Despite recent struggles, Kansas guard Kevin McCullar not in danger of losing minutes
Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr. hasn’t been himself on the court lately.
His struggles continued on Tuesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
On his first shot attempt, the transfer guard shot and badly missed a three-pointer. Shortly afterward, McCullar stole the ball and missed a point-blank layup ... but got fouled.
McCullar went 0-for-2 at the line and Kansas State collected the rebound on the second miss. Finally, K-State hit a fastbreak three, which gave the Wildcats a 49-42 lead with 15:55 left in the game, an eventual one-point overtime KSU win, 83-82.
Having fouled out late in the second half, McCullar finished with zero points on 0-for-2 shooting with two turnovers.
In a single minute of game time, McCullar displayed all of his issues of the past month — his shooting struggles, overthinking and letting one area affect the other parts of his game.
In his last five games, McCullar has shot 12-for-37 (32%) from the floor.
Kansas coach Bill Self sat down with McCullar for a long discussion about his play on Thursday.
“Kevin’s playing fine; he’s just not playing as well shooting the basketball,” Self said on Thursday. “I do think sometimes when you don’t make shots, it can affect other parts of your game, at least a little bit. For the most part, he’s done a good job of that.”
McCullar is KU’s best wing defender and, when he’s making shots, he raises Kansas’ overall ceiling. And he has a vote of confidence from his coach.
“I love his game,” Self said. “I love what he gives us. I think he’s been a terrific addition to our program and our culture. Everything has been positive. He’s not in any jeopardy at all of playing less minutes.”
The biggest issue for McCullar during this slump? Overthinking.
When McCullar is overthinking, he’s more tentative and takes longer to make split-second decisions. That can carry over into other aspects of his game.
When McCullar doesn’t take shots — like Tuesday’s game, when he attempted two field goals — it put more pressure on his teammates like Jalen Wilson, KJ Adams and Gradey Dick to score. In just the last three games, each player has set a new season-high for shot attempts.
McCullar shooting the ball also helps Kansas’ spacing because it forces the opposing team to treat him as an offensive threat.
“The bottom line is he needs to become less of a thinker and more of a reactor,” Self said. “I think sometimes when you go through a little bit of a rough stretch, sometimes you can think about making your next one. As long as you are thinking about it, the chances of it happening are not as great.
“He’s got to forget about everything. ... J-Will is a perfect example. (Wilson) can’t remember one time he missed. I think Kevin could become a little more like that. I anticipate him becoming more like that.”
