Kansas Jayhawks vs Texas Southern Player Ratings: A Tribute to Dave Armstrong
In this story:
Today, you will not see your typical player ratings article. Nope, the blowout win makes rating the players a tad tough anyway, but something much more important happened during the telecast. Last night, Dave Armstrong, long time voice of KU basketball, the Kansas City Royals, the Big 8/XII, and myriad other gigs, announced his retirement from broadcasting.
The standing ovation from the Allen Fieldhouse faithful was a nice moment, but for those of us that have grown up on Kansas basketball, we haven't experienced a world of KU hoops where Dave Armstrong isn't somehow involved. I'm 45 years of age and certainly don't remember a non-Dave world as he told us in the telecast that he started in Danny Manning's freshman season of 1984.
So, as an homage to one of the greats, we give you a "player ratings" theme that is entirely Dave Armstrong centered with the players evenly distributed in the categories.
WOW!
You knew it had to be number one. The signature "wow!" when Kansas made an excellent play was one of the things any Jayhawk fan would crave to hear multiple times during the broadcast. It was a sign that things were going well. Bill Self paid tribute to the "wow" in the broadcast, but no one can capture the moment like Armstrong.
Jalen Wilson had a strong scoring game against a weak opponent, but who cares. Twenty two points, six assists, and five boards is a great game against anyone.
MJ Rice got his sea legs in this one and conducted his first post game sideline interview. Scored a career high 19 on six of nine shooting from the floor (2 of 4 from three) and five of six from the line.
The Improvs
Sometimes things don't go as planned, and an announcer has to think on his feet. Dave Armstrong was a master at this. In fact, early in his final telecast, Joseph Yesufu almost traveled, stopped, and then canned a three. Dave's call: "whoops (long pause as the ball swishes through) ok!" Classic Dave Armstrong.
The aforementioned Yesufu got the start over the injured Kevin McCullar and had a nice game. He was three of five from beyond the arc and finished with 14 points.
Gradey Dick showed off some other sides of his game including mid range jumpers and rebounding. He scored 15 and grabbed six boards.
The Puns
For a while there, Dave Armstrong was a pun machine. He's since toned it down, but you still get gems like this from last night: "That was more of an alley oops, not an alley oop." Folks, Dave Armstrong rules.
Nine assists and one turnover for Dajuan Harris. That'll play.
The Understatements
Sometimes you have to throw a little levity in there, especially in blowouts. And we all know that while broadcasting Kansas games, Armstrong has seen his fair share of large margin victories. He's also probably nicer to KU than he should be, so his go to is an extreme understatement. For example, in the blowout against Texas Southern, Dave quipped, "KJ Adams is still working on his free throws. He's now three of fifteen on the year." Solid work, that.
I guess I have to put KJ here after just mentioning him. It had to be nice for Adams to not have to face giants all the time like he did while in the Bahamas. The stat that stood out for me was his four assists. Finished the game with 10 points and two boards as well.
Zuby Ejiofor was the best of the KU bigs to come off the bench. He made his only field goal attempt but missed his free throws. Scooped up five rebounds as well.
The Out of Nowheres
You know how you know when an announcer is prepared? When they can instantly give you information that seems out of left field. I love that stuff. But do you know when an announcer is entertaining and prepared? When you can break out stuff like Dave did last night. I particularly loved this gem after a Jayhawk pick and roll: "You know, Dr. Naismith invented that play and they're still using it." Just a straight up classic from a legend.
Ernest Udeh and Zach Clemence got some minutes that could go a long way for Kansas this year.
The Homage
"The Hawks are cooking!" Dave has been using this a lot this season as a tribute to a man he greatly admires, former voice of the Jayhawks Bob Davis. I hadn't noticed it in previous years, and maybe this was his subtle way of telling us he's retiring before the official announcement. Who knows, but I love it. I miss Bob Davis and I'll miss Dave Armstrong. As Dave said at the end of the broadcast, savor every moment.
Walk ons Michael Jankovich and Dillon Wilhite played in this game. Usually a good sign for KU.
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