Quote:
Originally Posted by smithandrew051
My all time Kansas lineup of my favorite players (only from my lifetime-born in 1989).
PG-Frank Mason: tough as hell. Competitor. Smart. Fearless.
SG-Kirk Hinrich: such a smooth player. Seemed to be good at everything. Gritty competitor.
SF-Paul Pierce: my first favorite player.
PF-Nick Collison: probably my favorite player ever. Dude deserved a title. Named my son Collison.
C-Joel Embiid: most gifted player I’ve ever seen at Kansas. Go watch the game at Iowa State. Niang looked completely helpless when trying to defend Embiid.
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That's a strong lineup. I have been a KU fan since I was 15, or the year 1986. I have seen nearly every game broadcast on television, either live or recorded, since 1986, and many, many games in AFH. I missed about 4 non-con exhibition games, and I could have watched all of them after the fact, but I just didn't feel the need to watch us beat Washburn by 30. And of course there were games in the late 80s that just weren't on TV.
Here is my favorite player lineup, and I will put honorable mentions in parenthesis. These are my favorites, not necessarily the best. Some players may be listed at 2 positions. Like Mario, Devonte', and Kirk. Kirk was the SG to Miles' PG, Devonte' was the SG to Mason's PG, etc.
PG: My favorite is none other than #BIFM. He is also my all time favorite Jayhawk, because of how hard he worked, the player he made himself into, and his passion for the game and for the Jayhawks. Just imagine, he was in a recruiting class with Selden, Embiid, and Wiggins. If you had a gun to your head at the beginning of their Freshman year, and you had to pick the player out of those 4 who would be the consensus POTY during their career, it would have never been Frank Mason (Kirk, D'Tae, TT, Collins, Reed)
SG: Devonte' Graham. I know that this choice may appear to be suffer from recency bias, but D'Tae was just so damn likeable, had so much fun playing the game, and was a part of some of the best KU games in history. (Mario, EJ, Kirk, Collins, Haase, T-Rele)
SF: Paul Pierce. Some may say he was a SG, but I think his game was clearly that of a wing player. He wasn't the fastest, the highest jumper, or even an athletic leaper, but he was always just enough of those things when he had to be. He was one of just a handful of players that were truly held back by Roy Williams' system. Many players that Roy had could have scored more in a different offensive system, but PP was the kind of player that could have led the nation in scoring if given the right opportunity and system. (T-Rele, Newton, The Moori, The Fro Kevin Young, Wright and Keith Langford, who was a very close #2 for this position. In all my years of watching KU, there have only been 2-3 players who could get rim with anywhere close to the ease with which K-Freeze could.)
PF: Danny Manning. This one is an absolute no-brainer. (The only other plausible candidate for this position is Nick Collison, and the only other plausible candidate for the position of the only other plausible candidate is T-Rob. You follow me?) Danny could do everything on the court. He had skills that were nearly 2 decades ahead of their time. His defense improved every year he was here, he was a tremendously instinctual rebounder, and the man could flat out score. And then score some more. At one time he was 10th on the NCAA D-1 all time scoring list. He led KU to two Final Fours, and dominated the 88 National Championship game. Until Frank Mason, Danny was my all time favorite Jayhawk. (LaFrentz, The Moori, Perry, Alonzo Jamison, and of course Collison. T-Rob holds a place in my heart for the way he battled through losing his Grandparents and Mother. And he worked so hard to make himself a great player. He was absolutely EFFING ROBBED for POTY in his Junior season. He averaged 18 and 12, and was the best player in the nation, but the Unibrow stole the awards because of his NBA potential, and the fact that he played for Kentucky. If he had the exact same year for any other team, T-Rob is National Player of the Year in 2012. Nick Collison was just relentless in everything he did on the court, if we needed him to score, he would lead the team in scoring. Same with rebounding, or defending the opponent's best big, etc.)
C: My heart says Jeff Withey, because of his rim protection, the fact that he inspired one of the greatest selfie trends, and inspired one of the greatest fake Twitter accounts of all time. But.......... This is a tough one for me. If Embiid had played more than one year, or played in the NCAA Tournament, he would probably be my favorite Center. He is absolutely the most talented Center in my lifetime. But he just didn't play enough games in a KU uniform. Then there is The Big O, who was goofy, and likeable, and an incredible rim protector. And there is Cole, who had one of the single greatest performances as a Freshman when he outplayed the college POTY in whiny Tyler Hansbrough. And then there is Withey, who could dominate a game defensively at the rim in a way that maybe, maybe no one outside of Wilt has ever done at KU. He helped lead KU to the National Championship game, and was robbed of the single game, and Tournament record for blocks by a piss-poor official scorer. I don't think I can pick a favorite center.
I am sure that there are some players that I am just not remembering at the moment, but I feel very good about this list of favorite Jayhawks by position.
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