk in full costume.
And, finally, Scooter Barry was adorable.
And now today's game is starting...
It's interesting to watch not just because of our inevitable win or because the guy I went to high school with who is now bald was so damn young (and hit long jump shots--wish our big guys now could do that consistently, though we don't actually have any starters as tall as Piper or Manning), but for several reasons.
Three of our starters played the entire first half. (Unheard of for most of the elite teams these days to even have one starter do that).
There were a total of three time outs called in the first half. (There are more TV timeouts than that these days plus the zillion each team has and USES.)
Charge calls galore. (Would be block calls now.)
There was very little to no transition basketball. (A staple these days for most teams.)
Ankle socks, one tank top, t-shirt under it only if you have some kind of injury or illness, short shorts, wraps or "girdles" on just a couple players. (Long socks on many players, tank tops under sleeveless tops or sleeveless tops over t-shirts are standard today, long shorts, leggings are common this year, a lot of players wear some kind of support especially on arms and knees.)
Hardly any substitutions. (Kentucky has two whole freaking "platoons" and every teams subs all the time, often calling timeouts to do so.)
God Manning was such a pure shooter. (I got nothing.)
Forty five second clock. (Thirty five now and it needs to be shorter.)
Big 8. (Big 12, but really 10.)
Amusing comment from the announcers about how Larry Brown is definitely coming back as coach. (Before the NCAA violations that led to him quitting and us getting banned from the tournie the next year.)
The score popping up on screen with the time remaining every three or so minutes, otherwise pure game. (Score and time always there, scroll of other games around the bottom, screen cluttered with these things, sometimes ads for future tv shows or games.)
Players were held all the time without fouls being called. (Players barely brush against someone and they get called for a foul.)
Most points came from long shots or pull up jump shots. (You can't win a game with just that anymore; everyone goes inside for dunks and layups. Our best lay up guy is our 5'11" PG.)
A center was a center--the announcers mentioned how Manning was forced to be the center due to injuries on others--a point guard was a point guard and rarely shot. (Positions are so fluid; we often have two point guards out there and rarely have a traditional center this year. Small guys go in for shots, big guys step out*; teams sometimes have three guards out there.)
*Big guys back then could shoot the outside shot as I mention below but the positions were more rigidly defined and you always had a center, two forwards and two guards on the floor.
Things I'd forgotten: Little Marky Turgeon as a grad student assistant (now the HC at Maryland). How even when we got a fast break we'd pull up! How the game flowed without constant time outs or an overabundance of foul calls. That Chris could shoot the long ball. That Danny could shoot the three (both being 6'11"). How little we substituted. How young Kruger looked. That we'd actually been a favorite for the Final Four earlier in the season before losing Marshall to injury and a couple others to academics. That Pritchard wasn't always our starting PG that year. That Piper played with a stomach injury and played so damn well. And that Danny finally went out with forty seconds left and KU with a fourteen point lead.
A thing that never changes: KSU still has a stupid mascot which is a wildcat head on top of a human body while KU has the adorable and unique Jayhawk in full costume.
And, finally, Scooter Barry was adorable.
And now today's game is starting...