Friday, April 4, 2008
It was 1 a.m., Monday when Bill Self stood next to his team in Allen Fieldhouse in front of an estimated 6,000 fans. Kansas returned from Detroit advancing to its first Final Four since Roy Williams left for North Carolina in 2003.
“Are these guys studs, or what?” Self asked the crowd about his Final Four team.
Judging by the crowd’s roaring reaction, they agreed.
But for just about everyone else in the country, Kansas looked like a team that played tight and could barely get past a No. 10 seed. Self, dealing with the typical media questions that come after a close win against an ‘inferior’ opponent such as Davidson, tried to diffuse the notion that his team simply had a bad game.
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Both Self and his players are aware of this perception, but have not taken it to heart.
“I don’t want to say we played poorly, because that takes away from Davidson,” Self said in the press conference after the game. “They muddied up the game for us very, very well.”
Self was right. Davidson was a good team who gave Kansas its best. Davidson defeated the Big 10 Champion and No. 3 seed Wisconsin by 16 points and defeated the regular season Big East Champion No. 2 seed Georgetown in the tournament, but couldn’t get past the Jayhawks. In the regular season, Davidson was ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll coming into the tournament. Davidson even played Kansas’ next opponent, North Carolina, and lost by just four points.
Though Kansas probably faced the toughest competition in Davidson out of all the Final Four teams this past weekend, Kansas is a three-point underdog going into Saturday’s game and viewed as the weakest of the number one seeds.
Both Self and his players are aware of this perception, but have not taken it to heart.
“I guess we could be the underdogs since we’re the fourth number one seed,” Self said Monday in the NCAA Final Four teleconference. “But I really think in this situation I don’t think there is much of a difference between any of the teams from a performance standpoint.”
Kansas’ lack of All-Americans as opposed to North Carolina, UCLA and Memphis give many another reason to believe Kansas’ is the weakest one seed. For senior guard Russell Robinson, the lack of All-Americans is no reason for Kansas to be considered the underdogs.
“I don’t feel like we are the underdogs,” said Robinson in a press conference on Monday. “Part of our success has come from us being unselfish and everybody sharing the spotlight and contributing. Different guys step up on different nights and that is how we got where we are.”
Until the actual game is played Saturday, there will be doubts of Kansas’ chances against North Carolina. The Jayhawks need to focus on only one thing: the game. If Kansas gives into the belief that they are not as good as North Carolina, there will be trouble.
Self knows this.
“In general terms, you’ve just got to believe that you’re going do it,” he said in a Kansas athletics press release on Wednesday after landing in San Antonio. “So many times when you’re hoping to win, you play not to lose — and we can’t be that way.”
If there is one guy who will know a little something about believing Kansas’ success this weekend, it would be Danny Manning. It’s been 20 years since ‘Danny and the Miracles’ made their run for the National Championship.
If this year’s Jayhawks can believe they can win, it would be fitting to dub them as ‘Bill Almighty and the Champs.’
— Edited by Daniel Reyes
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