Just when I thought I had seen the last dagger thrown at Kansas University’s men’s basketball team, somebody tossed another stiletto.
The Jayhawks, it has been discovered, must suffer the ignominy of being the first No. 1 pick in the AP preseason poll to lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament since seeding began in 1979.
It’s true. The Jayhawks ranked No. 1 in the AP preseason poll in retrospect because they were, well, Kansas and had four returning starters from an Elite Eight team. Never mind that Oklahoma State practically had everyone back from a Final Four team. Oklahoma State isn’t Kansas.
Anyway, now that the shock of the Bucknell Bummer gradually is wearing off, a statistical analysis shows the Jayhawks were the same team this year that they were last year.
Coach Bill Self’s first KU squad came within two points of going to the Final Four, bowing to Georgia Tech in overtime in St. Louis. Some disappointed fans, convinced it was KU’s manifest destiny to play in the Final Four every year, blamed Self for screwing up what Roy Williams had left him.
The crescendo increased after the stunning loss to Bucknell, and now they’re second-guessing everything from Self’s offensive style to the color of his ties.
Yet, I’m here to tell you Self’s second KU team was virtually the same as his first, at least stats-wise. Their overall won-lost records virtually were the same — 24-9 last year and 23-7 this year. Heck, this year’s winning percentage (.767) is better than last year’s (.727).
On paper, the Jayhawks’ most glaring weaknesses were turning the ball over and surrendering offensive rebounds. Sure enough, KU had more turnovers (433) than its foes (418) and opponents captured 386 caroms while the Jayhawks had 350.
But those numbers were about the same last season. In fact, turnovers were down slightly from 14.7 a game last year to 14.4 this year while opposing offensive rebounds were a wash — an average of 12.9 each season.
Moreover, this year’s team had a better shooting percentage (.476) than last year’s (.465) and the Jayhawks’ three-point-shooting percentage spiked from .335 to .367. And the opponents were tougher this year, too. KU topped the RPI in strength of schedule.
It doesn’t make any sense, does it? All in all, this year’s team performed at a higher statistical level than last year’s and yet the 2004-05 Jayhawks are being ridiculed because of when they lost and to whom.
Bowing to Bucknell by one point was the equivalent basically of the same players losing by one point to Richmond in Allen Fieldhouse. The only difference was the timing. Losing to Richmond at home in late January was unforgivable. Losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to a No. 14 seed was unbelievable.
Of all the nagging memories of the “Bucknell Bummer” — and there were many — the saddest might have been the sluggish performance of senior point guard Aaron Miles, who, in the final accounting, epitomized the flatline.
Miles averaged 9.3 points and 7.2 assists a game this season, 9.1 points and 7.3 assists last season. His turnovers were up from a career-low 2.7 during his junior year to 3.1 this year. But it’s hard to quibble with someone who broke the KU career assists record by compiling an amazing 150 more than Jacque Vaughn.
Even more amazing was Miles’ three-point shooting. A career 28.6 percent shooter from beyond the arc during his first three season, Miles made half of his three-point attempts (40 of 80) in his last season.
Miles was like the Phog Allen statue. He was always there. During the four years Miles wore a Kansas uniform, the Jayhawks played 138 games, and Miles started all but one of them. The lone occasion he failed to answer the bell was on Senior Night during his freshman year when coach Roy Williams started walk-on senior Lewis Harrison in his place.
Still, if you look at it another way, Miles is a symbol — except for his three-point shooting — of why the Jayhawks did not step it up a notch.
Oklahoma State’s Eddie Sutton, asked for his reaction to KU’s loss to Bucknell, remarked: “I think some of those seniors, they didn’t improve,” Sutton said.
Sutton didn’t name names, but he must have been referring to Miles and to Keith Langford, whose scoring average declined from 15.5 to 14.4, in large part because of injuries — particularly the one to his shooting elbow.
Meanwhile, Wayne Simien, the other senior starter, improved his averages from 17.8 points and 9.3 rebounds as a junior to 20.3 and 11.0 as a senior.
Overall, though, Sutton was right. This year’s team didn’t push the envelope. It was more or less the same as last year’s.