KU-DePaul Game Thoughts

Well, exactly what I hoped would not happen happened today as KU blew a 14-point 2nd half lead to DePaul, losing by 7. I'll do the math for you: That's a 21 point swing to a 2-4 team whose 2 wins came against Eastern Illinois and Chaminade.

I was afraid that the players would get up for Florida and play out of their minds, which they did, and then think "we're back" and go back into "coasting" mode. And unfortunately that is exactly what happened today.

I watched the game in a crowded bar because TimeWarner and ESPN SUCK and therefore I won't be able to break the game down as much as usual because I don't have the benefit of watching the game again (or maybe I'm lucky that way?) because I couldn't DVR it.

That being said, here are a few thoughts. And I must warn you ahead of time that I tried my best to not be overly critical of what I witnessed today. That being said, sometimes the truth hurts. And sometimes the truth hurts more than I am able to rationally express after watching the team I love play like complete crap.

*50/50--At this point, my take is that 50% of the fault for KU's current situation is on the players and 50% is on Bill Self and his coaching staff. I honestly don't feel as though Self and his staff know what buttons to push with these players, with this team, at this point in the season. They are still trying to figure it out and their inability to figure it out thus far has led to the roller coaster up-and-down, turn it on, turn it off, mentality of this team. The players also don't know yet, as a team, what to expect of themselves and each other and think they can just show up against most teams and win on talent alone. They have bought into the hype of everyone telling them how good they are and aren't listening to the coaching staff as much as they should be. Anyone want to talk about this team's mindset now?

* "Our offense was terrible, and our defense wasn't any better in the second half," said Self. "It was a poor performance. We played nervous. Panic is not the right word, but we haven't showed any poise. We showed poise against Florida and we can't show poise against DePaul on the road in a crowd that's 70-30." Again, 50% on Self, 50% on the players.

*Lack of effort/lack of energy/lack or urgency--All season long, with the exception of the Florida game, this team and these players have been guilty of all three. This team can win on talent alone against some teams, but in this day and age of parity in college basketball, talent will lose out 8 times out of 10 to a team that plays as a team with effort, energy and enthusiasm. I, as a fan, don't mind as much when our team gets beat by a more talented team that plays a great game, but I cannot accept it when our players fail to do the "little things" because they think they can win on talent alone.

*Officiating: I don't recall all of the questionable calls throughout the game, but the foul called on Russell Robinson on the 3-pt attempt by a DePaul player (who then hit 3 straight free throws) was complete BULLSHIT.

*Lack of Leadership: I THOUGHT Julian established himself as a leader when he called the meeting in Las Vegas before the Florida game. And I THOUGHT Julian was going to put this team on his back and be more consistently aggressive offensively. I was wrong. This team has NO leadership. And it was glaringly obvious in the loss today.

*PRIDE: This team either has too much of it or none of it. I can't figure it out. They don't have the respect for the uniform that teams before them have had. If there was an excuse for the way they played against Oral Roberts (overconfidence?), there is NO EXCUSE for playing down to their competition again as they did today. They should, to a man, from the players to the coaches, be ashamed of how poorly they represented themselves and the University today.

*I wish this team would fall out of the top 25. Maybe THAT would send a message to them.

*I realize it's early in the season. I don't think the sky is falling. I am not pulling my hair out. But this team sucked today. And they sucked against Oral Roberts. And, with all of the talent they have, there is absolutely no excuse for it.

*I hope Self has these guys running line drills right now in some high school gym in Chicago. And they should keep running until every last one of them pukes or collapses, or both.

*DePaul outrebounded KU by 10=Lack of effort/energy and ZERO focus on blocking out.

*Anyone else notice us WALKING THE BALL up the court with about a minute and twenty seconds left while down by 5 or 6? What the hell is that?

*Brandon Rush looks as much like an All American right now as much as I do. 1-of-8 from the field, 1-of-3 from 3-pt range for a total of THREE points. Brandon's first, and only, points came when he hit a 3-ptr to tie the game at 5-5. He then disappeared the rest of the game. Brandon should spend the next week looking in the mirror until he sees a basketball player looking back at him. That line is embarrassing for someone of Rush's overall ability. For all the progress I thought he made in taking, and making, the game winner against Florida, he regressed just as much, if not more, with today's pathetic effort.

*Free throw shooting: Brandon and Russell miss the front end of 1-and-1's late in the game. One word: CHOKE. This team is simply not consistently mentally strong at this point.

*Bill Self needs to do some serious soul searching. His team has been the laughingstock of college basketball for losses to Bucknell, Bradley, Oral Roberts and now DePaul. It's not just the players. He must look deeply within himself and his coaching philosophies and beliefs.

* "When we learn to share and when we learn to become a team, I think we will get a lot better," said Self. "We are going to be a good team, but we aren't there yet. We are not a good team yet. We have a lot of holes. Guys have to really have some good things happen days and days in a row to create habits, and that hasn't been the case," he added. "We've got to coach them better. Today was very poor. They played great down the stretch and we didn't respond. We let this one get away."

* Sammy Mejia scored 23 points for DePaul. So much for Self being a defensive coach. At this point, I think Sammy Davis Jr. could score 23 points against the type of defense these Jayhawks are playing.

*Which team will show up on Monday vs. USC? More importantly, how many fans will be there?
Mic