Josh Jackson Is Becoming The Complete Package...also how about our zone defense!

Josh Jackson is now 10 for his last 18, 55%, from three. In comparison, he only shot 23.7% percent from three over KU's first 18 games of the season.

The kid is starting to become the complete package which is scary for opposing defenses and great for us. He can aggressively dribble drive through the lane, shoot jump shots, dunk, post up, do spin moves, and shoot from three. He still needs to work on his free throw shooting and I'd like to see him improve his ball handling abilities, but the rest of his game is a thing of beauty for a one and done freshman.

Frank Mason is still the leader of this team and it was on full display last night with him only going 3-12 from the field, but going 12-12 from the line ending up with 19 points. He also lead all players with 6 assists in the game and only 2 turnovers. However, Josh Jackson led all scorers with 23 points going 8-13 from the field.

And how about Coleby??? He only played 6 minutes in relief, but collected 6 rebounds.

EVEN WITH ALL OF BAYLORS SIZE WE STILL ENDED UP WITH THE SAME NUMBER OF REBOUNDS AS THEM. LUCAS WAS EVEN THE LEADING REBOUNDER IN THE GAME!!!

Things are looking up for this KU team especially after seeing them compete against a frontcourt as tall as Baylors. I'll admit, and I think most of you would agree, I was worried we wouldn't be able to contend with their size inside. That certainly was the case in the first half. Motley had 14 points in the first half, but only had two points in the 2nd half. Our zone defense completely shut him down in the second half. This is the formula, along with the triangle and two defense, to use against fast transition teams like Kentucky and tall frontcourt teams like Baylor in the future. We've proven we can go toe to toe with just about any team in the country.

And you could see some secondary effects of that improved shooting.

In the second half of the Baylor game, he was in the far corner and went to shoot a three…only he pump faked, which the defender bit on. and he drove right around/past him for a baseline slam.  Dickie V chastised the defender for letting JJ get to the basket (saying you can't allow that), but b/c of JJ’s hot shooting, the defender had to get a hand up, allowing JJ to get to the rim.  A month ago, that fake probably would not have had that effect..