Why two Bill Self sideline acknowledgments were a big deal for this Kansas team
When you coach at a place 16 years — with ridiculous success — the season-long numbers tend to copy themselves.
The players might change under Bill Self, but his team strengths rarely do. You can count on the Jayhawks to rebound well. They will get easy baskets. They’ll hold down opponents’ field-goal percentages (or effective field-goal percentages, if you want to use the more accurate version of the stat).
And, because of that, one outlier this season has stood out more than many others.
The Jayhawks, without exception, have shared the ball well under Self. Their assist rate — or percentage of shots that are assisted — has never been below 54 percent in a season, with the team only ranking worse than 125th in the stat once.
That’s changed this year. Exactly 52.4 percent of KU’s field goals have been assisted (168th nationally), meaning this particular roster hasn’t followed through on an important Self staple.
It’s why Saturday’s 87-63 victory over Eastern Michigan could be a significant step.
Self will disagree with me to a point here. Because Eastern Michigan primarily plays a 2-3 zone, he believes assists should be easier to come by in a game like Saturday’s; the setup, by its nature, forces teams to become more pass-happy if they want to get open shots.
Still ... the numbers are the numbers. KU had 25 assists (on its 31 field goals) — a top-10 total for the Jayhawks in a game this decade, according to the logs at College Basketball Reference.
“We shared it OK,” Self said afterward.
Words weren’t needed, though, to realize when Self was especially happy with his team’s selflessness.
On two occasions in the second half, the coach singled out players after good passes from the sideline.
With 14:45 left, Lagerald Vick received the ball on the right wing and started to go up with a three, only to see a defender fly toward him. He up-faked, then flung a two-handed pass to the corner, turning down a good shot for a better one as Devon Dotson connected on a wide-open try.
A few steps away, near the scorer’s table, Self pointed to Vick as he made his way back to the defensive end.
Three minutes later, there was another play worthy of praise. Marcus Garrett brought the ball up in transition, and with the court spaced well, he threw a pass away from a defender and over the top to Udoka Azubuike, who finished with a dunk.
Self, while seated, raised his arm in Garrett’s direction. Twice he pointed to him, giving kudos without saying anything at all.
These gestures have been a rare occurrence this season. The Jayhawks haven’t developed a sharing identity yet, though they might’ve made strides toward that Saturday.
“We have a very unselfish team,” KU’s Dedric Lawson said. “Guys try to help each other out.”
The Jayhawks, nonetheless, have been a statistical outlier this entire season.
Maybe — just maybe — that’s about to change.
This story was originally published December 29, 2018 at 7:18 PM.
