As Tully Corcoran of the Topeka Capital-Journal points out on Wednesday morning, the last KU national championship team started a pair of 6'8"ish guys down low.
That'll be the case if they win this year now that the Kansas Jayhawks have lost Cole Aldrich to the NBA Draft.
"I don't know if we can replace what he did defensively," KU coach Bill Self said.
Indeed it may be easier to replace a guy like Sherron Collins with Josh Selby. There's tons of talent around but there's not tons of size around and Aldrich brought size and talent.
"We can guard ball screens differently. We can full-court pressure more. I think we can do some things that we couldn't do with Cole in the game that would make us different, not necessarily better, but just different. If we're able to do those things well then maybe some of those things Cole covered up won't be quite as important as what they were last year. You don't replace a guy that can block and alter shots like that, but hopefully (Jeff) Withey can get healthy and be a guy we can put in there and he can have that impact whenever he's in the game."
Now KU lost two NBA lottery picks and Collins. Self says replacing those guys and somehow becoming better is called Kansas math. He says even with the talent you lose every year, KU is always expected to be better.