The best teams have an identity, something on which they’ll hang their hats in wins. Teams like Houston and Iowa State play tough, physical defense. Alabama will rain down threes and play at a high pace. Others rely on their athleticism and NBA talent.

The 2024-25 Kansas Jayhawks have not found a consistent game plan to lead to wins. This has shown over the past week, as Kansas has suffered road losses in back-to-back games.

“Who are we?” Bill Self said postgame. “Are we a skilled team? Are we an athletic team? Are we an execution team? What do we really hang our hat on?”

David Coit and KJ Adams echoed the importance of finding the team’s identity. They both think that Kansas hasn’t figured it out yet.

“Who we are, what’s our identity, is very important,” Coit said. “I think our identity was challenged today.”

Kansas hasn’t had an identity carry over from game to game. In the first half against North Carolina, Kansas looked like one of the best offensive teams in the country. That offense struggled against Michigan State, but the Jayhawks still found a way to win.

“I’ll be honest with you, I think right now, we’re kind of in a situation that it’d be hard for me to say from game to game what we are,” Self said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t do any of those things in any particular game but… I don’t know that we can do that right now.”

Self said he thought Kansas was close to finding its identity after the win against Duke. The Jayhawks played the final 10 minutes without Hunter Dickinson and found a way to win. They followed that with a solid performance against Furman.

However, things didn’t carry over this week, struggling in two straight road losses. Self said if Kansas can’t find its identity, “it won’t be a fun year.” He’s confident that the Jayhawks can, as teams can become close over season-defining moments.

“Teams become teams at certain times throughout the year, like this may have been a big step for Mizzou in becoming a team,” Self said. “We’re going to go through ebbs and flows the whole time until we actually become a team. And at this point in time, we have not yet, because in order to be a team, you have to have an identity.”

While Kansas did not play well against Missouri, Self said the Jayhawks can find some positive things to take away. He complimented the team’s resolve, as Kansas cut a 24-point deficit in the second half all the way to two before eventually falling short.

“Did we quit? No. Did we keep fighting? Yeah. Were we prideful? Absolutely,” Self said.

Sometimes losses can push teams to improve just as much if not more than wins can. Kansas will need to look at itself as a team and find a collective identity in order to get back on track.

“There’s two ways, you either fall behind and lose more games, or you build each other back personally and turn the season around,” Adams said. “Because it’s not really what Kansas does – lose like this.”