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Two losses in a row? Three in 11 days? Oh well. Don’t give up on Kansas just yet

Andrew Wiggins

Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins aims for the basket during an NCAA college basketball game against Wake Forrest in Paradise Island, Bahamas, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013. Kansas won 87-78. (AP Photo/Bahamas Visual Services, Dante Carrer)

AP

I wrote this on Saturday after No. 13 Kansas lost to Colorado at the buzzer.

The gist of it?

Kansas fans should not be too disappointed about the loss, that the more important news was that Andrew Wiggins finally started to play like the Andrew Wiggins we all told you about.

I could pretty much write the same column after the Jayhawks lost to No. 19 Florida 67-61 at the O-Dome tonight. Wiggins finished with 26 points and 11 boards while holding Casey Prather, who entered the game averaging more than 19 points, to just one field goal. He started to take over in the second half and hit three threes down the stretch that nearly brought Kansas back from one of the ugliest first halves I’ve ever seen a Bill Self-coached team play. If a couple of calls had gone the other way down the stretch, this column might not even be necessary.

But Kansas lost their second straight game and for the third time this season, so it is.

Kansas fans: Do. Not. Panic.

For the most part, I don’t think you are. I think most of you get it. I think most of you realize that the best is yet to come for this group, but for those that don’t, let me explain.

The Jayhawks are young. Really young. The best lineup that they can run out there includes four freshmen and a sophomore. That’s exactly the same amount of experience as Kentucky puts on the court when their best lineup takes the floor. I know that you’ve heard this over and over again, but it takes time for these young teams to develop. It takes time for them to gel. It takes time for them to learn how to play, how to compete, how to buy into a role, and how to win at the collegiate level. It also means that their learning curve is steep. They’ll get a lot better, and it will happen fairly quickly.

But it also means that, despite the overload of talent, the Jayhawks just aren’t that good right now, which is a problem considering the fact that Bill Self has rolled his team through a hellish schedule this season. Think about it like this: the Jayhawks lost to an experienced and tough Villanova team in the Bahamas. The Wildcats, then unranked, are now a borderline top ten team and the favorites to win the Big East.

That happened on November 30th. Seven days later, they were in Boulder, CO, to take on Colorado, another veteran, to 25 team. They should finish in the top four in the Pac-12, and Kansas lost to them on the road at the buzzer. Not exactly something to be ashamed over. Three days after the Colorado game, the Jayhawks were in Gainesville to take on a Florida team that’s finally healthy and playing like the national title contender that they are. And, once again, Kansas lost.

On the road.

To a tough, veteran team.

Yes, there are issues that the Jayhawks need ironed out. They flat out stink at attacking a zone defense. Part of the reason? They’re not a great perimeter shooting team right now. The other reason? They haven’t faced many active zone defenses. You go zone in AAU ball because your players are tired, or lazy, or both. You play zone in college because you have the length and athleticism to give opposing teams a different look. Those zones are tough to beat, and that’s what Kansas faced during Florida’s 29-4 first half run. Kansas looked lost against an extended 1-3-1 zone, as they should. When have they ever seen something like that before?

There are also, once again, concerns at the point guard spot, and this could end up being a bigger issue. I love Frank Mason’s moxie and I love his toughness. He’s earned the starting point guard over Naadir Tharpe, who just isn’t capable of being this team’s leader. But I’m curious to see how that pans out over the course of an entire season. Can Mason be that sparkplug at the point?

Those are problems. But it’s not like those problems can’t be fixed, or at the very least minimized.

The bottom-line is that a young Kansas team that is only going to get better now has three single-digit losses to 25 teams, two of which came in true road games.

Don’t give up on them.

Follow @robdauster