Kansas freshman Johnny Furphy struggled vs. K-State. Here’s what Bill Self thinks
Kansas coach Bill Self called his shot.
Last week, Self warned freshman Johnny Furphy that teams would guard him differently after his recent tear. His 17 points against Houston on Saturday gave him six straight games scoring in double-figures.
It all came to a head on Monday night.
K-State defeated in-state rival No. 4 Kansas 75-70 in an overtime thriller at Bramlage Coliseum. And Furphy had one of his worst games in recent memory.
The freshman finished with four points on 2-for-7 shooting (0-4 3-point) for the game. And he never appeared to really settle in.
Self wasn’t exactly surprised.
“I think the way it works is that people will get a book on everybody, and with all the success he’s had, obviously his book has grown,” Self said. “I thought they did an excellent job without question. I also thought we didn’t do as good a job. And Johnny wasn’t quite as good as what he’s normally been.
“He’s obviously a good player and a great prospect — we’re going to need him to be an offensive threat for us, but I just think today he was kind of due for one of these.”
To Self’s point, Kansas didn’t give Furphy many open-shot opportunities. K-State did an excellent job getting in his airspace and running him off the 3-point line. On top of that, Furphy didn’t seem to move around the arc as much as he usually does to create shot opportunities.
Kansas star Hunter Dickinson detailed what the Wildcats did to limit Furphy’s impact.
“I feel like they were quicker with their closeouts with him,” Dickinson said. “Like Coach said earlier, they’re going to adjust how they guard him now. I think teams are realizing he’s a really good catch-and-shoot guy, so as a team, I think we’ve got to try to adjust to that because he’s so talented. He’s more than just a spot-up shooter. We’ve got to be able to exploit his talents more.”
Dickinson even had a suggestion that Furphy could implement to adjust to enhanced defensive attention: “using a shot fake.”
Another perspective: Kansas guard Dajuan Harris didn’t give much credit to K-State’s defense.
“I think he (Furphy) missed a couple of open shots,” Harris said. “They got that one block at the end of the game, but I feel like he just missed them. Shooters are going to struggle some games, and I think he had that today.”
Kansas State coach Jerome Tang expressed a similar sentiment.
“I just think he missed shots, like shots that he had made early in other games,” Tang said. “He was something like 16-of-29 in the Big 12, I think. So I think he just missed some shots. I know Cam (Carter) had a good block on one, and I thought some of our length might have bothered him a little bit. But, you know, it’s just sometimes guys miss shots. But he’s a really good player.”
