Bill Self gets advice from the most unlikely of sources

LAWRENCE, KS - Kansas head coach Bill Self wasn't too thrilled with his team's performance in their 64-54 win over Texas A&M on Monday night.

He thought they lacked effort and made numerous mental gaffes.

But Tommy Lasorda, yes, that Tommy Lasorda, the eccentric, Slim Fast-promoting former-Dodgers manager, the same guy who went to Twitter just hours before the game to ask "what Rock Chalk Jayhawk" meant, had some sage advice for Bill Self after the game.

“He said, ‘Hey, you looked great.’ I said we didn’t look good at all,” Self said with a smile on his face in the media room following the the Jayhawk's 64-54 win over Texas A&M.

Self has always been a baseball fan, and noted that he has tried his best to stay up to date with all the advanced statistics. He's even used baseball fiction to help motivate his team in the past.

Lasorda was in town for a fundraising event, and was at the game with his niece and her husband, a KU alum.

As Self tells it, "[Lasorda] said, 'You don't understand. Stats don't matter.' I said, 'If your starting pitcher gives up five runs in six innings and you just hang on to win, you're happy?' He said, 'I'm happy. I'm happy.' He said, 'You’ve got to enjoy the wins.' He's right. We do. I just didn’t think tonight we were very good, but A&M had a lot to do with it, too."

Self is right, too.

The Aggies were the first team to hold the Jayhawks to under 65-points at Allen Field House this season. Kansas shot a dismal 20% (4-2) from behind the arc and did not score in the final 3:26 of the first half.

You don't go to Allen Field House in late-January and expect to hear a baseball anecdote, let alone see a Hall of Fame manager. But on a night where the Jayhawks looked less than stellar against an inferior opponent, expect the unexpected.
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Rivalry games and why not playing them is bad business, literally

The latest in conference realignment talk -- which is a long way from finishing its spin cycle -- centers around Missouri and their not-so-subtle efforts to get into the SEC. This news comes just days after the Big 12 seemingly had created stability in a league on shaky legs by agreeing to pooling the money made off of Tier I and Tier II media rights and through a six-year grant of rights to the conference.

As you might imagine, Kansas head coach Bill Self was less than thrilled with this news, and I don't blame him one bit. He's the head coach of one of the biggest, most popular and most influential basketball programs in the country at Kansas, but since his school is lacking in football success and tradition, most projections of the eventuality of super-conferences have the Jayhawks on the outside looking in. Missouri jumping ship to the SEC, thus further weakening the Big 12, would make that inevitability one step closer.


"To me it's a great rivalry, one of the best in college basketball without question, but I don't think I would be interested in having a once a year game like I did when I was at Illinois, playing Missouri," Self told the Journal-World on Tuesday night.

"I could probably change my mind (but) trust me, we would have no trouble finding another non-league game to play. I love the rivalry. Playing home and home in the league is great and all those things ... (but) I can't imagine, why would we continue playing? If they choose to be somewhere other than with us and with the other schools that they’ve been a part of and could jeopardize the future of the other schools ... I'm not going to make a commitment now that we'd ever play again. I'm not saying we won't. I'm certainly not going to pretend that we would."

I strongly suggest you click and read through that link if you haven't already. Self is pissed, and if that's him holding back in the media, I'd hate to be the guy that committed four turnovers in the first half during one of his halftime lectures.

Now, it goes without saying that the worst part of this process of conference expansion is the death of rivalries, and The Border War is one of the best there is. It has been played uninterrupted since 1907, with Kansas leading the series 171-94. But this rivalry isn't just a case of two teams having played a lot of games over the years or a number of great games in recent seasons. And this isn't a case of one school simply not liking the other school.

The rivalry between the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri stems from the rivalry between the state of Kansas and the state of Missouri, which dates all the way back to before the Civil War. When our country was being settled and people were starting to spread out west, tensions rose between the two over the issue of slavery -- Missouri was a slave state while Kansas was a free state. The conflict turned bloody, particularly during the War.


Games between the two schools are always going to be heated. It doesn't matter if the teams involved are in a position to compete for a league title, because a .500 season can be defined with a win in the Border War. That's what a true rivalry is all about.

And taking that away from the fans because one school or one coach is butthurt over their rival's luck in landing a spot at the cool kid's table is not only a shame, but it would be dumb and shortsighted.

I'm calling out Bill Self here because he is the guy whose quotes made the rounds on the blogs this afternoon, but the same can be said for everyone on in the athletic departments and coaching staffs at schools like Texas and Texas A&M, or Syracuse and Georgetown, or Pitt and West Virginia.

Conference realignment has only stoked the flames of each of the four rivalries I've mentioned in this post. Georgetown fans are pissed that their program, which was a major reason that Big East basketball became the Big East basketball that we know and love today, is going to eventually be relegated to playing in a Catholic League that's on par with the Atlantic 10. Pitt and Syracuse fans are pissed their team is getting blamed for the death of the Big East when they simply made a move that everyone else would have made. West "f*cking" Virginia fans are pissed that Pitt was able to find a comfortable landing spot while they are getting denied by the SEC and the ACC. Texas A&M fans are pissed about the Longhorn Network while Texas fans are pissed Aggie fans are pissed about the Longhorn Network.

