We need to change his initials from DP to DNP

We could name a Keanu Dawes and Christian Reeves front court "Keanu Reeves"

Taylen Kinney is on the US's U18 team. Should be a good stage to assess how college-ready he is.

If we win I will be psyched. If we lose without DP I will blame not having DP. If we lose with DP I will blame the short-term chemistry issues of working him back into the lineup. Either we win or I have an excuse!

Here are the takeaways.

Positives:

1. It was nice to be on the other side of an epic meltdown after the Houston and Baylor "games" last year.

2. DP played 32 minutes.

3. DP was clutch at the end of regulation.

4. We showed that, when we play with heart, we can be a very good team (though I guess we already knew that).

Negatives:

1. This result was more of a TCU choke than a KU victory, though there were elements of both

2. We played with absolutely no effort for an unacceptably long time

3. DP is still cramping

Once again, Melvin saved our bacon. God he is good.

Bill Self said on the postgame radio show that Flory is the best defender in the country and that he was tremendous tonight, citing that neither Toppin nor Watts could score on him

I am very proud of the guys. They had had so many "moral victories" where they played good teams close without DP but came up just short this year. And today they had had enough of that! They made damn sure to get the job done! What a special group

I will miss Kohl Rosario. I think I will always believe he would have turned into a fan favorite before the portal era.

At this point I think it is best to just assume he is done for the year. That way we are prepared for it and if he does come back it will be a pleasant surprise.

As promised, I found Melvin Council's shooting percentage at the rim. It was 53.8, which is not elite but not terrible either.

https://hoop-explorer.com/PlayerCareer?ncaaId=5177301&tablePreset=ClassicPer50Detailed&

It is important to remember it would have probably been higher if Council were not the guy we always asked to try to score in late shotclock situations. As promised, I found a source corroborating this as well:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WZ1350JgCRI

@rockchalkjayhawk His low overall field goal percentage is not a product of him being bad a finishing at the rim. It is dragged down by the fact that his 3pt% was low and the fact that Council took way more desperation shots at the end of the shotclock than anyone else on the team (I will find a source to verify this later). I will see if I can hunt down his fg% at the rim.

@rockchalkjayhawk I agree with you about the eligibility rules being ridiculous and that is a valid reason not to want Melvin back on principle. I also agree that he was not a good three point shooter. Your concern about his presence clogging the lane for Stokes is also valid, though it does have to be weighed against the positives Melvin would bring to the table.

Where you are wrong though, is in saying that Melvin could rarely make a layup or get to the rim. He was excellent at getting to the rim and good at finishing while there.

That game went about as expected. The good news is our season is far from over. If Marshall can start playing like a serviceable starter I think we have a shot at a bowl game.

@kjayhawks2.0 That might be true. But the same logic is true the other way. If the teams switch offensive lines we blow misery out by multiple touchdowns

No it was not great. But it still was not as bad as our o-line play. No run-blocking success or pass protection

People will blame Marshall and he does deserve some criticism for his performance tonight. But the offensive line play was much, much worse than the QB play.

Damn. That drive was just slightly cleaner execution away from getting us right back into the game

We need to start blitzing on their dropbacks. We also need to design rpo plays for Marshall. My hopes are not up, but I'm glad we are still in the game. Rock chalk.

Council is in the portal but I think that is just a contingency plan for if he is given eligibility but KU has its roster filled.

I have mixed feelings about whether Council should be deemed eligible or not. But it would be hypocrisy that only the NCAA is capable of if they deem him ineligible after some of the decisions they've made the past couple of weeks.