Elijah Johnson's ONIONS

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Move over Mario Chalmers, there's a new #15 in town.

Rest easy. Now that my catchy introduction has sucked you in, I assure you that Elijah Johnson isn't in the same stratosphere of "The Best Basketball Player in the World." Hell, he doesn't even have a seat at the dinner table with Chalmers alongside Tommie Frazier, Tim Salmon, and Ron World Peace.

Yet.

But that hasn't deterred me from noticing the volleyball-sized Grapefruits dangling between Johnson's legs this past week and a half. My Lawrence sources (very reliable) tell me that EJ's short size has gone from Large to Holy shit, I can't believe he took that deep of a three against Purdue with the game on the line for a basketball-obsessed university when he's the fourth best player on the team XXL.

Rewind.

February 4th, 2012. Mizzou Arena. Kansas and Missouri. KU blows an 8 point lead with just over 2 minutes left to play. KU down 3 with 10 seconds left. Everybody knows what play is coming. We'd seen it before in the 2007 Big 12 Championship Game. We'd seen it before in the National Championship Game. This play has an undisputed track record. But who gets to take the shot?

Elijah Johnson does. Well, sorta. The play unfolds perfectly (can be seen here, starting at 0:34). Tyshawn dribbles down the right side, hands off to EJ, who comes off the Travis Releford screen for a wide open look at the top of the key. And then? He doesn't shoot. Well, he eventually does, but not when he's supposed to. He misses terribly. In Miami, Chalmers gets stoned on a beach out of disgust.

This is so much worse than pulling the trigger and missing. I can't begin to describe how disappointing it was to see EJ afraid of the moment like that. He went Lebron in the 4th quarter of an NBA Finals game on us. He pulled a Jay Cutler in the NFC Championship Game. I didn't want the ball near EJ's hands with the game on the line ever again.

Fast Forward.

Elijah Johnson hits the biggest shot in three straight NCAA Tournament games, sending the Kansas Jayhawks to the 2012 Final Four.

vs. Purdue - Johnson essentially carries the team on his back on a night where both T-Rob and Tyshawn play horrifically. EJ scores 13 second half points, hits a three to give KU its first lead of the game with 3 minutes left (SHOT #1), throws a mystifying alley-oop pass to his guard-mate, captures a steal and finishes on the other end to give the Jayhawks a lead they never relinquished.

vs. NC State - KU controls the game until they go ice cold in the final 4 minutes. NC State closes to within 1 point to the shock of my at-home audience. Following a missed Tyshawn FT that goes out of bounds off NC State, EJ makes a backdoor cut right to the basket, receives the ball and finishes (SHOT #2) securing KU's spot in the Elite 8.

vs. North Carolina - A heavyweight battle. A back n' forth slugfest that sees little separation until EJ bangs home a three from the wing (SHOT #3), putting KU up 71-67 with just over 3 minutes to play. The Jayhawks score the next 9 points to send themselves to the Final Four.

How and when did this transformation happen? Johnson was widely criticized throughout the season for never realizing his potential, shooting 33% from downtown, and shooting blanks inside Mizzou Arena. To his benefit, and for the better or worse of anybody involved in College Basketball, you're judged for what you do in the NCAA Tournament. Especially at a program like Kansas.

Well, Elijah, you got two more games to make your case over The Lawrence Legend, and fellow #15 brother, Mario Chalmers. Who knows, maybe one day you'll be the one asking a lucky KU coed "Who's The Best Basketball Player in the World?"

His Dirkness

KU Wins: On A Night Where...

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The Kansas Jayhawks had every excuse they needed to lay down, go home, and accept their third upset in as many years last night in the NCAA Tournament.

On a night where similarities to the Northern Iowa and VCU games were impossible to ignore. KU comes out timid? Check. Opposing team builds an early lead by scorching the nets from downtown? Check. KU spends the rest of the game trying to erase that early double digit deficit? Check. KU begins to unravel, doing none of the things that brought the team to this point in the first place? Check. Late game, late in the shot clock, somewhat flukish, but very daggerrific three pointer? Che....wait, he missed it? Now, I'm not talking about the miss in the final seconds (as good a look as you can ask for in 2.5 seconds) or even Hummel's miss with Purdue trailing by 1. I'm talking about DJ Byrd's miss on his off-balanced, fadeaway 3 with just over a minute left to play (directly preceding the Elijah to Tyshawn alley-oop). That would've been the dagger. That's the shot both UNI and VCU were able to hit.

