This KU guard has rebranded in recent weeks — and even he’s surprised by the numbers
Marcus Garrett spoke to Udoka Azubuike during the media timeout. He wanted his teammate to be ready.
“I said, ‘If he helps a little bit, I’m throwing it up,’” Garrett said.
Garrett knew coach Bill Self’s play here was a read on his part. Coming off a pick-and-roll with he and Azubuike, Garrett was only supposed to fire up the alley-oop if the defense responded a certain way.
This seemed like a circumstance where it might be worth a risk, though. It was halfway through the second half, and KU was not only playing in a somewhat dead atmosphere, but also with a frustrated Azubuike.
Garrett, over the next few seconds, started talking himself into idea of tossing the thing up there no matter what.
“I kind of didn’t even want to go make the layup. I just wanted (the defender) to help just a little bit,” Garrett said. “Because I know once (Azubuike) dunked it, the crowd was gonna get into it, and that’s going to give everybody energy to spark the run.”
This time, things fell into place. Garrett caught the ball at the elbow, curled around Azubuike, then saw Texas big man Jericho Sims come up the floor while stepping away from the rolling Azubuike.
Checkmate.
Garrett whirled a right-handed pass over his head, with Azubuike timing his jump to put down the alley-oop — and KU’s only dunk of the game.
It turned out to be a critical moment. KU eventually took a 69-58 home victory over Texas, and that one pass started a 19-4 run.
Just as important, Azubuike was more engaged from that point on, contributing eight points and eight rebounds —starting with that dunk — in the game’s final 10:37.
It’s a good time now — at the halfway mark of the conference season — to appreciate just how much Garrett has rebranded himself over the past few weeks.
Ever since KU’s road victory over Oklahoma on Jan. 14 — when Devon Dotson sat out with his hip injury — Garrett seems to have fully embraced the role of distributor offensively. It’s a style that more closely models his high school days when he averaged 9 assists as a senior, even if he’s had to make improvements since then.
Garrett didn’t play with many lob-catchers during his preps career, and there’s a different art form to learn when it comes to understanding defensive openings in college and how to exploit them for lobs.
He’s had some good mentors, though, which has included former KU guard Devonté Graham.
“The passes I’m trying to make now,” Garrett said, “are the passes he was making when he was here.”
As he’s continued to prove himself as a decision-maker, Garrett is also gaining more of Self’s trust on offense. There have been more playcalls putting the ball in Garrett’s hands, including a first-half set Monday where the guard took advantage of Azubuike’s defensive attention to get a layup off a right-handed drive.
The replay shows just how much of a two-man game this is, as Self basically just crowds his other three guys away from the action to let Garrett go to work.
Garrett’s growing confidence combined with Self’s positioning have resulted in some gaudy numbers over the last nine games.
In Big 12 play, Garrett ranks second in the league — behind only Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton — with 5.1 assists per game. That’s ahead of other names you’d expect might be ahead of that pace, like Texas’ Matt Coleman and Oklahoma State’s Isaac Likekele.
“I actually didn’t know that till just told me that,” Garrett said of being second on that leaderboard. “I definitely didn’t think that (would happen) before the season, but it was kind of just me being more aggressive this year, trying to make more plays.”
Garrett, in some ways, speaks to the best of this particular KU team. He is versatile defensively, like many of his teammates, and he also has improved to the point where his distinct strengths offensively have given Self and staff enough to work with that they can scheme their way to overall efficiency.
The stat line Monday for Garrett was impressive: Eleven points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals in 39 minutes.
“If he’s productive like that game in and game out,” Self said, “we’re going to have a pretty good chance.”
Though Isaiah Moss and Christian Braun can be great complements for Azubuike with their three-point shooting, Garrett also is starting to show that he can be a good fit with the big man too.
Moss and Braun can play off Azubuike as traditional floor-spacers. Garrett, meanwhile, is the best at making Azubuike a vertical floor-spacer, keeping opponents honest inside while making them respect Azubuike’s finishing abilities at the rim.
Garrett, more than any Jayhawk, has honed this particular skillset, which means Azubuike shouldn’t need many reminders from this point on.
Whenever Garrett’s out there, he needs to be ready.
A lob pass could very well be on its way.
