-- Well, that truly couldn’t have been much uglier for Bill Self and No. 2 Kansas. I mean, I guess it could have been, but it was pretty ugly inside Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday. The Jayhawks fell to No. 14 TCU, 83-60 in what was really never a game. Kansas got down, I believe, 31-13, and just never made a game of it. Yes, Kansas closed to within 10 points at the half, but it just never felt like the Jayhawks were going to make a serious run at the Horned Frogs.
For me, the biggest concern is that Kansas continues to get down big early in the first half and has to respond throughout the game. They trailed by 14 points in Manhattan, trailed big earlier today, and trailed by 10 points with five minutes to go against Oklahoma and found a way to win that game. This league is a grind and I understand that, but if Kansas continues to dig itself a hole early on each and every game, it's going to be a long season. Slow starts continue to kill this team and something needs to be done to prevent it from happening.
--- One thing that will help this team moving forward is KU’s ability to get stops and not allow teams to get hot from all over the court. Today, it felt like TCU could get whatever it wanted and there was little Kansas could do to prevent that. Kansas, especially in the second half, really struggled to get anything going at all. When they did cut the deficit to 10 points at the half, TCU really answered KU’s run in the second half and never allowed the Jayhawks to get any closer. Against Kansas State and Oklahoma, for instance, Kansas eventually regained the lead in those games, and ended up defeating Oklahoma, but that wasn’t the case today.
Bill Self, on a number of occasions, has made it clear that if you labor to score and can’t get anything going, you need to make stops on the defensive end of the court. Right now, that clearly isn’t happening. The way Kansas defended, let’s say, against Indiana, isn’t the way Kansas is defending now. If Kansas is going to have the type of success it hopes to have this season, the team needs to get back to playing the type of defense that it’s capable of playing.
-- Jalen Wilson has been amazing for much of this season, especially in the last two games. He went for 38 against Kansas State and 30 against TCU on Saturday. I realize that Kansas lost both games, but he’s doing everything he can to help this team. The thing is, and I’ve seen this before (not specifically about Jalen), he’s down and looked really beat and frustrated after the game today. Listen, I’m not going to make any excuses for anybody, nobody is, but this league is a grind and the guys are getting tired. When you don’t have a bench and a handful of guys are playing a majority of the minutes, bodies get tired and that’s what is happening right now. I think that’s the case both mentally, physically, and emotionally.
I’m not sure if you remember or not, but after a recent press conference, Self said the Big 12 is the type of league where you need two days off and not just one day, or whatever the case may be, to prepare for your next game. Wilson, in 35 minutes, scored 30 points, pulled down seven rebounds, dished out two assists, and was called for three fouls. Offensively, Wilson hit 11-of-21 field goals, 4-of-9 shots from behind the arc, and was 4-of-5 from the free-throw line. Wilson, without question, is playing at an All-American type level, but he’s going to need some help along the way.
-- Aside from Wilson, the 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward from Denton, Texas, there wasn’t much rhythm on the offensive side of the court for Kansas today. Kevin McCullar, Jr., scored 10 points, pulled down four rebounds, dished out one assist, and committed two fouls in 29 minutes. Gradey Dick chipped in eight points on 3-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-of-8 shooting from behind the arc. KJ Adams, Jr., tallied four points and five rebounds, while Michael Jankovich (3), Zach Clemence (2), and Bobby Pettiford (2) rounded out the scoring for Kansas.
If Kansas is unable to get some scoring from guys like Dick, McCullar, Jr., Adams, Dajuan Harris, along with Wilson, this team is just never going to reach its ceiling. Harris, who dished out eight assists against TCU, committed three turnovers, and was credited with two steals. Harris, offensively, was 0-of-4 from the field and 0-of-1 from behind the arc. Wilson, night in and night out, can’t be asked to carry the scoring load all by himself. Harris, Dick, McCullar, Jr., and Adams will need to take some of the pressure off of Wilson and carry some of the scoring load themselves.
-- Honestly, I’m not sure anything will change this season, but Kansas getting nothing from its bench certainly doesn’t help. In fact, it's downright concerning. I’ll go back and look, but I’m pretty certain that KU’s bench scoring today, of the scholarship players, consisted of five points. TCU, I believe, got 39 points from its bench. I just looked and, as I thought, was correct. 39 points from TCU’s bench, while KU received just five points, 8 total, from its scholarship players off the bench.