On a night where Thomas Robinson played his worst game of the season. I mean, he was lucky to draw iron on most of his shots (not to mention taking 12 seconds to make it down the floor at times). Sure, the Boilermakers were packing the paint all night (triple teaming T-Robb at times), but I haven't seen The Slobb miss that many point blank shots all season (to be fair, I don't jump all in on KU until after football season, so my perspective is a bit skewed).

On a night where neither of KU's best players came to play. Tyshawn Taylor forced a few up and missed a few we're used to seeing him make. However, to his credit, he never lost his composure (which, undoubtedly, would have spelled the end for KU).

On a night where Conner Teahan, both deservedly and inexplicably, became the team's #1 offensive weapon for a key 10 minute stretch in the second half. This was in reaction to Robinson and Taylor's struggles. Teahan stroked a few in the first half, but was unable to answer the bell in the second half. On to the next one...

On a night where the team's most underachieving player, Elijah Johnson, seized the moment, and rewrote the story on his own KU career in a 3 minute stretch. I can't believe he took that shot. I can't believe he didn't drop his arms down and do Sam Cassell's cajones dance after he hit it. That was THE ultimate "Nooooooooooo, YESSSSSSSSSSS" shot. Make no mistake about it, this was Elijah's win. He hit the shot. He threw the oop. He made the steal. And he threw it down for the lead that KU never relinquished. 

On a night where Jeff Withey put on his flashback face (located somewhere between his bad call face and his "I dominate you" face) and rehashed his Missouri miseries. "Jeff didn't go after the ball," Self said after the game, which basically means, "Withey didn't bring it." That also means, that with this team's season on the line, Self didn't want Withey in the game. It'll be interesting to see if Withey can regain his confidence, or if he can't, to see if KU will be able to alter their style on such short notice.

On a night where KU entrusted Kevin Young to slow down the opposition's best (and only) offensive weapon, Robbie Hummel. 

On a night where Naadir Tharpe shot three 3-pointers. My biggest gripe with Self right now is that he insists on playing Tharpe in this NCAA Tournament, while refusing to play him the majority of the season. I can't make any sense of this fact.

On a night where Bill Self broke out his favorite NCAA Tournament gimmick, the Triangle and 2 defense, which stifled the limited Purdue offense throughout the second half. I LOVE how Bill Self never, ever uses this in the regular season, but isn't afraid to bust it out in the Tournament (most notably, against Davidson in the Elite 8 of 2008).

On a night where KU got lucky. Why? Because Purdue just isn't any good (two horrible offensive possessions down the stretch was your surest sign). You're not supposed to win an NCAA Tournament game when your two best players play that poorly (combining to shoot 6-23). KU shot under 34% for the game as a team. On the other side, Purdue's best player shot 9-13. They shot 8-18 from deep.

So, how did KU win?

Because on this night, KU showed legitimate toughness, grit and determination. Maybe this KU team is different after all. Maybe they have the heart to navigate this cruel Tournament. Maybe this is the ugly win that, seemingly, every National Champion has on the path to the title. Or maybe last night was just last night.

A night where somehow, someway KU survived and advanced.

His Dirkness

KU: It's Time To Get Serious

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Those who have been following my KU analyses throughout the year know that I'm all about the ridiculousness - from Withey's golden slumbers, to a slew of perfected nicknames (Mar-Mo, Marqueef, Thryrell, Morningstarch, Ratatat Ty Tay, Selby Don't, T-Robb The Backboard Slobb, The Mid Ranger Banger, ChenoWithey, BobbleHeadeford, and The Book of Eli-Jah Rule), to the angel who descended from heaven and graced us with the Yaya's of the Century (YOTC - pronounced Yahtzee) inside the Fieldhouse - but that's what the College Basketball regular season is all about.

Now, it's time to get serious.

Duke wasn't the best team last season by any means. What they did better than any other team in the country was know their roles. A wise man once said, "Knowing your weaknesses can be your greatest strength." So when Zoubek was grabbing offensive rebounds, he wasn't looking for his own shot, but was looking for one of his plethora of shooters around the 3-point arc. Simply, they never played outside of themselves. Duke used this strategy all the way to a National Championship.

