Home Streak Stricken

A moment of silence for the now-defunct home streak.

....

OK, so what happened out there? Nothing too shocking, I guess. It's been clear for weeks that we aren't getting enough production from the perimeter. This game would have been an excellent time for TT, Selby, and EJ to snap out of it, but I suppose that's too much to ask against a top defensive team like Texas. They did an excellent job bottling up the twins, and that left us with Reed as our only scoring option at times; he played great, and Brady played well for the most part, too, but those guys aren't enough.

We were also handicapped by Travis's injury and T-Rob's family tragedies. (What the hell is going on there? I guess it's none of our business, but you have to wonder if he's going to be right for the rest of the year.)

The small consolation is that Texas is really good -- it's no shame to lose this one, even at home. And now we've got that streak-monkey off our backs; here's hoping we don't see any new ones appear.

Down with Drew

OK, I don't usually feel the need to bag on other Big 12 teams other than wanting KU to destroy them, but Scott Drew and Baylor can kiss my ass.

Last year, Drew drew Self's ire by keeping his team in the locker room during KU's pregame video introduction -- the only time I've ever seen Self go negative on a fellow Big 12 coach. Then, last night, in what could not have been a coincidence, they show a pregame video featuring not only KU's loss to Baylor in football (marginally insulting, but not over the line) but also the loss to UNI in the tourney last year (way, way, way over the fucking line).

I wish I had known about the video when watching the game last night, because that would have greatly enhanced the pleasure I took at watching us un-pants this talented but undisciplined Baylor team in front of 35 (!) NBA scouts.

As for my negativity the other day, well... I'm not totally over it, because TT and Selby still can't quite get their assist-TO ratio where it needs to be. However, it may not matter a great deal if the twins continue to blossom like this. It's starting to feel like we have two Danny Mannings out there at times, effortlessly tapping the ball back and forth to each other.

The only downside: All those NBA scouts bearing witness to the twins' excellence does not bode well for next year's roster.

Gauntlet

This is going to get rough -- Baylor tomorrow, then Texas, then Colorado, then K-State.

After the Nebraska near-debacle, I'm beginning to wonder about this team's title potential.

Without Aldrich (or Withey) our big men are undersized. We got decisively out-rebounded vs. Nebraska, and have been outmuscled down low in several games. Nonetheless, the twins continue to find ways to grit it out and win games for us.

Being undersized we can overcome -- but not if our guards continue to play as poorly as they have recently. Selby and EJ were horrific vs. Nebraska, but Tyshawn, even though he made some big plays, is the bigger concern. After starting the season so well, he's inexplicably regressed to freshman form. Brady was good yesterday but has not had a good season overall. The only perimeter guy meeting expectations is Reed -- and even he isn't shooting as well as last season.

Looks like we may be waiting another week on Releford -- sorry, Chris. But if a few of our guards don't get their shit together, this season could get ugly and soon.

Ann Arbor Anomaly?

OK, after the OT escape at Michigan, we can set our sights on the Big 12.

There's no question that it's been a relatively easy noncon schedule, and we haven't exactly looked dominant against it. From here on in, it only gets tougher, with the Big 12 sporting 5 teams in the Top 25.

Like the '08 team, we enter the conference schedule undefeated. Also like that team, I expect to see us lose 3 games, this time (shudder) maybe even one at home -- we've been so jittery at the Fieldhouse lately. Maybe Mizzou or Texas knocks us off at home, then I could see road losses at, say, K-State and Baylor.

It's still hard to imagine us not winning the conference, but our margin for error is smaller than it has been. If we lose more than three, our streak of Big 12 dominance could be at an end. The resurgence of the North division makes it more difficult than it used to be, but should also help toughen this team up going into March.

Key questions coming out of the Michigan game: Is Chris's newfound hero Travis going to be OK after his ankle sprain? Can we get our 3-point mojo back? Can any of our guards other than Tyrel start giving us consistent, night-in-night-out production? Can the twins keep their cool under pressure, as they did yesterday? Can Withey become this year's version of 2008 Aldrich? If we want to cut down some nets this year, we need most of those answers to be "yes."

Better Than Duke?

The poor saps from Miami (Ohio) think so, after our latest Fieldhouse dunkfest yesterday. (If you missed the game, I strongly suggest you catch the reel.)

Miami-Ohio lost to the Devils by 34 points, compared to 27 against us (and 21 against Ohio State). But that was against Duke when they had Kyrie Irving, so... who knows?

