Chalmers is a Timberwolf

Fierce by nature, Timberwolf by selection. Mario Chalmers was selected as the 4th pick in the second round of the NBA Draft. Going #34 overall wasn't what we had in mind, but we are definitely glad that Mario has moved on to the next level. Yes, we would have LOVED to have him in the Jayhawk uniform for the 2008-2009 season, but this is a good move for him.

Congrats, Mario, we'll be cheering for you!

Movers and Shakers

Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur will likely not be staying where they were drafted tonight.

It was proposed that Rush would be traded to Indiana this evening where he will join his brother Kareem. Likewise, Arthur is going to potentially be traded to Portland.

Will there be any other moves for these guys? Only time will tell.


JUST IN: Arthur was traded to Portland for cash considerations from New Orleans.

Arthur's time to shine

He's done it! First round draft pick. Not where he wanted to be necessarily, but Darrell Arthur has made it to the professional basketball level. As the 27th pick in this years NBA draft, Arthur was selected by the New Orleans Hornets.

Rush-ing to the NBA

Well the first round of the 2008 NBA draft was filled with elation and disappointment for Jayhawk fans around the nation.

Brandon Rush was drafted at number 13, to the Portland Trailblazers. This means that he was selected as a lottery pick in this year's draft! Congrats to B. Rush!

Now on to more disappointing news. After Darrell Arthur announced that he would return to the University of Kansas if he wasn't going to be in the top 16 drafted this year, I am just hoping that he gets drafted in the first round. At this time, Houston is making the 25th pick in the first round, and Arthur's name has not been announced yet.

And beyond Arthur's late blooming in the draft, Mario Chalmers has not been picked up yet either.

Hopefully both of these talented young athletes make it to NBA teams during the first round.

Only time will tell!

Rock Chalk.

Mock Draft - the night before

The NBA Draft is tomorrow night. Three Jayhawks are projected to be in the top 25. Where will they actually be going? We will have to wait until tomorrow night to find out.

There have been many mock drafts set up by the pundits, but the most recent one I have seen was found on the KC Star website.

16. Philadelphia 76ers - Darrell Arthur

21. Denver Nuggets - Brandon Rush

24. Seattle SuperSonics - Mario Chalmers

Tomorrow night, we will see if these mock draft predictions hold true, or if any of our guys will be lottery picks (top 14). We wish them the best!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Boston Celtics win the NBA Finals

Lead by Paul Pierce, the 2008 NBA Finals MVP, the Boston Celtics dominated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the Finals.

Ending the game with the score 131-92, the Celtics earned their 17th NBA Title. What a storied team. Seventeen out of 62 NBA Titles belong to the Celtics. Rock Chalk this one up as the most recent Title since 1986.

The Boston Celtics came in with 24 wins last season, last in the Eastern Conference. This season they turned it around and earned 66 hard-fought wins to lead the NBA. The addition of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett sent a spark through the team that allowed them to come together and crush the opposition.

Note: NBA Finals MVP - Paul Pierce attended the great University of Kansas as did Scot Pollard. Two great Jayhawks earning their share of the 2008 NBA Finals Championship the same year their alma mater earned the NCAA National Championship.

It's definitely been a great year to be a member of the proud Jayhawk Nation! Go Hawks!

Decision made, more Jayhawks going to the NBA

Sunday came, and went. The last day to withdraw from the 2008 NBA Draft. Both Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur have made the decision to stay and hope to be a lottery pick.

The LJWorld posted an article with this information on Monday to much of the Jayhawk Nation's dismay. Although this is a great opportunity for both young men, what about the rest of the Jayhawks?

With only 4 scholarship athletes left from the National Championship team, the 2008-2009 season is going to be interesting. With new recruits, junior college transfers and the return of Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, hopefully the 'Hawks will take a stab at the Big XII title.

All in all though, Arthur and Chalmers will be missed, but they are where they deserve to be and I wish them all the success in the world.

After winning the NCAA National Title, hopefully they will each fall in Wayne Simien and *Paul Pierce's footsteps to earn the NBA Title ring as well!



*Note - At the time of publication, the Boston Celtics lead the LA Lakers 77-48 with 5:58 left in the third quarter of Game 6.

