LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Got something you want to say to Roy Williams?

Gripes? Encouragement? Birthday wishes? An offer to save him hundreds on car insurance?

Save it. With his Kansas team off to its first 3-3 start since 1979 and down to No. 20 after being ranked No. 2 in the preseason, Williams isn't reading his mail anymore.

"I hope nobody sends me a letter that I have to return to get a million dollars back," he said.

	“	Hinrich Adversity is sometimes good for you, depending on how you respond to it. Do you go work harder, or do you start pointing fingers? ”
		— Kirk Hinrich, Kansas senior guard

Williams didn't divulge the contents any of the letters he read last week, before the Jayhawks lost 84-78 to No. 7 Oregon and dropped to 2-3 against Division I competition for the first time since 1972. One of their victories came against Division II Central Missouri State.

But at his weekly news conference Monday, he was blunt in his assessment of those who write unsigned hate mail -- "idiots."

"I haven't gotten that dumb that quick," said Williams, who took Kansas to the Final Four last year. "If I've been dumb, I've been dumb for the last 15 years."

Kansas' 3-3 start bears out his contention that the Jayhawks were overrated before the season, Williams said.

"We're not losing games just to make me look smart," he said. "But nobody knows this team better than I do."

Williams faces another significant road challenge Wednesday at No. 17 Tulsa.

"Adversity is sometimes good for you, depending on how you respond to it," he said. "Do you go work harder, or do you start pointing fingers?"

Senior guard Kirk Hinrich, a preseason All-American, reads everything he can find about the Jayhawks.

"I like to see what people are saying," Hinrich said. "I don't put too much into it, but I like to read it.

"It bothers me, being 3-3," he said. "I'm here to play basketball, to win games."

The last time Hinrich played for a team that lost three early games was in high school.

"My senior year, we started 1-3," he said. "Then we won 22 straight games and the state championship."

Kansas lost two starters -- All-American forward Drew Gooden and shooting guard Jeff Boschee -- from last year's team. Both were longtime starters, leaving a void that the Jayhawks are still trying to fill.

"This team hasn't figured it out yet," Hinrich said. "I don't know if it's a lack of confidence, but you can just tell we aren't there yet."

But, he said, Kansas has improved after its 67-56 loss to North Carolina in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT.

"Since we came back from New York, we've made great strides in our effort," Hinrich said. "Now we just need to start executing."

Kansas' offensive miscues -- the Jayhawks committed 24 turnovers against Oregon -- can be traced directly to the shaky start, Williams said.

"We've got guys out there on a 13-second (shot) clock," he said. "I don't think it's because guys are being selfish, but more because they're trying too hard to make something happen.

"If we have to walk the ball up the court and play a 40- or 50-point game, we can do that," Williams said. "I can coach that kind of game."