How can KU Jayhawks basketball players earn minutes in Florida? Let Bill Self explain
Nine Kansas men’s basketball players have averaged 9.9 or more minutes a game through three games this season. Two others — freshmen Zach Clemence and KJ Adams — have been allotted 5.9 and 5.4 minutes per contest respectively.
Something’s got to give — as in minutes may need to be adjusted a bit — starting Thursday when the Jayhawks add Jalen Wilson, a returning starter from last year’s team, to the mix.
Wilson, a 6-foot-8 forward who sat out an exhibition game and the first three games of the regular season while serving a suspension, will be available for duty when No. 4-ranked KU (3-0) takes on North Texas (2-1) in a first-round ESPN Events Invitational contest at 1:30 p.m. Central time Thursday in HP Field House at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida.
So what’s a KU player required to do to earn playing time with Wilson eager to get on the court?
“My expectation is I could care less about points and rebounds, even though you have to have that to win,” KU coach Bill Self said Tuesday. “I’d say, ‘Carry out an assignment. Do your job.’ I am not going to not play a guy because he doesn’t score but our team is plus-10 in five minutes he’s in the game. That guy needs to stay in the game.
“Sometimes if you’ve got one guy out on the court who is a little bit of a ball holder and is not getting much done, you sub in the guy who replaces him who moves the ball better, the post guys get better touches and he’s not the one who gets the assist. He needs to stay in. Take care of the ball. Make sure we get a shot each possession. Carry out an assignment. Basically guard your man. If you can do those things you can play.”
Depth, of course, is a good thing in a tournament such as the ESPN Events Invitational, in which the eight teams are assured three games in four days.
The teams play Thursday and Friday, are idle Saturday, then return Sunday.
Self said, “I think so,” when asked if he figures to get a “better feel” for his 19th KU team at this tournament.
“I don’t want to be negative at all because I think the team has done fairly well so far,” Self said. The Jayhawks, with Wilson on the bench, have defeated Michigan State, Tarleton State and Stony Brook.
“I don’t think the individuals that comprise the team have done especially well so far. I think we’ve been pretty good as a collective group. I think our bench has been really good. I don’t believe our starters other than Ochai (Agbaji, 26.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg) have played near what they are capable of playing. I think as a group we’ve still gotten good shots and still have done some good things.”
Yet … “I think David (McCormack, 9.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg), C.B. (Christian Braun, 10.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg), Juan (Harris, 16 assists to four turnovers, 4.0 ppg) and Remy (Martin, 9.7 ppg) have another level they can all get to. That excites me and we have not had Jalen. It doesn’t mean we’re going to play awesome, but it would be nice to have some individuals maybe play more to their capability. I know it will happen. It just hasn’t happened yet.
“Give Ochai credit,” Self continued. “Even though we won the last two games by 28 (combined 27.5 points versus Tarleton State, Stony Brook) or whatever and we were up on Michigan State by 17 or whatever (13-point win), you take him out of all three games and they are all really close games. That’s how good he’s been.”
If KU is to advance to Friday’s winners bracket semifinal against either Miami (3-1) of the ACC or Dayton (1-3) of the Atlantic 10, the Jayhawks will have to defeat North Texas of Conference USA. The Mean Green return two starters from a team that defeated Purdue, 78-69, in overtime in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament for the school’s first NCAA Tourney victory. North Texas has lost its best player from a year ago, point guard Javion Hamlet, to graduation.
“You guys (media) have seen Purdue play. They may be the best team in the country,” Self said. “They’ve got everything and North Texas beat them last year. Purdue is playing with the same guys they played with last year. North Texas lost two guys off that team. They are capable of giving us all we want and more.”
The other side of the bracket features No. 10-ranked Alabama (4-0), plus Iona (5-0), Drake (3-0) and Belmont (3-2).
“Alabama and us … I think we are headliners for sure,” Self said. “Of course Miami from the ACC. Dayton would have been a No. 1 seed two years ago (had COVID-19 not halted the postseason). We saw them first hand (KU defeated the Flyers in final of 2019 Maui Invitational). I don’t think the rankings demonstrate the strength of the field. It’s probably an underrated field from a ranking standpoint but a very good field.”
As to what it will take to win three games and the title, KU senior Jalen Coleman-Lands said: “Focus on the task at hand. I know it’s going to be different depending on the team we play and keeping our core values, playing like we know we are capable of playing. If we play selfless, move the ball around, keep defense at the forefront I think we can beat anybody with that mentality. Focus on us and don’t take whoever we play for granted,” Coleman-Lands added.
Senior guard Agbaji said as a team leader he was going to speak to his teammates about the importance of winning tournaments.
“This is when the lights are going to be on. This is what we came here to do, win trophies and championships, compete for championships,” Agbaji said. “Whether it’s North Texas or Alabama, having that same mindset through every single game.”
The KU players, Agbaji said, “must “stay on top of keeping your body straight, recovering well, getting sleep, getting rest, staying on top of that, eating right. Little things like that will translate to lasting longer once we get to Sunday.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2021 at 10:07 AM.