Jayhawks visit the White House

The National Championship Team visited the White House last week. Video of Bush's speech below:

Arthur and Rush declare

On thursday afternoon, Darrell Arthur and Brandon Rush held a press conference with Bill Self and the media to declare their intentions of entering the 2008 NBA Draft.

This is Rush's second time declaring, so the Junior Jayhawk is for sure not returning to KU next season. He has not signed with an agent yet, but will do so in the coming weeks.

Arthur has made his hopes clear that he wishes to go in the first half of the first round of the draft. He says that if he doesn't go in the first 15, he'll return to Kansas for his Junior season. This is a viable option because he is not going to be signing with an agent. He'll just tread the water, see what people are saying, and then make his final decision.

Coach Self is standing firm with his stance that these gentlemen are making very difficult, but good decisions. Yes it may be true that both would really help the Jayhawks next year, but to repeat the Championship would still be extremely difficult. Supporting them is great though, and I support their decisions as well.

Only time will tell if more Jayhawks will be gone next year, and that same time will tell how big of a force Kansas will be in the Big XII.

Good luck 'Hawks, we wish you the best in all that you do!

ADDITION (4/28): Chalmers has also decided to put his name in the box for the NBA draft. He hasn't hired an agent, so there is hope for his return if he isn't projected to go in the first round.

National Championship Video

Got this in an email and thought I would share it...



Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Go KU!

Rock Chalk Championship

It was two days ago that KU won the National Championship, and we are still watching highlights and press conference coverage. I will include more information and video later on, but I had to be sure to get a little post out about the game.

7th overtime in the history of the NCAA tournament.
The most exciting National Championship I have ever seen.

KU wins 75-68 in overtime versus Memphis on Tuesday night. It will definitely be a night to remember. With Mario Chalmers hitting a three pointer to tie the game with 3 seconds left, oh it was exciting.

We watched the game at Allen Fieldhouse with a few thousand of our closest friends. After Chalmers sank that shot, everyone was screaming and jumping up and down. It was so crazy!!!

I will write more later, but I for sure had to get something going on this.

WOOOOOOOOO!

KU dominates UNC

We got to Fatso's in Lawrence around 2pm. The UCLA-Memphis game was at 5:20. KU - UNC was at 8:50. A lot of time to spend at a bar on a nice day :)

Memphis took everything away from UCLA, and even Kevin Love was posterized on a monsterous dunk at one point during the game.

And then it was our turn...

WE DID IT. WE KICKED THE TAR OUT OF THE TAR HEELS. REVENGE IS SWEET, but I still respect Roy!

With a dominant effort in the first half, KU took a 40-12 lead. All of our shots fell and we got after every loose ball. UNC couldn't hit a basket and went on a 9 minute drought without hitting a field goal in the first half.

Hansbrough was getting dominated by Cole Aldrich, a super freshman from Minnesota.

The half ended with Collins hitting a lay-up as time expired. KU was up 17 at the break, 44-27.

The game was truly a game of spurts and Carolina came back and cut the KU lead to 4 with only a few minutes left in the game.

Then KU put the stompin' shoes on again and took off on another spurt of their own. Ending the game with the score of 84-66.

We now face Memphis tomorrow night in the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP game!!! WOOOOOOT Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

I will try to put up some videos and pics soon.

Mass street was crazy after the game, absolutely insane. I will include pics and video of that as well soon.

Now we gotta get ready for the game tomorrow night. Less than 24 hours away and I am PUMPED.

Rock Chalk, Jayhawk Nation, Rock Chalk!

Chalk up another win!

Elite 8 | Detroit, Michigan | Davidson

After hearing all of the hype about Stephen Curry, I wasn't really sure what to think. After seeing him perform, my respect for him grew. Giving up a last second shot to his team-mate was a tough call for him to make, but he did it. As two defensive-minded Jayhawks zeroed in on Curry with just a few seconds left, he had to throw it all out there. The ball landed in Jason Richard's hands and he threw up a three-pointer.

If it goes in, Davidson wins and earns their piece of the Final Four. If it misses, Davidson loses by two points, and the Jayhawks advance as the fourth #1 seed in the Final Four.

