The Kansas Jayhawks are in the midst of arguably the worst stretch of basketball in the Bill Self era. The Jayhawks just lost two in a row out west at Utah and BYU, the latter of which was a 34-point blowout. Overall, KU has dropped three of four, and finds itself at 8-7 in Big 12 play, six games back of first place with two weeks left in the regular season. This after the Jayhawks were the Preseason No. 1 team in the nation.
With Saturday’s College GameDay broadcast in Houston on Saturday for Houston vs. Iowa State, the panelists each discussed KU’s struggles, and here’s some of what each had to say.
Seth Greenberg: “In the portal era, Kansas has not done a good job getting the right guys. It’s like speed dating… you have to make quick decisions. And often times the market is moved by the agents. And Kansas’ evaluations in the portal have not been good, because it’s more transactional, other than Zeke Mayor, who understands what it is to be a Jayhawk, the Lawrence kid, the other guys have not performed… this roster is not a typical Kansas roster.”
Jay Bilas: “When comparing it to last year, they were 21-6 when Kevin McCullar got hurt.. I don’t think these two things are the same. Earlier this season they beat Michigan State, Duke, Iowa State… but Kansas is better than they played in Utah-BYU road trip. I still think they can put it together and be a very good team down the stretch, I don’t think they’re National Championship caliber.”
Jay Williams: “I think they can potentially get it together… I think I can get Hunter Dickinson in ball screens on one leg. I watch the way they work him in ball screens, and it seems like a times he’s a big liability on the court and he’s one of their highest-paid guys. Also, when you think about this team defensively, they only force 10 turnovers per game, that’s the lowest in the Bill Self era. They don’t get any points off their defense, they struggle on ball screen defense and BYU made 13 three’s. Christian Braun talked about how he wants to name on the front and not the name on the back.”
Kansas will try to get back on track on Saturday hosting Oklahoma State. Tip off is set for 3:00 p.m. CT.