And all of that gets thrown on top of the hatred that already exists between the two schools. Think about the anticipation that would lead up to those games if they are only played once every season. Think about how many tickets would be sold. Think about how many folks would watch the games at home. Think about how many gimmicky t-shirts and bumper stickers and hats and posters can be sold.

This is supposed to be all about money, right? We are destroying the fiber of our collegiate athletics system because these schools are trying to make a quick buck, amirite?

So why would they pass up on a marketing opportunity like this? Because they are are pissed at each other? Because the opposite sides of the rivalry is holding a grudge against one another?

If people were smart, they would capitalize here, turning anger into a more intense rivalry, and those rivalry games into a more profitable event.

But if people were smart, we probably wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.
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Another NCAA Tournament, another early flameout from Bill Self

Bill Self should forever be indebted to Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts.

Back in 2008 when Kansas won the national title, the Jayhawks were able to overcome a nine point deficit in the final 2:12 thanks to Rose and CDR missing four of five free throws down the stretch. If those had made just one more free throw, Memphis and John Calipari would have had a national title wiped from the record books.

That wasn't the only break that Self caught in that tournament, either. We all know about the three that Mario Chalmers hit to force overtime with 2.1 seconds left, but what about Jason Richards'?

If you have forgotten, Kansas played Davidson in the Elite 8 in 2008. That Davidson team was riding the hot hand of Stephen Curry, but the combination of tired legs and Brandon Rush forced the future Golden State Warrior into an off-night against the Jayhawks. Davidson was still able to hang around, however, and had the ball down 59-57 with the chance to take a last second shot. But Jason Richards' 25 footer, which looked similar to Chalmers', found the bottom of the back board instead of the bottom of the net.


And its that miss that has saved Self's reputation.

Its the reason that he is a national title coach and not the Kansas coach that is 0-6 in the Elite 8.

If Richards hits that shot, Self is Rick Barnes. He's Jamie Dixon with McDonald's all-americans. He's just another coach that can dominate the regular season but always seems to fail to live up to expectation in March.

His notable failings at Kansas?

In 2005, the Jayhawks lost to Bucknell in the first round as a No. 3 seed. In 2006, it was Bradley knocking off the No. 4 seed Jayhawks. Self led No. 1 seed Kansas to the Elite 8 in 2007, where they lost to No. 2 seed UCLA, and in 2009, after Self lost most of his roster to the NBA or graduation, surprised many by getting Kansas a No. 3 seed and taking them to the Sweet 16.

But in 2010, the Jayhawks were once again upset on the first weekend of the tournament, losing to No. 9 Northern Iowa as a No. 1 seed in the second round.

This year, however, may be the most excruciating for Kansas fans.

The Jayhawks all but had a Final Four sewn up. After a first weekend full of upsets, all Kansas had to do to make the Final Four was to beat the third place team from the Atlantic 10 and the fourth place team from the Colonial. To make matters worse, most Jayhawk fans envisioned a free pass to the title game with No. 8 seed Butler waiting for them in the Final Four.

But like last year against Northern Iowa, VCU took control early and never looked back. After jumping out to a six point lead, Kansas looked like the mid-major. They looked like the team that was overmatched. The Rams knocked them back with a barrage of threes, and Kansas all of a sudden looked flustered. How flustered? They shot 2-22 from three and 15-28 from the line.

And once again, Bill Self was heading home early.

It begs the question -- how much value should we put into NCAA Tournament performance would evaluating a coach?

Because Self is certainly the furthest thing from a bad basketball coach.

In his first season at Kansas, he finished second in the Big 12. In each of the seven seasons since then, he's won or shared the Big 12 regular season title. In five of those seasons, he's won the Big 12 tournament title. He spent three seasons at Illinois before coming to Kansas. In his first two years with the Illini, he won the Big Ten regular season title. His third year, he won the Big Ten tournament title. That means that in the 11 years that Bill Self has been a major conference basketball coach, he has won a conference championship 10 of those years. In five of those years, he won both the regular season and tournament titles.

Criticize all you want, that is an impressive resume.

But we don't value consistency. College basketball fans, especially the fans of a program like Kansas, don't value conference titles or 30 win seasons. They want banners. They want Final Fours and national titles. Regular season success is great for a resume.

But postseason success is what makes you a legend.

The ironic part of all of this?

Bill Self was Shaka Smart 12 years ago. He was Brad Stevens. He built Tulsa into a powerhouse in the WAC, taking them to the 1999 NCAA Tournament and then advancing to the Elite 8 of the 2000 NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed.

Bill Self's tournament success at Tulsa got him to a position where he can be ripped for his lack of tournament success at Kansas.

Ironic, isn't it?

So be warned, Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens. It isn't always going to be fun and games once you're coaching the big boys.

And be thankful, Bill Self, for Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and Jason Richards. They've saved your reputation.
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Bill Self comments on Josh Selby

Bill Self commented today on the eligibility status of freshman point guard Josh Selby. Here is what he said in full:

Josh's status for competition hasn't changed. While he has met NCAA academic requirements to be on aid, practice and compete this year, we continue to work with the NCAA as we review his amateur status. We will not play Josh in games until that process is complete and a decision is rendered.

