2012 Kansas Jayhawks

The 2012 Kansas Jayhawks finished with a record of 32-7 (16-2), winning the Big 12 Regular Season. The team earned a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament and finished National Runners-Up. The team’s Sports Reference link is here.

Offense

The 2012 Offense was led by Thomas Robinson (31.1% of shots while in game) and Tyshawn Taylor (26.4% shot frequency). With each player having such high volume, neither finished with high efficiency marks. But it was their overall productions, with Taylor producing 18.6 points a game and Robinson at 16.7, that drove their value scores.

The only other positive-value Jayhawk on offense was Jeff Withey, who was efficient thanks to a 57.5% true shooting and solid offensive rebounding marks.

Defense

The 2012 Defense was what carried the team, as it was the #3 ranked adjusted defense on KenPom that year. Jeff Withey was the Big 12’s Defensive Player of the Year thanks to his shot blocking prowess (led the nation in block rate), but it was Thomas Robinson who actually produced the highest value score thanks to his excellent defensive rebounding ability (in fact he led the nation in defensive rebounding rate). Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford also produced over a point of value per game on defense. Conner Teahan was the other Jayhawk rotation player to provide positive defensive value, as he only allowed 9.1 points per 60 possessions. His positioning and ability to move laterally were underrated.

Adj. PPG +/-

Thomas Robinson showed why he was the Big 12 Player of the Year and Consensus first-team All-American, producing over 6 points of value per game above that of a bubble-player at his position. Tyshawn Taylor edged out Jeff Withey for second place on the list, as each hovered around 3 points of value per game. Both Johnson and Releford rounded out the starting lineup with positive-value seasons thanks to solid defense.

The bench was another story. Both Kevin Young and Conner Teahan were able to keep their value scores respectable given that each was playing more minutes than expected (Young transferred from a mid-major; Teahan was a former walk-on), and they were certainly better than both Naadir Tharpe and Justin Wesley. Both Tharpe and Wesley had sub -1.00 scores despite playing relatively few minutes, if we looked at these value scores on a per possession basis they would look even lower for these two.

Per-100 Numbers:

• Taylor +5.37
• Johnson +2.22
• Releford +0.91
• Robinson +11.04
• Withey +7.20
• Young -2.61
• Teahan -2.09
• Tharpe -11.85
• Wesley -9.04
• Lindsay -4.13
• Juenemann -3.46
• Roberts -21.27
• Garrett -30.46

This waterfall chart is a nice representation of KU’s strengths and weaknesses. Good point guard play, dependable wing play, excellent power forward play, alongside good center play from its starters. When the team went to its bench, it started losing value rapidly.

Jayhawk of the Year

KU’s run to the national championship game was quite unexpected at the beginning of the year, and wouldn’t have been possible if not for the dominant play of junior forward Thomas Robinson. A bench guy his first two seasons, Robinson excelled as a starter and go-to offensive weapon. He played with a lot of heart as well, bringing energy and helping to elevate the play of his teammates.

The 2012 season was a memorable run and has a special place in the hearts of many KU fans. Self’s ability to get the most out of his starters (all returnees who had their best seasons to that point in 2012) earned him many coaching accolades.