One play, one error, one coach, one three: How KU’s biggest shot in OU win came to be
I’m not sure if I heard Bill Self right. But if I did ... well, it would certainly make sense.
His words, along with his instincts, seemed to help Kansas in a 63-59 home win over Oklahoma — while also continuing his ridiculous run of success in close games.
A recent Reddit post laid it out as well as I’ve seen. According to that research, no NCAA men’s basketball team has better than a .650 win percentage since 2010 in games decided by five points or fewer.
No one, that is, except for Kansas, with Self winning 73% of those close contests. (As an added bonus: Self’s gone 2-0 in those scenarios since the piece first came out.)
There can be all kinds of theories about why KU’s been so good in these particular settings. Talent obviously helps, and so does Allen Fieldhouse’s fan support, especially in a normal year.
Then again, other schools with similar advantages are nowhere to be found. Duke’s not in the top 15 on the list, nor is Kentucky, North Carolina or Michigan State.
There seems to be a little Self magic baked into this number.
And we might have seen one of the small ways that plays out in games on Saturday.
Self ran one of his favorite plays twice late against Oklahoma. Not only is it pretty to watch — having been previously called “the most aesthetically pleasing ball screen set in the country” — but it also shows Self’s creativity, as the action has original roots in Istanbul, Turkey, while first entering KU’s playbook after Self received a text from a longtime friend.
To put it simply: The play is effective because of precise timing that creates defensive confusion. At one exact moment, it’s difficult for opponents to know whether to help on the roll, or stay with shooters.
And KU would have created this, down one with 3:30 left, if Ochai Agbaji had been in the right place.
Just watch Agbaji after he makes the original dribble handoff. He relaxes for a moment, then quickly realizes his mistake.
His job is to lift outside the three-point line, but it’s too late. David McCormack should be coming wide open in the lane on a roll, but Agbaji’s defender is instead there to clog things up, killing a potential KU scoring opportunity.
Marcus Garrett ended up bailing out with a late-clock layup, but the point isn’t just that this happened.
It’s that Self saw it all in real-time ... then went back to the same play two minutes later with KU up one.
I’ve often referred to Self being an offensive coordinator-type for KU on the sidelines, but to be honest, what happened here is something more than that.
In football, offensive coordinators do communicate with quarterbacks through their helmets, but those coaches then become spectators at the snap of the ball.
Self is different a few feet away from the action, with planned player movements that extend a few seconds longer.
It’s difficult to hear, but in this replay, Self yells something immediately after Agbaji makes his first pass. It sounds like, “Get through” to me, and it’s immediately followed by Agbaji more alertly sprinting to where he needs to be.
If this is what has happened, let’s think about everything that’s just taken place: 1. Self saw all five of his players’ actions simultaneously two minutes earlier; 2. He diagnosed Agbaji had messed up the spacing; 3. He called the play again figuring it would work, while also knowing he could help out by screaming at Agbaji right at the beginning of the set.
Basketball is a game of subtleties, and the tiniest ripples make a splash here. McCormack is more open in the lane. That leaves Oklahoma’s Elijah Harkless — guarding Jalen Wilson — feeling like he needs to help just a little bit more on McCormack’s roll to the basket.
And that leaves Wilson open on the perimeter, where he has just enough room — before Harkless recovers — to put in a crucial three-pointer that ultimately seals the game.
Wilson will deservedly get the credit here, but a lot more also took place.
Self had to have faith in his players, sticking with Wilson after six first-half turnovers. The coach had to have confidence in the play, trying it again less than two minutes after it had failed before. He had to have faith in himself, delivering clear communication from the bench in the most crucial of moments.
The fact it all worked out for KU is no longer surprising.
With Self — and only Self — turning close-game magic into an expectation.
This story was originally published January 9, 2021 at 10:18 PM with the headline "One play, one error, one coach, one three: How KU’s biggest shot in OU win came to be."
