KU basketball’s starters are playing big minutes. Here’s how Bill Self is managing it
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self has resisted any temptation to hold two-a-day or even three-a-day practices this week, despite the fact the NCAA allows unlimited practice time between the fall and spring semesters before the spring semester begins at KU on Jan. 16
“We don’t have any hour restrictions. We can practice as much as we want. That includes weights and we’ll do a little more of that,” Self said Tuesday night on his weekly Hawk Talk radio show. The Jayhawks, who are coming off an 86-67 victory over Wichita State on Dec. 30 at T-Mobile Center, have been preparing this week for their Big 12 opener against TCU on Saturday.
“When you are playing four guys as many minutes as we have, it sounds great in theory that we could be going two-a-days and all that stuff. All that will do Is be counterproductive because you are wearing out your guys who are playing a majority of minutes,” he added.
Senior Dajuan Harris averages a team-leading 35.1 minutes a game, followed by senior Kevin McCullar (34.2), senior Hunter Dickinson (32.0) and junior KJ Adams (31.3). KU’s fifth starter, freshman guard Elmarko Jackson, averages 23.4.
“We usually start (second semester) around the 15th. It’s the same this year,” Self said. “We get a long break. That’s a long time to be able to do some different things. This is a good week for us. We could practice two days, take tomorrow off, practice two days then play again. Starting Saturday we play two games a week the rest of the year, so there are no more breaks.”
For the past several seasons, teams had a break in the league schedule in order to play a late-January game in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, which no longer exists.
“I assume it’s one of the reasons why the conference is starting later,” Self said. “When you are playing 18 league games, what the coaches decided to do is forfeit the bye week. We decided to start the season later as opposed to Jan. 31 and have a bye week. All the coaches decided to cram 18 games into nine weeks as opposed to 10 weeks (followed by the Big 12 tourney).”
Self said since the WSU game the Jayhawks have “been OK. Today wasn’t the best. We’ve practiced pretty well. Attitudes are great. Guys seem to be liking each other. This is a hard time for kids to be here. They look forward to practice because that’s the only thing they’ve got going all day. No other students are here. Not going to school. … It’s a difficult time to be on a college campus when nobody else is around.”
As usual, four of KU’s starters played 30 or more minutes in last Saturday’s rout of WSU.
“Elmrarko would have played a few more minutes, but he got two quick fouls to start the game so he played 10 (actually 11) minutes the first half,” Self said of Jackson, who scored a career-high 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. He hit two 3s with two assists, two turnovers, two rebounds with one steal.
“I think he is getting better defensively. Defense is where he can help us in a lot of ways,” Self added of the 6-foot-3 McDonald’s All-American from Marlton, New Jersey.
He scored seven straight points to help bust open a 14-14 game Saturday.
“He’s got to play to his athletic ability and he’ll continue to do that,” Self said. Jackson in that seven-point flurry accepted a pass from Harris and without dribbling soared in for a slam dunk.
KU had many stars versus the Shockers. Forward KJ Adams had a career-high 11 rebounds (eight defensive) and center Hunter Dickinson had 22 points and 13 rebounds (eight defensive) with three steals and four assists.
“The guy can just get numbers,” Self said of Dickinson, who played 30 minutes. “He had 22. I thought he should have had 30. He was 10-of-17 shooting. The seven he missed are seven shots he can make and will make more consistently probably.”
Of Adams, Self said: “I like when he gets it and brings it. When he rebounds, he knows he should bring it. He’s becoming more versatile all the time. He’s developing into a really nice player. ... Nobody in the country is more athletic.”
No. 2-ranked KU will enter its Big 12 opener Saturday with a 12-1 record. TCU, which is unranked, is 11-2.
Former KU backup center Ernest Udeh has started all 13 games for the Horned Frogs. He has averaged 4.4 points and 5.4 rebounds but scored 13 points with 18 rebounds in TCU’s last game, a 77-42 victory over Texas A&M Commerce on Monday in Fort Worth.
This story was originally published January 3, 2024 at 6:30 AM with the headline "KU basketball’s starters are playing big minutes. Here’s how Bill Self is managing it."
