Five things you might have missed from KU basketball’s Maui title victory over Dayton
So much happened during Kansas’ 90-84 overtime victory over Dayton last week that not everything could make it into our game story and analysis afterward.
With a little extra time between games here though — KU next plays No. 20 Colorado at home on Saturday — let’s take a deeper dive into five things you might have missed from the Jayhawks’ win in the championship game of the Maui Invitational.
Dayton adjusts ... then Bill Self counters
It’s fun to appreciate the cat-and-mouse games that go on between coaches in high-stakes contests like this.
Here’s a perfect example. KU calls one of its go-to plays at the 11:30 mark of the first half — a side pick-and-roll — and Devon Dotson gets all the way to the rim for a layup and foul.
One person to note was the Dayton player guarding KU’s Ochai Agbaji: No. 2 Ibi Watson. He was late to help on the drive, which was part of the reason Dotson was able to get all the way to the rim.
Fast forward 6 1/2 minutes later. Self calls the same play, except Dayton is more ready this time. Dotson’s defender, No. 35 Dwayne Cohill, makes it difficult for him to use the screen, and Jhery Matos — the player guarding Agbaji — recognizes the play and plants himself in the middle of the lane to take a charge.
Self, seeing how Dayton defended the play aggressively, went immediately to a counter the next time down. Everything stays the same with this set ... except instead of coming to get the ball, Dotson backcuts to the hoop.
We can see how perfectly it works out. Cohill — anticipating Dotson to come outside the three-point line — briefly loses sight of the ball. Agbaji delivers the bounce pass, Dotson finishes at the rim ... and Self the offensive coordinator helps KU steal two points.
Ball screen woes
Self, as discussed in this article, has completely changed his philosophy on defense this season.
For the first time in his career, Self is having his players “down” ball screens. In the easiest terms, KU’s guards — when facing a ball screen — are turning their feet and bodies toward the sideline to try to keep the ball-handler on one side of the court.
While KU did a great job of executing this new style in its game the previous day against BYU ... it wasn’t so pretty against Dayton.
Here’s a look. Dotson on this play doesn’t get his feet turned toward the outside to force Dayton’s Watson (No. 2) toward the bottom of the screen. This leads to a disaster for teammate Udoka Azubuike, who is now left to cover a guard in space who has the option to go to either side of the floor.
Two quick passes later, and Azubuike has no chance at recovering, with Dayton’s Jordy Tshimanga putting in the short shot in the lane.
Self screamed to his team from the sideline after the play: “We haven’t downed one (ball screen) all night.”
That wasn’t the only issue with KU’s coverage. Self has his team “down” screens only when it’s a big man setting a screen for a guard. When a guard screens for a guard, KU’s defenders are told to simply switch.
Freshman Tristan Enaruna has the lapse here. Because David McCormack’s man is coming to set the screen, this is a Dayton big man setting a screen for a guard. KU should be “downing” this screen.
Except Enaruna doesn’t. He straight up switches, which McCormack is not expecting, though the forward actually recovers decently. This leads to an obvious mismatch, though ... and Self showing his frustration if you watch at the top of the screen.
Dayton’s Jalen Crutcher misses the deep three over McCormack, and Enaruna clears the rebound. KU doesn’t have to pay here for its error, but you can still bet Self that would call this defensive possession more lucky than good.
One benefit of a holiday tournament
KU scored a healthy 1.15 points per possession against Dayton, and a big reason why was simply because of circumstances.
When playing three games in three days, there simply isn’t much time to prepare. One result from that: KU’s plays — the ones that often get snuffed out in Big 12 season — were much more effective Wednesday.
Here’s an example. This is a frequent play KU runs, where one player comes up to set a ball screen while Self hopes to get an angle throw over the top to Azubuike.
There are a few ways conference foes try to defend this. One way is to play directly behind KU’s big man and force him to make a play from outside the lane. Another is to basically ignore the screen-setter (usually this is a non-shooter for KU) and use that defender to help double-team the paint.
Dayton, though, does neither. The screener’s defender chases to the outside, and forward Obi Toppin tries to front Azubuike.
Not only does that allow a dunk here, but KU ran this play twice more after halftime while getting good position for Azubuike both times. One led to a pass and layup for Marcus Garrett, and the other to Azubuike getting fouled.
It probably wouldn’t have been this open, though, if Dayton had another day or two to prepare.
Self not pleased ... again
One of the biggest keys to KU winning late was Self changing to a “switch 5” defense late against Dayton’s three-happy offense.
The Jayhawks rarely play this way, however, meaning it’s often tougher for players to remember their assignments.
Ochai Agbaji — who played all 45 minutes — certainly drew Self’s ire with three minutes left in overtime.
Dayton sets a ball screen up top, and Azubuike correctly steps up to switch the play. Agbaji, however, also chases the ballhandler, which leaves two Jayhawks on one Dayton player.
The read is simple from there. Watson (No. 2) passes back to the unguarded No. 33 Ryan Mikesell — a 34% career three-point shooter who has plenty of time to set his feet and knock down the shot.
Self ... let’s just say he was not pleased. ESPN’s cameras showed KU’s coach saying, “That’s a switch” — among other words — to Agbaji about a minute later.
Self’s secret
With 2:25 left in regulation, Self called one of his plays from the bench, as Garrett faked a ball screen, received a pass from Dotson, then threw into Azubuike for a basket and foul.
Just 90 seconds after that, Self called the same set ... but added a different wrinkle.
Watch closely. Self puts his hand up to his face to attempt to block what he’s saying from Dayton’s players.
His words to Dotson: “Drive it.”
This makes sense. Dayton, having just seen this set, likely could have diagnosed it was going to Azubuike once it saw Garrett going to set a ball screen.
Instead, Garrett alertly hits a Dayton player with the screen this time (instead of faking it like he did previously), allowing Dotson the mismatch on a switch.
Going against a bigger (and slower) defender, Dotson makes it all the way to the rim, though his layup rolls off. Big picture, though, this is likely to be considered a good possession by Self, as KU was able to get a close shot for one of its best players.
It’s interesting — in a game where Self said he felt helpless at times on the sideline because of the crowd noise — how the coach still was able to gain control.
On one of the game’s biggest possessions, he not only got his play call in ... but also ran it the way he desired.
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 12:19 PM.