Glancing off the left side of the rim, the ball misses the hole and the Jayhawks win!

That was one of the most agonizing games that I have seen in a while. It just looked like the 'Hawks weren't ready to play. Careless mistakes by the guys and questionable calls by the referees (equally bad on both ends of the floor) lead to a very low scoring Elite 8 game.

The 'Hawks came out on top though, winning by two, 59-57.

Leading the Jayhawk attack were Mario Chalmers and Sasha Kaun. Chalmers hit key three-pointers when no one else could make them in the first half, and Kaun gave the 'Hawks that much needed spark several times throughout the game. They each ended the game with 13 points and the Midwest Regional Final trophy.

Bill Self has earned his first Final Four appearance and now has the monkey off of his back. Let's hope that transfers into Kansas dominating and winning its first National Championship in 20 years.

So the Jayhawks will face off against the Tar Heels of North Carolina on Saturday just before 8pm. This will be a huge game for the 'Hawks, and may be equally as big as the actual National Championship game. If we come out swinging like we did against Texas in the Big 12 Tournament, it will all be fine.

Good luck 'Hawks and ROCK CHALK!

How Sweet, the Sweet 16 can be!

Tip-Off was at 8:57 or so on Friday night. In Detroit, KU was facing Villanova in the Sweet 16 game of the 2008 NCAA tournament. It was a bit nerve-wracking going into the game, but our worries were soon put at ease when the Hawks came out swinging.

I believe there were four alley-oop dunks within the first 8 minutes of the game by KU, and by four different players. Nova came out doing their best, but the first half ended with the score of 41-22.

The second half came and was out of Nova's hands for quite a while. There were spurts made, but the spurts were just not strong enough.

Each team had three players with double figures for scoring. Scottie Reynolds just didn't contribute enough with his 11 points, while KU's Brandon Rush led all scorers with 16. Coincidence, I think not.

The Sweet 16 ended Friday night with the Jayhawk win, 72-57. With Davidson knocking off Wisconsin in the earlier game, they will meet their demise facing KU on Sunday in the Elite 8. The tip-off is at 4:05pm CST and the winner will go to the Final Four in San Antonio.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK, GO KU!

And then there were 32...

The basketball game on Saturday evening proved to be a great exhibition of KU's talent. The vast majority of the game was not shown on tv. Due to the Stanford vs Marquette game going into overtime at the begining of the Kansas game, and the drubbing that KU was laying on UNLV towards the end of the game, CBS opted to show the other games at that time.

Mario Chalmers led the team again, knocking in 17 points. Robinson and Rush followed suit scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively. KU laid down the law with the Runnin' Rebels beating them 75-56.

That ends the 1st weekend of action for the Jayhawks in Omaha.
Friday will match the Jayhawks against Villanova in the Sweet 16 in Detroit. With a win, KU will make the Elite 8 for the second straight year and be put up against the winner of the Wisconsin/Davidson match-up that will occur earlier that night.

Tip-off will be at 8:40pm on Friday night. All you can say is Rock Chalk, baby!!!

First Round of the NCAA Tournament

Didn't get to watch KU's game today, but I was able to listen to it on my old school Sony Walkman radio. I barely had enough reception to hear anything, but I made due.

The opening rounds are in Omaha, Nebraska for KU and today's game tipped off at 11:25am versus Portland State.

From what I could tell, it was lop-sided from the beginning. KU pulled away to an early lead, and was up by 23 at halftime, 49-26.

Same situation in the second half, KU dominated and won by 24 points. The final score was 85-61.

Brandon rush led all scorers with 18 points. If he keeps playing the way that he's played in the last few games, we'll be unstoppable!!!

Now we'll play the UNLV Runnin' Rebels on Saturday at 5:50 in Omaha. This should go as well as the first round game and then we'll be in the Sweet 16.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

Championship Game

Texas vs Kansas

2:10pm

The game went back and forth throughout the first half. KU would go up by six or seven and then Texas would drain a three. I don't think I have seen more threes in a game than today (27 overall)! The first half ended with a score of 46-45, Texas.

The second half began and it was neck and neck the entire way through. It was truly a game of spurts, and one of the best college basketball games I have ever seen.

