Baylor used a clever blueprint for its upset. KU’s bigger concern is something else
Before we get into the aftermath of Kansas’ 67-55 home loss to Baylor — and what it means for the Jayhawks moving forward — let’s diagnose the main problem for KU on Saturday.
The Jayhawks scored just 0.89 points per possession — their third-worst mark of the season behind earlier setbacks to Duke and Villanova.
And the first play of the second half was a good example of why it was such a struggle on Saturday.
It’s a good moment to study because it came right after halftime adjustments. KU coach Bill Self, one of the nation’s best in-game coaches, had an opportunity to regroup his guys and begin with an action meant to take advantage of defensive tendencies from the first half.
There was a problem here, though, and it was summarized best by two snapshots in time.
One was when center Udoka Azubuike was looking to get the ball in the post. Another was later when Devon Dotson had it on the wing.
Azubuike would have been open here, except that Baylor’s MaCio Teague came over to help in the lane, completely ignoring his man Isaiah Moss in the opposite corner.
Then, when Dotson received the ball one pass later, his driving lane was cut off when Baylor’s Davion Mitchell came over while completely leaving alone his man Marcus Garrett.
It’s no secret that KU’s offense runs mostly through two productive options: Azubuike post-ups and Dotson drives.
In this instance, though, both players were shut down when Baylor essentially assigned a double-team to KU’s superstars while choosing to overlook someone else on the court.
It wasn’t the only time Baylor swarmed Azubuike with defenders. Another example came about three minutes later, when Baylor’s Mark Vital sagged into the lane 25 feet away from Garrett, who was his original assignment on the play.
Ochai Agbaji commented afterward about Vital always being around the lane as a pass disrupter. Self spoke about small-ball offenses only working properly when opponents have to defend each of the four perimeter players, with the KU coach saying Baylor was “only guarding three of them real hard.”
The final result?
“They always had somebody behind Doke the whole time,” Garrett said.
Baylor and coach Scott Drew deserve credit for the well-executed game plan, employing a similar strategy (mostly ignoring Garrett) to what Kentucky had success with against KU last season.
So how could the Jayhawks have better countered this? Self gave a few answers.
For one, KU could have moved the ball side to side more effectively to keep the defense moving. Self labeled his team’s ball and body movement Saturday as “awful.”
The Jayhawks also could have been more decisive with the ball. In particular, Self saw too many of his players catching before taking a dribble or two ahead of their next pass. This type of hesitation, more often than not, allows time for a helping defense to recover.
“There was just no rhythm,” Self said of his KU’s offense.
The third solution, though, is most important. When KU faced a similar challenge against West Virginia, the Jayhawks became a more efficient second-half offense by simply driving the ball past initial defenders to get to the rim or force help.
That was much easier a week ago. On Saturday, Dotson was playing without as much explosiveness because of a hip pointer, while Garrett was grinding through with a pair of ankle injuries.
Those two, essentially, are the only players Self can rely upon to consistently beat opponents off the bounce.
“We couldn’t get around them,” Self said of Baylor’s guards. “And then when Dot went out and Marcus isn’t healthy, of course that makes it obviously look worse than what it actually was — even though it was pretty ugly.”
This is the time for perspective. KU is still an elite team, remaining at No. 2 in Ken Pomeroy’s advanced rankings and No. 1 in Bart Torvik’s even after Saturday’s upset loss.
Those numbers bode well for the Jayhawks’ future with a huge caveat: One has to work on the belief that KU can quickly become whole again.
There isn’t a guarantee of that in this particular moment.
Through 15 games, KU has proven itself to be a top defensive team that also is capable of executing well in half-court settings. None of that should change based off Saturday’s result ... unless it’s just the start of the Jayhawks resembling a wounded team.
So will Dotson’s hip be a lingering issue? And will Garrett’s quickness be affected by his ankles the rest of the season?
Those — more than anything — are the major questions KU faces ahead.
