A Message from CorpusJayhawk

Last season we opened the season with a lot of question marks on the roster. Azubuike was coming off another injury shortened season for his senior year. While he had been a solid player in his injury plagued first three seasons, there were still a lot of questions as to how effective he would be. Devon Dotson showed he was a star in the making his freshman season but the taste of the entire 2019 season left a stain on everyone to some degree including Devon. Marcus was solid role player and decent defensive stopper but all too often an offensive liability in his 1st two seasons. Ochai pulled off the redshirt halfway through his freshman season and acted like a superstar to be out of the gate but then systematically faded as the season went on. So going into his sophomore season there was excitement but a lot of questions. Silvio De Sousa was finally in a position to get a fresh start and while many questions persisted, there was hope springing in the bellies of Jayhawk fans that he might finally deliver on the promise he showed in the 2018 NCAA tourney. We had a couple interesting freshmen in Christian Braun and Tristen Enaruna that may be that diamond in the rough.

It didn't take long into that season that things were looking to be very exciting for Jayhawk fans. Azubuike had made an improvement in almost every phase of his game to a degree that was almost unbelievable. He had shed weight. He was faster, more agile and most importantly, he looked ultra focused and intent on being a force. Devon Dotson emerged from the miasma of the 2019 disconsonant 2019 season as a prototypical scoring PG who was a step faster than anyone on the court. Marcus Garrett seemed to be in the perfect position to capitalize on his strengths. Ditto for Ochai who as the 3rd scoring option was able to focus on improving his defense. Christian Braun emerged as a solid backup who shot 45% from three. In short, last seasons team seemed to gel in all the right ways with every piece on the roster seemingly custom designed for the role they were playing. The results were wonderful. KU finished the season ranked number one in every pole and on every computer.

Then Covid happened.

This season started off with a lot of question marks and a lot of reason to fear the worst. From a standpoint of marquee players, this was the thinnest roster bay far in the Self era. There was not a single top 25 HS player on the roster and only 5 top 100 players. In Self's first 17 years he had had no fewer than 1 top 25 player and 6 top 100 players. In addition to the lack of star power, as the season neared, we lost Silvio De Sousa who was projected to be our primary backup for David. Speaking of David, his 1st 2 seasons were somewhere between encouraging and discouraging. While we all saw the potential, he had not seemed to develop to the point where he could carry the front court load for a top tier team. There was a lot of excitement in having Marcus back and he was such a favorite player than no one would mention out loud what we were all thinking. Can he really thrive as the PG and driver of the offense? Ochai was that solid role player who seemed to be steadily and continuously if not slowly improving. But was Ochai ready to be the centerpiece of an offense on a top tier team. There was alot of excitement about Christian bringing his sharpshooting from the bench to the starting lineup but still questions about was he ready to be elite? Then the real big question. Did we have a 5th starter? We had the young freshman Bryce Thompson who would probably have received the most pre-season votes as the likely 5th starter, pretty much solely because he was a McDonald's AA in HS. But he had sophomore Tristan Enaruna who was smooth as silk but had not bee able to actually mesh in a rotation his freshman season. There was that enigma Jalen Wilson who played in only a few minutes before being injured and out for the season. There was certainly a whole lot of hype surrounding the uber athletic Juco transfer, Tyon Grant-Foster.

The season began with Wilson getting the 5th starter position. We lost to Gonzaga in the most un-Jayhawk manner. We faded down the stretch. For some reason, the pundits had rated us in the top 6 and so we all viewed that as an aberration. That view was reinforced when we easily dispatched St. Joseph's in the 2nd game setting up a blue blood matchup with Kentucky. KU prevailed to the great delight of Jayhawk nation. Little did we know that we were playing a team that would finish with a losing record and fail to make the NCAA tourney. That victory, while still sweet, was not the portent of things to come. The very next game we were almost bested by a 250th ranked North Dakota St. team. Some trends were emerging that we were slow to embrace since greatness is the standard for KU basketball. This team was a nice solid team but was not playing like a great team. We were all secretly hoping it was just early season Covid impacted jitters. Then in mid-December we opened Big 12 play with solid victories against Texas Tech and West Virginia. That seems to allay our fears that this team may not be quite what we hoped. We made it all the way to 3rd in the AP Poll and we were all ready, despite that check in our bellies, to embrace this as just the next installment in the string of great KU teams vying for a National Championship.

