KU basketball’s third straight loss shouldn’t be met with doom and gloom. Here’s why
Kansas coach Bill Self changed his message after Saturday’s 75-68 road loss to Oklahoma, and it’s an important pivot that’s worth examining.
Self said he told his team in the locker room, following its first three-game losing streak since 2013, that this wouldn’t end up as a “storybook season” — one where the Jayhawks won a Big 12 title and garnered an NCAA 1 or 2 seed.
Still, he told them, the focus should be on making this a “storybook ending,” which still is within reach.
“I think that would be more important anyway,” Self said, “so that’s where we’re at, and that’s what I’m gonna try to emphasize.”
It’s not an easy admission for Self — he’s been the most consistent blue-blood coach in college basketball since arriving in Lawrence — but it’s also both level-headed and correct for him to redirect his sights more on the horizon right now as opposed to each individual step of the journey.
Here’s the reality of Saturday’s result: KU lost a game that is disappointing in the moment but won’t mean that much in the big picture.
Because think about the circumstances. The Jayhawks have an excellent résumé with quality wins over Creighton, Texas Tech and West Virginia. They’re safely in the NCAA Tournament barring a complete collapse, and that’s something that isn’t likely with four games still remaining against bottom-dwellers Kansas State and Iowa State. Also keep in mind this year’s NCAA Tournament won’t even reward the top seeds all that much, with each game taking place in Indianapolis at a neutral-type setting.
So KU vs. Oklahoma on Jan. 23? The actual win or loss doesn’t have huge ramifications either way.
What does matter, though, is KU figuring out a way to get closer to its ceiling during each game opportunity. And KU might’ve accomplished some of that Saturday.
Self, as promised, gave Tyon Grant-Foster more playing time, and though the guard shot too much, he still appeared to give KU a much-needed energy boost during his brief stint in there.
The Jayhawks also went more to a five-guard lineup that had been successful for them early in the season. KU’s offense wasn’t always pretty with it — guards seemed to overdrive too often — but for a time late in the first half, the setup allowed KU to switch all screens while shutting down Oklahoma for an extended stretch.
Oklahoma had a few things fall its way. KU — one of the most foul-averse defenses nationally — had some weird whistles go against it to put the Sooners in the bonus early after the intermission. That had a ripple effect for KU’s defense, which got beat too often on drives in a second half where the Sooners made 18 of 22 from the line.
Still, if nothing else, Self and staff mixed things up — and promised to do more in the future. The KU coach said after the game he might shuffle the starting lineup, and potentially would open up those spots based on how guys perform in practice this week.
Here’s the positive: Self is not taking the low-variance line. If KU remains status quo with what it is now, the Jayhawks probably hang in the 15-20 range nationally but also have a capped upside that would be unlikely to take them much farther than the Sweet 16 in March.
Self, with his actions Saturday, showed he’s ready to throw stuff at the wall. New schemes, players and rotations are on the table, with a short-term loss potentially giving way to a long-term reward if KU is able to find a more effective path forward.
And that’s the hope for KU now: Many teams have been at a similar crossroads prior to experiencing their own “storybook ending.”
The last Final Four in 2019 provides the evidence. On Jan. 27 that year, Michigan State fell to Purdue, the start of a three-game losing streak that spanned through a Feb. 5 defeat at Illinois.
“I might replace all five of them,” Izzo said of his starting lineup after the Illinois loss. “I just didn’t like the way we started out.”
Sound like what KU’s going through? The Spartans made the Final Four a few weeks later.
On Jan. 26, 2019, Auburn also dropped its third consecutive game, losing at Mississippi State to fall to 2-4 in SEC play.
“I’ve got to do some things schematically to change some things,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said then, “because there’s certain things that we do, and right now, if you look at the stats in the SEC, teams are scoring — I don’t know what it’s at right now, but it’s really high — and we’re getting killed on ball screens, so we have to make some changes.”
A familiar tone there? The Tigers later reeled off a 12-game win streak to make the Final Four as well.
On Jan. 22, 2019, Texas Tech was facing its own issues too. It lost its third straight game — this one at Kansas State — while falling to 4-3 in Big 12 play.
“We’re a team that’s searching for a second option, we’re searching for a third option,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said then. “I’m not the kind of guy that’s gonna call out players. It’s just not what I believe in. But it’s pretty easy to look at the stat sheet and understand how this Texas Tech team was put together. Some of our guys have got to play a lot better individually.”
This easily could’ve been a quote from Self voicing frustrations from Saturday. A little over two months later, Texas Tech made the national championship game, ending up a single shot away from bringing a title back to Lubbock.
None of this is a guarantee for KU. Lots of mid-season struggles fester until the end, becoming too much to overcome as certain teams get bounced quickly from the NCAA Tournament.
Here’s the point, though: Self seems determined to fight like hell to find some way — any way — for KU to raise its potential to become a team that can reel off four straight victories in March.
The blueprint is there, directly from the last time an NCAA Tournament was played.
Combine a high-major program with a hall-of-fame-type coach and needed adjustments following a midseason losing streak ... and sometimes, things fall right for a magical ending.
Yes, KU could fall short still. It might not get there.
But it’s also too early to completely rule out anything just yet.
Including a happily ever after.
This story was originally published January 23, 2021 at 5:19 PM with the headline "KU basketball’s third straight loss shouldn’t be met with doom and gloom. Here’s why."