Chalmers scored 30 points and had 6 assists and Rush scored 19 points and had 6 assists, both leading the Jayhawks to an 84-74 victory. Well done boys, well done!

It was enough to hold off Abrams and Augustine and Kansas pulled off the third Big XII Conference Tournament Championship in a row.

Texas has never one a Conference Tournament championship and I think we have taken it away from them the last few years.

Now on to the NCAA's fellas. Get ready to dominate!

Additional Notes:
Chalmers and Rush made the first team for the Tournament with Rush earning the MVP!
Augustine, Abrams and James also made the first team for the tournament.

Third Round - Semi-Finals

I'll be brief because I have much better things to talk about than recapping these games.

Texas won by 28, 77-49 against Oklahoma. Things just fell apart for the Sooners.

Kansas beat the Aggies from Texas A&M by 6, 77-71. Rush did have a career high with 28 points. He was the definitely the guy who stepped up and became the leader of the team for this game.

So Texas and Kansas were lined up to square off in the Big XII Championship game on Sunday!

Second Round of the Tournament

Well today was the second round of the Big XII tournament. The games started at 11:30am and were finished just before 11:00pm. Another full day of basketball, but this time, we got to see our beloved Jayhawks play!

The morning session's games were less than exciting. The Oklahoma State vs Texas game was very sloppy, but it was close. Texas ended up winning 66-59. Texas scored the most points in a game today.

The Colorado vs Oklahoma game was close all the way through, except for the beginning when Colorado didn't score in the first five or six minutes of the game. Oklahoma pulled out with a 10-0 lead. Then Colorado went on a 14-2 run or so and made the game interesting. Oklahoma ended up winning 54-49.

So now in the first game of the Semi-Finals, Texas will face-off against Oklahoma. The top seed versus the four seed. This is the way it was supposed to work out. We'll see tomorrow who will reach the finals!

The evening session began with the Kansas Jayhawks vs Nebraska. KU looked pretty awful during the first half, committing careless turnovers throughout. They ended the game with 18 turnovers, 12 of them coming in the first half. Nebraska led at half 27-22, but KU was able to pull it together and make things happen on the court in the second half. The Jayhawks pulled away at the end to win by 10, 64-54. Again, not the greatest game though.

Finally, K-State and Texas A&M. It started out close, and A&M went slightly ahead. Up by 5, then by 7. It rocked back and forth throughout the majority of the game. A&M was lead by #22 Kirk who made several threes. With four minutes left in the game, Beasley and the wildcats went ahead by one. Then A&M regained the lead and kept it for the rest of the game. The wildcats had an opportunity to win the game with 7.9 seconds left and Beasley missed the lay-in, they got the rebound and sent it out to Pullen who missed. A&M was fouled on the rebound and drained the two free throws. A&M over KSU 63-60.

So now in the second game of the Semi-Finals, KU will play against Texas A&M. The number two seed versus the six seed. Not exactly how it was supposed to work out, but we'll take it. Hopefully the Hawks will have it in them to stomp the Aggies and reach the finals!

First Round of the Tournament

So i guess the afternoon session of the Big XII tourney was a bit more exciting than the evening session. Colorado crushed Baylor in double overtime 91-85. This was the first 12 seed to win a game in the Big 12 Tournament. Well done Buffs!

Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech with a 76-72 win also. Now Oklahoma State will face Texas this morning with tip-off at 11:30. I'll definitely be cheering for Okie State!

We attended the evening session last night and saw Nebraska beat Mizzou and Texas A&M beat Iowa State. We went there to cheer for Nebraska and Iowa State, and I even wore an ISU football tee-shirt (but I still had my KU hat on).

It's always good to see Mizzou lose, but really neither team played very well. And the ISU game was a little crazy because it was such a low scoring game.

Hopefully the games today will be a bit more exciting than the evening session's games played out to be. But I guess how can it not, since we're getting to see KU play!!!

Texas vs Oklahoma State 11:30am
Oklahoma vs Colorado 2:00pm

Kansas vs Nebraska 6pm
Kansas State vs Texas A&M 8:30pm

Rock Chalk Jayhawk, go KU!