Kansas Basketball: What Jayhawks Must Do to Win Another Big 12 Title

While the Big 12 title still runs through Lawrence, there will be a number of teams looking to knock Kansas off its pedestal this season.

The Jayhawks are in the midst of an incredible run with at least a share of the conference regular-season title in 10 straight seasons. Based on the talent on the roster and the coaching of Bill Self, there is a good chance this team can extend the streak to 11.

On the other hand, the Big 12 has turned into arguably the toughest conference in college basketball with six of the 10 teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, not including TCU sitting at 26. The depth of the league will ensure there will be no easy wins, while any of five or six squads can be legitimate contenders for the conference title.

Kansas certainly is one of the favorites, but there will need to be some major improvements from what we have seen so far. Here is a look at some of the things this team must focus on in order to come away with another championship.

Create More Defensive Pressure

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Compared to what we have seen from past Kansas teams under Bill Self, the defense on display this season has been shocking at times.

While there have been good performances, the lack of consistent perimeter defenses has been the most concerning part of this squad. Opposing guards have gotten into the lane with ease at times, and it leads to open looks all over the court.

This is the reason Temple was able to make 58.3 percent of its shots from the floor in a blowout defeat for Kansas, while even the wins over Florida and Utah featured plenty of easy looks inside. Meanwhile, opponents are rarely forced into turning it over with a lack of ball pressure. 

Some of these issues will be improved when injured guard Devonte' Graham returns after the freshman showcased plenty of defensive ability in the early part of the season. However, this is a team-wide issue that needs to be addressed.

The Big 12 features some of the best guards in the nation between Juwan Staten, Buddy Hield, Phil Forte, Monte Morris and, when healthy, Isaiah Taylor. If Kansas doesn't figure out a way to stop the ball and prevent penetration into the lane, it will be a long season.

Spread out the Offense

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A common problem with young teams is too much reliance on the outside shot when the players are average at best. Amazingly, Kansas has the reverse issue with players not trusting their ability from beyond the arc.

Through 12 games, the Jayhawks are shooting an impressive 38.9 percent from three-point range. However, they rank among the bottom of the Big 12 with just 15.8 attempts per game from deep.

Players like Frank Mason, Kelly Oubre and Brannen Greene have made it rain from downtown when they are willing to take a shot, but that doesn't come too often.

The result is not only a stagnant offense, but a system that gets way too crowded in the paint. The easy looks inside are no longer too easy because the defense knows they are coming. 

According to KenPom.com (subscription required), Kansas ranks 280th in the nation with a mark of 43.8 percent on two-point shots while ranking 315th with 13.4 percent of attempts being blocked. For a team as athletic and talented in the low post as Kansas, this is simply embarrassing.

Taking more shots from the perimeter—even if the efficiency drops—will open things up underneath for players like Perry Ellis or Cliff Alexander to win one-on-one battles in the paint and help lead to a much better offense.

Take Care of the Basketball

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For the first time since Bill Self took over the program, Kansas is on pace to finish the year with more turnovers than assists. Considering the options at the guard position, this is unacceptable.

The Jayhawks currently have 158 turnovers on the year to go with 153 assists. This issue has been even more prevalent in recent games, as the quality of opponents has remained high.

Including the recent win over Kent State, Kansas has turned the ball over at least 15 times in four of the last five games. The only exception came against Lafayette when the team gave up the ball just five times in a blowout win.

While it should be obvious that giving the ball away is a bad thing, the issue is only exacerbated against quality opponents who can take turnovers and turn them into easy baskets on the other end. Missing out on important possessions without even getting a shot will also be a serious issue in close conference games.

Sophomore guards Frank Mason and Wayne Selden have been the biggest offenders on the year due to their high volume of time handling the ball, but seemingly every person on the floor has been the cause of terrible mistakes in each game.

It's obviously impossible to play a perfect game, but a team that isn't doing a great job of creating opportunities for others should at least be able to find a way to hold onto the basketball.

Compete at Any Pace

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A great team wants to be able to impose its style of play on any opponent it faces throughout the year. However, this isn't always the easiest thing to do against a talented foe. Instead, being able to adjust to different tempos can also lead to a lot of success.

There were many things that went wrong in the early-season loss to Kentucky, but the fact that it was the slowest game of the year for the Jayhawks in terms of total possessions caused many problems on both ends of the court.

Instead of being able to get out and use its athleticism to earn fast-break points, Kansas had to work more in the half court and ended up struggling.

The quickest game of the season came against Georgetown, and the team responded by finding open shots all over the court, hitting 10 of 17 shots from beyond the arc. Still, a high number of turnovers kept the score close before the Jayhawks were eventually able to pull out a win.

In the Big 12, this squad will see a lot of extremes between fast-paced teams like Iowa State and Oklahoma and slower teams like Texas and Baylor. The lesson is that Kansas will have to be ready for anything and find ways to be successful against any opponent.

A difficult nonconference schedule helped prepare the Jayhawks for a wide variety of opponents, and now they have to use what they learned to survive in the gauntlet that is the Big 12.

Bring Consistent Effort

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This should be obvious for anyone who competes in any sport. However, this has apparently been a problem for the younger players on the roster.

Freshman Kelly Oubre had a hard time getting on the floor earlier in the year until finally showing the consistency necessarily to be in the starting lineup. Unfortunately, now fellow freshman Cliff Alexander is the one spending most of his time on the bench.

After the recent win over Kent State, head coach Bill Self called out the big man for failing to run a play one minute after coming into the game.

“He just gets back and doesn’t even run it,” Self said, via Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star. “He’s only been in there for one minute—why wouldn’t he have effort to go make that play? I think that’s just kind of the stuff. It’s just consistency to go do it.” 

The good news is Oubre has faith in his teammate, saying, via Dodd, “When Cliff is playing like Cliff plays, it’s definitely bringing us energy. He hasn’t shown what he can do for sure yet, but he will. It’s coming.”

Kansas has dominated the Big 12 over the past decade, although it has rarely been this strong top to bottom. Players might think they will get another conference title just because of the name on the front of their jerseys.

However, every player on the roster will have to figure out a way to bring his full effort every single play of every single game. Otherwise, this will end up being a disappointing season for a proud program.

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