Lack of focus during games

Happy for the win against the Kitties...I'll take it...anytime.

More than any team in recent memory, this team seems to go into, or start with, a total funk. Several times during a game, for several minutes where up to four out of the five players on the court seem to drift along with a complete lack of mental discipline...turnover...lack of defense...turnover...silly foul...drive blindly into the trees and spin out into another turnover...stand around on defense and watch an easy layup...missed free-throw...and another...etc...etc...etc....and then pop...pop...pop we get focus back and play lights out or at least well together for a few minutes until..we....once.........again.............lose.........fokiss...

When we played overseas in Korea this summer we seemed totally locked in and in focus most all the time...moved and shot the ball great and we looked dominating from start to finish of a game.

Is our lack of focus from...(in no particular order)

1. Laziness?
2. Players playing too many minutes?
3. Players playing too uptight?
4. Fear of making too many mistakes?
5. Spending too much time studying Calc III?
6. Spending too much time with, or thinking about the GF?
7. Or what...?

What is it that causes this team to be so inconsistent? How can it be improved?

What are the boards thoughts on this?

BTW - The barn was rocking beyond belief last Saturday playing UK...loudest game I've ever attended. TV just cannot capture the vibe!

I agree with the lack of focus thing. Not sure what to attribute it to, but just beating K St the way we did isn't going to get us too far. I worry about players playing too many minutes while others don't get some. I am behind the team/coach, but I'm scratching my head as to why we are playing this type of basketball. I NEVER give up on our team and probably look too optimistically going forward, but I don't recall feeling like I do about our Jayhawks team. I am still hoping that we find our way out of it to play better ball, but there was a point in the first half (around the 12:30 mark) where the Kitties were moving the ball around us like we used to do against others. Unfortunately, maybe the lack of a vocal leader is hindering our growth, but it's February. Time to play. Outrebounded badly by K St? I hope that stat was wrong on the differential. Okay, I vented.

RC

I agree with you completely that the lack of any real leader on this team is a contributing factor to lack of focus. HCBS can bark at them from the sidelines or during timeouts but we need a bona fide vocal floor leader who is willing to get in the face of the other players and hold them accountable to focus.

It's still a puzzle to me why we would not give some playing time to Diallo and/or Bragg in the final 3 minutes with a 15 point lead. This would have been a great time for this! They need more experience for future success. Also has anyone heard anything about Hunter's recovery from his injury?

These boys are an enigma...wrapped in a PHOG!