It’s official now: The Kansas Jayhawks are not getting better as the regular season draws to a close.
It would be nice to blame the Jayhawks’ swoon–which reached three games with Monday’s 71-63 loss at Oklahoma–on Christian Moody’s injury-induced absence. Moody’s value is now obvious. But his absence in KU’s last two losses does not explain what’s going on with coach Bill Self’s Jayhawks.
They played without confidence in the first half of Monday’s game, and in the second half they abandoned Self’s defensive-minded style of play and just tried to outscore the Sooners. The offensive bent helped the Jayhawks erase a large, double-digit deficit, but it did not instill any confidence that things will get better for Kansas on Sunday when Oklahoma State visits Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas looks lost. J.R. Giddens barked at Aaron Miles late in the game after committing a stupid foul. And Giddens and Self appeared to bicker back and forth when Self pulled Giddens from the game early in the second half.
Senior Michael Lee doesn’t seem to have a role on this team. Kansas’ freshmen simply haven’t developed. C.J. Giles, Sasha Kaun and Darnell Jackson gave them nothing. Russell Robinson didn’t play. Alex Galindo, trapped in the doghouse for weeks, played 19 second-half minutes Monday.
No way a team with this many experienced and talented seniors should be this lost in late February.
The Jayhawks won’t snap out of this funk easily. They’ve been in it most of the season. This team has never come together. You can blame a number of factors, including injuries. But whatever the cause, the Jayhawks are not a cohesive unit. This might be the first underachieving 20-4 team in college basketball history. KU has been unimpressive in too many victories and horrible in three of its losses.
A Kansas team that was supposed to peak at the end of the season is melting down with just three conference games to play. Kansas might need to win out–regular season and postseason tournament–to have a shot at a No. 1 seed.