Self found a Devon Dotson clone in KU’s win over TCU. It’s probably not who you think
Perhaps it was fitting that ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla was calling Tuesday’s Kansas-TCU game, because the Jayhawks ran his favorite Bill Self play in the second half.
This one was successful time and again a season ago. Self originally came up with the concept as a way to take advantage of West Virginia’s pressuring defense a few years back, and since then, it’s become a staple of the Jayhawks’ playbook.
It worked again Tuesday. After two backdoor cuts, the lane cleared out, with an accurate pass giving the Jayhawks two easy points in the team’s 93-64 road win over TCU.
How this one was executed, though, was a bit different than the past.
And not only did it speak to Self’s ingenuity — but also to the type of continued creativity he’ll probably need with this team moving forward.
Self, in short, had a dilemma heading into the TCU game. His starting point guard, Marcus Garrett, was out because of a head injury. Backup Bryce Thompson also wasn’t available because of a back ailment.
That left Dajuan Harris as KU’s only true point guard, and he stepped in admirably while playing 28 minutes.
The secret, though, is this: Harris didn’t have to carry all the point guard load for KU. That’s because Self also put someone else in the role to get the Jayhawks offense initiated.
Replays provide the proof. KU scored on the exact same backdoor play at TCU in both 2020 and 2021, with Devon Dotson making the first read for the easy basket.
And on Tuesday night? The Jayhawk who set up the play wasn’t Harris, and in fact isn’t even someone who’s listed on the team roster as a guard at all.
Instead, it was 6-foot-8 Jalen Wilson.
This wasn’t Wilson’s only accurate Dotson impression Tuesday either.
Also in the second half, after TCU went zone, Self called on another of his trusted plays. This one’s often used against Baylor, with Ochai Agbaji running the baseline before a lob is thrown his way.
Dotson threw a similar pass two seasons ago for a slam. On Tuesday, Self left that duty, once again, to Wilson ... his new point forward.
On a night when other teammates played well — David McCormack, Agbaji and Harris, to name a few — Wilson still impressed most as KU’s catalyst. He had 16 points, eight rebounds, five actual assists (the box score mistakenly credited him with six) and also provided the Jayhawks their closest Dotson approximation since he left for the NBA last year.
It wasn’t just with the plays above. Wilson also was excellent at pushing in transition, taking it himself after securing defensive rebounds to immediately stress a TCU defense that struggled to keep up with his pace.
This was all part of an outstanding offensive night. KU — a game after one of the worst offensive efforts of the Self era in a home loss against Texas — put up 1.45 points per possession against TCU, which ranked as the best ever for Self in a Big 12 road game.
“I thought half-court offense was as good as we’ve looked all year long,” Self said.
A lot of that was because of Wilson, who continues to prove he should be given even more responsibilities on the offensive end.
His efficiency numbers are outstanding, even while taking on a growing offensive role. Wilson finishes strong at the rim, has to be respected as a three-point shooter, rarely turns it over and is beginning to show that he needs to be utilized more as a passer.
Self and his staff seem to be sensing this as well. The primary offensive gameplan Tuesday was focused on utilizing Wilson’s strengths, as KU’s big men — McCormack and Mitch Lightfoot — were primarily used as ball-screeners instead of post-up men, which pulled them away from the basket to make the lane clearer for teammates’ drives and passes.
These are the sort of subtle tweaks Self will have to tinker with ahead. KU had struggled to produce easy baskets up until Tuesday’s game, so spreading it out, driving gaps and using backdoor cuts all seem like viable ways for the Jayhawks to create interior points without needing a dominant post scorer like they’ve had in so many past seasons.
To their credit, Self and his staff have been nimble lately. The Jayhawks have shifted more toward positionless basketball defensively the last two years while switching most perimeter screens, and Tuesday showed that KU could potentially play in more unconventional ways on offense as well.
That conversation should mostly center around Wilson. For a night, he passed, lobbed and ran in transition as effectively as the team’s previous All-American point guard.
While also looking capable of much more in the weeks and months to come.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
