Is Grimes really so low a hoops IQ?

I agree HE. There were a couple times last night when I could see the turnover coming 4 or 5 seconds before it happened. No court awareness. No recognition of the flow of the game unless he's just passing the ball around the perimeter. And the blank stare of someone who is just lost.

One thing we don't/cannot do anymore is visualize a player based on his performance, not his perceived potential. In the case of Grimes, his perceived potential is a function of three things. First, his ranking among high school seniors. Second, his performance during the under 19 Tournament last summer. Third, his first game against Michigan State. The result of those three elements led us to believe we were looking at at worst an all Big 12 kind of player, a guy who could carry the team on multiple occasions during the season. But if we look at Grimes through the real lens, that of actual game performance, we see a truly mediocre player who performed at a level of a number 6 or 7 guy at best. He was and is NOT starter quality, and he should not have seen the floor for more than about 10-15 minutes a game at best.

I don't know what happened to him, but whatever it was or is, Self has not been able to figure it out either. I have been watching KU basketball since 1966 and Grimes is the single most disappointing player I've watched during those many years. To me, the scariest part of his performance this year is the fear that he isn't going to get better over the summer. I simply cannot imagine that he suddenly is going to morph into even Brady Morningstar, let alone Wayne Selden. I am not sure we will ever truly understand this mystery.