What do we make of the UT game?
Also some stuff about Marcus Garrett's role
Remember this? Man that was pretty cool ngl
If you piled into the chat on Saturday, you witnessed a collective meltdown. To be sure, a 25-drubbing at the hands of Shaka Smart is triggering for Kansas fans, but the way the game unraveled felt odd at the time and still feels odd a few days later. Is KU that much worse than Texas, or was that record-breaking home loss something of an outlier?
Over the weekend, a friend shared a shot data chart that suggested that, based on the shots both teams took, KU would have been favored to win. However, the Jayhawks’ shots didn’t fall—KU shot 3/23 from 3, while Texas shot 12/26. The margin turned out to be 25 points, which checks out. As dispiriting as it was to watch UT parade around Allen Fieldhouse, this isn’t the AFH atmosphere we know and love, although 2500 attendees got to witness some history.
KU bounced back bigtime last night against TCU, a game where it appeared the Jayhawks had something to prove. Despite the absence of Marcus Garrett (head) and Bryce Thompson (back), the Jayhawks found space all over the floor, resulting in big nights from Ochai Agbaji, David McCormack and Jalen Wilson (16/8/6… what a player!). My love for Dajaun Harris’ is well-documented in the ST archives, but last night’s seven-assist game proves that Kansas has no excuse but to play him more. We’re just better when he’s out there.
I’m not the type who needs to compartmentalize every regular season loss as some kind of moral victory; KU got smoked by Texas, and their lack of fight in the second half—at home!—was distressing. But I’m not ready to read into it much just yet, and that’s not just because we shellacked TCU last night.
Marcus Garrett
It’s been a weird year for Marcus Garrett.
Here’s my working theory: Self promised Garrett he would help him polish his on-ball game, as to make his pro prospects more visible to NBA scouts. That project became a lost cause, though it’s not their fault entirely. Based on what I’m seeing from the NBA scouts this season, most are barely bothering with the college game, save for a Cade Cunningham social edit. They’re watching Ignite if they’re watching anything at all, and the COVID era means all performance evaluations come with asterisks.
Back to Garrett—if Garrett is to make the league (I think he has a shot!), it’s going to be for on-ball defense and three-point capability, not for his PG prowess. The more he can handle the ball, the better, and I expect he’ll still get reps there. To watch Garrett in the wake of Devon Dotson is a disservice to Garrett; he’s a capable initiator and has more of a floater game than he’s been able to showcase this season. But we all know where Garrett excels, and KU is at their best when he’s fully deployed as a defender.
Garrett is a defensive savant, but I don’t think he gets enough credit for how versatile he really is. There’s some Kyle Lowry to his game—he can switch onto centers, and those dudes can’t move him an inch. I don’t think Self is holding Garrett back on this end of the floor, but I’d love to see a bit of an expectation adjustment when it comes to Garrett. Dajaun Harris getting to play more lifts all tides, including Garrett’s.
The grey unis
I honestly think last night’s grey uniforms are the best-ever iteration of the gray look. It’s adidas, so “7/10” is the ceiling, and I think we hit it here. Those yellow accents are nice! The groupchat was up in arms about how the backplate looks, and I get that—it’s pretty funky. But these looked pretty good, I thought.
Svi check!!!
Our king, splashing out.