To the editor:

As Journal-World sports writers routinely point out, basketball turnovers can result in a game being lost, as can Kansas University’s coaching staff. However, senior Elijah Johnson has been noted for his turnovers and questionable, if not flagrant, intentional fouls.

With his mistake-prone reputation well known, KU’s loss to Michigan rests on the shoulders of coach Bill Self. Most basketball-savvy coaches undoubtedly know that when a star player needs only two or three blocked shots to surpass Tim Duncan’s record, they would not have inserted an error-prone player in a game and especially at a time when a 14- or 15-point lead was being squandered away, not to mention time being a factor. Hence, coach Self should have called time out when Elijah could not move the ball over the half-court line.

It was also coach Self who negated Jeff Withey’s opportunity of achieving a one-of-a-kind national record, for it was he who had the potential to block shots throughout the game with Perry Ellis and Ben McLemore both hurtling the ball into the net, not Elijah Johnson.

Thus, Jeff Withey, even while sitting a long stretch on the bench was inexcusably denied the chance to set a national blocking record, not to mention helping to cut down the “Sweet Sixteen” nets.

Furthermore, the 2012-13 team was not about seniors; it involved ALL players, but especially those who, notwithstanding referee goofs, held their mistakes in check and restricted taunting antics to the locker room,