Except for Marcus Garrett, KU players don’t ‘lock in and really guard,’ Self says
Possible changes to Kansas’ starting lineup in response to the Jayhawks’ recent tailspin do not figure to include senior point guard Marcus Garrett.
“This isn’t being negative. This is just a fact. We don’t have anybody who can guard the ball other than Marcus Garrett,” 18th-year KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self said after the Jayhawks’ 75-68 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
“Who guards the ball at the end of the clock on our team other than him? Ochai (Agbaji) does to some extent. We don’t have individual defenders that can lock in and really guard. That was evident late in how they scored their points,” Self added of the Sooners waiting until the end of the shot clock, then storming past the defender for open jump shots and driving layups.
Seeking improved defense, Self said he plans to “shake it up” following KU’s third consecutive loss (all on the road) and fourth in six games.
“Guys have had plenty of opportunities to be in a situation to play the way we feel like we need to play to give us a chance to win. We’re not doing that. We don’t play the way that gives us the best chance to win,” Self said after KU fell to 10-5 overall and 4-4 in Big 12 Conference play. OU improved to 9-4, 5-3.
Garrett — he scored 21 points, grabbed 12 of KU’s 26 rebounds and dished one assist against three turnovers in 37 minutes — says he’s planning on taking an active role in getting his teammates to give added effort on defense heading into Thursday’s 7 p.m., home game versus TCU.
“Just lock in, actually want to guard, actually want to get a stop,” Garrett said of what he and his teammates need to do.
“If we can get that (mindset) we’ll be able to get stops and win games,” Garrett added.
He said his role as a senior leader is “to keep us together. We’ve got to find a way to win games, got to find a way to get back on track. It kind of starts with me. I’m a senior and I’ve got to find a way.”
Fellow senior Mitch Lightfoot, who had six points and three boards in 11 minutes at OU, plans on helping Garrett lead the way..
“Obviously the guy puts his heart and soul out there on the floor every night,” Lightfoot said of Garrett. “He’s done so well for us. We need him to be good for us to be good. I think he is a great leader. He understands he has to lead now more than ever. I think both us understand we need to get this team together. We need get this team locked in on the same mindset. We have to defend. It all starts on the defensive end. I think we will do that. That’s what we need to do,” Lightfoot added.
Perhaps a third straight loss and the squad dropping to .500 in the league will lead to a sense of urgency in the program.
“Obviously this sucks. You lose three in a row, that just doesn’t happen around here,” Lightfoot said. The Jayhawks have lost three straight games two previous seasons in the Self era — in 2012-13 and 2004-05. KU has never lost four in a row in a season under Self.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to bounce back. We can’t worry about the past, have to focus on the future,” Lightfoot said. “This team has to figure out a way to be the best versions of ourselves, therefore making our team the best version of itself. We all need to buy into this team, be as present as we can and as locked in as we can to be better. I think all the guys on the team are ready to do that,” Lightfoot added.
Self noted it wasn’t that long ago KU appeared to have a dominant team. The Jayhawks rattled off eight straight wins after a season-opening loss to Gonzaga.
“We were a good team. What’d we go, 7-0 (8-0), play the most ranked teams of anybody in the country?” said Self. His Jayhawks have victories over Creighton, Kentucky, Texas Tech and West Virginia. “Usually our teams get better after Christmas. Post Christmas we haven’t been near as good.”
KU is 2-4 since re-gathering after a four-day Christmas break.
“I think a lot of it is the competition. I think it’s where we’re playing. I also think we don’t have the same oomph as we had prior. I am optimistic we are not playing close to our ceiling. We probably were playing much closer to our ceiling in December.” Self said.
A home game Jan. 16 against Iowa State was postponed because of COVID-19 issues in ISU’s program. KU was to have played TCU on Tuesday, Jan. 26, but that game is now set for 7 p.m., Thursday in Allen Fieldhouse because of COVID-19 complications at TCU. After that game, KU travels to Tennessee for an SEC/Big 12 Challenge game on Saturday, Jan. 30.
“We’ve had a hard stretch. We played three road games — all three against tournament teams,” Self said of losses to Oklahoma State, Baylor and OU. “I don’t think we are talented enough not to have a hard stretch if we don’t play well when we playing on the road against teams that are tournament teams.”
It does not figure to get any easier, so Self says “we’ve got to do some soul searching, look in the mirror, I’m talking coaches, everybody, find out just what do we really need to do and commit to for us to be the best we can be. I think we say we want to commit to it but I don’t think we’re all totally bought into that. There are some things we can do to improve in that area.”
Garrett said the players simply must listen to the coaches.
“Playing hard, knowing scouting report,” Garrett said of what players must do. “You can’t always control if the ball goes in the basket. You can control effort on defense, knowing scouting report. Knowing the scouting report will give us a better chance to win games,” Garrett added.
This story was originally published January 24, 2021 at 1:19 PM with the headline "Except for Marcus Garrett, KU players don’t ‘lock in and really guard,’ Self says."
