KU Jayhawks’ foe copied this Kentucky and Baylor formula. Why it didn’t work Saturday
Eastern Washington coach Shantay Legans would be rude to come out and say it. But it’s obvious what his team’s gameplan was when trying to knock off third-seeded Kansas:
Force Marcus Garrett and Dajuan Harris to make open shots.
It was almost laughably apparent during one mid-second-half sequence in KU’s 93-84 victory Saturday at Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. The Jayhawks ran a simple pick-and-roll, with Garrett’s and Harris’ defenders completely leaving them to create a force field around David McCormack in the paint.
With six seconds left on the shot clock, Harris — all by his lonesome — fired up a three, giving KU its first lead in 15 game minutes.
“They shot better than I thought,” Legans said of Garrett and Harris afterward, before forcing out a laugh. “They made a lot of threes when it mattered.”
This NCAA Tournament has created a strange set of circumstances. Not only did coaches have extra days to prepare for the first round, but they also were basically stuck in their hotel rooms for most of the prep time, giving them extra opportunity to analyze and over-analyze their opponent in search of an edge.
Legans no doubt settled on this thought in particular: Garrett is not a shooter.
And the coach definitely wouldn’t be alone with that line of thinking.
Remember two years ago when KU played at Kentucky? Coach John Calipari literally didn’t guard Garrett at times, forcing him to become a playmaker on a 1-for-9 night. The Wildcats won that game.
The next year, Baylor employed a similar-if-less-extreme strategy when upsetting KU at Allen Fieldhouse. Give strong help. Don’t worry about Garrett. Make him beat you.
And man, this could have been a cruel ending if Garrett didn’t come through the way that he did.
The truth here: KU’s senior guard has improved his shooting this season, though that’s mostly come at the free-throw line, as he’s gone from 61% accuracy to 80%.
From three, though? It’s still been a struggle at times. Against Division I foes, he made 17 of 51 outside shots last year (33%), compared to 20 of 60 this season (also 33%). He also made 22% from the perimeter in Big 12 play, while going just 2 of 18 during a nine-game stretch in February.
So it would be re-writing history to say that Garrett’s offseason work transformed him into a different offensive player in 2020-21 ... or even ahead of Saturday’s game against Eastern Washington.
But darned if he didn’t step into them with confidence at crucial times, swishing through 3 of 5 in the first round when his team needed them most.
“They hit some timely three-point shots,” Legans said. “Backbreaking three-point shots.”
Legans described a bit of his team’s defensive strategy this way: It wanted to protect the paint at all costs. That meant lots of sagging off perimeter players when the ball was in someone else’s hands.
And again, it’s clear — spoken or unspoken — that Garrett was being challenged to shoot, with the best example coming with five minutes left.
After David McCormack received a pass in the post, Garrett’s defender Tyler Robertson crashed in with a late (and slow) double-team. When Garrett got it back on a kickout, Robertson didn’t even sprint back to him; he took one shuffle and then stopped, content to let Garrett pop it over him with more than six feet of space in between.
It couldn’t have been by accident. Robertson had to have been drilled to “close out short” when he was guarding No. 0 ... and Garrett responded by turning it into three points again.
“Those were all big today,” KU coach Bill Self said. “You could tell he was feeling it because they didn’t guard him — they didn’t guard he and Juan. They dared them to shoot. Those guys made them pay today.”
Harris’ play — along with his 3-for-4 three-point shooting — potentially opens up new possibilities for this KU team, which seems to have found a new identity late.
Self said afterward there were times when playing Garrett and Harris together early in the season made it seem like KU was going 3-on-5 offensively; if those guys weren’t threats to score, then they cost the Jayhawks by being hesitant while also crowding the lane to take opportunities away from others.
If those two continue their shooting aggressiveness — and success — from the Eastern Washington win, though, KU’s roster complexion changes. All of a sudden, Self can play two ball-hawks defensively on the perimeter while also not worrying about the downside it might create on the other end.
This also frees up Garrett to play more naturally off the ball — he did that more against Eastern Washington than in any other game — while allowing Harris to show off the recent playmaking ability and instincts that have helped KU create easier offense than earlier months.
The road ahead is still difficult. USC, then potentially Iowa and Gonzaga is probably the toughest road any team has remaining to get to the Final Four, meaning the Jayhawks will likely have to play over their heads thrice in a row if they hope to advance to college basketball’s final weekend.
Saturday was a good start, though. The Jayhawks — and especially Garrett — were pushed to the brink of elimination, challenged by a team and coach that had analyzed them well.
In the biggest game of his senior season, though, Garrett delivered an emphatic message to both this opposing coach and also the ones ahead:
Leave me open at your own risk.
This story was originally published March 20, 2021 at 6:47 PM.
