This Team Wasn't Tough Enough

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We've all seen this story unfold before. We've seen the unfulfilled 1 seeds. We've seen the missed free throws. We've seen the media hand games over to Kansas before ever being played, and we've seen KU blow those games. We've seen the mid-majors showcasing the name on their jerseys, while we've seen the KU players use them to cry into. We've seen the rejoice from Missouri and K-State fans. We've felt the heartbreak.

KU's loss to the VCU Jay Bilas's summed up the season perfectly. You never knew whether to take this team too seriously because you never knew if they were going to take their opponent seriously. This team was defined by cruise control. They possessed very little killer instinct. They played with a sense of entitlement, believing that they would win the game because they were Kansas, and probably wouldn't have to try their hardest to do so.

All of that is fine and dandy until somebody punches you in the mouth. With such a sparse amount of superior teams around the country this year, we only saw one team really do it to KU all season: Kansas St. That game played out very similarly to what we witnessed on Sunday. Let the opponent surge out to a giant lead before finally deciding you'd better give it everything you had, only it was too late, and you didn't have the extra gear that you thought you had. KU never learned how to play from behind all season. Simply put, KU wasn't tough enough.

The lasting image of this team in my mind will be Brady Morningstar nearly in tears on the bench in the first half of Sunday's meltdown. THE FIRST HALF! They didn't get mad about VCU's hot start, or a few calls going against them (their excuse, not mine), they got sad. That's about as un-tough as it gets. I lost a good amount of belief in the team when I witnessed this. I couldn't believe it. And M-Star wasn't alone on the bench, with T-Robb the Sobb boohooing along with him. At that point, I had counted both of those players out for the rest of the game.

In fact, with both of those players counted out, Markieff seemingly uninterested in seeing his draft stock rise at all, and Tyrel Reed falling prey to the white guy March shooting slump syndrome (file that under the "we've seen that before" category), this team simply didn't have enough players to trust. Tyshawn played his best ball of the season in the Tournament (as might've been expected from his big game experience), and Marcus Morris did all he could do with a collapsing zone defense with no outside threats. Beyond that, who are you looking to? Mario Little (nowhere to be seen)? Josh Selby (should've been playing over Tyrel)? Frankly, it was more amazing to me what this team accomplished over the season than the fact they bowed out of the NCAA Tournament at this point.

However, it would be un-Dirkness like if I didn't offer a glimmer of hope for my optimistic readers out there, and here it is...The 2008 Championship team had to work their way there. They bowed out in the Elite 8 the year before they won it all. Not only did that provide crucial Tournament experience (which this team was somewhat void of), it gave them the drive going into the next season to get the job done. Remember B-Rush blowing out his knee that offseason? That's magical. I never felt the magic with this team. There was no midseason players-only meeting at Henry's like with that team. They never took joy in beating teams by 50 points like that team. This team was set on coasting. That team never coasted. They knew what was at stake and they knew that any one bump in the road could derail them from their goal. Hopefully, this team has learned that now. Oh yea, and I believe the Morrissii will be coming back.

Lastly, I remind all of you that we are analyzing kids that are between 18 and 21 years old (excluding Grandpa Morningstar). To believe that anything is a given with kids that young is silly. They are very impressionable, and if they are told all week that they are going to beat a team, they're going to believe it. And when pressure is applied to kids that young, you never know what you're going to get. That's what makes the NCAA Tournament so unpredictable and beautiful. Here's to hoping KU never enters another Tournament as the favorite.

Wiping away tears with brackets,
His Bracketness

KU-Richmond Thoughts

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No time to organize, here ya go....

~Richmond thrives at the aspect of a game best suited to upset a top seed and that is shooting 3's. If the Spiders are to win this game, they will be draining 3's all night.

~7 of the 8 Richmond players that see major minutes shoot the 3-ball. 6 of those 7 shoot 39% or better from long range. Egads.

~That being said, the Sweet 16 is where 12 seeds go to die. The first weekend of games is one thing, but the next weekend is a whole new tournament. It can become too much for any mid-major not named Butler.

~KU's path to the Final Four is remarkably similar to the path they took in 2008, when they played a 12 seed (Villanova) in the Sweet 16, and a 10 seed in the Elite 8 (Davidson). Could be the same this year. I liiike.

~The Spiders have two players to keep your eyes on: Justin Harper - 6'10 guy who can shoot and Kevin Anderson - 6'0 guy who, get this, can shoot.

~The Richmond Spiders can shoot. This facet of the game will ultimately decide if this game is close or not.

~The Spiders rank 259th in the country in rebounds. The Jayhawks rank 19th. KU should be able to dominate them on the boards all night long.

~Richmond comes in hot, winning 9 in a row, and 13 of their last 14.

