Why the game that ended KU’s Big 12 streak seemed so unsettling
Former Kansas basketball player Jamari Traylor sent the tweet from his iPhone, and three hours later, it had already been liked by more than 1,000 people.
KU’s amazing, spectacular, unparalleled streak of 14 consecutive Big 12 titles had officially come to an end following an 81-68 road loss to Oklahoma, and Traylor’s words perhaps best captured the overarching emotion from Tuesday night.
“That’s how we goin out?” Traylor said. “That hurt.”
Let’s be clear: What KU has done over the past 14 seasons — for good reason — will be celebrated many times in the coming days and weeks. The Jayhawks’ recent string of conference dominance will never be repeated, and it likely will be considered Bill Self’s greatest coaching accomplishment no matter how the rest of his career plays out.
It all just ended so ... strangely.
The reason for The Streak — the essence of what it was, and what made KU seem invincible for so long — was absent in its 5,116th and final day.
KU, for most of the last decade and a half, had an air of confidence about it when facing the toughest of situations. What happened Tuesday, then, was something you never would have expected for the curtain call of such an impressive era:
The Jayhawks went down without a fight.
For so many years, The Streak’s fuel was adversity. Players like Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins thrived in road environments, embracing the “us-versus-the-world” mentality while hitting shots and barking back at opposing fans if necessary.
In this game? KU just took its punishment at Lloyd Noble Center and hardly punched back. The Sooners — two-point underdogs coming in — rode hot shooting to a 26-9 lead, then withstood a 9-0 KU run before pushing the advantage back to 18 two minutes later.
Game over. No crazy KU comeback, or frantic full-court pressing or guys diving out of bounds to turn the momentum.
It all was just so atypical of what everyone has come to expect from Self’s teams at KU.
When one reflects on The Streak, it’s hard to do so without thinking about those moments of hardship. Down 19 at home to Missouri? KU made play after play late for a crazy overtime victory in 2012. Needing a crucial road win at Iowa State? The Jayhawks, in 2013, received 39 points from guard Elijah Johnson, the most ever at the time by a Self-coached player in Big 12 play.
It almost became expected. Inevitable. Not only would KU’s players turn into Superman at the biggest of moments, but both teams believed that was coming as well, with a self-fulfilling prophecy repeating itself year after year.
Self began describing it this way with his program: “Faces change. Expectations don’t.” This mantra was passed down from class to class, with seniors teaching the freshmen, who then would later continue the cycle three years later.
The Jayhawks were nearly unbeatable at home, while still better than almost everyone else on the road. They also fought like hell for their coach, even if they already entered most games with the most talented team on the floor.
Maybe it’s best to focus more on the past than the present here. Those teams deserve an immense amount of credit for what they achieved. Those players should be lauded for this run lasting as long as it did.
And it is unfair to say this team is not trying, because that’s not true. Self has said often this roster attempts to do the right things in practices and games, whether that’s giving effort or improving communication skills.
The 2018-19 Jayhawks just haven’t inherited the swagger of their predecessors, though. Because they were so light on players with experience — after some departures, only reserves Mitch Lightfoot and Marcus Garrett remained as returning guys from last year’s Big 12 title-winning team — they haven’t yet seemed to fully embrace the responsibility of being the keepers of The Streak that previous squads did.
No, winning a conference championship shouldn’t be an expectation. The fact that it has become that in these parts only reiterates how crazy Self has built up the standards during his 16 seasons in Lawrence.
That still doesn’t change the current reality. The Streak, by its very nature, continued with lots of help from determination and willpower, aided by players who bought into their roles and came together in the toughest times.
That had to be the most difficult thing for those former players watching Tuesday. The sad part wasn’t that The Streak was over; instead, it was the way it ended.
With KU not looking like itself at all.
This story was originally published March 6, 2019 at 3:09 AM.
