Gents, it is that time of year. As those of you who follow college basketball likely know, my user name is a dead give away as to where my allegiance lays.
Kansas is an enigma to me this year. On one hand Bill Self has done something almost no one thought he could do. Namely winning the Big 12 for an eleventh straight-year with a bunch of freshmen, a couple of talented but don't-know-how-to-win-yet one and done freshmen, one junior in Perry Ellis and just about no real bench. They went 26-5 in the regular season and made it to the championship game in the Big 12 tournament. Pretty good stuff but...
The other hand presents the Mr. Hyde to the Dr. Jekyll. The main issue is focus and killer instinct. They lose both for minutes at a time in games and this has proven a bit disastrous in some big games. They did this again Saturday losing a 17 point lead to ISU. All respects to ISU. They are ranked 13 and have a good coach and great lead player in Georges Niang. But a top ten type team does not blow 17 point leads in the Sprint Center in Kansas City. About forty miles from the hallowed halls of Allen Fieldhouse. They have done this a number of times this year and managed to pull out a few of the games by the skin of their teeth.
Now we find ourselves in the midwest bracket along with Kentucky over at 1 and Wichita State at 7! Come on selection committee! Is it not enough that Kentucky beat us like blind dogs earlier this year that you have to chuck us in the bracket with a potential in-state rival? WSU has wanted KU for a long time. They have absolutely noting to lose in a matchup like that. Everyone wants their ideal seeding but man, we would have been better off as a 3 or 4 this year.
Main issues for Kansas aside from the mental stuff is A; guard play. This killed us last year and if you look at the tournament thread from last year I predicted at second round loss and was not proved wrong. If there is one thing I get frustrated at Bill Self about it is outside guard play. We were leading the league this year in 3 point shooting and about a month ago he made a big deal of it in the papers and whammo, we haven't made a handful of treys since. He is smart enough to not shut down outside shooting. He just doesn't want an emphasis on it. But this year is different. Unlike last year we have a point guard and two shooting guards who can light it up when hot. And our inside presence is non-existent. One big is out over eligibility issues, Perry Ellis is wounded and at 6-8 cannot just overwhelm teams. This leaves some clean up guys and a transfer from Arkansas off the bench. Bill kind of needed to encourage the outside shooting spree I think. We are going to see really quick this coming weekend whether these guys have shaken the shooting monkey off their backs. B; Depth. This is a real killer. See the comments about our bigs. We simply have no bench when it comes to big guys. Traylor and Lucas can play but they are not going to give you 30 minutes a game like some of our horses have the last few years.
Prediction? Not on your life! When this team is focused they can play with anybody and beat them. Including hanging with Kentucky if necessary. They played the meanest schedule in college ball this year by a long mile with frosh and backups and went for 26 wins. But when the mental health issues show up, it gets ugly REALLY fast. If we make it past WSU I like our chances in the next round. Now Kentucky later on?...Let me get some headache powders ready before I think about that.
Kansas is an enigma to me this year. On one hand Bill Self has done something almost no one thought he could do. Namely winning the Big 12 for an eleventh straight-year with a bunch of freshmen, a couple of talented but don't-know-how-to-win-yet one and done freshmen, one junior in Perry Ellis and just about no real bench. They went 26-5 in the regular season and made it to the championship game in the Big 12 tournament. Pretty good stuff but...
The other hand presents the Mr. Hyde to the Dr. Jekyll. The main issue is focus and killer instinct. They lose both for minutes at a time in games and this has proven a bit disastrous in some big games. They did this again Saturday losing a 17 point lead to ISU. All respects to ISU. They are ranked 13 and have a good coach and great lead player in Georges Niang. But a top ten type team does not blow 17 point leads in the Sprint Center in Kansas City. About forty miles from the hallowed halls of Allen Fieldhouse. They have done this a number of times this year and managed to pull out a few of the games by the skin of their teeth.
Now we find ourselves in the midwest bracket along with Kentucky over at 1 and Wichita State at 7! Come on selection committee! Is it not enough that Kentucky beat us like blind dogs earlier this year that you have to chuck us in the bracket with a potential in-state rival? WSU has wanted KU for a long time. They have absolutely noting to lose in a matchup like that. Everyone wants their ideal seeding but man, we would have been better off as a 3 or 4 this year.
Main issues for Kansas aside from the mental stuff is A; guard play. This killed us last year and if you look at the tournament thread from last year I predicted at second round loss and was not proved wrong. If there is one thing I get frustrated at Bill Self about it is outside guard play. We were leading the league this year in 3 point shooting and about a month ago he made a big deal of it in the papers and whammo, we haven't made a handful of treys since. He is smart enough to not shut down outside shooting. He just doesn't want an emphasis on it. But this year is different. Unlike last year we have a point guard and two shooting guards who can light it up when hot. And our inside presence is non-existent. One big is out over eligibility issues, Perry Ellis is wounded and at 6-8 cannot just overwhelm teams. This leaves some clean up guys and a transfer from Arkansas off the bench. Bill kind of needed to encourage the outside shooting spree I think. We are going to see really quick this coming weekend whether these guys have shaken the shooting monkey off their backs. B; Depth. This is a real killer. See the comments about our bigs. We simply have no bench when it comes to big guys. Traylor and Lucas can play but they are not going to give you 30 minutes a game like some of our horses have the last few years.
Prediction? Not on your life! When this team is focused they can play with anybody and beat them. Including hanging with Kentucky if necessary. They played the meanest schedule in college ball this year by a long mile with frosh and backups and went for 26 wins. But when the mental health issues show up, it gets ugly REALLY fast. If we make it past WSU I like our chances in the next round. Now Kentucky later on?...Let me get some headache powders ready before I think about that.
Last edited:
Never count Izzo out when the tourney rolls around.
