Notes from Omaha: Bill Self likes Shockers’ experience

OMAHA – The last time a senior led Kansas in scoring was 2009-10, when Sherron Collins paced the Jayhawks at 15.5 points per game.

The last time a Wichita State senior led the team in scoring was last season, when Cleanthony Early did it.

KU has had more three- and four-year players than most programs of its pedigree, but the Jayhawks have largely been guided by their youth. Perry Ellis, a junior, leads KU’s scorers but freshmen Andrew Wiggins and Ben McLemore did so the previous two years.

Joel Embiid was the NBA No. 3 draft pick last year following his freshman season at KU.

“You love coaching your guys however long they’re with you, and I loved coaching (Wiggins and Embiid),” KU coach Bill Self said. “But you connect differently to guys over time. I do believe that.”

KU’s starting lineup consists of three sophomores, freshman Kelly Oubre and Ellis. WSU starts two seniors and three juniors, experience that Self hasn’t had during most of his 12-year tenure.

“In today’s time with certain programs, your best players are going to be your youngest kids, but the guys that give you the best chance to win are going to be your older kids,” Self said. “In Wichita State’s case, they’ve got both. They’ve got the best players that are older.

“Certainly it is nice to have talent, but it’s even nicer to have experienced talent.”

The other guys — There’s not just the Wichita State-Kansas game being played on Sunday at the CenturyLink Center, despite what it may seem like to fans of those teams ... and even some people in Omaha.

Two teams from the West Regional, No. 1 seed Wisconsin and No. 8 seed Oregon, will face off after the Jayhawks and Shockers play. The Ducks squandered a double-digit, second-half lead and lost 85-77 to Wisconsin in the third round of last year’s NCAA Tournament.

“We’re aware of it, it’s pretty cool, actually,” said Wisconsin forward Frank Kaminsky, a national player of the year candidate. “It doesn’t have any bearing on us, or our game, but it’s pretty neat to see the two teams get to play again.”

Word play — All NCAA Tournament news conferences are transcribed by professional stenographers, people who sit in the front row with headphones and type every word that the players and coaches say.

Wisconsin guard Nigel Hayes decided to have some fun with the stenographers on Saturday. When asked an opening question on basketball, he pivoted.

“I would like to say a few words, cattywampus, onomatopoeia and antidisestablishmentarianism,” Hayes said, drawing laughter from the crowd. “Now, back to your question.”

Hayes, upon getting a question about his seemingly expanded vocabulary, kept it going.

“(The stenographer) does an amazing job of typing words ... but maybe if I say soliloquy right now, she may have to work a little bit harder to type that word, or quandary, zephyr, Xylophone, things like that, that make her job really interesting,” Hayes said.

Both Hayes and Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said they’d spent time the previous day talking with the stenographers and finding more out about their jobs.

“And I always thought it was a regular keyboard, and obviously it’s not,” Ryan said. “So I know (the players) were given three words. Antidisestablishmentarianism is one of them, so she has to do that one again.”

McClain gets another shot — There was some good news for Indiana assistant coach Steve McClain the day after the Hoosiers lost to Wichita State in the NCAA Tournament.

McClain was hired as the new coach at Illinois-Chicago on Saturday, according to the Chicago Tribune. The former Hutchinson Community College coach, who led the Blue Dragons to the NJCAA title in 1994, spent the last five seasons as an assistant at Indiana under Tom Crean.

McClain was previously the head coach at Wyoming from 1998 to 2007, leading the Cowboys to the NCAA Tournament in 2002.

Adjustability – Charles Barkley said on CBS that Bill Self is high on his list of best coaches because Self can tweak his plans as games progress.

Self hesitated to take credit because most of his changes are minor.

“It’s not like we’re switching defenses every possession,” Self said. “It’s not like we’re switching up on how we do everything.”

Self said adjustments are only as successful when players understand the new approach.

“When things aren’t working, you have to help your kids,” Self said. “A lot of times, and I’ve been guilty of this in the past, is that you just rely on the kids to figure it out. That’s OK sometimes, but I think we’ve got to do things to help them and try to make the game a little bit easier for them.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2015 at 8:37 PM with the headline "Notes from Omaha: Bill Self likes Shockers’ experience."