My take, such as it is.

Frantic, frenzied, frenetic=turnovers, missed shots, absent-minded defense.

Pretty much sums it up. I also think this is a freshman problem.

You show up at a place like Kansas and suddenly you're not the best player on the floor, and even the cupcake teams have a couple of experienced guys who are outplaying you even though they aren't as athletic as you. So you adjust. Now you think you have it all figured out just as the conference race starts. You've never set foot in the state of Iowa before and it doesn't look like much on the bus ride up there. Then you walk out on the floor and it begins to dawn on you what a road game in the Big 12 looks like if you're Kansas.

All that nagging that Coach Self has been doing, telling you that your current level of execution won't cut it in league play, suddenly makes sense. Up until now, you thought it was just Self trying to motivate you. Now you understand that he was just stating a simple fact. Time to make another adjustment.

To quote our Brother Bay:

WORD!

(In my day......RIGHT ON!)

How're you doing, Wheatie? Always great to see your posts!

Thanks, NotO, for putting my thoughts into better words!

Hey, Murph!

Hanging on. I’m lurking (mostly off line).

Speaking of posting........I was wondering where our dear friend K63 was. Saw an itty-bitty blurb from him.

I just enjoy the insight of our colleagues. Much of the time, it’s best if I keep my “keyboard” quiet.

ROCK CHALK!

But we're not a freshman team!

Three juniors via transfer, one of whom was a pre-season all american

One sophomore huge man, albeit with tons of time missed due to injury

One senior guard

Garrett and Lightfoot sophs but with substantial playing time

The only one who might have been caught off guard at Ames was Grimes, and he actually had a solid game.

I agree we played like we have ten freshmen, but we're too experienced to suggest we were overwhelmed by a B-12 road game.

Valid point, but nevertheless we're starting Dotson and Grimes who are both still learning. I'd say that the rest of the team is "inexperienced" (except Vick, he's just not the sharpest knife in the drawer). Garrett was a bench player last year who has been thrust into a starting spot and is playing 40% more minutes and is being expected to produce.

Now imagine that Grimes starts living up to his hype and Garrett finds a way to contribute on offense and suddenly we're a much better team. Nevertheless, those 3 guys are being asked to shoulder a lot of responsibility that they haven't previously had to deal with.

I knew I forgot someone - that being the freshman point guard. Thanks for clarifying my omission.

My recollection though was Vick and Lawson lead the charge on turnovers.

I'm just perplexed by how disjointed, unemotional, and sloppy this team is playing. At a minimum we should be a lockdown defensive team that wins 65-60 point games.

I made a comment way earlier this year that I thought this team would be tough as nails, and scrappy. I see none of that unfortunately.

The team does not consist of machines or even fully formed adults. I they were processing seeing Doke incurring a painful injury, and suspected he was facing a surgery and rehab a bit below optimal effort/execution might be anticipated until they have a few days to bounce back.

We should know soon how screwed we are.

http://www2.kusports.com/documents/2018/jun/28/ku-basketball-2018-19-roster/
Hopefully this will show KU's roster. AZhawk87 had a few errors re year classifications: Dedric Lawson is a RS-Jr. K J Lawson and C Moore are RS-So. M Lightfoot is a Jr, as is Dok.

All good. Vick isn't a guy you build a team around. Lawson is, but even double-doubles are questionable when you're not defending and/or missing little chipshot tap ins. The other 3 starters are all "new" to this pressure (2 freshmen - Dotson and Grimes) and Garrett has gone from a "defense off the bench" guy to a guy who we've asked not only to start, but to move over to PG at times.

Again, just referencing starters here, but those are 3 guys who one would HOPE will gain experience and maturity over the course of the season and continue to improve. Vick isn't going to magically get better, and Lawson won't either. The difference is that Lawson is pretty steady, but Vick is occasionally hot, often mediocre, and increasingly cold.

Agree also that Vick wants to be "that guy" but doesn't want to make the smart decisions or tough plays to be "that guy". Chucking up a bad 3 point attempt isn't "that guy" stuff. Frankly, I'd like to see him try to get into the paint and elevate...either dunk/layup and/or get fouled. Basically, I wish he were Frank Mason, lol.

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that I'm hopeful that Dotson and Grimes will continue to improve and that Garrett will become the lockdown defender he's shown glimpses of while somehow figuring out how not to be a liability on offense. Kind of thinking along the lines of TJ Pugh (remember him?). Fairly big dude, but not a scorer. He did, however, rebound very well and was a maniac for setting good screens. If Garrett can't be a scorer, why not set his mind on being the best screener in D-1?