post mortem, tho no one died

its fun to watch how differently passionate fans react to a seasons conclusion. I like to read all of them espec the most critically provocative because even tho I typically disagree my "count to 10" reflection usually reinforces my love for the program. my reaction to last nites game is like many of you--we cant judge our program or our coach based on any one game, or even a series of elite eight games (where btw I view the fact that hcbs has been there EIGHT times as the most important statistic). its fair to ask tho how shld we assess our program, our coach (hard to separate those two id say). let me suggest three areas-- performance, entertainment value and culture. on performance I give us an A, A+ in the regular season, A- in the tournament. I think our coach had possibly his best year this year and grew as a coach. the way he let the players pick landon, the way he let them shoot threes, the way he turned around a 3 game slump into a 17 game win streak--- outstanding job. when he ties woodens record next year he will go from sure thing hof to legendary. on entertainment value: A+. won all of our home games. okla and Kentucky games were classics. self coaches a very fun to watch form of fundamental basketball. environment fabulous. life enhancing experiences. no more needs to be said; just go to a duke or unc or ucla game and compare. on culture: A+. we graduate our kids. they leave better people than when they came. kids rarely get into trouble and when they do bill does the right thing regardless of how that might impact wins and losses. the kids love him and love the program. former players come back in droves. bill invited all the prior coaches back and made us respect their contributions, even roy. who does that? a coach who has the confidence to share the credit and the ability to manage his own ego in the interest of the greater good. watch the post game press conference. this is a sincere, honorable, caring professional. so in sum we have a winning program (top 5 at least) that entertains the hell out of us and does it in a way that makes us proud in every regard. would I like more final fours? sure. but not if it meant less culture (see unc, Kentucky, Louisville). these are NOT false tradeoffs btw. when coach picks who he recruits and who plays he looks way beyond just talent and that will surely effect wins and losses, espec in the tournament. so at least from where I sit, don't change a thing. let me also suggest that bill self is so committed to self improvement that he will step up his post season record in the second half of his career--lets hope its all with us. and lastly, if youre assessing things in more objectively measurable ways lets not forget that Ku is the second most profitable basketball program in the US, proving once again that usually doing well and doing good are ultimately aligned. thnx to all for everyone of your posts. until next year.

Well done, sir. Very well done!