KU-St. Joseph's Thoughts

*Jeff Hawkins finally found his stroke in the first half. Unfortunately he left it in the lockerroom at halftime.

*The Jayhawks win this game if ANYONE would have guarded Gerry McNamara....er, Nick Fazekas.....er, I mean Chet Stachitas. 6-for-7 from 3 point range in 40 MINUTES OF PT and he, of course, ties his career high...some of that is good shooting...some of that is just flat-out poor defense.

*The University of Kansas is cursed from the FT line. It really is amazing. It seem sthat year after year, regardless of who the coach is, regardless of who the players are. 6-of-19 is atrocious. I just don't understand how poor FT shooting can consistenly infect AN ENTIRE TEAM.

*3-4 for the the first time since the year I was born. The NCAA Tournament looks a long way away....but I still have hope.

*The good news is this team has tons of talent and can play with virtually anyone in the country because of that talent.

*The bad news is this team is so inexperienced that their inexperience cancels out their talent. It won't always be that way...that's just the way it is now.

*I knew this season, especially early, would be a struggle...but I didn't expect three losses with three poorly executed plays at the end of each game. We've now lost by 1, 2, and 3 in those very winnable games. I know how frustrating it is for all of us. Just imagine how frustrating it is for those players in the lockerroom and for the coaching staff. This had to be a major blow to their already fragile confidence.

*I don't have the exact number, but I know I don't have enough fingers to count the number of times that we helped on defense, a St. Joe's player dished it to the open man, and we were late getting back to the shooter....running out desperately to the 3-point line....one arm stretched out......only to watch X St. Joe Player swish it. It was beyond frustrating to watch time and again...with no defensive adjustment...it really reminded me of some of RW's teams. If someone dares to watch it again...please count for us.

*I'm pretty sure our coaches teach to give up the baseline drive so that the big men can come over and close the drive off. But I'm also sure they don't teach to give up the ENTIRE baseline and for our big men to come over a half-step to a full-step late and foul. That damn learning curve will get you every time.

*The sky is definitely still intact...it's just a lot darker than it's been in awhile. When you're used to sunny, blue skies, it takes awhile to learn to appreciate the beauty of a rainy day.

*I only hope and pray that we don't lose to K-State this year the way Indiana just lost to Indiana State tonight. I think someone just bought the FIREMIKEDAVIS.COM domain name.

*Anyone else notice we had four freshmen on the court with 20 seconds to go in the game? Yeah, we lost...but boy is the future bright.

*CJ Giles and Sasha Kaun played like nervous freshmen tonight. That's a big reason why St. Joe's outrebounded KU 33-29. Darnell Jackson can't return soon enough.

*This had to be a huge blow to this team's confidence. Like the announcers said "KU really needs a win over a QUALITY OPPONENT to give them some confidence." Yes they do....and SOON. I don't even want to think what a loss to Cal will do to this team's confidence.

*Julian Wright played a solid all around game other than looking out-of-control on a few occasions.

*I really believe Micah Downs needs to see the floor more. We desperately need the offense he can provide.

*As much as I love Mario, he looked like a first-grader in the first half. Thankfully Hawkins was playing ok. And then they switched roles in the second half. Once we get a PG that can play good for a full 40 minutes, we just might have something.

*If Russell Robinson played basketball in the forest, would anyone hear him? You hardly realize he's even on the floor. I'm not being judgmental of his game...I'm just amazed that I barely noticed he played.

*Youth and lack of experience....those are the differences between winning and losing right now. Oh...and some really bad FT shooting.

*It's definitely not the end of the season or the world, but I just can't help but think that our boys really lost a great opportunity tonight. I will be very interested to see how they bounce back against Cal.

*It's hard to believe we were actually up 17-4 in this game early on. It seems like so long ago, doesn't it?

*How awesome was it to hear Duke Vitale mention that KU/Self stole both Julian Wright and Sherron Collins from Illinois' backyard? I love it.

*For the most part, I liked the way this game was officiated. The refs let the guys play and called a fairly even game...and they gave both teams opportunities to win it from the line. St. Joe's took advantage of those opportunities and KU didn't. Simple as that.

*Dear Bill Self: You have reached your limit for close games in one season. Please make sure that no more games come down to a last posession this season. Thank you.

*Watching the Baby Jays can be frustrating...but also can be a lot of fun.

*"Pretty frustrating loss," KU coach Bill Self said. "We got to start doing what good teams do. 6-of-19 from the free-throw line. We gave them the game. Free throws have cost us two games now."

No argument here, Bill. Hang in there.