We support and respect the process, and hope that it is over sooner rather than later. But we don't expect a decision on this before the regular season begins. We will not comment further until the process is complete.

He can't be much more straight forward than that.


This is the first time (well, first time I have seen, please correct me if I missed something along the way) that Self comments on the duration of this investigation. It has to be worrying to Kansas fans that the release said that Self doesn't expect a decision before the regular season starts. Kentucky fans can feel the pain. They went through this with John Wall last year, but Wall was eventually cleared and suspended for two games.

Renardo Sidney went through this process last season as well. The NCAA took until March to come to a decision, and eventually suspended Sidney for a year and a half.

Self also says Selby has been cleared academically, but the NCAA is still investigating his amateur status.

The issue stems from Selby's relationship with Robert "Bay" Frazier, who is Carmelo Anthony's business manager. Frazier admitted that he was an advisor to Selby during the recruiting process, which in and of itself would -- well, should -- not be a problem. The recruiting process is not an easy one to work your way through, and so long as no money or promises were exchanged, Selby getting advice from a Baltimore native is not a violation.

Complicating that issue, however, was a New York Times article where the reporter saw Selby driving a white Mercedes Benz.

Maybe he should have gotten a ride that day.
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The Henry Iba Award Finalists Announced

The USBWA has announced their list of ten finalists for the Henry Iba Award for college basketball coach of the year. They are:

• Mike Anderson, Missouri
• John Calipari, Memphis
• Jeff Capel, Oklahoma
• Jamie Dixon, Pitt
• Mike Montogomery, Cal
• Stew Morrill, Utah State
• Matt Painter, Purdue
• Oliver Purnell, Clemson
• Bill Self, Kansas
• Brad Stevens, Butler
  

The biggest issue I have with this list is some of the names that were left off. For starters, how about Trent Johnson down at LSU. Did anyone expect anything out of the Tigers this year? The SEC may be down, but in his first year Johnson has led the Bayou Bengals to an outright SEC title. Remember, this is a team that went 13-18 (6-10 in the SEC) in '07-'08, struggled so much that they got John Brady fired just two years removed from a Final Four, and lost lottery pick Anthony Randolph to the NBA.

What about the job that Lorenzo Romar has done out in Seattle for the Washington Huskies? U-Dub was picked fifth in the preseason poll, but Romar has led them to a 22-7 record and at least a share of the Pac-10 title (they will win it out right if they beat Wazzu this weekend).

I would even put Bruce Weber from Illinois on this list. The Illini didn't add much to a team that struggled through the '07-'08 season, but Weber has his guys at the top of the Big Ten and headed back to the tournament.

As far as I'm concerned, those three guys are far more deserving that Jamie Dixon, Jeff Capel, or Stew Merrill. Don't get me wrong, all three are fantastic coaches and are having great seasons. I just don't see how they have been better than some of the coaches that were left off the list.

Pitt has been a top five team all season, and is right in the mix for the Big East regular season title. But they were supposed to be. Pitt would be considered a disappointment if they weren't having this kind of season. Is it coach of the year worthy to just live up to expectations?

Oklahoma is having a great season, but isn't the knock on them that they are Blake Griffin and then everyone else? Is it really a great coaching job when you ride the best player in the country?

As good as Utah State has been in the WAC, I just can't give this team too much credit. They have one good win (at home against Utah), they have 12 wins against teams with RPI's of 200+, and they have lost three of their last five (all to teams in the top 100). I just don't think that beating up on a bunch of poor-mediocre teams qualifies you as a coach of the year candidate.

So who is the coach of the year?

If I had to decide today, I would probably narrow it down to three guys: Brad Stevens, John Calipari, and Bill Self. Stevens lost everyone except Matt Howard from last year's Butler team, but he has managed to keep the Bulldogs atop the Horizon League on the strength of two freshman (Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack) and Howard. Everyone in the world knows what Bill Self lost last year - six of his top seven scorers, five of whom went to the NBA. Just sixth man Sherron Collins and seldom used Cole Aldrich came back, but Self has managed to mold a group of talented freshman and JuCo transfers into the top team in the Big XII. The Baby Jayhawks control their own destiny as they try to win their fifth straight conference title.

But my pick for coach of the year goes to John Calipari. Just like Self, he lost a ton of talent to the league in Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and Joey Dorsey. He returned a team with all sorts of athletic potential, but that was devoid of a point guard and consistent shooters. Trying a number of different line-ups, he finally settled on using freshman Tyreke Evans at the point, and Memphis has not lost since he made the change.

The Tigers are still playing their menacing style of defense (they have given up more than 70 points just five times this year, and not once since January 3rd). Cal has taken this team from inconsistent bunch that lacked confidence into a serious threat to make a second straight Final Four.

I think Buzz Williams at Marquette and Leonard Hamilton at Florida State should also get a mention for the season that their respective teams are having, as well as Tom Crean for keeping his Indiana team fighting through the abysmal season they are having. Continue reading...