January 11, 2009
The Non-Conference part of the season is over and KU Basketball still looks like a team that is missing five guys to the NBA, has only two reliable scorers in Collins and Aldrich, and is lacking a true impact player out of its seven-player recruiting haul.While Michigan State looked good yesterday, Walton and Morgan had their way throughout the day, KU suffered from what has ailed them all season and will continue to for the rest of 2009 - nobody but Collins can create his own shot.Add to that the fact that the freshman bigs have been abysmal thus far, and this team, as much as I hated to say it at the beginning of the season - will be lucky to make it to the NCAA Tournament this year.Now, this isn't a doomsday piece calling for Self's head, questioning his ability or wondering aloud whether he's still got that magic recruiting touch - but rather the opposite, because I'll be more impressed with Self's coaching performance this year if he gets this team to the Tourney than last year's National Championship run.Self, like the rest of us, has been spoiled with the guys he's brought in since coming to Kansas... Chalmers, Rush, Robinson, Kahn, keeping Darnell Jackson, Wright, Arthur, Aldrich and Collins - and seven of those nine are getting paid to play, while the latter two of the group will in the next two years... Five recruiting classes - and Self has already produced 7 professional basketball players with two on the way- think about that for a second... And let's not forget Deron Williams, a Self guy from Illinois, who's one of the best PGs on the planet, to go along with Luther Head and Brian Cook, two more Self guys in the NBA from his days in Champaign... That's not just impressive - that's sick.So that brings me back to this year's class, which has been a major disappointment 15 games into the year... Outside of Tyshawn Taylor, who KU was lucky to get considering he was supposed to go to Marquette before Tom Crean left, no KU rookie has shown the ability to manufacture any offense, create a play on defense, or pick up the slack when a defense sits on Collins and Aldrich...The Morris twins have been very erratic and look to have regressed in recent games, Thomas looks like he might have the most upside of all the bigs, but he can't seem to get on the floor long enough to prove it... Perimeter-wise, Appleton's been a supreme bust, Releford has the tools athletically but is still putting the college game together, and Taylor's been an inconsistent freshman, go figure...As for Mario Little, I'm guilty of expecting way too much out of the guy and accept him for what he is - a juco transfer that will probably leave Kansas averaging 7.3 ppg and 5.2 rpg...All of that said - it is way too early to label this Self class... It faces the biggest challenge of any KU rookie crop in the last 50 years - as defending National Champs... Nobody expected didley out of the '89 team, partly because of a new coach, but rather everybody knew KU wasn't going to the Tournament because it was on probation... Instead, this year's class gets everybody's best shot because they are the "defending" National Champs even though nobody on this team besides Collins and Aldrich even played last year, and let's face it, this is Kansas Basketball...These newcomers, yeah, they sat through Late Night, but sitting in the stands at Allen Fieldhouse is a whole lot different than suiting up at Allen Fieldhouse... And all the press clippings about how great they were in high school fall to the side when you foul out in seven minutes - the clippings aren't as nice...The freshman will get better, they really will... Bill Self is the best recruiter in the nation and he clearly saw something when he brought these guys in - although Appleton is looking very Jelani Janisse-ish -yet I'm confident this team will continue to improve, and maybe, just maybe, make it to the Tournament... But in the meantime, like the economy, it may get worse before it gets better.