If nothing else, the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks will finish this season as one of the most thrilling Kansas teams to watch in recent memory.
Players like Melvin Council Jr. and Flory Bidunga have become fan-favorites. Transfer Tre White has shown an ability to break any game open, as his 23 points in Kansas’ 69-56 win over No. 5 Houston showed.
And Lawrence appears to be fully behind star guard Darryn Peterson and his return to full health.
Yet despite the deserved “feel-good” feeling this team brings, there have been several moments of shaky play from this squad that could be exploited heading into March.
Kansas’ interior defense (it is not what you think)
The Jayhawks have one of the nation’s best paint protectors in Flory Bidunga. Bidunga can take over any game, and despite only having four points in Kansas’ win over the Cougars, Bidunga finished with a +17, which shows his dominance that goes beyond any box score
Yet there have also been moments when Bidunga has been left on an island inside, that no elite defender can cover.
When Cincinnati forward Baba Miller and center Moustapha Thiam came to Allen Fieldhouse last weekend, Bidunga and the rest of the team were overpowered by a duo that combined for 46 points. Largely because the Bidunga could not keep up with both, and the team failed at shutting down whoever Bidunga was not covering.
Albeit most teams won't have both a 6-foot-11 and a 7-foot-2 player but, the general issue is the same: Kansas has to provide support for Bidunga, no matter how great the sophomore may be.
Keeping up the pace
The Jayhawks are a team that can do it all offensively. If you need to slow the game down, you can, and still find success with this iteration. However, there is an added sharpness when Kansas pushes the ball down the court.
The duo of White and Council has shown an ability to make fantastic cuts to the basket, with Council in particular displaying a tremendous ability in the air to manufacture fouls and tough baskets.
In the second half of Kansas’ win over Kelvin Sampson’s Houston, the pair combined for nine fastbreak points to open the half.
The Jayhawks currently sit on the lower end of possessions per game with just 70.1, which ranks 214th in the country.
By no means are things stalled if Kansas wants to slow down the game, but it is hard to see Kansas completely disregarding easier points on the break through the remainder of the season.
Next Saturday will provide the next big hurdle for the Jayhawks as Kansas will take on the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CT, with streaming available on ESPN.
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