The Kansas Jayhawks have just completed their preseason action with large margin victories over Emporia State and Washburn. Throughout the two games, I saw some really good and some not so good. What were the biggest takeaways? I got you covered.

The Really Good

Dedric Lawson is REALLY good

Alright everyone, what I’m about to say might sound crazy but it might be crazy enough to be true.

*clears throats and whispers*

Dedric Lawson has the potential to have a better season than Thomas Robinson did in 2012.

WHAT?!?! I know, craziness. T-Rob was runner up to National Player of the Year that year. And the person who won is a top 5 basketball player in the world right now. But, what I saw out of Dedric Lawson, in a Bill Self system, he can legitimately top that T-Rob season. Lawson has more talent, he has more of a skill set, he can shoot the 3, score easy inside, make some absurdly good passes and is a rebound machine. Lawson will be incredible this year.

Devon Dotson is going to be a special player

Bill Self wasn’t wrong when he said Dotson has some Frank Mason inside of him. Dotson has the chance to have a really special 2 year at Kansas before he heads off to the NBA. The kid has lightning quick speed, can finish with ease at the rim and can make the difficult passes inside. Once he becomes a better 3 point shooter (it will come with time), we’re talking about an All-Big 12 Rookie team player this year and a Big 12 POY candidate next year.

Marcus Garrett seems much more comfortable.

If you watched the first two exhibition games, you can obviously see that no one has benefited more from their rookie season, to the next season than Marcus Garrett. He seems so much more comfortable out there. He is willing to take the 3 pointers now and his shot looks so much smoother. He is still that lockdown defender on the wing and can still get to the hoop for 2. You could tell last year he was a bit nervous on the court, but this year, he’s taking a leadership role and is ready to experience another Final 4.

Lagerald Vick…. the Leader?

Bill Self was prepared to yell at Grimes for a defensive breakdown. He did a double take when he realized Vick was already on it. It looks like he is fighting a smile thinking “who would have ever thought…”

This was an amazing sequence caught by @GifHawk (great follow by the way). You can literally see that Vick was already explaining to Grimes what he should’ve done in that defensive scenario BEFORE Self could tell him. Coach Self was 100% fighting back a smile because who could’ve expected this. Through 3 years it has been a big love-hate relationship with Vick and Self. Now Self and Vick are leaning on one another to have a successful year. Incredible to see.

The not so great

Quentin Grimes will be great BUT he needs to be more aggressive

Grimes is probably our more talented guy on this roster. Heck, he’s probably one of the most talented guys in the country. He is going to be a top-10 pick if he just plays his game. I’m not going to get on his case too much because it’s his first 2 college games of his career and neither of them court. His stat lines were good but we need to see more from him on the offensive side of the ball. Grimes must take it and go with it. And that will come with time. Kansas must do a better job of finding him the ball on the wing so he can get to work but again, it’s November. I already saw Kansas Twitter write this kid off. He is an All-American talent, just wait until December when he figures it out.

KJ Lawson must shoot better from 3

Again, I’m nitpicking here. It’s 2 exhibition games. But KJ will probably be one of our better three point shooters this year. After going 0-6 from downtown against Washburn, he needs to see the ball go in the hoop. Again, the shots will eventually fall, but if they’re not, the only question is, how does Kansas go on those big time runs throughout a game?