February 7, 2023

Dajuan Harris needs to dominate

That’s more like it! Even though I don’t love the thought of Bill Self stashing the data point of “we made two threes1 and scored 88!” the attack last night speaks for itself. Harris! Maestro!

Though the puke-y aftertaste of Saturday morning’s 🧱-a-palooza is still hanging around, last night’s game against #5 Texas showed us what this team can do when they’re aggressive and flying on the break. (It helps that only one charge was called, as college officials love only one thing more than basking in their own attention—calling an unwarranted charge).

KU was able to get in the flow a lot easier, and it resulted in some face-melting ball, maybe the best stretch of KU play since the Mizzou game. They almost immediately ceded that lead thanks to a disastrous final few minutes of the first half—canny execution in a tight spot has not been this team’s strength—but when it was going, whew!

Let’s talk about Dajuan Harris, shall we? He appears to be back at full capacity, and while we will ABSOLUTELY NEED JALEN to do anything worthwhile, Harris showcased all layers of his impact last night. Floaters! More sensational passing! Prowess in pockets of space, manipulating the defense every which way! It’s exciting to have him back looking like this. He’s the primary piston of KU’s offensive engine. We’re going to need Dick and JWil to put it in the hoop. But Harris makes that part all the more easier.

I believe last night’s by-necessity short rotation success to be a least a little bit of an illusion, but Joe Yesufu’s play, knowing that he wouldn’t immediately be yanked at the first inevitable hiccup, was a revelation. The Texas game represented a confidence game for all involved parties—MJ Rice, Ernest Udeh Jr and Kevin McCullar, taking it to the damn RACK—and I think that progression will pay off. Was the bench artificially short? Yes, for sure… I’m excited to once again offer the prediction of “we will have to wait and see!” on that. Saturday against a plucky OU will be another valuable test of rotation dudes.

This conference is a bear. If shots aren’t falling, any victory throughout the conference becomes that much tougher. I don’t think there’s a version of this team that will ever be fully-formed—we’re exploring possibilities deep into conference season. That could either be an advantage or poison.

Horses? Check. Wagon? Yeah, I think we’re looking at a wagon. Win good for Jayhawks. Let’s keep building. Also let Jank play, not even kidding about that.

BEFORE I LEAVE YOU, please smash the subscribe on friend of Streak Talk Devon Miller’s new newsletter, which will focus on breaking down the details of KU's playing style. This is hard to do—I'm more of a vibes guy!—and Devon does a great job of it. While you've got that subscribe energy going, make sure to hit too if you haven't already. FOE!