KANSAS JAYHAWKS
› Record: 15-2 (4-1 Big 12)› AP Ranking/RPI: 3/3› Best win: In what may be the best game played all season in college basketball, the Jayhawks defeated visiting Oklahoma 109-106 in three overtimes.› Worst loss: This is reaching, because no loss to Michigan State is something to be ashamed of, but the Jayhawks’ 79-73 loss to the Spartans on a neutral court in November seems slightly worse today than last week’s 74-63 setback at No. 6 West Virginia.› Best player: Senior forward Perry Ellis is that rare senior who’s been a four-year star. The 6-foot-8 power forward not only leads his team in points (15.9) and rebounds (7.0) but also is hitting 52 percent of his 3-pointers, 50 percent of his field-goal tries overall and 77 percent of his free throws.› Biggest weakness: Free-throw defense. Seriously, the only statistical category the Jayhawks trail their opposition in is free throws. KU hits a highly respectable 71.7 percent, but its opponents are hitting 72.2 percent.› Can be hoopin’ in Houston if: Everyone stays healthy and happy between now and the start of March Madness. Arguably the deepest and most complete team in all of college basketball this season.› Coachspeak: “Coming into tonight, they were shooting 45 percent from 3, which is outstanding. Then I just think they’re deep. They’re a very good team, a good passing team. There doesn’t seem to be any greedy guys out there. Coach (Bill) Self knows what he’s doing; his teams have always executed very well.” — Holy Cross’s Bill Carmody after a 92-59 loss at Kansas on Dec. 9.
Road to Final Four series
* Indiana suddenly good enough to win it all* Nothing silly about a Virginia run to Final Four* Buddy system could make Oklahoma an NCAA champion* Can No. 1 Villanova finish season as Top Cats?* Michigan State back on track for Final Four run* Texas A&M could become a March monster* Tar Heels good enough to win Williams his third NCAA title* Kansas once more has Final Four look in January
Having just lost by 28 points to then-No. 1 Kansas inside the Jayhawks’ rowdy Allen Fieldhouse a couple of weeks ago, Baylor University basketball coach Scott Drew was asked if he noticed any weaknesses with KU.
“I think if anything, they might be tough to coach because they have too many options and too many weapons,” Drew replied. “I think there’s no doubt who the No. 1 team in the nation is.”
Though last week’s loss at West Virginia dropped the Jayhawks (15-2, 4-1 in the Big 12) to No. 3 in the newest Associated Press poll, KU began the season at No. 4, briefly dropped to fifth after an early-season defeat to Michigan State in Chicago and had stood No. 1 or 2 since early December.
Obscenely deep and talented – nine players average 11 or more minutes a game – and blessed with an unusual amount of maturity in the one-and-done age, Kansas coach Bill Self can call on three seniors and three juniors among his first nine players.
One of those seniors, leading scorer (15.9 ppg) and rebounder (7.0 rpg) Perry Ellis, is so good that Texas Christian coach Trent Johnson said after Saturday’s 70-63 loss to the Jayhawks, “Perry should have been gone (to the NBA) two years ago. He’s a polished pro.”
As a group, Self may have the most polished team on both offense and defense that he’s ever coached, including the 2008 NCAA title team and 2012 national runner-up team. Not only does KU win its games by 18.4 points per game, but the Jayhawks are hitting 49 percent from the floor while holding the opposition to 39 percent, are hitting 45 percent of their 3-pointers, 72 percent of their free throws, outrebounding foes by more than six a game and dishing out a whopping 17.5 assists per game while holding opponents to 10.4 assists.
Said Montana coach Travis DeCuire after getting pounded 88-46 at Kansas in December: “That’s a team that expects to compete for a national championship.”
Even Self has had trouble hiding his pride in how well this team has played at times, such as against Baylor, which is No. 13 in this week’s AP poll.
Said the coach who’s won 11 straight Big 12 regular-season titles of that 28-point rout: “We were so good the first half for eight or 10 minutes. We made everything, played with energy, got easy baskets. The only thing we probably didn’t do too well was defensive rebounds, but we were really good.”
In attempting to explain how good Kansas could be by season’s end, its two key freshmen – power forwards Carlton Bragg and Cheick Diallo – are averaging only 11.2 and 9.5 minutes and 4.7 and 4.8 points, respectively.
Yet against TCU, Bragg got 10 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes while Diallo delivered nine points, nine rebounds and five blocks in 21 minutes, which prompted Johnson to observe: “They look the part and they play the part. They’re great players when it’s all said and done. I hope they leave after this year.”
Added former Georgia guard G.G. Smith after watching Diallo score 13 against his Loyola (Md.) team in the player’s first college game, which was delayed by NCAA eligibility issues: “He’s a pretty good player for a freshman. Once he gets better, come conference play, I think he’ll elevate them to the next level and they’ll definitely be a Final Four-looking team for sure.”
The Jayhawks have been a Final Four-looking team almost every year Self’s been there yet have lost in the NCAA tournament’s round of 32 three of the last six seasons. But with Bragg and Diallo working their way into what is quickly becoming a devastating 10-man rotation, it’s almost impossible to see this gifted, experienced, unselfish team not reaching the Final Four in Houston come April if it remains healthy and happy.
Or as Drew lamented after the Jayhawks bewildered his Baylor Bears: “If they keep shooting like this and they take care of the basketball, it’s going to be hard for anybody to beat them.”
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.