Then Texas happened.

Texas came to Allen Fieldhouse and handed Kansas it's worst loss ever in that venue. There was not a single aspect of that game where KU looked ready to compete. We were outplayed in every facet of the game. If this were a true anomaly we would cock our heads, squint our eyes, furrow our brows and ponder perplexedly at what just happened. But there was already enough kindling on the fire of doubt to foment into a full fledged blaze. We lacked elite talent. We were small. We made too many mistakes. We had no signature strength. Our offense efficiency was scoring out as the worst in the Self era. The lingering doubts ceased lingering and started running laps in our minds.

There is one thing about Kansas basketball, at least over the last 35 years. There is no amount of evidence to the contrary that will ever fully erase the underlying optimism of a glorious denouement. It is simply the stock in trade of a true blue blood. And this foundational optimism is borne out of experience. While many programs seem to wane like Icarus when faced with success, Kansas seems to rise like Phoenix when faced with failure. But this season was testing that foundational resolve.

Texas was a alarm bell but there is always the next game where that Jayhawk Phoenix will emerge. And sure enough, the Jayhawks played what may be the best game of the season. What Texas did to Kansas, the Jayhawks did to TCU in Fort Worth. We dominated in every aspect of the game on the way to a 29 point victory. Texas was an anomaly. The ship was back on course. What we didn't see was that course would take us through the heart of the Bermuda Triangle of college basketball fate. Kansas was 8-2. We were struggling mightily to score. Our defense was wildly inconsistent and especially late in the shot clock. The fundamentals were just not there. We had victories over Kentucky, Creighton, Texas Tech and West Virginia. There was clearly something of substance to this team but it was like Gollum. As soon as you got a good glimpse of it it seemed to disappear again.

Our next game was at Oklahoma at home. OU was without one of their stars, Manek. KU won by 4 in a close contest. But that is how it is supposed to be in conference play. We started throwing around terms like gritty and tough. We were in the heart of conference play. We were 4-1 and 7 days removed from the Texas head-scratcher. We were regaining our optimistic mojo.

Then January happened.

Beginning with the Oklahoma State game on January 12th, Kansas seemed to fall off the radar as they entered the Bermuda Triangle. We lost to Oklahoma St by 5. Then we got Baylor in Waco and seemed to play well even though we lost. It was an encouraging game. Then we would lose 3 of the next 5 including a 19 point embarrassment to Tennessee. Our offense, always weak was looking non-existent. And our defense was stubbornly refusing to get better. We had no signature to this team. We were like that kid who put his fingers in his ears and started yelling "I'm not L-I-S-T-E-N-I-N-G!!!!" as people were trying to whisper "mediocrity" into our ears. It was not possible! Kansas is never mediocre! Period!! I mean Bill Self has averaged being ranked 6th in his 1st 17 years. Duke is next best at an average just under 9. Then it falls to 14th for UNC and down from there. Other teams may have off years. WE ARE NOT NOR WILL WE EVER BE MEDIOCRE!!

But facts are stubborn things. We were standing less and less on data and stats and more and more on vociferous averations of our blue-bloodedness. But despite the sometimes loud and energetic protestations, discouragement was creeping in. We had fallen from the AP top 25 for the 1st time in 13 years. We had fallen to almost 50th in some of the computer polls. We were not even halfway through the Big 12 conference and already hoping and wishing that we can be in the race for 2nd place. We were 11-7 and had lost 3 in a row, which almost never happens. We had experienced our worst loss ever in Allen Fieldhouse. And we had no signature strength to fall back on to give us hope.

Then Bill Self happened.

Through the first 18 games, KU was 11-7. Our offensive efficiency was the worst ever under Self at 1.059 PPP. Our defensive efficiency was barely decent but certainly not even good at 0.978 PPP. Then Self revamped the way we play. He gave Harris a few more minutes and started letting others share in moving the ball. He let Marcus focus more of defense in sort of a free-lance way. And I am not sure exactly what all other tweaks he made. But the results are unmistakable. While our offense has not changed measurable, our defense has been transformed. In the last 9 games, KU has had an offensive efficiency of 1.034. But our defensive efficiency has been otherworldly at 0.859. That is not good, that is not great, that is amazingly stellar. Not a single team has surpassed 1.0 PPP. That includes the surging Oklahoma State Cowboys, Texas Tech, Texas, Baylor and Oklahoma. KU's defense has been simply the best in the country over the last month and a half. We now have a signature strength. And it is a seriously good one.

