Kansas can take its time to find an identity

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Three months in, and the Jayhawks have yet to develop any consistency. One game, they play perfect basketball against Washington. Soon after they’re losing to a two-victory Massachusetts team. Then they’re smoking a ranked Tennessee team and following that up with a too-close victory against Siena and a stomping courtesy of Michigan State.

After all the triumphs, players would talk about turning a corner or finding an identity, only the next game would inevitably prove that point wrong.

Reader poll

Who will win the Big 12 men's basketball title outright?

Kansas 33% 21 votes
Texas 4% 3 votes
Oklahoma 46% 29 votes
Baylor 4% 3 votes
Oklahoma State 0% 0 votes
Other 0% 0 votes
The outright title will be a tie 9% 6 votes

62 total votes.

There wasn’t as much talk about identities or corner turning on Tuesday night, after the Jayhawks’ 87-71 victory against K-State. Kansas coach Bill Self said he thought the victory could give them some extra confidence and build consistency.

“Hopefully we did,” he said. “But we thought that after the Tennessee game. We thought that after the Washington game or whatever, the Temple game. But we’ve just been inconsistent.”

He didn’t seem too concerned that Kansas got outrebounded by K-State and nearly gave up an 18-point lead, and rightfully so.

As much as this team needs consistency, it won’t matter for a while. In the Big 12, Kansas can take several games to figure itself out.

The Wildcats proved that on Tuesday. Several times. Here’s one instance.

Early in the first half, Denis Clemente waited by the mid-court line, watching the ball go out of bounds. This would be perfectly normal under most circumstances. Players always let the ball go out when they know it last touched an opponent. It’s smart basketball. It makes sense.

But there was a problem. The ball was clearly off one of his teammates. He still let it go by.

The Wildcats were down 11-0 at the time. They’d fall down 18-0. Their starting center is Darren Kent. They have a coach, Frank Martin, who chose to keep his most effective frontcourt player, Luis Colon, in the game when he had four fouls early in the second half. He fouled out with 14 minutes left.

Still, they might be the second best team in the Big 12 North. They will, unless Nebraska proves to be a test on the road, be Kansas’ toughest opponent until it plays at Baylor on Feb. 2.

Between then, the Jayhawks play Colorado twice. The Buffaloes have one more victory against Kansas in the last six years than you or me. They have Texas A&M at home and Nebraska and Iowa State on the road. Out of those teams, only A&M is favored to finish in the top half of the conference.

So for a month, the Jayhawks can struggle. Self can shuffle lineups. He can push the Morris twins harder than ever, until at least one of them finally stops fouling and starts playing with some consistency.

Tyshawn Taylor can disappear for a game or two. Kansas can give up another early lead and seal it at the end. Mario Little can work himself back into shape.

All of the mistakes and head-shaking decisions players have made since November will be OK for another month. But February will be different. Oklahoma beckons. So do road games at Missouri and K-State. It’ll be a tough month.

But Self’s teams always get better by that time. In 2006, the Jayhawks were younger than the cast of Dawson’s Creek. Christian Moody and Jeff Hawkins were the only upperclassmen that got significant playing time. They started 3-4 and opened the conference season with back-to-back losses to Mizzou and K-State. The N.I.T. seemed possible.

By February, that team was rolling. Something jelled. The young guys stopped fading. Games where Kansas got early leads turned into blowouts instead of close calls. Self showed he could get a young team ready at the right time.

That time hasn’t come yet this season. Self and the Jayhawks have until February. But by then, they’ll need more than hope. They’ll need real consistency.

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