Turnovers loom as KU heads to Maui

Turnovers loom as KU heads to Maui

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The author of this articles almost certainly has better qualifications than mine but I will say this anyway. I pretty much completely disagree with just about everything he said. First, calling Devon Dotson the teams only great passer must necessarily mean that at the least, Devon is a great passer. I love me some Devon and he is a dynamic player and in some ways maybe our most important player but a great passer he is not. This team has definitely had a turnover problem and Devon has been leader of the pack. He is not a terrible passer but for a top tier PG he is definitely not elite in the category of passing. Saying that the next best passer, Marcus Garrett, is a big drop-off is ludicrous. Marcus’s assist to possession ratio (by possession I mean possession when Marcus handles the ball) is better than Devon’s. Marcus is actually a pretty decent passer. Ochai, OTOH, is a woefully poor passer except when he isn’t. That is meant to be ironic. Ochai has been not poor but terrible in transition this season. But on called plays when Ochai handles the ball, he is a good passer.

When KU plays 2 bigs, it is not necessary that the paint be congested on offense. The big problem with 2 bigs is more defense than offense. And what is this issue “jumping” to make a pass? Okay, I haven’t logged each TO but that is not my recollection. Bad timing is a bigger culprit. Passes too late, too early or ones that should not have been made at all are more the problem. And even more of a problem is dribbling when and where one should not be dribbling.

I think Moss is going to be an asset and certainly his shooting against Monmouth is hopefully a foretaste of things to come. But his ball handling has been not great.

I guess I agree that TO’s have been a problem but the rest of the analysis seems a bit off to me.

I also disagree with this guy. Seems like his story is based on "I need to write something before deadline" rather than any good analysis.

Over the past few years, KU has averaged around 13 TOs per game. We're at 15 now, BUT the sample is completely distorted by the Duke game.

In 4 games KU had 26, 9, 7, and 15 turnovers. Toss out the Duke game and our average falls from a slightly above average 15 down to to a very good 10.3. I'd argue that with this sample size, 15 isn't an accurate number because it's skewed by the Duke game (which we still almost won), nor is 10.3 an accurate average because there are only 3 other games in the mix.

I'd also point out that the writer seems so discount ETSU as a decent opponent, when they were picked among the top of the mid-major squads.

Are turnovers a problem? I think the only way to tell is by the "eyeball test" at this point. Dotson isn't a problem. If anything, Agbaji has been a little careless at times, as has Garrett and Anaruna...at times, not as a trend.

I'd also assume that we'll do better against Chaminade, but might have more work do to with BYU/UCLA and/or MSU/Georgia depending on how things work out. Frankly, I think we can beat anybody in the field any night with the exception of MSU who (if we play them) will be a VERY good game that could go either way.

If anything, I don't think turnovers are the story of this team right now. I think the story revolves around Self's desire to play 2 bigs vs. the reality of often having to play with 1 big and how he manages his "wants" vs. what's going to win us games. He has to devote some time to his "want" in order for the guys to get better at the 2 big option, but the goal is to win.