Utter garbage performance at AFH

No excuses for our guys.

WVU is actually a decent team (see win over the Zags, for example), but --
• They were missing two of their starters
• They had travel delays that resulted in them getting into town in the wee early morning hours, and
• They still kicked our butts early and managed to hold on to win.

I will say this - a couple of bad calls/no calls were the saving points for WVU in this game.
• Mayo's over and back was not an over and back, it should have been KU's ball. He left the court behind the line before flipping the ball back to a teammate to keep it alive, but the ref saw it that he stepped on the line before he leaped, making it over and back. And WVU scored 2 points on that possession.
• KJ was fouled on the floor on that last play and should have been at the line shooting to tie or win the game. An egregious whistle swallowing.

I will also say this -
We put ourselves in the position for a couple of bad calls to cost us the game with our egregious play in the first half.
We play our game and it never comes down to "Did the refs get it right?"
We did not, and it did.

I will also say that going forward I am encouraged by the play of Mayo and especially Bidunga. They are going to prove to be difference makers, Zeke especially with his scoring and Bidunga with his overall presence, especially on the defensive end of the court.

Chatting with konza63 during and a bit after the game and we both agree that from what we have seen the guys who have earned the starting spots are Harris, Mayo, Bidunga and Griffen. Everyone else should be a game to game decision, even Dickinson and his $50K a game and his double-doubles. In our opinions Dickinson has not shown he is starting material for a championship caliber team, which is why he is not in the NBA today. And KJ practically disappeared today. I love him, but where was he? Again, prove yourself worthy, KJ... and know that we truly want you to excel!

Are we spoiled?

Yes, we are.

In his 25 previous seasons as a head coach (21 at KANSAS, 3 at Illinois and his last season with Tulsa), Self has had only one team that won less than 70% of its games - the AY2023-24 Jayhawks starring Hunter Dickinson ended 23-11 (.676)..

We have come to expect consistent excellence from Bill Self's Jayhawks teams. I still remember a few years ago George Brett was in attendance in AFH and during an interview he said that he, like all fans, appreciated excellence in athletics, and that KANSAS Men's basketball was a prime example of it, hence his presence at the game. That made me smile.

But we have not seen that consistent excellence since Hunter Dickinson joined Kansas. Good moments, and yes, even some great ones, but no real grit and no consistency, especially against teams with a strong defensive presence in the paint... and we know those are not the expectations of Bill Self.

We will see if this staff and team can come together to fix this leaky ship.
If they cannot, I will not be surprised to see another season without a regular season title and another streak broken at the final regular season game for our Jayhawks on Saturday March 8 against Arizona in AFH.