KU’s Self seeing ‘separation’ at practice from deep roster: ‘Could we press some?’
Bill Self is learning more about the personnel — and how the pieces fit on his 2020-21 Kansas basketball team — after holding two intrasquad scrimmages with referees in successive weeks.
“We’ve had some separation, but haven’t had as much separation as probably what you’d like this late into a practice season,” Self, KU’s 18th-year coach, said Thursday.
Practice started Oct. 15 and will run until the Jayhawks’ first game, which is tentatively set for Nov. 25 against Gonzaga in Fort Myers, Florida.
“Let’s say three or four guys we know they are going to be starters, but the separation is with the fifth guy. There’s no separation,” Self said. “They are good enough to be in the game when the starters are not in. It’s probably a good problem to have.”
He then listed some candidates for starting spots.
“You can make a case (perimeter players) Tristan Enaruna, Jalen Wilson, Tyon Grant-Foster or Bryce Thompson should and could all be starters two days a week. You could a make case that Ochai (Agbaji), Christian (Braun), Marcus (Garrett) and David (McCormack) are starters seven days a week. We just don’t know how it’s all going to play out,.” Self said, noting, “The most I ever played on the perimeter was five.”
Self went on to say, “I think six is realistic, maybe the seventh as a spot person and you play two bigs. That’s eight or nine (in rotation). I think we’ll probably max out at that. I’m talking eight or nine playing double-digit minutes. It doesn’t mean somebody else can’t get in the game depending on situation and fouls and who is playing well that particular night.”
Self said he’s considering different styles of basketball to best use his team’s depth.
“Could we press some? Zone press some? Yes I think we could do that,” he said. “I haven’t really thought about how to take advantage of our depth except to play so hard hopefully and defend so hard it forces you to play multiple guys and in the last 10 minutes it wears on people.
“I don’t think we are overly athletic. I think we are very long which makes you look more athletic because you can shrink the court.”
Unusual stat lines
Self noted in the first scrimmage, junior power forward McCormack hit 15 of 20 shots and was 5 of 5 from the line. In the team’s second scrimmage, he was 5 of 15 from the field.
In the scrimmage portion of practice Wednesday (not an official scrimmage with refs), there was an unusual stat as well.
“Up until yesterday, Christian has shot the ball unbelievably well. But 1 of 13 in scrimmage situations yesterday from three don’t do a lot to keep one excited about how well he was shooting,” Self said with a smile. “We talked about that yesterday. He’s been good. He’s shot it well. He’s been aggressive. He’s really improved.”
Wilson in great physical condition
KU redshirt freshman Jalen Wilson went to work on his body this offseason.
“I ended up losing about 13, 14 pounds of fat, I’d say,” Wilson said Thursday. The Denton, Texas native currently is listed 6-8, 215.
“It was really just me,” he said. “Nobody told me to go home and lose weight. I went home and re-evaluated my season, what I needed to improve on, I figured my weight and body would be a main thing I needed to work on to get where I wanted to be.”
He attributed the weight loss to eating right and “working out a lot. I continue to do that. I don’t want to go back to what I used to look like.”
Wilson said the weight loss has helped his “speed, athleticism. I am able to jump higher now. I am faster on the court running. I don’t think I had enough bounce last year or explosiveness (after returning to practice following rehab from ankle surgery). I definitely added to that.”
Jossell is practicing now
Freshman Latrell Jossell, a 5-11, 155-pound point guard from Chicago, practiced for the first time Wednesday. He’s been out with an ankle injury.
“He actually looked very good. He’s a super competitive kid,” Self said.
Self hopes Jossell is “close to 100 percent” by Monday or Tuesday. Also, walk-on guard Michael Jankovich is currently out with an ankle injury.
KU-Kentucky possibly headed to Indy
Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports wrote on Twitter that the KU-Kentucky game in the Champions Classic is “expected” to be held Dec. 1 in Indianapolis. It originally was set for Nov. 10 in Chicago. There also had been rumors it might move to Allen Fieldhouse.
“We think the game is going to (happen). We don’t know all the details about it yet,” Self said. “Two things we know is Creighton and Tennessee. Out of nine (non-conference) games, we get Creighton, Tennessee, Kentucky and Gonzaga … that’s a top-five schedule probably in America regardless of anybody else you are playing.”
Self said he hasn’t decided yet whether KU will play 26 games or 27 amid the pandemic. There’s an opening for one more home game.
“Does the good outweigh the negative?” he said. “Potentially playing another team, the testing protocol and all the contact (tracing) and all that stuff.”
