Will KU add a game to 2020-21 schedule? Bill Self addresses the issue on Hawk Talk
As it stands now, Kansas’ men’s basketball team will play its last game of the 2020-21 regular season on Feb. 27.
That’s a home contest against undefeated Baylor, a team that has been on pause since Feb. 3 because of COVID-19 issues in the Bears’ program.
Things could change, however, because the Jayhawks are discussing adding a game to their slate — one that could be contested in Allen Fieldhouse as a tuneup for the postseason.
KU — which plays Texas Tech at 1 p.m., Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse, then travels to Texas for an 8 p.m., game Tuesday in Austin before returning to face Baylor at 7 p.m., a week from Saturday at Allen — is slated to be idle from Feb. 28 until March 10 or 11 — the day of its first game in the Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center.
“It’s a great question. The answer is, I don’t know, even though we’re prepared to do something,” KU coach Bill Self said Thursday on his weekly Hawk Talk radio show. about possibly adding a game.
Self said he and basketball schedule-maker Sean Lester, “have talked about it. We have discussed this a lot. We actually have some opponents that possibly could play,” Self added, not listing any possible schools.
There are still some unknowns regarding possibly adding a game to replace the game against Tarleton State that was called off in December because of COVID-19 issues in Tarleton’s program.
“Is it important we play a Division I school? Can you play a Div. II school?” Self said. “It could hurt us (if KU lost the game), but is not going to help us with our seed (for 2021 NCAA Tournament). We are 4-7 against Tier One (teams). We have three more (against Tier One teams to close season). That’s 14 total. I don’t think it helps us from that perspective. The thing it would help is rhythm, shaking the rust off and everything.
“Are we better off having scrimmages (at practice) that are like games? I do not know that answer because of COVID,” Self stated.
His team has not had any stoppages because of COVID-19 during the 2020-21 season to this point. But there’s always the chance somebody on the team or coaching staff might contract the virus right before the start of the NCAAs.
“Our guys have been great, knock on wood,” Self said. “It doesn’t matter how we’ve been. It only matters how we do going forward because a team could get knocked out of not only their conference tournament but a team could get knocked out of the NCAA Tournament if there are issues moving forward. Certainly key players (around country) will miss the NCAA Tournament because there will be issues moving forward.
“Students are back (on KU campus), and that does add an element of additional risk by playing somebody even though they’d have to test three times on nonconsecutive days prior to playing us. We’d make them do all that stuff. But it still runs a risk,” Self continued, noting, “We’re going to wait and see a little bit how the rest of this plays out. I don’t know how the league yet is handling all the pauses that are going on.
“There’s no way Baylor (9-0) is going to get to 18 (games). If they play six games the next two weeks, they’d only get to 15. Here we can get to 18 and have the week off (before Big 12 tourney). I don’t know what the best thing is.”
His intuition at this point is telling him … “I do know this. I’d almost rather be rusty than risk, so we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s not a perfect scenario,” Self said.
North Carolina added a game against Northeastern this week to make up for some home games lost due to COVID-19.
“I’m not sure how many games they’ve missed,” Self said of the Tar Heels, who have lost three games. “We only missed one game, Tarleton. I don’t think playing Tarleton — and Billy (Gillispie, coach) is my guy — I don’t think playing Tarleton is going to be a huge asset for us or huge negative for us. We’ll have to wait and see.”
A look back at K-State game
Self on his radio show commented on KU’s latest game: Wednesday’s defensive minded 59-41 victory over Kansas State in Manhattan.
“When you can’t say much about offense, let’s talk about defense the entire hour,” Self said jokingly. “Our offense was better than theirs, but not by a long shot. I thought we guarded pretty well, still they missed some open looks.”
K-State, which finished with its lowest point total in a game played at Bramlage Coliseum, missed 21 of 24 threes.
“We’re doing a better job guarding our man at the end of the clock and ball-screen defense has gotten a lot better,” Self said. His No. 23-ranked Jayhawks (16-7, 10-5) have won four straight games.
“For the most part, we’ve not always looked good. Since I’ve been here (in his 18 years at KU) we’ve made other teams look worse. That’s kind of our M.O. the last four games. I kind of like it. Guys are taking pride in that.”
Injury updates on KU’s pro players
Self had updates on former KU players Udoka Azubuike and Frank Mason, who apparently will miss the rest of the 2020-21 NBA and NBA G League seasons.
Azubuike, a first-round draft pick of the Utah Jazz, suffered a severe ankle sprain in a recent G League game. Mason, a two-way player with the Orlando Magic suffered a severe groin pull in a recent G League game.
The Magic actually released Mason in the wake of the injury.
“I spoke to him today. He thought maybe three months,” Self said of how many months 7-footer Azubuike will be out. “Three months is pretty much season-ending. He’s very mature about it, in good spirits. Right now he can’t fly to Utah on a plane because the swelling is so bad.”
Self said Azubuike, once he gets to Utah in coming days, will be examined by doctors to see if he needs surgery.
As far as point guard Mason: “Some say he needs surgery. Frank told me two or three doctors feel he kind of performed his own surgery on it when it popped back in. He’s probably out for the year, too. It’s a crushing blow for a guy who can’t catch a break, He’s the MVP of the G League last year. He’ll be out there again looking (for a team). He needs the right opportunity. He had it, just has to get healthy.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 8:18 PM with the headline "Will KU add a game to 2020-21 schedule? Bill Self addresses the issue on Hawk Talk."
