In between Ant’s first two tournament games, we headed over to a restaurant in the Casino complex next to the gym the team was playing in to watch the second half of the KU game. It was the closest place, and our folks weren’t going to miss any more of the game than they had to. So we sat in this restaurant that smelled like the smoke leaking out of the casino, which was pretty well packed on a Saturday afternoon, and eating a pretty mediocre meal while we watched our Jayhawks lose to the Ok State Cowboys. Bummer.

My overriding thought during the game was that the Jayhawks will need to have a couple of things go very differently to make a deep tournament run this year.

To begin with, Darrell Arthur needs to stay out of foul trouble and stay in the game, preferably for at least 30 minutes — we need our best big guy. Our ‘Hawks also need to be more consistent with both making AND defending the three-ball. It might not hurt to deploy a 3-2 zone at times, serving the dual purpose of intimidating shooters and potentially keeping Arthur out of foul trouble? Not that I’m gonna do too much second-guessing of a WINNING basketball coach who obviously knows his business much better than I do. . . but what’s the fun of watching a game if you can’t play arm-chair analyst?

Anyhow. . . the game only killed about half of the time we had between games, thanks to a poorly managed division schedule in our tournament. So we went to a mall after the game, and I managed to feel better after buying about $30.00 worth of different chocolate treats for the family (including a chocolate-covered twinkie that I decided I have to try).

I felt even better after we got back to the gym and Ant’s team won their game 56-30, sending them to the championship game.

And the good feelings just kept coming. . . after Ant’s game, I checked my phone and found a text message from Snacky. It said “KState Lost HaHa.” Turns out Baylor beat them 92-86. So at least I can rest assured that the kitties aren’t going to edge past us in any rankings.

But I’ll hand it to KState — they went out with a bang. Michael Beasley broke the record for freshman double-doubles previously held by Carmelo Anthony. Beasley now has 23. He scored 44 points, which is the most points scored ever in a Big 12 game. Beasley’s teammate, the highly expressive Bill Walker, scored 31 points.

If you’re adding, that means Beasley and Walker scored 75 out of 86 KState points. And they still lost. WOW. I’m not even sure how to comment on that, except to say that next year is going to be a GIANT buzz-kill for the Wildcat nation. I’ll also direct your attention to the fact that KState’s AD has resigned and is moving on. Hmmmmmm.

AND finally. . .

The big NCAA basketball news is that previously unbeaten Memphis is no longer unbeaten, thanks to the Tennessee Volunteers. Let’s face it: the fate of every unbeaten team is to get beaten. Of course, I missed that game completely because it was going on while mama’s baby was kickin ass — but I got to see the highlights.

Maybe not the coldest baller on the court, but still. . .

The man loves basketball . . . and plays basketball with a passion, from all accounts. This is the icing on the Obama cake for a woman with a basketball jones as big as mine.

I was already on board, but the basketball angle takes it to a whole new level. Because basketball is truly the most democratic of American sports. All you need is a court, a ball, some attitude and you’re ready to ball.  What this means is that a baller learns to respect everybody — cause you never know who can take you to the hole; who can take your cookies; or who can dunk on you.

I’ll trust a man who isn’t afraid to mix it up.

Here’s a good link to photos of Obama taking a basketball break from campaign life.

And note that the caption for photo #6 tells us that “between games, Obama describes his deep basketball jones.”

Did he say “basketball jones?”

Yeah, baby. I want a president who can take it to the rack!

I’ll add one more link to a good NY Times article about Obama and basketball, just for the enjoyment of my fellow basketball junkies.

Too hip to be true? I’ve been waiting since I was 18 years old to cast this vote.

I couldn’t help but notice that K-State just lost to (ahem) Nebraska. Guess that big 100-63 revenge victory over Mizzou on Saturday just took it all of out the Wildkitties.

Meow.

Michael Beasley, who scored 40 points against the Tigers, humbly predicted scoring 50 points on “these cats,” (referring to the Cornhuskers, presumably, and not to his own team). Well, he didn’t quite get there. The ‘Huskers held him to a modest (for him) 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Which, despite the ‘Cats third road loss in a row, earned Beasley the honor of a tie with Carmelo Anthony’s NCAA freshman record of 22 double doubles. Not that I like giving props to anything K-State related, but Beasley’s the real deal, and K-State is only a pit stop on his way to the big show. Or have I mentioned that before?

Anyway, Nebraska kept K-State out of rhythm all night, and when Beasley missed a three-point shot in the final second of the game, guess what happened?

Bingo! Ecstatic fans not used to big wins STORMED THE COURT.

But I think the players kept their clothes on. . .

The Kansas Players Elite 5th grade AAU basketball team played in the Kansas City Keys 15th Annual Basketball Invitational Tournament this past weekend. Our boys ended up winning the championship in the fifth grade division. You can look here for a summary of our weekend.

Over the years, the KC Keys tournament has become one of the premier basketball events in the Kansas City Metro area. It’s run by the Kansas City Keys, an organization dedicated to developing youth in the KC area.

As part of their program, the Keys’ consistently field very competitve boys’ and girls’ basketball teams in all age groups, and they hold several highly regarded tournaments throughout the year, which I’d definitely recommend to competitive tournament teams looking for a challenge. Overall, the quality of the competition at the Keys tournaments is very good, with several of the teams entered per age division playing basketball at a very high level. So, no matter how good you think your team is, you’ll probably find a challenger at the Keys Tournament.

The Keys Tournament games are played in several different venues around the Kansas City metro area, and the management of the tournament ensures that those venues are all pretty friendly. The tournament definitely has a down-home feel because the Keys organization pulls together their local basketball family and friends to work their tournaments.

So, if you’re interested in some good tournament action, check out the KC Keys home page for links to information on upcoming tournaments.

There aren’t many times when I’ll show the Duke Blue Devils any love. The little media darlings just annoy me tooooo much. But tonight I’m sending them a little “shout out.”

Because it was pretty amazing to see their entire starting lineup foul out one by one down the home stretch in tonight’s loss to Wake Forest.

Or, on second thought, maybe my props should go to Wake Forest?

Yeah. . .

Emotion, hunger, desire. The Demon Deacons had it and used it. For the first time since the 2004-05 season, they beat a top five team.

It was a meaningful win for Coach Dino Gaudio, who took over the program when his best friend, and WF’s former coach, Skip Prosser, died last summer. Fans were nuts, players came to play and the writing was on the wall for this one.

Said freshman Jeff Teague, who scored 26 points in the Demon Deacons’ victory:

“I watched them on TV [and] I dreamed about Carolina and Duke.” He noted that he and teammate James Johnson (24 points and 16 rebounds) “talked about that when we first got here, ‘Playing Duke, they’re going to pressure you.’”

“That’s why I want to play. I’m not an All-American or nothing, but I want to go out and try to beat one.”

Well, he did. They did.

And I would have enjoyed every minute of the Demon Deacons’ performance tonight even if there wasn’t anything in it for KU’s rankings.

‘Cause I love when the underdog gets over.