My vote for play of the game...

I agree and had just posted about the same play defining Lucas as a warrior tonight.

A close second, I am thinking was when the shot clock was winding down and Selden launched a guarded deep three from the left wing, just beating the buzzer and nailed it. That was maybe a dagger.

Agreed on ALL points!

I had a band rehearsal and had to miss the 2nd half (ok, I watched on my phone sitting on a music stand ) and then rewatched the 2nd half on the DVR after I got home.

I rewound the Lucas play about 3-4 times and upon further review, it was one of the most brilliant plays I've seen sketched up. Here's what I saw:

1.) THE ASSUMPTION: The play was based in the assumption that WVU was going to trap off of screens. Translation: when a KU player tried to screen for a teammate, rather than the defense switching, OR the screened guy fighting through, BOTH the defenders were going to take the guy with the ball and trap him. The entire play hinged on Self's ability to see this coming and plan for it.

2.) The screen: As Frank brought the ball up, Perry went up to set a pick for Frank. As you'd expect, Perry "rolled" to the right, away from the play.

3.) The help: At this point, Perry is rolling away from double-teamed Frank into open territory. Perry's defender has to abandon the trap on Frank and try to catch up to Perry. Seeing this, Williams comes up from the post to help on Perry.

4.) The bait: Obviously KU is going to throw to Perry, right? Nope. At this point, Devonte is on the left wing with a single defender. Frank still has a guy on him. Williams is heading toward the 3 point to help on Perry and Perry's original defender is trying to catch up to Perry. So where are Wayne and Landon? Wayne is all alone in the corner and Landon is on the block. Who's guarding them? One guy...he's between Landon and Wayne and will soon have to make a choice.

5.) Pass #1: Frank flips it to Devonte on the left wing. Now Williams is on Perry, and the guy who was originally covering Perry is trying to get back to the lane. Devonte has a choice of hitting Wayne in the corner for an open 3, or Landon who has sealed off the defender and has a wide open lane to the basket.

6.) The bad decision: The WVU player who was guarding Landon (albeit out of position to do so) now sees Selden in the corner, and says, "Oh no! That's the guy who's uncle is wearing a clock. I'd better go guard him." Might be a good decision, but now Landon is wide open in the lane. He had a 50/50 chance of who to guard, and ....

7.) Pass #2: the guy who was originally guarding Perry is just too late to get to Landon before the ball does, and Landon and the best he can do is hack Landon from behind as Landon converts from point blank range.

Note, this was a play coming out of timeout, so there's no doubt in my mind that HCBS drew this up. It took us from a 4 point advantage to 7. It hinged on the prediction that WVU would try to trap Frank, and that WVU would try to help on Perry. The result was one guy trying to guard a 3 point shooter who was open in the corner, AND our post player who was set up on the block.

Brilliantly predicted, drawn up, and executed. The hack which led to the 3 point play was just icing on the cake.

You should send this to the LJW. Really an enjoyable and informative read! Thanks so much!

NotO analysis = brilliant

and how many of us would have even thought about designing a play for Lucas, let alone have the guts to call it? I guess Devonte may have had the option of throwing to Landon or Wayne depending on that isolated defender. Brilliant coaching, indeed! glad he is our coach.

The set up and delivery description was just like out of the movie "the Sting"..... Thanks for doing this NotO....happens too fast for me to see....have no idea if my recorder even does Slo-mo

So for a number of reasons I appreciate these walk thrus.

Clearly Devonte had a choice of going to Selden who was alone in the corner, or hitting Landon at the block, also open. The only defender close to them was standing between Wayne and Landon, so when Devonte go the ball he likely made the determination based on the defender's move toward Wayne in the corner, leaving Landon with a wide open path.

To the defender's credit, he didn't have a play on Landon, unless he tried to intercept the pass (which he didn't).

I'd also think that Self might have had a 3rd option. If Devonte's guy would have sagged toward Landon or cheated toward Selden, Devonte could have taken a shot as well. Regardless Landon was the most open option, and the rest is history.

WSG: If I hit pause on my DVR and then tap the fast forward button, it'll advance frame by frame.

Thanks for all the compliments. With the DVR it was really easy to see in super slow mo. There's a point in the frame-advancement where Devonte's about to make the pass, and you realize that the inevitable is about to happen. Just not enough defenders in the right places to stop the ball from Landon, or get between Landon and the hoop.

Lately I've been paying special attention to our plays coming out of time outs. Seems that HCBS always has something up his sleeve, and in this case anticipating what Huggy's defenders were going to do (trap/double Frank) just made it all the more sweet. Probably watched the play a dozen times overall (and while I typed up the breakdown...my memory isn't THAT good).

were the Jayhawks saying "NOONAN" to Phillip when he was missing those FTs just before...

...but what's "NOONAN"?

Danny Noonan, the "caddy" character in the movie Caddyshack is about to putt out to win the caddy tournament. A group of caddies around him that don't want him to win start saying "Noonan" and "miss it" to try and get him to shank the putt. He makes the putt and wins the caddy scholarship.

...sadly, I haven't seen Caddyshack. And I've gotten a lot of ribbing from my friends about it.

You deserve the ribbing. To be over 25 and not have seen Caddyshack is an almost indefensible crime. So what? So lets dance!!... Be the ball.... Its easy to grin, when your ship comes in and youve got the stock market beat. But the man worthwhile is the man who can smile when his pants are too tight in the seat.... Hey Lama, how bout a little something you know for the effort you know....Its a Cinderella story..former greens keeper about to become Masters Champion..it looks like a mirac-...Its in the hole.

Youre welcome.

RKCKJHK!!!!