Why Kansas basketball senior KJ Adams supports Flory Bidunga as team’s ‘fan favorite’
KJ Adams politely disagreed with the radio play-by-play voice of the Kansas Jayhawks prior to Saturday’s game against Baylor when the tag “fan favorite” was used to describe KU’s senior forward from Austin, Texas.
“I think you called me the ‘fan favorite’ earlier today, but I think the torch has been passed to Flory. He’s been amazing,” Adams said of popular freshman forward Flory Bidunga, who started five straight games from Jan. 18 through Feb. 1 while Adams was recovering from a separated shoulder sustained against Iowa State on Jan. 15.
“Flory’s kind of elevated this team more than I think we ever thought, his energy and all the stuff he brings,” Adams added in a pregame interview with Brian Hanni before the KU-BU contest in Waco, Texas.
“It helps when you add me, Juan (Harris) and Hunter (Dickinson), guys who have been here a while (to go with Bidunga). I think it only elevates how this team is going to be,” Adams stated.
Adams’ comment about a shift in “fan favorite” status seemed quite perceptive on Monday night.
KU’s students made it clear that Bidunga, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound native of Democratic Republic of Congo, had emerged as their choice to start and earn major minutes.
Chants of “Flory, Flory,” and “We Want Flory” cascaded from the lower-level north and south student sections behind the goals just 2 1/2 minutes into the Jayhawks’ 69-52 victory over Iowa State at Allen Fieldhouse. Bidunga did enter for Dickinson at the 15:26 mark with the game deadlocked at 7-7.
By game’s end, Adams, who returned to the starting lineup Monday after missing three games, then coming off the bench in two contests, had scored six points with three rebounds, five assists, one steal and one turnover in 33 minutes.
Bidunga finished with four points, four blocks and four rebounds in 14 minutes.
Coach Bill Self acknowledged after the game he heard the students calling for Bidunga.
“I love Flory, too, and want Flory to play, too, but there was no doubt that KJ Adams was a guy that had to be on the floor tonight,” Self said. “He relieved all pressure from a ball-handling standpoint, too.”
Self noted that “with KJ back in the starting lineup you can guard ball screens different, you can switch. So you’ve got your best defender (Adams) guarding their best guy coming off a ball screen, where if you’ve got other guys out there, you’re not going to be able to guard it the same way. So I thought that was good.
“They hurt us on the short roll once — their first basket of the second half. And other than that, I don’t think they hurt us much on it. And they crushed us on it the first time (ISU’s 74-57 win in Ames on Jan. 15 in which Adams was hurt in the second half). Yes, our defensive intensity and first-shot defense was probably about as good as it’s been at any point in time this year,” Self added, crediting Adams for his work on defense in Monday’s win.
There has been some social media criticism of both Adams and senior point guard Dajuan Harris, somewhat surprising considering the two were contributing members of KU’s 2022 NCAA title team.
A media member after the ISU game Monday phrased a question about the duo this way to Self: “Those two guys that have been here a long time mean a lot to you. How much do you want this finish (of the 2024-25 season and their college careers) to be right for them?”
“I want it to be right for everybody, but those guys have given their heart and soul to this place and they’ve done it in a way that isn’t on God-given talent. They’ve done it through intangibles,” Self said. “And it’s frustrating to me that people can get frustrated with them because obviously they don’t see the big picture.”
He noted that Adams helps the Jayhawks attack the full-court press.
“He can just do so many different things. So athletic and strong and can hold people off and guard one through five,” Self said. “Yes, I want to see them both finish strong. But more than that, I want this team to play (to) its ceiling.”
ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla had this to say on social media site X on Tuesday about the importance of Harris and Adams to this No. 16-ranked team, which is 16-6 overall and 7-4 in the Big 12.
“Let’s put this one to bed for rest of the season. Then I’m taking a nap on my flight. ... KJ Adams & Dajuan Harris are two of the best ‘glue guys’ Bill Self has had in 22 years. They are not Collision & Hinrich. They are great role players in the tradition of Travis Releford, David McCormack, Landen Lucas & others. Those guys were great in roles because they played with PROS. These two have played with FIVE NBA players since arriving but likely none this year. They are winners. Tell your friends,” Fraschilla wrote.
As far as negative comments made by some KU supporters on social media … yes, the Jayhawks are aware of criticism.
“It gets passed down the pipeline. It pops up on your timeline. It’s not hard to find,” senior Hunter Dickinson said after Monday’s victory over No. 8-ranked ISU (17-5, 7-4). “Our guys are in there battling. I think we showed a lot of heart out there today. I don’t think social media or anybody can tell us we looked soft out there today.”
Dickinson scored 14 points with nine rebounds in 33 minutes.
A majority of KU fans obviously appreciate Adams’ contributions, evidenced by the loud ovation he received during the pregame introduction of the starters Monday.
Adams explained how he wanted to return to action immediately after injuring his shoulder on Jan. 15 in Ames. Instead, he had to sit three games while rehabbing.
“They (medical personnel) kind of had to save me from myself in this instance,” Adams told Hanni in that pre-Baylor game interview. “I felt if they gave me a chance I’d have been out there no doubt. Them doing their jobs keeping me healthy, getting me back to my normal self, I appreciate it. They definitely saved me from myself these last couple games.”
Asked how he envisions the minutes distribution as the season continues, Adams said: “I know this last game (UCF game on Jan. 28) we had three bigs out there. If we can find a way to implement that or help that out a little bit I think (it) will work.
“Now that Dajuan is back (after missing the UCF game with an ankle injury) I think everybody will be safe with two bigs from now on. If they need me I’ll be out there as long as they need me.”
Of his 26-minute performance off the bench in the UCF game, his return game, Adams, who averages 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in 19 games, said: “I fought through a lot of nick-nacks, played my heart out trying to get the win.”
Adams, like his coach, is hoping for more consistency from the team in the second half of the Big 12 season into the postseason.
“It’s energy,” Adams said. “This team has struggled at times getting ready to play, having the willpower. Just play hard. If we can do that, I think we’ll be a really good team. Don’t take anything for granted. When you take things for granted it flies by.”
Self disagrees with anybody saying the team has to “right the ship.”
“We gave one away when we were shooting two free throws up six with 18 seconds left. That wouldn’t happen again in a hundred years, or Halley’s Comet I guess is about 88 years,” Self said. Harris misfired on a pair of free throws with KU up six in the closing moments of a 92-86 double overtime loss to Houston.
“And then that debacle the other day (blowing 21-point lead in 81-70 loss at Baylor). We played pretty well at times. I’m not going to apologize for how we played against Houston, and that was without KJ (who missed the game).
“So we’ve played pretty well at times, but we’ve been very inconsistent for the most part. It was nice to see some consistency (in drilling ISU) because the first time we played them we relied on our own individual talent to try to beat them off the bounce. And today we allowed on-ball movement to force bad closeouts to beat (them) off the bounce, and that’s how we have to play. So hopefully that’d be a good lesson to our guys.”
Kansas will next meet K-State at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
