We should be afraid, very afraid.
Please, ignore the results today. Win, lose, whatever. The bounce of the ball at the end of the game is immaterial here.
The big story, the one that we should be talking about more than anything, is our horrifically incompetent 3 point defense. It's really an inexplicable travesty.
The Dayton game was our first real warning. Dayton is not as good as the KU Jayhawks. The just aren't. But they came within a whisker of finishing us off. They should have.
The culprit vs. Dayton? 16/33 shooting allowed from the three point line. Multiple wide open looks. More than multiple wide open looks. See Nova, 2018 FF.
I heard Jesse Newell talking on the radio a week or so ago. He made the point that Self is still focusing on protecting the rim and not focusing on the three point line. That's not a newsflash.
This his how we are eliminated from the NCAA tourney.
After watching the game today, this should send shivers down all KU Jayhawk fans' spines.
OUR COACH REFUSES TO ADJUST TO THE THREE POINT THREAT. OUR COACH REFUSES TO DEFEND THE LINE. OUR COACH HAS PLACED THIS TEAM IN SEVERE PERIL BECAUSE OF HIS ARCHAIC DEFENSIVE APPROACH.
Gus Johnson, who is an excellent play-by-play guy, said this at the end of the game -- perfectly summed up the performance, "Nova has gotten good looks from downtown all game, they just haven't hit shots."
Bingo. That's how we roll. We give it up.
Bill Self, the enigma. The reason we're good. But the reason we can't win a national title.
Look at the tape. Over and over and over, we pay way too much attention to helping on the drive, or shading to provide help, or even doubling in the short corner. We don't attack the line defensively. Unreal. WIDE OPEN THREE POINT SHOTS.
Bill Self, do you have a clue? Where are you? Do you have any idea of how to defend the line?
First Half (I started keeping track of some three point defensive items just over midway through the first half). Some snippets.
8:35 Watch Nova's three point attempt. Are we taking defending the line seriously?
8:00 We pay too much attention to the driver. Leave three point shooter wide open. He misses. Braun then saunters in for the board. Long rebound to Nova, no concept of where the shooters are located, ball goes back to the same man who drills a wide open three.
6:15 Doke for some reason doubles in the short corner, no apparent reason, leads to an open three attempt.
6:08 We switch (which we should) but Garrett is lazy, not attentive to the line. Open three.
4:25 Watch McCormack (fast becoming my least favorite player) help in the lane. No real need to help. Leads to an open three by a 47% three point shooter.
3:50 Just watch the LAZY three point D. No effort to close distance by Doke. It started on a handoff when Doke RETREATS on the switch vs. going to the line. Bam, easy, wide open three.
3:20 Next possession we screw up a switch, wide open three (a miss).
2:53. Inbounds play. Dotson gets picked. McCormack uselessly stands on the box and does not contest the open three. Dotson was occupying the only threat. This is pure incompetence. He as to chase and contest. The announces mentioned how open the shooter was.
1:40 Moore again has an open look (misses).
(as a note, Doke shot a free throw shortly after that and hits the backboard first - I know, he worked hard. The staff supposedly tried. There is no excuse for this at all.)
1:11 Wide open three all resulted because we were doubling the post before. But it ended in a miss. Watch the sequence.
At start of second half, after Nova missed two wide open three looks, Gus Johnson commented that they're getting good looks but can't knock them down.
16:30 Wide open three.
15:23 I commented, "what the he**." Wide open look, zero concern for the line. Moss was just oblivious.
(I then took a break from note taking. Head near imploding)
4:15 We leave Gillespie alone. I can't really comprehend this. JRE has an open look before Gillespie's shot. Watch the sequence.
End game - Samuels wide, wide open. Winning three. Dotson was looking to help on the drive. This is a fitting end.
Summary - We are regularly out of position. We are focusing on helping on drives. We are doubling when we don't need to. We shade the ball too strongly. We don't move aggressively toward the three point shooter after we switch (a big one). We don't locate shooters as we move down in transition. We don't relocate shooters at the line after misses. We view the line as a secondary concern. Doke is very lazy on the perimeter. Not slow. Lazy. We are lacking a recognition of the real threat on the court. We don't prioritize defending the line. We are playing INCOMPETENT three point defense. Bill Self, where are you?
Nova was 10/41 from three. They missed multiple open looks. Very few three pointers were really contested. If they shoot 40% this is a blowout. We've seen that before.
Unless Bill Self gets his head out of his a**, he will cost us a chance at a national title. This is his baby. We have the talent once again. We really are the best team in the nation. But we have an Achilles' heal of Bill Self's creation -- it's a continuing theme, or nightmare, we've seen over and over.
And don't tell me it's because we play two bigs. This is SCHEME. It's lack of prioritizing the line. We switch and move backwards from the line? Over and over? This is Bill Self drilling over and over to protect the rim, stop the drive, help from the weak side, etc. All two point basket related.
In the movie Armageddon, some NASA guy calls the asteroid a "planet killer."
Well, our three point defense is a season killer. And we've seen it before.
Oh, we'll win a lot. Win the conference. Get a 1 or 2 seed. We'll mock concerns after losses with condescending "the sky is falling" comments.
Forget the wins and losses right now. LOOK at how we defend the line. And you will be afraid, very afraid.
BILL SELF, WHERE ARE YOU?
