KU was effective beyond the arc in rout of Puerto Rico. Here’s Self’s take on the 3s
Bill Self has expressed some concern about his 2023-24 Kansas men’s basketball team’s 3-point shooting. He’s done so during summer-session workouts and his squad’s 10 full pre-Puerto Rico trip practices.
So what did the Jayhawks’ 21st-year head coach have to say after his players sank 13 threes in 31 attempts for a respectable 41.9% during Thursday’s 106-71 exhibition rout of the Puerto Rico Select team before about 1,000 fans at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum?
“I thought we consistently … the entire team as a group shot the ball fairly well today. That was good to see,” Self said, speaking on the court immediately after the first of three exhibitions KU will play during a week-long stay in Puerto Rico.
KU will play the Bahamian National Team at 4 p.m. Saturday and again at 11 a.m. Monday at this same venue before returning to Lawrence on Tuesday.
“We shot it well, especially with these balls,” he added of the FIBA basketball, which is not the same as the ball used in the college game. “These balls are new and our guys aren’t used to them.
“There were a couple great offensive possessions where we really shared the ball. KJ (Adams, 19 points) obviously was fabulous He and Kevin (McCullar, nine points, seven rebounds) were terrific. Arterio (Morris, 20 points) and Elmarko (Jackson, 13 points) were really good off the bench.”
Four Kansas players made two or more 3s. Morris, a transfer guard from Texas, hit 8 of 12 overall and 3 of 5 from 3-point range en route to 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in 20 minutes.
“He hasn’t been that aggressive in practice shooting the ball. He got up five threes, obviously a significant number because he hasn’t looked to score much. That’s great to see,” Self said.
Morris, 6-4, 195 from Dallas, was pleased with his KU exhibition debut.
“I’m just kind of happy to be here,” Morris said. “It (3-point shooting) is something I’ve been working on day in and out. Shout-out to my team trusting me to get me the ball at the right time. Shout-out to point guard Juan (Harris), keying on me, telling me to keep shooting, being great.’
Redshirt junior Harris had nine assists to one turnover to go with two points, both from the free-throw line.
Jackson, a freshman guard, hit 4 of 6 shots. He was 3-of-4 from 3-point range and finished with 13 points. Towson transfer Nick Timberlake was 2-of-4 beyond the arc for eight points. And Zach Clemence knocked down two threes in five tries and scored eight points.
Adams, who has been moved from the 5-spot to the 4 this season with 7-footer Hunter Dickinson on board, hit 7 of 10 shots. He was 1-of-2 from deep, launching a perfect shot from the corner on his first 3-point attempt of the exhibition season.
“Yeah it’s a good statement. (But) it’s an exhibition game. It really doesn’t count for too much,” Adams, a 6-7, 235-pound junior forward from Austin, Texas, said in reference to his ability to hit 3s after working on them extensively since the end of last season. “I’m just going to keep working at it.”
“KJ is a good player, man,” Self said. “We saw what he can do a little bit when he’s not having to play the pivot. I think the presence of Hunter (7-footer Dickinson, 13 points) will help him. His presence certainly helps Hunter.”
Adams was impressed with leading scorer Morris.
“He gives us a different kind of athleticism,” Adams said. “Someone to bring up the ball that’s not Juan. He’s a really sound player, knows what he does well and plays defense to help the team.”
Newcomer Dickinson had 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting (0-1 from 3-point range) with six rebounds He had three assists on a day the Jayhawks raced up and down the court with the basketball.
KU had 32 assists and 15 steals. Puerto Rico had 24 turnovers, KU 16.
“I don’t know that we have played faster than this, but it’s also summertime,” Self said. “And in real games people don’t wait to get easy baskets. But I did think we looked pretty quick at times.
“It got pretty sloppy at times,” he noted. “I thought we looked pretty athletic. We definitely tried to share the ball, sometime overpassing. We had some individuals play well. We had some individuals that can play better. All in all it was a good first day.”
KU will next meet the Bahamian National Team at 4 p.m. Saturday at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum.
This story was originally published August 3, 2023 at 4:54 PM.
