If KU loses a close game to OSU, then you could say that not having DMac was the cause of that loss. KU will have to go with 5 small guys. KU from a few years ago could have absorbed that, but not this KU team. We have athletic guards, but they are not particularly good shooters. The only thing that frees them up is the presence of our big guys. We are going to struggle to score when Dok is off the floor.
So yes, not having DMac for even one game could very well affect our season. This might not be the case if we didn't go flat for that 8 minute stretch against Baylor, but as it is, we did and we lost that game in AFH. That puts us behind the 8-ball for the conference race. We will have to go 8-2 or 9-1 on the road, and if we lose to OSU, that pretty much eliminates that, because we'll still have to play at Baylor and at WVU, and there's no way we win both of those games, and I only give us a 50/50 shot at winning even 1 of those games. If KU loses that OSU game, I doubt we go better than 6-3 on the road, and that will likely lose the conference for us.
Even missing De Sousa could hurt. He doesn't play much, but he has given us some occasional good minutes when we've had foul trouble. And if we have a game where we're in deep foul trouble, like at WVU or Baylor, we will be again forced to play a 5 small lineup.
I have a stoolgate.