KU spent a total of one week outside the top 25. With our newfound defense we climbed back into the top 25 and currently reside in the 12 spot. We earned a 3 seed in the tournament and we have renewed hope that in spite of a weak offense, we just may have the defense to carry this team to great things. After all, the last Jayhawk team to have this big of a disparity between the offense and defense efficiencies was in 1988. That season worked out pretty well. Ironically, for that team whose signature strength was defense, it was offense that left the final and indelible impression on us as we witnessed them going head to head with the most powerful offense in the country to a 50-50 tie in the National championship game. But it was the signature defense that turned on the 2nd half to bring home the victory, holding OU to their lowest 2nd half total points of the season. Dare we hope for a second act of Danny and the Miracles.

I don't know what this NCAA tourney will give to us Jayhawk fans. But I know this. Jayhawk basketball is still Jayhawk basketball. While we may or may not have that glorious denouement, we have witnessed a brilliant coaching job. We have witnessed a group of solid but not elite college players come together to be the best defense in the country down the stretch. We have much to be thankful for and that underlying optimism that has been our stock-in-trade has once again proven itself justified. Duke is finished. Kentucky is finished. UNC is an 8 seed. Michigan St. lost in a play-in game. But Kansas is still alive. As the spring flowers bloom, the crisp morning air gives way to sun and wonderful spring days, March Madness is set to begin and hope springs eternal in the KU breast. Just as God meant it to be.

very well said corpus and i hope even the fair weather fans on this board who were calling to replace bill self in jan read it once and then read it again. the seeding data you recently published plus bills big 12 dominance absolutely certify what most of us know...we have the best coach on the history of college basketball. and he does it the hard way, mostly with four year high character guys we grow to love. and we get to watch these teams play in the best venue ever created for the game. and as you say even this year when virtually all the blue bloods collapsed from covid stress, we bent but didnt break. he seems to know exactly what to tell them when they need to hear it. love that finish of the big 12 tournament beating a good okla team with a five guard lineup plus a 6th yr senior. so self like. so they cld lose tomorrow and i wld be just fine. i think garret comes back next yr and we win it all so im looking forward.

Well said Corpus. It's been a very odd season, but here we are. Time to lace 'em up and win or go home.

I can't wait until this COVID stuff is behind us, and I still can't get as into things this season as I have in the past. It's not KU, but sports and college basketball in general.

Meanwhile, it's been fun watching Duke and UK have bad years, getting close to catching UK in all time wins, and now watching UNC go home in round 1. Who knows which team will show up tomorrow, but I'm excited to watch.

Great points all around. Self is still showing he is one of the best coaches of all time in getting his teams to play at a high level, even if it takes the better part of a season to get them to gel.

Just to be clear though, I don't recall anyone calling for Self to be fired. What a few of us were discussing here was whether the issues that are hovering over the KU program, all of which in my opinion were under the direct control of Self and his staff, were such that it would be better for the program and the University for him to move on, ala my of my favorites Larry Brown. I hope the issues clear up and he stays, but the issues remain three years later and still affect the program.

I personally believe Self was not himself over the past couple years, showing less emotion and interest than I had ever seen of him. Not unexpected for someone facing sanctions both for the program and himself as a coach. I also saw this season a point where Self seemed to come alive again, and not coincidentally the team began its run of climbing back into contention.

Can't wait for today's game, and for continued discussion on this board on all issues, even not so popular ones.

Thanks Corpus for the great summary of two years. We often need to be reminded of how lucky we really are--each and every year. Last year was an enormous disappointment due to the cancellation--a year where we very well could have won another championship. This year, as you noted, started out slowly and a bit scary, but we ended pretty darn strong. Don't know what the tourney will hold--especially down 3 good players--but it's still Kansas basketball. The best around and still the top blue blood! Rock Chalk Jayhawk--we love you no matter what!!!

Yes, thanks to Corpus and HE. Wrote this yesterday, but the board didn't like me and didn't post. Will do a short version now. My worst KU losses were 2nd round in 2010 to UNI and 2011 in Elite 8 to VCU & Shaka Smart. Were at both and had tickets to 2011 FF in Houston. KU could have won that. Also said it seems Shaka Smart has become an nemesis at UT. Of course with their ridiculous loss last night, maybe not so much. RCJHKU