You guys know how Coach Self operates and he’s not going to play any player that he doesn’t feel is ready to play/contribute. With Bobby Pettiford, Jr., Joseph Yesufu, MJ Rice, Zach Clemence, Ernest Udeh, Jr., Cam Martin (eventually), and Zuby Ejiofor, Self has plenty of options to consider. Against TCU, Pettiford, Yesufu, Rice, Clemence, Udeh, Jr., and Ejiofor all logged minutes, but not many. I think, for instance, Clemence has a chance to be a player, but he gets so lost on defense and gives up too many easy baskets.
Pettiford, who had some open looks against Kansas State and TCU, turned down those looks and appears to be hesitant to shoot the ball. We all know that Self has options off the bench, but who does he trust? How will he handle those minutes moving forward? Big games coming up against Baylor (road), Kentucky (road), Kansas State, Iowa State (road), and Texas.
-- I know this is a long post, and I apologize if too long, but just a few more things from me. The team continues to miss too many layups and too many open threes. If you go back and look at the last two games against Kansas State and TCU, Kansas missed a ton of bunnies and open looks from behind the arc. Confidence is so important when it comes to this game, and right now, I’m not sure how confident some of these guys are with a big road game at Baylor coming up next. McCullar, Jr., didn’t attempt a three-point shot on Saturday. Harris, who had a couple of open looks from behind the arc, attempted just one shot from three. Pettiford and Yesufu, both having had open looks on numerous occasions in Big 12 play, don’t want to shoot the ball or don’t have the confidence to shoot the ball.
The missed layups and missed open looks from behind the arc might have a couple of guys thinking too much. Those shots are eventually going to fall and things will even themselves out, but right now, it’s a struggle.
-- Lastly, I promise. I know there are some people on this board or fans in general that are frustrated or in somewhat of a panic. I’ve even had a few friends call and talk the crap that people love to talk when Kansas drops two straight games in January.
Again, remember who is leading the way for this Kansas basketball program. I don’t generally post stuff like this, but this is just me being honest and looking at things for what they are, in January.
-- I’ve covered four Final Fours since Self took over.
-- I’ve covered three National Championship games since Self took over.
-- I’ve covered two National Championship-winning teams since Self took over.
-- I’ve covered a team that won 14 straight Big 12 regular season championships.
-- I’m currently covering a team that ranks No. 1 all-time in wins in the history of college basketball.
-- I covered a game in Manhattan earlier in the week where Kansas lost by one point to a top-10 team with three starters on the bench at the end of overtime. That team, down by 14 at one point, went 6-of-29 from three and 12-of-24 from the free-throw line.
Embrace the struggles and enjoy each and every ride like it’s the last. Kansas, without question, is in great hands.
For me, the biggest concern is that Kansas continues to get down big early in the first half and has to respond throughout the game. They trailed by 14 points in Manhattan, trailed big earlier today, and trailed by 10 points with five minutes to go against Oklahoma and found a way to win that game. This league is a grind and I understand that, but if Kansas continues to dig itself a hole early on each and every game, it's going to be a long season. Slow starts continue to kill this team and something needs to be done to prevent it from happening.
--- One thing that will help this team moving forward is KU’s ability to get stops and not allow teams to get hot from all over the court. Today, it felt like TCU could get whatever it wanted and there was little Kansas could do to prevent that. Kansas, especially in the second half, really struggled to get anything going at all. When they did cut the deficit to 10 points at the half, TCU really answered KU’s run in the second half and never allowed the Jayhawks to get any closer. Against Kansas State and Oklahoma, for instance, Kansas eventually regained the lead in those games, and ended up defeating Oklahoma, but that wasn’t the case today.
Bill Self, on a number of occasions, has made it clear that if you labor to score and can’t get anything going, you need to make stops on the defensive end of the court. Right now, that clearly isn’t happening. The way Kansas defended, let’s say, against Indiana, isn’t the way Kansas is defending now. If Kansas is going to have the type of success it hopes to have this season, the team needs to get back to playing the type of defense that it’s capable of playing.
-- Jalen Wilson has been amazing for much of this season, especially in the last two games. He went for 38 against Kansas State and 30 against TCU on Saturday. I realize that Kansas lost both games, but he’s doing everything he can to help this team. The thing is, and I’ve seen this before (not specifically about Jalen), he’s down and looked really beat and frustrated after the game today. Listen, I’m not going to make any excuses for anybody, nobody is, but this league is a grind and the guys are getting tired. When you don’t have a bench and a handful of guys are playing a majority of the minutes, bodies get tired and that’s what is happening right now. I think that’s the case both mentally, physically, and emotionally.