~The Spiders won their only previous meeting against the Jayhawks in 2004 at Allen Fieldhouse. They have a history and a knack for pulling off huge upsets.

~The Jayhawks consistencAy will once again be a Ty TAy dependancAy. If he plays well, this game shouldn't be close. He was the best player on the court against Illinois. If he goes all Tyshawn on us, we could be in for a doozy.

~PreDirktion: Kansas 81, Richmond 69

Down to my loins in brackets,
His Bracketness

NCAA Tournament Awards

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So most of the following pertains to the first weekend of NCAA Tournament games, but I choose to write them nonetheless! Try and look past the immediate relevance of them and enjoy the ridiculousciousness...

And the award goes to....

PLAYERS

For being the best player in the NCAA Tournament (written before last night's manhandling of the Dukies) - Derrick Williams, Arizona

For potentially being the best College Basketball player of all time - Tyrel Reed, Kansas (has a chance to surpass Shane Battier for most wins by one player if KU makes the National Championship Game)

For making the Dirkness All-Tournament team: Jacob Pullen - Kansas St, Jimmer Fredette - BYU, Brandon Knight - Kentucky, Derrick Williams - Arizona, Tyler Zeller - North Carolina

For making the Dirkness second team All-Tournament team: Kemba Walker - UConn, Shelvin Mack - Butler, Erving Walker - Florida, Marcus Morris - Kansas, Joshua Smith- UCLA

For being this year's Omar Sanham (Dirkness mancrush) - Kenneth Faried, Morehead St.

For being this Tournament's Keiton Page (thus bothering Dirkness to no end) - Chandler Parsons, Florida

For being a homeless man's Tyler Hansbrough - Josh Harrellson, Kentucky

For obviously being on steroids - Jimmer Fredette, BYU

For the dumbest play of the Tournament - John Henson, North Carolina - near goaltending at the end of UNC-Wash game (dumber than Pitt-Butler fouls because there was absolutely nothing to gain)

For best nickname - The Mazzula Oblongota, West Virginia

For the second best nickname - Little Onions - Erving Walker, Florida

For most nicknames for one player - Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia - The Turkish Torpedo, The Bearded Clam, The Overmatched Bond Villain, Zangief

For having the best name of the Tournament - MoMo Jones, Arizona

For having the best chance to succeed based on birth name - Bradford Burgess, VCU

For the weirdest KU-related sighting - David Padgett, Louisville (coaching)

For the second weirdest KU-related sighting - Quintrell Thomas, UNLV

For having the best post-game celebration - MoMo Jones, Arizona - Blowing a kiss to the camera while slobbering uncontrollably

TEAMS

For being the true Cinderellas of the NCAA Tournament - Richmond Spiders (most opening round wins as a 12 seed or lower - 5, Tulsa - 3)

For creating argument about who's the true Cinderella - Gonzaga ZagDogs (8-4 as a double digit seed since 1999)

For being the first team ever - Michigan (won a game with no made free throws)

For putting up the biggest Georgetown-like first round lay down - Georgetown

For putting up the biggest Pitt-like Tournament letdown - Pitt

For annually being picked to go further in brackets than they actually go - Texas

For being the least impressive surviving team of the first weekend (written before Sweet 16) - San Diego St.

For being the most impressive team of the Tournament - VCU

For being the easiest Sweet 16 matchup to pick - UNC over Marquette

For being the biggest Sweet 16 toss up - VCU/Florida St.

For having the best fight song: Arizona

MISCELLANEOUS

Scariest sighting - Dan Bonner's overzealous smily face

Silliest looking future leaders of America - Princeton fans in orange-man suits

Weirdest Tournament follow-up show - TruTV's Bicycle Soccer

Best mispronunciation of the Tournament - Charles Barkley - "cramps" ("crabs", "craps")

Troofest statement of the Tournament - Charles Barkley - "Texas is a team that relies on talent alone, but shows very poor fundamentals"

Rule change suggestion - His Dirkness - No more 1-in-1 free throws (too big an emphasis on free throw shooting)

Coolest NCAA Tournament connection - Sean Miller, Arizona - threw the pass that led to "Send it in, Jerome" call...



: Best Send it in Jerome of the Tournament - Derrick Williams, Arizona...



Best prediction - Charles Barkley - picking Arizona to beat Duke even at halftime while trailing by 6 (narrowly edging Dirkness' prediction of Arizona to beat Duke from the beginning)

Best announcing term of the Tournament - Gus Johnson - "Crosstown traffic" (narrowly edging Gus Johnson's "Oooohhhhooooohhhhhh")

Most overused announcing term - "heat check"

Most underused announcing term - "hockey assist"


Sky high in brackets,
His Bracketness