All eyes on David McCormack as KU continues road trip with game vs. Kentucky in Indy
After playing Gonzaga on Thursday, Saint Joseph’s on Friday and practicing hard on Saturday, Kansas’ basketball players and coaches looked forward to a trip to the beach Saturday afternoon in Fort Myers, Florida, site of the season-opening Tip-Off Classic.
“We wanted to take our guys out on a boat on a Saturday, maybe do a little sunset cruise, do anything. We couldn’t do it because of social distancing,” KU coach Bill Self said Monday from Indianapolis, site of Tuesday’s Champions Classic game against Kentucky (8:30 p.m., ESPN, Bankers Life Fieldhouse).
“We’d have had to get three boats. I don’t think the school would be very happy with us if we did that,” Self added with a smile.
The Jayhawks, who spent last Tuesday night through Sunday afternoon in Florida, arrived in Indy on Sunday night. There’s been no reason to return to Lawrence with the students now out of town until the start of second semester classes in February because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s been kind of a long trip,” Self said. “There’s not much for guys to do: ‘Hey let’s hustle back and get you a (hotel) room by yourself.’ That’s kind of how this Florida-Indy vacation has gone so far.”
The Jayhawks (1-1), who fell to top-ranked Gonzaga 102-90 before defeating Saint Joe’s 94-72, certainly would deem the trip a success … if they are able to defeat Kentucky (1-1) on Tuesday. The Wildcats have defeated Morehead State (81-45) and lost to Richmond (76-64) at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
KU dropped one spot to No. 7 in the AP poll this week; Kentucky dropped 10 spots to No. 20. KU has now been ranked for 222 consecutive weeks, breaking UCLA’s all-time record of 221 weeks set from 1966-80.
For KU to open 2-1 entering Thursday’s home opener against Washburn, the Jayhawks may need a rejuvenated David McCormack.
The 6-10, 265-pound junior power forward from Norfolk, Virginia, scored eight points on 3-of-9 shooting (2 of 2 from line) vs. the Zags and eight points on 2-of-6 shooting (4 of 6 from line) while playing just 11 minutes because of injury versus the Hawks.
“I think he’s been fine. He has the best attitude. I think he just put too much pressure on himself. I’ve pumped him up pretty good, deservedly so, about what I think he can do. In his mind he probably has a little bit, ‘I’ve got to be as good as Doke or better than Doke,’ these things going on in his mind,” Self said of replacing Udoka Azubuike, who graduated. “I think he put too much pressure on himself. He has to be able to relax and be who he is because who he is is a terrific offensive player and very good rebounder and certainly a guy that can be a better low-post presence too.”
McCormack — he grabbed nine boards total in the first two games — was limited against Saint Joe’s after tweaking his right knee in the first half. He played just the first two minutes of the final half.
Self said McCormack did not practice Saturday and “did minimal stuff Sunday. He is nicked up a little bit, but I don’t think it’s anything from a structural standpoint or anything like that that’s going to prevent him from competing.”
KU figures to need him to combat Kentucky’s Olivier Sarr, 7 feet, and Isaiah Jackson, 6-10.
“David had a great attitude. He is always going to be with the team, stick with the team,” KU junior wing Ochai Agbaji said Monday. “He showed great maturity, knows everything’s not always going to go his way. We trust he’ll play well. His better days are coming so I’m excited for him.”
Though pleased with his squad’s offense, Self said after Friday’s game: “One thing that’s bothersome … we’ve always got a team that throws it inside. Scoring points by driving it and scoring points by midrange kind of goes against the grain about what is the analytics of basketball — threes and layups or threes and dunks.
“We hit some layups driving it. But we’ve got to get to the point where we throw the ball to a big and come away with an easy basket, because we are shooting a lot of 15-footers. It’s not awful, but it’s probably not the percentage play. We didn’t shoot as many threes as you’d think (8 of 18 vs. Gonzaga and 9 of 20 vs. Saint Joe’s). I would say we’ve got to get where we can throw the ball inside and pound it in, in order for us to reach our potential.”
Backup big Mitch Lightfoot had four points and four boards in nine minutes against the Zags and one point and two boards in five minutes versus Saint Joe’s.
Both KU and Kentucky have already dropped a game this season, making the squads in Self’s eyes, “a little bit wounded right now. Usually wounded animals are really dangerous. We know they will play well.”
KU as of Monday was completely healthy in terms of the coronavirus, Self said. Both Gonzaga and Saint Joe’s had positive tests turn up in Florida.
“We tested Saturday evening. I know the tests were all negative,” Self said. “I know our medical staff has worked with Kentucky’s medical staff and have done all the contact tracing and all these things. It’s far, far beneath the minimums. I guess there’s always a concern something could happen, but I don’t know if this is a year you can just go through … when something happens to a third party you have to do your due diligence but I don’t know you can just fret or worry over things you have no control over. If something were to happen in the future, if a guy has to sit or get quarantined, just do it. There’s no decisions to be made. In this particular situation I think all the medical people feel pretty comfortable with this (playing Tuesday).”
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 2:00 PM with the headline "All eyes on David McCormack as KU continues road trip with game vs. Kentucky in Indy."
