Jayhawks today vs. January

I'm very impressed with what this team has accomplished. I think we can all agree that this level of success didn't seem possible a couple of months ago. Yet here we are. To me, the credit falls to 3 players in this order: DeSousa, Newman and Vick.

In January it was already clear that Devonte was our leader and best player. He still is and he's proven himself thoroughly. Similarly, Svi was having a good season, and shooting the lights out, with only the occasional hiccup game. Bench guys like Garrett and Lightfoot were also solid, but limited by experience (Garrett) and size (Lightfoot). In many ways, these 3 guys' performance was solid and is still solid today.

In January, our achilles heel was Dok. Foul trouble was always an issue as our backup (Lightfoot) was significantly smaller and less of a physical presence. When he was in, he'd play great, but once he got that 2nd foul, he'd sit.

Meanwhile, DeSousa was on the bench clearly not ready for primetime. Newman was sketchy at best and Vick spent a lot of time going through the motions rather than actually playing in any kind of engaged manner.

The first guy to get the light flipped on was Newman. When he figured out that standing around on the perimeter hoping for an open 3 wasn't "playing basketball" and started mixing in some driving and slashing into his game, he became a totally different player. Yes, he still shoots plenty of 3's (often too early in a possession if you ask me) but he ALSO tries to get to the rim. This forces guys to play off him a little more, and that opens up the 3 for him. We didn't gain any DEPTH with his renaissance, but we gained a 3rd scary scoring threat along with Devonte and Svi. He's playing pretty good defense too now.

The next guy, IMHO, who started to come around was Vick. It hasn't been as dramatic or instant as it was with Newman, but since the Big 12 Tournament, he's playing much harder, going after loose balls, rebounding and playing better defense. I still think he has more upside to show us, but like Newman we improved in that position, which gives us more options.

But to me, anyway, the BIGGEST difference maker of all (even more so than Newman) is DeSousa. In Jan/Feb he barely saw the court. HCBS would put him in and pull him instantly. Ligthfoot was clearly ahead of him in the rotation, which meant that if/when Dok had to sit, we gave up a TON of size, rebounding, and overall inside presence on both sides. Watching DeSousa yesterday it's clear that we we give up MUCH LESS when Dok sits now. No, he's not Dok 2.0, but he's solid offensively, a big enough body on defense, and a very good rebounder. Most importantly, he's an ADDITION to what we had in Jan/Feb. With him finally contributing at a level close to what we could have hoped from Preston, we're now for the first time a full and solid team. Our greatest weakness (no depth in the post) is now not anywhere near the problem it was a couple months ago.

So kudos to everybody on the team, but HUGE congrats to DeSousa. I can't remember how many times I said that we were "one bad call away" from losing any game with our reliance on Dok and no comparable "Plan B" option. Now we have that cushion.

I have no idea how we'll do against Villanova or if we'll get to play on Monday, but there's no way we make it this far without DeSousa. Amazing for a kid who joined at the semester.

I don't think we'll see it this weekend, but next year I'd love to see Self play Dok and DeSousa together a little.

"No, he's not Dok 2.0" I would add "...yet"

I would say he is not Dok 2 and will never be. He is not that huge but he is quicker and a better rebounder. They play a very different game even though they both play the 5. I think the change of pace makes us tougher to game plan against.

We are so much more difficult to game-plan for when Dok is "on"

Yep, but think too about gameplanning against us in January vs. today.

Back then:

• Try to limit Graham as best as possible
• Either keep the ball out of Svi's hands or get him to rush his shot
• Go right at Dok on offense to get him into foul trouble, and don't worry about putting him in the foul line. They don't have a good backup option.

Today:

• Try to limit Graham as best as possible
• Either keep the ball out of Svi's hands or get him to rush his shot
• Try to get Dok into foul trouble
[il]If Dok is on the bench, try to get DeSousa in foul trouble[/li]
[il]Since the odds of getting them both in foul trouble is slim, try to keep them off the boards and keep them from scoring.[/li]

• Don't let Newman get an open jumper.
• Don't let Newman get a lane to drive to the basket.
• ...and try to keep him off the boards.
• ...and while you're worrying about him, don't let Devonte take over.
• ...or Svi
• Keep in mind that Vick is also a serious threat on both offense and defense. Driving or shooting.

So many more tools in our toolshed right now.

Totally agree. Dok on the floor is a great thing. It's just not a total disaster (no disrespect to Mitch Lightfoot) when he's not.

Another way to look at it: When we lost at OU to the hack-a-Dok strategy, it was a smart, if-not-obvious strategy that Kruger put into place.

Had Silvio been playing at the current level, it wouldn't have worked. Moreover, if Newman and Vick were playing like they are now, the margin likely would have been big enough that free throws in the closing minutes might not have mattered. Obviously this is all speculation, but I'm just blown away by how much better we are today with 2 of our starters playing to their potential, and our most obvious flaw (no comparable backup for Dok) has been plugged.