It's moot, anyway. The fact is, based on the evidence yesterday, Miami of Ohio just really sucks. One more patsy this week in UMKC, then it's the meat of the schedule -- at Michigan, then conference play.

Nice bounceback from the Twins. Still too many turnovers from Tyshawn and Brady. And hey, we've got a new athletic director -- this time for real!

Interesting SI article

According to SI KU is one of three super powers and has the highest ASM rank. Interesting numbers and stats to back it up. Have a look: SI

Worth the Wait, But...

Gee, and I was worried Selby might have some jitters. He sure looked like Self's best recruit ever, if one game is any indication. I thought his strength was supposed to be at getting to the hoop -- he didn't do that, but what he did do was stroke it from deep -- which is exactly what this team has been needing. He was a bit of a liability on defense, which is probably why Self sat him from about 12: to 6: in the second half -- but that was exactly when we played our worst.

I guess Self was right when he said at halftime that our veterans were already standing around waiting on Josh to make plays. TT was terrible, and the twins once again got outmuscled by some admittedly talented Pac-10 big men. (What is the deal with all these unranked Pac-10 teams taking us to the wire?)

Other than Selby's shot and a couple of plays here and there, we played like garbage in the 2nd half. UCLA almost beat us a few weeks ago by making circus shots, whereas USC just broke our asses down on both ends of the floor. And again, the free throws. This team freezes up a bit at the Fieldhouse; we seem to be begging someone to take this home streak off our backs.

(While Markieff and Marcus weren't great, Bob Knight noted that "Maurice" Morris was making some contributions. So there's that.)

Aaron, are you out there? I think I caught some glimpses of you.

Christmas Comes Early: Countdown to Selby

I've sort of gone back and forth on how much we need Josh Selby, considering we're undefeated with the best offense in the nation. Did the Colorado St. game expose some offensive weaknesses? In that game, we shot less than 50 percent; fortunately, our defense also held them to something like 25 percentage points below their shooting average.

It has seemed to me that we could use one more perimeter scorer; guys like TT and Releford have shot well from outside so far, but that's not their forte, nor is it for Brady. Reed shouldn't be our only deep threat. Selby by all accounts can score it from anywhere on the floor.

Self says he probably won't get the start. I'm sure that won't last long.

More from ESPN on Selby's imminent arrival.

Also, do yourself a favor and revisit the scouting report on Selby. He's actually pretty good.

May-emphis at the Gahh-den

Once again KU finds itself matched against those RUBES from Memphis. (Just playin,' Scott.)

It's our first ranked opponent, but the scouting report makes them seem awfully similar to those Pac-10 teams -- raw but talent-rich and super-athletic.

What do you think of the Tigers, Scott, if you're out there? It's hard to get too scared of a team that had to go to OT to beat Arkansas State. Of course, they'll be slightly more interested in this game. So should the 'Hawks.

Lots of fun facts to be found in this ESPN preview. Did you know that the 'Hawks have lost 3 straight at Madison Square Garden since Hinrich and co. beat St. John's in 2000? I recall Jay-Z being on hand for that game. Remember that guy?

Another fun fact: Kansas leads the nation in field-goal percentage. Not too shabby.

The Bruins Cry Foul

I hate the fact that it takes a b.s. controversy to get Kansas any national attention at all, but at least the NCAA is backing us up. Yes, it was a foul against UCLA. No, it was not a foul that normally gets called with 0.7 on the clock in a tie game. It was probably a makeup for the previous play when Reed turned it over after apparently getting bumped on the inbounds.

Whatever, Self is right: We would have lost that game on the road. It was frustrating in a lot of ways, but I thought UCLA deserves credit.

Howland seems to sort of have Self's number -- beating us with (somewhat) lesser talent in '07 and putting up a fight at Pauley last year with (very) lesser talent. Howland made all the right moves; our overplaying defense gave them a lot of trouble (10 steals), but they countered by backdooring us again and again. And, though I got sick of Fraschilla pointing it out endlessly, bringing their Shaq-like freshman off the bench was a good move.

UCLA, like 'Zona, is a talented, young sleeping giant that will make some noise this year, I think.

I'm not too worried about the free throws -- terrible though they were -- that just seemed like an anomaly to me. The bigger concern is whether our big men are really ready to tangle with the toughest frontcourts in the nation. In fairness, I don't know if there are a lot of big men in college hoops who are as powerful and as talented as 'Zona's Williams and UCLA's Smith. We shall see.