De Sousa didn’t get many minutes in Maui: ‘His time will come. He’ll figure it out.’
Taking advantage of a stretch in which there’s a week and a half between games, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self has spent multiple hours studying tape of victories over Dayton, BYU and Chaminade at the 2019 Maui Invitational.
He’s as pleased now as he was last Wednesday after the No. 2-ranked Jayhawks’ 90-84 overtime victory over the No. 19-rated Flyers.
“I’m pleased with everybody. I thought the guys played hard and together and really acted like they enjoyed playing for each other,” Self said Tuesday night on his weekly Hawk Talk radio show.
KU point guard Devon Dotson and center Udoka Azubuike stood out in a crowd of Jayhawks, earning co-MVP honors at last week’s tourney.
One player who didn’t have the same impact as many of the other rotation players was junior forward Silvio De Sousa, a player Self conceded Tuesday, “didn’t get the opportunity to play much.”
“I know he was disappointed (about that), there’s no question about that. His time will come. He’ll figure it out and we’ll be much better for it when he does,” Self stated.
Power forward De Sousa scored four points and grabbed two rebounds while playing 11 minutes in a 93-63 first-round rout of Chaminade. He had no points and two boards in four minutes in a 71-56 semifinal win over BYU while logging just one minute of playing time in the finale vs. Dayton.
Self, who has been implementing a lot of 4-guard looks, has been going with Azubuike and David McCormack the majority of the time when he plays two bigs.
“No. I wish there was,” Self said on Hawk Talk, asked if there is a timeline set to provide De Sousa more minutes on a consistent basis. The 6-9 Angola native practiced last season but did not play in games because of an NCAA matter.
“It’s not that complicated. Basketball is a reactionary game. When you have to think when you get out there because you are not quite confident enough, you get slow and you don’t perform to your ability,” Self explained. “Silvio is going through that right now because he’s not as confident. It’s nobody’s fault.
“A lot of that is he’s going to have to figure some things out. The other thing,” Self added, “is we have not played enough situations where you can just leave him out there and play through a ton of mistakes. One or two possessions in a game like that (vs. Dayton) obviously is a difference in winning and losing. He’s going to be fine (but) if I could say if there’s one guy I know we can get a lot more out of that we haven’t yet, I would definitely say it’s Silvio. I mean that from a positive standpoint.”
De Sousa has averaged 3.7 points and 2.4 boards in seven games while playing 8.5 minutes a game.
“To think we have a game plan he’ll play 12 minutes this half or something like that, I guess we could do it that way but I never have,” Self said, “especially in a game you feel you have to win. Certainly Saturday will be the same way when we play Colorado, undefeated (and) ranked 20th in the country.”
KU (6-1) will meet Colorado at 6 p.m. Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. The Buffs will take a 6-0 record into Wednesday’s home game versus Loyola Marymount.
Will Self continue to play four guards a lot with one big? Or will he go with two bigs and three guards the majority of the time in coming contests?
“There’s no question we are a better team playing four guards. We know that. I mean we know that,” Self said. “It’s not like, ‘What are they doing out there?’ What we are trying to do is we are trying to be the best team we can be come March. We are not going to be a good team unless we can play two bigs at least a good portion of the time. We’ll figure it out. Certainly so far we’ve been better with four guards.”
He noted a key is “whether or not we can defend the arc (playing two bigs).”
Self comments on Doke’s free throws
KU coach Self is pleased center Azubuike went 3 of 3 from the free-throw line in overtime versus Dayton.
Azubuike, who has made 40% of his free throws this season, cashed 5 of 8 vs. Dayton and overall was 7 of 15 from the line in three games in Maui.
“Even when he didn’t make them, they look better than they have,” Self said of the 7-footer’s free throws. “I thought when he made those down the stretch, those were pure. He snapped it off (and) was confident, didn’t aim it. It just goes to shows you what confidence means. Whatever you are doing, if you are confident you have so much a better chance of being relaxed and having an opportunity to make a play, regardless of the sport,” Self added.
“In basketball it (confidence) is so big in shooting free throws because it’s not reactionary. A lot of times you can do something because you don’t think, you are reactive. With free throws you have time to think. If you are not confident it creates doubt. It was so good for him to make free throws for us.”
Self said he would be confident enough to leave Azubuike in the game in late-game situations.
“I don’t know how you could afford to take him out unless it’s for free-throw reasons,” he said of Azubuike who had 29 points against Dayton with four blocks and three rebounds in 31 minutes. “I’m not saying it won’t happen some. There would be times you could take out a lot of good players, maybe if you want the best ballhandling or free-throw percentage player in a late-game situation. That should give Doke some confidence he could be in there regardless of the situation. We don’t win the game (vs. Dayton) more than likely unless he was able to be relaxed at the line,” Self stated.
Break in the schedule
Self said he’s glad there’s a break between games following the long trip to and from Hawaii.
“It’s good to be home to be honest,” he said. KU’s traveling party arrived in Lawrence about 9 a.m. Friday after a week in Maui. “It’s a hard trip from a travel standpoint wearing you down. I’m just now feeling semi-normal. I know the players are as well. I’m glad we have some time between games.”