Fast forward to this season with KU. How well do the players from top to bottom know their role right now? In a word, not. Which makes this Big 12 Tournament extremely important for the Jayhawks. It's more important that they make it to the Championship Game than it is that they win it. They need the experience because the team's dynamic has changed since the Tyshawn suspension and the Selby implosion. Players are now being casted in new roles, and the biggest question I have moving forward is...

Is there enough time?

The change in the team's infrastructure centers around 3 players. Tyshawn Taylor was the starting Point Guard for the majority of the season up until his suspension for posting a double-double on Marisha Brown at mid-court of the Fieldhouse. Josh Selby had been starting until his man-pon fell out and landed on his foot, sidelining him for 3 games. His spot has been long lost to M-Star by now. Elijah Johnson has filled in gracefully as the starting Point Guard, and has kept the job even since Ty-Tay's return. So how will Bill But-Butta Self juggle this threesome heading into the most important games of the season?

Josh Selby - Ranting time. For the record, I've been against the recruitment of Josh Selby from day one. I feel like I'm the only one that gets it when it comes to 1-and-dones, but I'll explain once again. They may benefit a program like Baylor or Kansas St, but Kansas has no business recruiting these types of players. Not only do they not breed National Championships (the most repeated line in His Dirknesstory), with Carmelo Anthony as the lone exception (and that was 8 years ago!), but they leave your program in worse shape for the next season. If Xavier Henry (who some people still try to argue was successful at KU - SPOILER - he wasn't) and Selby hadn't enrolled at KU, then a player like Travis Releford would have two years of game experience by now and would be ready to contribute not only this season, but for the next two as well.

The most mind-boggling part of it all is that Self hasn't seemed to figure this out, even though it's not how he won his National Championship at KU. But will this experience with Selby change his recruiting strategy? They can't be getting along. And, now, Selby finds himself in a pickle. He can either cut his losses and go to the NBA with a depleted draft stock, or try and repair his relationship with Self and come back and improve his game with one more year of college experience. You have to wander what NBA scouts are thinking about Selby not playing a single minute in the 2nd half on Saturday. Whatever happens, I'm sure nobody hates the rule forcing players to wait a year to enter the NBA Draft more than Josh Selby.

That's enough ranting. Sorry, it's just difficult to listen to people discuss the situation and get it so wrong. Lets address Selby's current situation with KU. I was so sickened by his performance against Missouri on Saturday that I scribbled down in my notes, "I don't even want to look at Josh Selby's face anymore." Well, my guess is that he finds himself 9th in the rotation now, which might not crack more than 10 minutes a game (if he ever takes his warmups off). I would let him see the floor, but wouldn't let his time extend beyond two missed shots, to see if he decided to mentally show up for that game. However, my nightmare of him costing us a game in the NCAA Tournament may no longer be realistic, because I don't think he'll see enough meaningful minutes.

Tyshawn Taylor/Elijah Johnson - I figured Tyshawn would've regained his position in the starting lineup after his suspension, but Self's decision to go with Elijah in the Missouri game may have been telling as to where they stand in his mind. We may be seeing a Point Guard-by-committee situation developing. I really don't know who to expect in the game come crunch time with the season on the line. That's something you need to know this time of year. And maybe Self does. That's what he must get ironed out though, and the Big 12 Tournament is the last opportunity to tinker with his many pieces. I'm in favor of starting Elijah from here on out, and using Ty Tay as more of an off guard, coming off the bench, specializing in transition and getting to the rim. EJ provides something that has been lacking from this team throughout most of the season, which is great on-the-ball defense. I'm talkin Russ-Rob style defense. It's very refreshing, and may give KU the defensive spark they've needed all season.

It's up to Self to get this figured out in time for the NCAA Tournament. I just hope there's enough time. The wrong decision and KU could be headed for another early round upset. However, if Self can find the right combination to these three guards, he might just crack the safe's code, and potentially unlock another National Championship.

For my Big 12 Awards including 1st team, 2nd team, Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Freshman, Most Overrated/Underrated: Click here.

For my Big 12 Tournament predictions: Click here.

His Dirkness