No. 1 Jayhawks ‘not playing worth a (darn) right now’ as Villanova game nears
Kansas’ basketball players and coaches gathered at Allen Fieldhouse at 9:30 a.m. Monday for their first practice of what officially is known as “finals week” and unofficially “Villanova week.”
“With our final exam schedule we couldn’t work in the afternoon,” KU coach Bill Self said Monday afternoon at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown where he and KU women’s coach Brandon Schneider spoke to Williams Fund members at the annual KU Roundball Club luncheon. “Also our next game is 11 on Saturday.”
Indeed, the Jayhawks (8-0) and Villanova Wildcats (8-2 entering Tuesday’s game against Penn) will tangle in a rematch of their 2018 Final Four semifinal contest at 11 a.m. Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. Eventual national champion Villanova breezed past KU 95-79 on March 31 in San Antonio, Texas.
“We’ve played a really hard schedule. It’s just going to get harder with Villanova coming in on Saturday,” Self said. “They’ve given us fits and cleaned our clock last year. It should be a great game for our fans and motivational game for our guys.”
The Jayhawks will enter the game No. 1 in both the AP and the coaches polls. Villanova is No. 17 in the AP poll and No. 16 in the coaches poll.
KU, which was preseason No. 1 but was passed first by Duke in week two and then by Gonzaga in week four, received 57 first-place votes in the AP poll to four for Duke. Tennessee, Gonzaga, Michigan and Virginia each received one first-place vote.
“It’s been a great day. Just a little bit earlier we went to No. 1 in both polls. That’s a good thing for a team that’s not playing worth a (darn) right now,” Self said to audience laughter.
He was not impressed with KU’s play in a 63-60 win over New Mexico State on Saturday at the Sprint Center.
“I think that based on what the team has done so far and the schedule we played I think it (ranking) is deserving,” Self told The Star after the luncheon. “I do think we can play a lot better though and certainly our last game out we were fortunate to beat New Mexico State. They played terrific and they’ve got a good team but I think it’s a great way to get our players’ attention during a week of practice.”
Self added that he hoped his squad, “can play to our ranking. I don’t ever tell them that. What I tell them is we just need to play to our ceiling, our potential. Hopefully we can get better at that.”
Self spoke about the state of his team after eight games to the lunchgoers.
“We actually have done a lot better than I thought we’d do,” Self said. “I didn’t think we had a shot to be 8-0 right now because we’re so young in the backcourt. To play the schedule we’ve played so far and had an injury (to Udoka Azubuike) we’ve had to play through …
“I don’t think we’ve played well yet. I don’t think we’re any good yet,” he added to more audience laughter. “I think we can do some really good things and have played exceptionally well in stretches. I don’t think we’ve played 40 minutes. We’ve not been awful, just been painful to watch at times.”
Self is counting on continued improvement.
“Obviously we are going to get a lot better when we have our full complement of players. Hopefully we will know sooner rather than later about Silvio,” Self said.
Sophomore forward Silvio De Sousa has yet to play in a game as he awaits results of an NCAA review into his eligibility.
“Doke hopefully will be back in a couple weeks or whenever it is (from right ankle sprain),” Self said. “This will give other guys opportunities to hopefully get in the groove. Our goal is to go into the first of the year, obviously into conference play being whole and knowing how we want to play and try to attack the conference really hard.”
Self said the verdict is still out on how well the team will fare this season.
“If you don’t shoot it consistently, it’s hard to say you can be exceptional because there will be one or two days where you don’t make shots,” Self said.
KU has made 48.4 percent of its shots overall. The Jayhawks are 57 of 151 from three for 37.7 percent. Opponents are 78 of 229 from three for 34.1 percent. Senior Lagerald Vick is 29 of 52 (.558), his teammates 28 of 99 for 28.3 percent.
“Now (when you don’t make shots) you have to rely on making sure the other team plays poorly too, to pull those games out. We have to tighten up some things, but we’re excited about this year, too,” Self said.
High praise for Dotson
Self has been impressed with the play of freshman point guard Devon Dotson. The 6-foot-2 Charlotte, N.C., native has averaged 11.0 points a game on 52.5 percent shooting. He has 21 assists, 14 turnovers and 14 steals total while averaging 33.0 minutes a game.
“Nobody can say he is soft. That is one tough cat,” Self said. “Other than Sherron (Collins), Devon Dotson is probably having the best freshman year for a point guard since we’ve been here (16 seasons).”
Lawson delivers for KU
KU junior forward Dedric Lawson averages a team-leading 19.1 points (47 percent shooting) and team-best 10.6 rebounds a game. He also leads the team in assists with 23.
“Dedric can play poorly and still get 20 and 10 (vs. New Mexico State),” Self said. “Like the other night he was awful. He scored our last 14 points of the game. He has an uncanny ability to deliver, unbelievable.”
McCormack’s minutes
KU freshman David McCormack has played 31 minutes total in seven games.
“Maybe,” Self said, asked if the 6-10, 265-pound McDonald’s All-American could see more minutes. “If you look back, Cole Aldrich, a first-team All-American, Sasha (Kaun), Darnell (Jackson), Shady (Darrell Arthur) didn’t have a chance to play much as freshmen, early in their careers.
“The thing is when Doke is not in the game how do you score inside? The answer obviously is Dedric Lawson. How does Dedric get the ball inside without David’s man going for the ball? It’s not David’s fault,” Self said, noting it has been difficult to distribute minutes for some players like McCormack because of the Jayhawks’ tough schedule and amount of close games. KU has been down seven or more points in six of its eight wins.
This story was originally published December 10, 2018 at 5:25 PM with the headline "No. 1 Jayhawks ‘not playing worth a (darn) right now’ as Villanova game nears."
