Temple Dominates Kansas In Sleepy Jayhawks Effort

It was probably (OK, definitely) presumptuous to think that Kansas was as good as the team that rattled off 8 straight wins against one of the toughest schedules in the country, and it's probably (OK, definitely) presumptuous to think that the team is as bad as they played last night against the Owls.

What's worse? Allowing 1.18 points per possession or scoring .8 points per possession. Both were horrible, but they each demonstrated something different. On the defensive side of the ball, it was pure laziness. Temple, which is horrible at scoring inside, and doesn't have a lot of size, shot 75% inside the arc. 75 percent! That raised their season average to 42.9 percent on the season, ranked 294th.

Is that better or worse than stupidity? The Jayhawks turned it over on 26.2 percent of their possessions against a team that never forces turnovers (up to 210th nationally hooray) and shot just 29.7 percent from two. Here's the kicker though. Kansas shot 36.8 percent from three, was able to hit the offensive glass fairly well (which is a byproduct of shooting threes) and STILL shot fewer threes than Temple, who shot 75 percent inside the arc. What the goddamn hell is that. I'll go into this more later, but a Bill Self Kansas team (caveat: with guys he recruited) has only been in the top 200 nationally in 3 pointers once. That was the 2011 team which, as you may recall, was pretty darn good. This team doesn't quite have the outside shooters that team did, but it doesn't have the inside shooters that team did either. This year's team is 312th in getting its shots blocked, 299th in two pointers, 37th in three point shooting, and still ranks 275th in three pointers attempted. That is god damn ridiculous.

• One of the few positives: kudos to Frank Mason. I am about 99% of the way to admitting I was way wrong about him. He turned it over a lot, though not all were his fault, but played really good perimeter defense for the most part and was 4-6 from three. A horrible basketball writer called him a mid major player on twitter, in which case sign me up for more mid major basketball players.
• Wayne Selden played well in spurts, but the numbers weren't pretty: just 1-4 on twos and 1-4 on threes. He did have three assists however.
• I had read some rumors that Perry Ellis was under the weather, which prompted two reactions: 1. why is he playing and 2. he freaking better be. 1-9 on twos and only attempting 5 free throws against a front line as bad as Temple's is inexcusable. It's one thing to have a no show against Kentucky or Texas. That is understandable due to Perry's limitations athletically. But to do it against a team he should have murdered is embarrassing.
  
• Kelly Oubre is the other positive. He had two turnovers but they were positive, aggressive turnovers which I am willing to live with. He was aggressive attacking the rim, shooting 4-7. He also grabbed 7 rebounds and had a pair of steals. The light is starting to turn on for him.
• Cliff Alexander played just 17 minutes and got yanked in and out of the game due to fouls, even though he sat on the bench when Temple built its lead and totally could have helped but hey when a guy gets 2 fouls in the first half he has to sit it's the law.
• Svi, Greene, and Mickelson all sucked, but Jamari Traylor was especially bad. He does really good things when he catches on the wing, faces up, and drives to the rim, but he can't defend on the interior, can't pass, can't hold onto the ball, and somehow has lost the ability to rebound. Good times.
• Honestly Evan Manning should probably play more. He tries hard and while he doesn't do much positive he doesn't do much negative either.
• SHOOT MORE THREES YOU GET AN EXTRA POINT FOR THEM AND EVERYTHING AND USUALLY THERE AREN'T FOUR GUYS THERE TO BLOCK YOUR SHOT