I’m not sure if you remember or not, but after a recent press conference, Self said the Big 12 is the type of league where you need two days off and not just one day, or whatever the case may be, to prepare for your next game. Wilson, in 35 minutes, scored 30 points, pulled down seven rebounds, dished out two assists, and was called for three fouls. Offensively, Wilson hit 11-of-21 field goals, 4-of-9 shots from behind the arc, and was 4-of-5 from the free-throw line. Wilson, without question, is playing at an All-American type level, but he’s going to need some help along the way.
-- Aside from Wilson, the 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward from Denton, Texas, there wasn’t much rhythm on the offensive side of the court for Kansas today. Kevin McCullar, Jr., scored 10 points, pulled down four rebounds, dished out one assist, and committed two fouls in 29 minutes. Gradey Dick chipped in eight points on 3-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-of-8 shooting from behind the arc. KJ Adams, Jr., tallied four points and five rebounds, while Michael Jankovich (3), Zach Clemence (2), and Bobby Pettiford (2) rounded out the scoring for Kansas.
If Kansas is unable to get some scoring from guys like Dick, McCullar, Jr., Adams, Dajuan Harris, along with Wilson, this team is just never going to reach its ceiling. Harris, who dished out eight assists against TCU, committed three turnovers, and was credited with two steals. Harris, offensively, was 0-of-4 from the field and 0-of-1 from behind the arc. Wilson, night in and night out, can’t be asked to carry the scoring load all by himself. Harris, Dick, McCullar, Jr., and Adams will need to take some of the pressure off of Wilson and carry some of the scoring load themselves.
-- Honestly, I’m not sure anything will change this season, but Kansas getting nothing from its bench certainly doesn’t help. In fact, it's downright concerning. I’ll go back and look, but I’m pretty certain that KU’s bench scoring today, of the scholarship players, consisted of five points. TCU, I believe, got 39 points from its bench. I just looked and, as I thought, was correct. 39 points from TCU’s bench, while KU received just five points, 8 total, from its scholarship players off the bench.
You guys know how Coach Self operates and he’s not going to play any player that he doesn’t feel is ready to play/contribute. With Bobby Pettiford, Jr., Joseph Yesufu, MJ Rice, Zach Clemence, Ernest Udeh, Jr., Cam Martin (eventually), and Zuby Ejiofor, Self has plenty of options to consider. Against TCU, Pettiford, Yesufu, Rice, Clemence, Udeh, Jr., and Ejiofor all logged minutes, but not many. I think, for instance, Clemence has a chance to be a player, but he gets so lost on defense and gives up too many easy baskets.
Pettiford, who had some open looks against Kansas State and TCU, turned down those looks and appears to be hesitant to shoot the ball. We all know that Self has options off the bench, but who does he trust? How will he handle those minutes moving forward? Big games coming up against Baylor (road), Kentucky (road), Kansas State, Iowa State (road), and Texas.
-- I know this is a long post, and I apologize if too long, but just a few more things from me. The team continues to miss too many layups and too many open threes. If you go back and look at the last two games against Kansas State and TCU, Kansas missed a ton of bunnies and open looks from behind the arc. Confidence is so important when it comes to this game, and right now, I’m not sure how confident some of these guys are with a big road game at Baylor coming up next. McCullar, Jr., didn’t attempt a three-point shot on Saturday. Harris, who had a couple of open looks from behind the arc, attempted just one shot from three. Pettiford and Yesufu, both having had open looks on numerous occasions in Big 12 play, don’t want to shoot the ball or don’t have the confidence to shoot the ball.
The missed layups and missed open looks from behind the arc might have a couple of guys thinking too much. Those shots are eventually going to fall and things will even themselves out, but right now, it’s a struggle.
-- Lastly, I promise. I know there are some people on this board or fans in general that are frustrated or in somewhat of a panic. I’ve even had a few friends call and talk the crap that people love to talk when Kansas drops two straight games in January.
Again, remember who is leading the way for this Kansas basketball program. I don’t generally post stuff like this, but this is just me being honest and looking at things for what they are, in January.
-- I’ve covered four Final Fours since Self took over.
-- I’ve covered three National Championship games since Self took over.
-- I’ve covered two National Championship-winning teams since Self took over.
-- I’ve covered a team that won 14 straight Big 12 regular season championships.
-- I’m currently covering a team that ranks No. 1 all-time in wins in the history of college basketball.
-- I covered a game in Manhattan earlier in the week where Kansas lost by one point to a top-10 team with three starters on the bench at the end of overtime. That team, down by 14 at one point, went 6-of-29 from three and 12-of-24 from the free-throw line.
Embrace the struggles and enjoy each and every ride like it’s the last. Kansas, without question, is in great hands.
