Initial Conference Call a Grinding Mixed Bag

It would have been rather easy to predict the outcomes that ended up occurring yesterday for the three area power conference basketball programs. After all, Kansas was at home to open conference play,  a setting in which they entered the game having won a ridiculous 28 years in a row. They had a quality opponent in West Virginia, but still. Kansas State and Missouri were on the road as solid underdogs at around the six point level, perhaps a bit of a surprise that the Tigers were deemed that much of a threat as they squared off against Kentucky. But how we arrived at the expected destination was a greater part of the tale.

In chronological order, here’s how it went. Kansas State spent almost the entire day ahead, but they don’t give out lap money in basketball. The ‘Cats frustrated Oklahoma with their defense and had the Sooners struggling from the outside, where they made only 5 of their first 23 three-point attempts, while K-State was getting some solid shooting from range, particularly from Xavier Sneed. Sneed not showing up in big games has been a big reason that the Wildcats were 7-5 entering the conference opener, but he was on it in Norman. There was a problem however for him…fouls. His fourth came with eight-and-a-half minutes to go as the Sooners were starting to chip away at what had been an eleven-point lead.

Lon Kruger and Bruce Weber handled foul trouble down the stretch with the two promiment figures in the game differently, and it was key. Sneed sat until just over two minutes to go, and OU was ahead when he returned. Austin Reaves had almost singlehanded brought OU back, but he picked up his fourth with just under five minutes to go, just after he had drawn the Sooners within one. He never came out. Weber’s patience in re-inserting Sneed was likely fueled by the fact that the ‘Cats seemed to stem the tide by moving the lead back to seven with 3:45 to go. They would never score again, and the Sooners would prevail 66-61.

This has been a Groundhog Day trend for the ‘Cats, who have had a chance to win down the stretch in all six of their losses. They are a limited offensive team lacking confidence, and it’s easy to throw them off, as when Kruger switched to a zone yesterday. Weber has picked his team off the mat before, but this might be his biggest challenge.

The story is similar for Missouri. They are a team keyed by defense, that is how Counzo Martin likes it, but riding D in modern basketball is tough duty. The 71 points Kentucky put up was a season high against Mizzou, but their stinginess has still not prevented five losses. The Tigers pretty much don’t score without knocking down threes, and they are hitting only thirty percent from distance.

They made a few and hung around in Lexington for most of the first half, frustrating the Wildcats with their rugged style, but eventually talent started to win out. Kentucky stopped settling and took the ball to the rack, leading by five at the break, and then moving it to double figures early in the second half, where it basically stayed for the final fifteen minutes of the 71-59 Wildcats win.

Missouri has scored 66 points or less in eight of their thirteen games, and I don’t care how good your defense is, you are going to lose more than your share with that output. The Tigers are a nondescript bunch perhaps best personified by the fact that three of their top eight players are named Smith. Jeremiah Tilmon continues to be just a tease, a talented big man who could make a difference if he ever stayed healthy and out of foul trouble, but three years in he is what he is, and Saturday it was eight minutes and four fouls.

Unfortunately, what seems like such a great fit in Counzo Martin seems to be morphing into the mediocrity which has been a recurring pattern in his coaching stops. He, like Weber, seems to have a major challenge in adjusting the story in 2020.

Then, of course, there is Kansas. They have played more than a couple ugly ones like yesterday’s matchup with the Mountaineers at Allen Field House. But there the Jayhawks sit at 11-2 and number three in the nation. West Virginia had Kansas all kind of frustrated early, leading by as many as ten, and still up by six at the half.

Bill Self does not in any way hate ugly games. He thinks they bring out the toughness in his teams, and it happened again. West Virginia, after leading 30-20 with four minutes to go in the first half, would only manage 23 points in the final twenty four minutes. Kansas was no great shakes offensively themselves, but they would catch and pass Bob Huggins squad in the middle of the second half and kept them at arms- length the rest of the way in a 60-53 win.

If you had asked most people coming in if Kansas would shoot 3-17 from the field, 19-30 from the line, and Christian Braun would play the entire second half, they likely would think that the Jayhawks were in trouble. If you have would have asked me, I would have said that they somehow would make it work. Which they did.

Kansas is a hard team to judge on a grand scale. They can play big, but somehow it doesn’t seem to work as well as when they go with one big and four perimeter players. But, in that case, they are an extremely inconsistent three-point shooting team. Their best players are enigmatic. Devon Dotson is a score first point guard who can be blindingly brilliant, or have you scratching your head. Udoke Azibuke makes virtually every field goal attempt but is such a liability at the line that it is always an issue late.

I don’t think Kansas has come close to playing their best basketball, but think is the key word. You can look at the team and see a versatile and flexible powerhouse when they are clicking, but also can see a rotation with major question marks. I am always going to lean to the former since it is Kansas, but there has been enough rough looking basketball this season to make me wonder.

The three local teams scored 59, 60, and 61 points yesterday, and none of them looked particularly good. But it is obviously the pedigree that finds it no surprise that the two programs that lost felt more like that is what they are, and the winning one put up a victory against a good opponent even though they struggled on that day mightily.

Conference basketball is a different animal and that was certainly another thing we saw Saturday. The season really feels like it begins now anyway, and as usual there should be fascinating twists and turns ahead, although status quo seemed to be the order of this opening day.