Undefeated February

If we can hold serve and beat the Red Raiders today, we will be undefeated in February. Bill Self has never been undefeated in February. The last team to do that is the 2002 team. Roy Williams did in twice, 2002 and 1998. Larry Brown did it once in 1986. This is a tough thing to do. Let's hope we will be congratulating this team and Coach in about 4 hours.

Interesting. A good time to start gelling. On a different topic, I notice that Landen Lucas is often quoted. Maybe he is becoming the team leader - he surely has been playing well.

Good observation JR. I have sort of come to the conclusion that this team does have strong emerging leadership on several fronts.

Mason - Not a quintessential vocal or emotional leader but leads in the sense he is a fierce competitor and wills his team to win with his toughness
Graham - Probably the most quintessential vocal leader. It seems he is finding his voice as a leader as the season progresses. Still an underclassmen but he seems to be an emerging vocal leader and willing to take the big shot.

Selden - I have trouble seeing Wayne as a real leader. I think Wayne is a spotty leader but does not appear to be a "rally around me" type guy.

Perry - Definitely a leader but not the vocal variety. I do think his consistency and maturity provide an inspiring leadership. He is a great teammate and a senior and a polished player that can be depended on. I think that inspires others.

Landen - Maybe the most pure leader on the team, at least in a corporate sense. I could see Landen as a VP of a company in his future. He is well spoken, thinks clearly, thinks strategically, does not seem to get rattled at all, seems to be very bright and seems to have vision. I am not sure exactly how vocal he is but I suspect he picks his spots. I think he has earned the respect of the team because of his intelligence, maturity and humility.

Jamari - Not a leader but a great teammate.

Brannen - I do not see him as a leader other than of a rebellion of some sort. He is the Che Guevera type.

Svi - Has potential to be a leader in a couple years if he stays around. Smart and seemingly tough. But the youth is a barrier at present.

Hunter - See my comments on Landen. I think all the same applies to Hunter. I suspect he is a great teammate.

Freshmen -- No.

KU has to win on Monday, it is Feb 29th.

nm

No worries, lets hope March 2016 is as kind to the Hawks as March 2008 and 2012

I have a bad vibe about Austin. But I recall vividly that in 2008 we lost in late February in Stillwater and not again until the following season.

HE-

This post makes me feel better about tomorrow.

Thanks, WSG

I think this game will tell us what we have going into tournament season. We need to be ready for their pressure and come out and hit them in the mouth!

Just my opinion, but while a "punch 'em in the mouth, step on their throats" performance could be a good indicator, a performance below that level isn't necessarily damning. It sounds like the team had a quick and light practice yesterday and then travelled to Austin. I'm sure they'll do a shootaround and run-through before the game, but won't go hard obviously.

So anything less than an embarrassing loss tonight can likely be explained away as not a big deal since we're playing a top team with a stellar home record on senior night after short rest....after we already sewed up the conference championship.

One thing Self said in the post-game interviews was that he looked at Tech/Texas as kind of a "pair" of games grouped together since there's not really any downtime between them...almost like a tournament weekend. So I assume he's got the guys approaching it as the same kind of "short rest, short prep" style they'll need in March. He also said that the benefit of this is that they'll have from Tues-Friday to rest up, and prepare for ISU so they head into Senior Night fresh and ready.