After realizing that he's been playing with pain due to foot surgery, I accepted the fact that this Dave now is different than last year's Dave. Funny that made me a calmer fan, more understanding fan (still b!$%ing though). Lee, you're not the only one has that "uh oh, Dave's got the inbound" - if he didn't lose the ball.
Robert, good point about DMac teaching how to shoot freethrows. Hoping David proves me wrong over the next 3 games. I would rather one of the three options as soon as we see he is on the path to a bad game: 1) play small, 2) utilize our freshman big, or 3) play Lightfood if healthy.
Braun seems to go strong the basket more than our big man for some reason. Or, how many times he loses the ball or it gets taken away or knocked out. Never have figured out why he insists on dribbling in traffic under the basket almost every time or how he misses so many shots from two feet away - and the shots aren't even close typically. I'm watching the games when he gets the ball and I say, "Ut oh, he's going to screw this up, Unfortunately, more often than not, I am right. I know this is pointing out the obvious "emperor has no clothes thing".
Sore, but fine.Īnd there’s not a soul alive who thinks that McCormack is going to start worrying about it now, with his team one win away from reaching the Final Four.
He and Self have been asked about his foot on multiple occasions during the past several weeks and both continue to say it’s fine.
“We wouldn't have won the game without him,” Self said of McCormack, who got to the free throw line a couple of times late and hit four of six charity shots overall.īothered by a foot injury throughout the season, McCormack continues to look like a guy who is playing at less than 100%. But throwing the ball into McCormack and trying to re-establish a presence in the paint helped Kansas survive the Friars’ threat of taking control of the game.
With Croswell bullying his way to seven consecutive Providence points during a 2-minute stretch to pull the Friars within five (37-32) with 11:36 to play, it became evident that the Jayhawks had no answer for the 6-foot-8, 245-pound senior when he got the ball at point blank range in the paint.įrom there, it was one of those if-you-can’t-beat-’em-join-’em situations for the Jayhawks (31-6). McCormack didn’t exactly light the world on fire during that stretch, but he did do enough with his physical presence to help Kansas stave off an unexpected surge by back-up Providence big man Ed Croswell midway through the second half. Still, with Kansas leading by just four points late - in a game the Jayhawks once led by 13, no less - Self called for his guards to throw the ball into McCormack to at least get things started on a few key offensive possessions. And he had a couple of touches in there we came away with nothing that could have been points.” “I didn't think he rebounded the ball or defended his position very well early. “David struggled tonight,” Self said after the victory. He also looked a step slow and lacked explosiveness around the rim on both ends. He struggled to score and rebound early and coughed up three turnovers while shooting 2-of-5 from the floor by the final buzzer. Throughout Friday’s victory, Kansas big man David McCormack was mostly ineffective. Chicago - It’s no secret that Kansas coach Bill Self likes to play through his big men.īut it might have come as a bit of a surprise that Self elected to do that so late in Friday’s 66-61 win over fourth-seeded Providence at United Center.