Nothing gets the heart pumping and the blood pumping more than a frantic, exciting, unexpected comeback, but that is what the Kansas basketball team was able to do on Tuesday against TCU.
As incredible, fun, and phenomenal as the comeback was, several issues led to KU being down by 14 at home with 3:10 left in the game and by nine with 1:14 to go. Those issues need to be addressed quickly as the Jayhawks delve deeper into their rough Big 12 schedule.
The one obvious problem is getting Darryn Peterson into the game and having him available in the games that matter most at the end. He played 32 minutes and scored 32 points, which is great, but he pulled himself out toward the end of regulation, when the game was on the line.
He did return for the final few seconds of regulation and made three game-tying free throws, but sat for the entirety of the extra period. Who knows what the solution is to that recurring problem?
Kansas basketball has several things that need to be addressed soon
Self's defensive game plan
Bill Self is a Hall of Fame coach, rightfully so, but he has been outcoached on the defensive end in both Big 12 matchups thus far. Both UCF and TCU used Kansas' tendency to switch everything on the perimeter to manipulate the Jayhawks into disadvantageous mismatches that both opponents used against them.
It is a luxury to have two big men who can guard smaller, quicker players like Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller can, but it is not their strength, and it often leaves the other team's big men guarded by much smaller guards. If the other team moves the ball quickly, Tiller and Bidunga also can struggle to get back to challenge open three-point shots.
Self has to find a way to change things up with his scheme, or get his players to eliminate some of those bad matchups.
Offensive Rebounding
KU is getting outrebounded on the offensive end, 184-144. TCU had 16 offensive rebounds to just nine for Kansas, and many of those for the Jayhawks came late. KU needs to do a better job keeping opponents off the offensive boards and find a way to create more second shots for themselves.
Get Bryson Tiller on track
Bryson Tiller will be an outstanding player someday, but the freshman has been struggling off and on all season. He needs to be more of an inside presence. Some of that will come as he adds strength, but he also seems to have the ball yanked from his hands on rebounds or stripped away when he attacks the rim.
Neither Bidunga nor Tiller is super physical; Tiller especially struggles at times. In the last two games, he has also had trouble closing in on three-point shooters or not challenging them at all. At some point this season, Tiller's light is going to click on, and he'll make some big plays before this season is over.
Darryn Peterson needs to get his teammates involved
There is no doubt when you watch a KU game, and Peterson is in the game, that he is the most talented offensive player on the court. His ability to score can be breathtaking at times. So much so that his teammates are often standing around watching him and waiting for him to do something.
In the last two games, there were several instances, however, when Peterson drove the ball but was stalled. Instead of kicking it out to wide-open teammates, he forced it. That worked against UCF, but against TCU, those shots weren't falling, especially in the first half.
KU will be a better team if Peterson can start getting his teammates more involved. It will take pressure off him, and it will give others confidence. Hopefully, this will get better as he sees more court time and gels with the other players on the court.
Melvin Council Jr. needs to stop deferring all the time to Peterson
It's hard not to love Melvin Council Jr. He tries to do all the right things. However, when he is playing at the same time as Peterson, he tends to defer too often to the star guard. In the first halves of the last two games, when Peterson played a lot, Council scored three total points. In the second half of those games, when Peterson didn't play as much, Council tallied 35 points.
Council and Peterson have to find a way to play and complement each other. Both are scorers. You can also add Tre White and Flory Bidunga to this equation. If Council and his teammates can stop deferring quite as much to Peterson, and the latter works to get those guys involved more, KU will be an incredibly difficult team to stop.
They are there now, but they could be. The talent is there for this team to just start clicking, but everyone needs to find a way to integrate Peterson into the offense more seamlessly and play like the Jayhawks do when Peterson isn't playing.
At times, it feels like KU is so close to being really good. So much of it centers around Peterson and the lack of his playing time so far this season. If he can continue to play significant minutes and find a comfort zone with his teammates, Kansas can still be a force in the Big 12 and NCAA Tournament.
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