Take the blue pill... and this team will remain the same throughout the rest of the season.
Take the red pills.... notice how many of the red pills are available. The red pills are optimism on our upside for this year. Take them and for everyone you take, you are optimistic of one of our players making a vast improvement still this season.
Think I'll take a pile of red pills:
Cheick - He has to improve vastly in the coming weeks. All of that hype wasn't for nothing. He has a lot to learn, but with his high-rev motor, hustle and potential, he is bound to make more noticeable improvements soon.
Hunter - He seems to play better every game. You can see his confidence growing, and with that comes execution. He has been doing a great job of defending the post, and his rebounding seems to be improving dramatically almost from game-to-game.
Brannen - He came to Kansas with a big-time reputation for offense. He may leave Kansas with a big-time reputation for defense! His defense has picked up lots of intensity recently, and he should continue to improve as the season progresses.
Devonte - He is receiving a ton of minutes this year. Look at how his tool set is developing; excellent shooter from trey, great at steals, meshing in well on offense, and doesn't turn the ball over while pressing the action. All the PT is bound to keep pushing his execution up higher.
Wayne - Just how high can he go? He continues to impress, not only the Jayhawk faithful, but media across America, including back East... where they tend to see Lawrence, Kansas as a far west town located in China.
Perry - Perry is raising his stats higher again this year. One can only wonder what he will bring to the party in March? He seems to understand the need to peak in the late part of the season.
Svi - He hasn't come out blazing this year. We all know he has the talent, but he hasn't been able to convert his ability to productive play. Might he still be a bit anxious? Chances are... yes. Maybe he can gets some mentor advice from Wayne. Wayne has overcome plenty of mental challenges during his days at Kansas. Imagine if he starts coming on big over the coming months?!
Landen - Seems like one of the tougher cases for showing upside. He definitely plays a role in the greatness of this team.
Jamari - When Self mentioned earlier this year that the light bulb hasn't come on for some players, he must be thinking of Jamari as one of those players. His athleticism, team cohesion, and energy are big pluses. But his execution has been lacking and pushing him to the back of the C5 pack. I think it is time for him to truly realize what role he can take with this team to offer a net positive. He sort of touched on this last year with his desire to have the high-energy role on the team. We can use a guy like Jamari to fill that role again. He does have to play smarter ball, because just bringing energy into a game usually isn't enough to make a net positive. I hope he figures it out because he does have some good tools to offer and can make a positive difference.
Lagerald - Almost forgotten. Starting to ice-up on the bench. He can find ways, like Jamari, to take on a role and offer a few minutes of help to this team every game. He is going to be a big talent someday.
So if we continue to hammer through the start of Big 12, piling up victories... our competition will be fighting hard to catch us... the team they thought we were in the beginning of January. Meanwhile... we will not end up being that team in the coming months. We will be vastly improved.
Does it seem possible? That as well as we are playing now we could still vastly improve this season?
I believe so!
We need to peak in April!
