How Bill Self rates this KU all-star defensive team against his Final Four squads
Days away from what would have been the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament, no one would seem to have more to grumble about than Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self.
His Jayhawks assuredly would have entered the 68-team tournament as the overall No. 1 seed, favored to reach the Final Four in Atlanta starting Saturday, if not win it all.
Instead, on this day — like most — he’s hunkered down in his Lawrence home as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic continues to spread.
Self took a moment to share some coaching, and not just with his players.
“People shouldn’t go out and do things that are reckless, even riding in a car with somebody,” Self said. “Nobody should do that, that’s selfish. ... This is a time where we all need to be team players and limiting the spread of this stuff. It’s scary and it’s going to get scarier.”
Home-bound time also has given Self the opportunity to reflect upon and grow his appreciation for this year’s team, one that captured the Big 12 title with a 17-1 record and finished 28-3 overall. This could have become his fourth Final Four squad in 17 Kansas seasons.
These Jayhawks never got that chance, but he’s thought about how Kansas’ 2019-20 team stacks up with his Final Four squads of 2008, 2012 and 2018. Those teams excelled in different ways, but each battled through the bracket to college basketball’s grand stage.
Some teams in the Self era might have been better than those that reached the Final Four, but the 2008, 2012 and 2018 teams had the requisite talent and peaked at the right time.
This year’s KU team seemed to fit that description, too, riding a 16-game winning streak into the Big 12 tournament. But Self shared a cautionary note at that point in the conversation.
“This was not the most talented team that we’ve had,” Self said. “I can say that honestly. As a coach you know what things we hide, what things we try to avoid.
“I know that we were limited shooting the ball from the perimeter. I know that we were average at very best in transition offense — probably the worst-shooting team perimeter-wise that we’ve had in a long time. And probably the worst passing team that we’ve had in a long time.”
Ok, hold up. Let’s check some numbers. This KU team shot 48.4 percent from the field and 37.7 percent from three-point range. That overall field-goal percentage tops Self’s 2012 edition (47.2), and that’s because big man Ukoka Azubuike led the NCAA in field-goal percentage at 74.8.
So where was this Kansas team at its best?
“We didn’t let anybody else play well,” Self said.
KU was certainly great at that. Kansas finished third nationally in field-goal percentage defense, at 37.7, and ninth in scoring defense at 60.7 points per game. And Self brought up another stat that was amazing enough to be double-checked: In true road games, no opponent scored more than 63 on the Jayhawks, and that team was Chaminade — when Kansas emptied its bench.
Opponents averaged 55 points on their home floor against Kansas, and the Jayhawks went 11-1 in those games, falling only at Villanova, which boasted an all-star lineup of defenders.
“Azubuike was the best defensive big man I’ve ever had, including (Jeff) Withey,” Self said. “Nobody could score easy in the paint, nobody could guard a ball screen better than him, nobody could cover weaknesses better than him.”
The NABC honored Azubuike as the nation’s defensive player of the year this week. On Wednesday, KU collected another such honor when guard Marcus Garrett was named the Naismith defensive player of the year.
The best comparison among Self’s Final Four teams and this one is the defensive-minded 2012 unit led by Withey, who holds all of KU’s shot-blocking records, and excellent perimeter defenders Tyshawn Taylor and Travis Releford. Kansas held all NCAA opponents to 67 points or fewer and fell to Kentucky in the national title game that season.
“We were so tough,” Self said. “And I see the same characteristics in this team as I saw in that team, except for one difference. We had one guy that nobody could guard one on one.”
Azubuike.
“Even though he only averaged 13.5 points,” Self said, “in a real game, where easy baskets are not prevalent and nobody gets them, he’s a guy that can get them.”
The 2018 Jayhawks included Azubuike as a sophomore but was powered by the perimeter shooting of Devonte Graham, Svi Mykhailuk, Malik Newman and Lagerald Vick. No KU team has come close to the number of three-pointers made (10 per game) and attempted (25) by that one.
That team also delivered one of the most stirring triumphs in program history: the Jayhawks’ overtime win against Duke in the Midwest Region final in Omaha, Nebraska.
“The 2018 team was hard to guard,” Self said. “You could spread it around and play around Doke.”
Azubuike labored with a knee injury that postseason and was exposed defensively by Villanova’s big men, who stepped outside and drained threes in the national semifinals.
“Having Doke this year be able to guard ball screens and switch ball screens would have certainly helped us win, but it may not have been enough,” Self said.
When it comes to measuring Self’s 17 Kansas squads, none compares to the 2008 national championship team that finished 37-3 and emerged as the last one standing in the only all-No. 1-seed Final Four in history. It ranks among the best shooting, scoring and defensive teams Self has coached.
“When you think of that ‘08 team, that’s a whole different level,” Self said. “That team could have been the best defensive in the country. That team could have been the best offensive team in the country. It could shoot, it could play-make, it was smart. It should be. It had seven NBA players.”
Four of those players — Mario Chalmers, Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson — started for KU. Sasha Kaun, Sherron Collins and Cole Aldridge came off the bench.
Kansas defeated opponents by an average margin of 19 points that season. The Jayhawks shared the Big 12 championship with Texas and defeated the Longhorns for the Big 12 tournament title before embarking on their third NCAA championship run.
“This year’s team could have gone down with one our best ever,” Self said. “But the team in ‘08, I hope I get a chance to coach another team like that. That team was at different level than any I’ve ever been a part of.”
By the numbers
2007-08 (national champion)
Record: 37-3
Field-goal pct.: 50.8
Three-point pct.: 37.9
Field-goal defense: 39.7 pct.
Points per game: 80.5
Average winning margin: 19.0 points
2011-12 (national runner-up, lost to Kentucky)
Record: 32-7
Field-goal pct.: 47.2
Three-point pct.: 34.5
Field-goal defense: 38.0 pct.
Points per game: 73.5
Average winning margin: 11.8 points
2017-18 (national semifinal, lost to Villanova)
Record: 31-8
Field-goal pct: 49.2
Three-point pct.: 40.1
Field-goal defense: 42.6 pct.
Points per game: 81.4
Average winning margin: 9.5 points
2019-20
Record: 28-3
Field-goal pct.: 48.4
Three-point pct.: 34.4
Field-goal defense: 37.7 pct.
Points per game: 74.6
Average winning margin 13.9 points
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 1:00 PM with the headline "How Bill Self rates this KU all-star defensive team against his Final Four squads."