How KU and Texas Tech basketball have ‘borrowed’ from each other — and found success
Texas Tech coach Chris Beard had a problem.
This was a year ago, and transfer guard Matt Mooney — big and strong with excellent decision-making on drives — was having trouble getting to the lane because opposing teams were gameplanning for him.
Beard didn’t look far to find a solution.
“Coach (Bill) Self has that dribble weave where (his) pros get middle,” Beard said at Big 12 media day in October. “We did that for Matt Mooney.”
Beard originally was going to call the play “Kansas” in honor of the source. He smiles, saying his coaches eventually decided on a different moniker.
The example, though, circles back to a belief that Beard has repeated before: “Everything in basketball is borrowed.”
And the fascinating part about Saturday’s matchup between KU and Texas Tech at Allen Fieldhouse: Both coaches can credit their counterpart for at least some of their recent success.
Beard admits that while he studies X’s and O’s from almost everywhere — that includes the NBA and Euro League — one of his top sources of inspiration is college film. Earlier in his career, Beard had his assistants continuously update a file with outside plays that they liked.
They called it, “Opponents’ good (stuff).”
“But now we’re trying to be more politically correct, myself included. I’ve got three daughters. I’m trying,” Beard said with a laugh. “So now it’s, ‘Opponents’ good actions.’”
Self’s KU plays, it should be noted, have been in that database often.
It shouldn’t be surprising considering both coaches’ histories. The two first met back in the late 1990s, when Beard was leading Fort Scott (Kansas) Community College and Self was at Tulsa.
Beard says he’s been “studying Coach Self’s teams forever,” with one strength standing out the most over that time: Self’s playcalls that come after timeouts (ATOs).
“I can tell you every ATO he’s ever ran and ever will. Even though I know it’s coming, they still score,” Beard said. “Next time we play Kansas, just watch my facial expression. He really doesn’t ever do anything I don’t know, but I still can’t stop it.”
The admiration is mutual, though, as one of KU’s biggest improvements this season can be traced back to Beard and Texas Tech.
Self has changed his team’s ball screen coverage in 2019-20 to something he’s never taught. KU has started to “down” (or “ice”) screens, while working to keep the opposing ball-handler on one side of the floor.
The influence came partly from Texas Tech. The Red Raiders — while using an even more extreme version of that defensive coverage — finished No. 1 nationally last season in adjusted defensive efficiency.
“I study everybody we play,” Self said, “but I’ve watched more tape on Texas Tech.”
Earlier this season, Self envisioned his team switching more often defensively after downing screens — like Texas Tech does — but over time, he found that playing more conservatively with the defensive style suited this particular roster well.
The results have been impressive. KU, which finished 17th in adjusted defensive efficiency a season ago, has moved to where Texas Tech was last season: the No. 1 spot defensively.
“They just do some things that are a little different that, if you work on it all the time, it can be very effective, and obviously, it is for them,” Self said of Texas Tech’s defense. “But the biggest thing I probably like is how they keep the ball one side of the floor.”
Beard has other ties to KU’s staff as well. He calls assistant coach Norm Roberts “one my dear friends in basketball. Nobody I respect more, just in life, than Norm Roberts. That guy is good as gold.”
Through nine coaching stops over the last two decades, Beard also has maintained a strong relationship with Self.
“I’m almost sure I’ve never taken a move in coaching without calling him, at least getting his opinion,” Beard said. “A couple times, I’ve gone against what he said, but I always listen to him. And he’s somebody I have a lot of respect for.”
That continues now as a colleague in the Big 12.
“Anybody that knows anything about basketball, Coach Self is one of the best coaches in the game,” Beard said. “But it’s always about the players, which it should be, because they’re so good, and they’re all pros and stuff. But he knows what he’s doing obviously.”
Beard tries to take some knowledge from each coach’s specialty in the conference. For example, he admires what Texas’ Shaka Smart does with his shot-blockers, and also how Iowa State’s Steve Prohm is able to get players to create high-quality attempts early in the shot clock.
Self, meanwhile, indirectly helped Beard come up with an answer to a riddle he faced last season.
Consider it a reality of college basketball — the cross-pollination of ideas that have benefited both KU and Texas Tech.
“Great coaches in this league,” Beard said. “It’s like a Ph.D. every day if you just study the guys in this room.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
