KU coach Bill Self sees ‘shortcomings’ in No. 5-ranked squad that can be fixed in time
The coach of the preseason No. 5-ranked men’s basketball team in the country isn’t so sure this season’s team is a contender for the national title.
Not on Oct. 25, anyway.
“We’d like to think that we are in position to try to defend a championship. I think the biggest thing we’ve got to realize first before we can even think that is we’ve got to be in the game first,” KU coach Bill Self said Tuesday at KU men’s basketball media day at Allen Fieldhouse.
He had been asked to discuss his team’s chances of winning a second straight NCAA title. This Jayhawks team on Tuesday was ranked No. 5 in the preseason USA Today Coaches poll after tying Baylor for the No. 5 slot in the AP poll last week.
“What puts us in the game, in my opinion, is this team has some shortcomings as of today that hopefully we’ll be much better at by conference season,” Self said. “You take for granted experience. We basically return two guys that have played any meaningful minutes off a team that won a championship last year. It’s a whole new ballgame.”
KU returns starting point guard Dajaun Harris and starting forward Jalen Wilson off last year’s team, which won the Big 12 regular-season title and postseason conference tournament before winning the national championship.
Also suiting up this season is Kevin McCullar, a transfer guard from perennial NCAA tournament team Texas Tech. McCullar is a super-senior; Wilson and Harris juniors.
“I do think Jalen and Kevin are championship starters,” Self said. “Jalen has already proven it and Kevin certainly is (one) too. I think Juan is a championship guard.
“Gradey (Dick, freshman guard), MJ (Rice, freshman guard), KJ (Adams, sophomore forward), Joe (Yesufu, junior guard) and Bobby (Pettiford, soph guard) .,. they’ve got to raise their level to the point where they understand what exactly their role needs to be to give us best chance to win,” Self said. “I think they will. It will just take time. You go from competing against 16-, 17-year-olds and then the next-year expectations are such you are supposed to be equal to 21-year-olds across America.
“It’s just going to take some time.”
Self — he noted the 2021-22 KU team might need to “win by making somebody else play worse,” or by playing “defense, stealing extra possessions,” — pointed out some specific areas of growth needed before KU starts discussing clipping nets again this season.
Of his group of bigs (freshmen Ernest Udeh, Zuby Ejiofor, sophs Zach Clemence, KJ Adams and senior Cam Martin), Self said they are “1A, 1B, 1C, 1D. There’s nobody who has emerged ahead of anybody. I mean anybody.”
Self went on to talk about the KU bigs’ play in Saturday’s secret scrimmage against Illinois in St. Louis.
“We got the ball where we wanted it to go a lot,” Self said. “We defended at least average. The thing about it is is when we get the ball to where we want it to it doesn’t guarantee we’re going to get a basket.
“Last year’s team, if David (McCormack) gets it at 2 feet with an angle, you can count it as two. We can’t count it as two yet. It’s hard to say you played poorly when you got the ball where you wanted it to go — we just didn’t finish as well.”
Self asked the rhetorical question: “Do you have a (big) guy who can get you 10 (points) and six (rebounds) in a real game? It’s going to be hard. Those kids are young.”
As far as perimeter play, Self said “in a perfect world,” Pettiford would be able to back up Harris at the point. If that doesn’t happen, McCullar would have to move from 2-guard over to the point on occasion.
Pettiford said Tuesday that he’s 100% recovered from nagging injuries that have plagued him this school year, and last, as well.
And as far as perimeter outside shooting, Self said: “This team should shoot more threes than last year’s team — (it) should. And if we do that, you need to make 35% or 36% as a team in order to probably play efficient enough that warrants playing fast and shooting early. I think a big key to our team is making shots.”
In discussing KU’s outside shooting, Self cited senior walk-on Michael Jankovich for his marksmanship of late.
“Jank shoots it so well,” the coach said, “do you try to figure out a way where he could be your ninth man? Come in and hopefully get three looks in a half and make two?”
At last Wednesday’s Big 12 media day, Self praised the outside shooting of freshman Dick, a player who said Tuesday he spent the summer shooting a minimum of 500 threes a day,
And on Tuesday, Self did mention that junior guard Yesufu shot well at the secret scrimmage.
“Joe needs to go score. He needs to be a guy that when he’s in the game he feels freedom to attack,” Self said. “Scoring is how he can help us the most.”
Self stressed that he didn’t mean to sound “negative” in his remarks about his squad at media day. The theme of his 20-minute talk with reporters was merely a reminder it would take this team “some time” to click.
“I do like our team. I do think we have talent. I do think we’ll get better as we get older,” the 20th-year Jayhawks coach said.
The Jayhawks will meet Pittsburg State at 7 p.m. next Thursday, Nov. 3, at Allen Fieldhouse in their first preseason game.
This story was originally published October 25, 2022 at 5:33 PM with the headline "KU coach Bill Self sees ‘shortcomings’ in No. 5-ranked squad that can be fixed in time."
