Anatomy of a beautiful (and pivotal) play...

We can rightly talk about how Scott Drew coached poorly (and his team executed badly) to close out the game...but the flip side is how well Self coached and KU players executed in the crucial stretch run.

The alley oop play to Selden that put KU up 3 (with 1:27 to play) was instructive. Recall that Self wasn't happy with our offensive set, and Frank was still hurting badly after getting tomahawk-chopped on the noggin/neck...so Self smartly called a timeout. Coming out of that break, KU ran what arguably was the pivotal play in our run. Pull up this highlights video and watch from the :45 minute mark:

espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=400831549

What is impressive about this play is how it took all of the KU moving parts executing well to make that play succeed. It's not only about Devonte making the accurate pass near the rim, or Wayne flashing to the hoop and finishing, it's also about Lucas setting an absolutely monster pick on Motley in the paint...and Ellis also getting in front of Prince to prevent him from flashing to disrupt Selden. Rewind it a bit and you'll see what I mean. It's like a huge breakout rushing play in football, where you see the back do his thing and race down the field...but it's only when you go back and slow-mo the work in the trenches that you see where the grunt work was performed to make the highlight-reel play viable.

Great call by Coach. Fantastic execution by our players. Game, set, match--KU!

I do the exact same thing with the DVR, NotO. It's not only for my own analytic purposes (for the Board), but also because I tend to watch with my son, and every game provides some outstanding "teaching moments" (both good and bad) for his game.

Thank you, Tivo! (Original inventor of the DVR, along with Replay TV)

Given that functionality plus "time-shifted" (non-live) viewing, I honestly don't know how I ever functioned without one. (Don't get me started on VCRs, haha)

Seems to me that ref needs to shut his mouth. If I were the fining authority for Big 12 refs, that guy's wallet would be a little lighter (not get to ref his next game or 2). Despite the truth of his comment, as a supposedly impartial official, you just can't say stuff like that -- not if you want to be invited to continue to work.