... And Back to Where We Belong!

I guess my reaction is almost opposite yours, DGL. I'd call Davidson the anomalous game. USC seems more like what I'd expect from this team: not always pretty, and a rotating cast of scorers (though EJ has been looking more and more solid lately), but solid wins against decent teams—and on the road even!

Anyway, just to quibble a bit more with the previous dooming and glooming, according to ESPN, TT is averaging 50% from outside, Teahan 41%, and EJ 33%. I for one am pretty happy with those numbers.

Now, I missed the first half last night (darn birth classes!), but what I saw in the 2nd looked pretty good: Johnson had some great athletic plays, and TRob continues to shine, even against double-teams. Good stuff.

... And Back Down to Earth

I regret to say that losing to Davidson doesn't surprise me a lot. Particularly when you look at outside shooting, our dismal performance yesterday was unfortunately a lot more characteristic than our brilliant showing vs. the Buckeyes.

There are other factors, of course -- TT coming back from injury, some key defensive lapses, and esp. the continued turnover problems. But that stuff doesn't worry me as much...

TT will get better, the D has been mostly very good, and the turnovers are to some degree correctable. But if Conner, TT, EJ, and Travis continue to have games where they can barely crack 25 percent from distance while T-Rob gets doubled and tripled, we'll be lucky to make it out of the Round of 32 this year.

When Brady and Reed suddenly couldn't buy a bucket in the VCU game last season, it was a crazy, unprecedented, tragic fluke. With this year's team, it's becoming more like the norm.

Signature Win

Sullinger or no, that was awesome.

I can't figure this team out. In some games we seem utterly incompetent on offense with the exception of T-Rob. Then we come out against one of the toughest defensive teams in the nation in Ohio State, and shoot the lights out.

And where did Kevin Young come from? There wasn't a single aspect of that game in which he did not excel. If we can keep getting bench play like that we have a higher ceiling than I thought.

Even more important was EJ's shooting. This may be the biggest factor for us this year -- we desperately need that triple scoring threat, but EJ has been our least consistent guy.

Tyshawn's turnovers were driving me nuts, but I had no idea until the end of the game that he had put up Steve Nash-type assist numbers. Some of that may be a bit flukey just because we were nailing every 3-pointer we heaved up -- but you could turn that around and say TT would have a better assist-to-TO ratio on the year if not for EJ and Conner missing so many open shots in other games.

So let's give TT a round of applause as he heads off to surgery. Turnovers are inevitable when you're up against an elite defender like OSU's Craft, but the pluses outweighed the minuses, esp. when you factor in the injury. This was Tyshawn's finest hour -- so far.

Weis, Sullinger, Obama, Etc.

I don't know what it's going to take to get some excitement going on the old blog... New football coach? Presidential shout-out? Pending showdown with No. 2 in the nation?

This is one of those rare KU games where the pressure should be off a bit, and yet I kind of feel we need to win this. We've proven we can compete with the big boys, and we've proven we can decisively beat some decent second-tier competition. But on our own floor, with a possibly ailing Sullinger, it's time for a signature win. Enough moral victories.

(If nothing else, a win over Ohio St. might propel us over those Missouri secessionists in the rankings. Also, my uncle's going to be in attendance, and it would really make his weekend.)

I watched the S. Florida game last week, and was, uh, somewhat encouraged. At least we proved in the 2nd half that we can hit some 3's on occasion. I didn't see the Long Beach State game, but I think that was a good win vs. a good team. I'm glad the Obama endorsement didn't jinx us this time.

As for Charlie Weis, I have my doubts, but if he can come anywhere close to his Notre Dame record, we'll probably be erecting statues of him at Memorial Stadium.

Turkey Hangover

It seems like a long time and a lot of calories ago, but just a few thoughts on the Duke game:

First of all, it was damned exciting for KU to be part of a game like that, win or lose. You had to be proud of our guys and optimistic for the season.

I know everyone wants to blame Tyshawn for his 2nd-half turnovers, but the problem right now is lack of depth. Our guys were completely gassed by the end after three consecutive games and an intense first three-quarters vs. Duke. Self didn't have the confidence in Tharpe to play him more than 7 mins., and so TT stayed in there for 38 mins. Interestingly, Self had nothing but praise for Tyshawn after the game.

One good sign re. depth is that EJ, Travis, and esp. Withey all showed signs. In fact, the latter might have been our MVP if he'd stayed out of foul trouble.

Interesting thing about this team's defense -- it's really good EXCEPT beyond the 3-point line, where every opponent is just killing us. I guess that's not atypical for a Self team, and at least they're not taking us to the hoop.

Also: Au revoir, Turner Gill. That was one of the worst of KU's many terrible football seasons. Still doesn't make me miss Mangino, however.

Hawaii 3-0?

Our first big win of the season: a narrow but rather convincing victory over my local Hoyas. I wish we had won by more against an unranked team, but give some credit to a surprisingly athletic G-town squad.

Great bounce-back for T-Rob and Travis after struggles vs. UK. Travis was Mr. Clutch, T-Rob dominated, and TT-EJ continue to show signs.

Now we're in the Final Four with Duke, UCLA and Michigan. Feels like the early '90s all over again...

OK, it's my bedtime. Looking forward to more hoops tomorrow/later today.

Wildcat-Scratch Fever

Well, I enjoyed long stretches of our loss to Kentucky. We fought, we played defense, we outrebounded them, we blocked shots, our guards penetrated on offense and forced turnovers on defense. Withey and Wesley were pleasant surprises.

We proved at least we can play with the big boys. We theoretically could have won if not for the Cats' crazy barrage of 3s, many of them guarded or heaved up to beat the shot clock.

Tyshawn played his ass off. I was impressed that he was able to get to the line so much against such athletic opponents. Elijah penetrated well too. But when they penetrate, these guys need someone on the wings to kick to. Which brings us to this team's possible fatal flaw: shooting.

The turnovers were disappointing, but 14 TOs isn't terrible. 34 percent from the field and 27 percent from three -- now that's terrible.

A lot of firepower went out the door with Brady, Tyrel and the twins. If Teahan is the only spot-up guy we have, then we can expect a lot more games like this one where we're competitive but still fall short.

Any Cause for Optimism in 2011-12?

We're back after a depressing offseason following a depressing early exit -- conference defections, ineligible freshmen, recruiting misses, player suspensions, football futility.

Now at least the games have started up again. But is there any cause for hope after our boys struggled to beat Pitt State? Not much, I fear.

Nine turnovers for Tharpe? (Deron grimaces, tugs collar nervously.)

And I can't give much credence to Withey's triple-double. The Jayhawk big man overachieving against preseason D-2 competition is now a longstanding, and predictable, pattern.

The good news is that Teahan apparently kicked ass, and we won despite being severely depleted. For now, I'll take it. TT, EJ and T-Rob return soon -- as do my fellow bloggers, I hope.

And now for some good news . . .

Robinson and Taylor return!

I figured Taylor would be back, but he is enigmatic . . . and I thought Robinson was 50/50. Add to this the recent signing of McLemore, and Jayhawk Nation has reason to celebrate for the first time in a few weeks.

Selby is still a question mark, but Robinson was the key question mark heading into the offseason.

With the Morri 99% likely to bolt, get ready to see more Withey and, I hope, Releford!