Kansas coach Bill Self wants different ‘mentality’ on defense

In Bill Self’s mind, there are two reasons why a college basketball team’s statistics are often skewed during the first third of the season. The first is competition, Self says, and this idea is pretty straight forward. Some programs play rather hazardous nonconference schedules. Some teams don’t, and this is one reason Self often says he prefers to look only at conference stats when evaluating teams.

The second reason, Self says, is a little more nuanced. Sometimes, he says, teams are still just figuring things out in November and December, tinkering with lineups and finding themselves before the holidays. This growing period, Self says, is often reflected in the numbers.

In the days before No. 2 Kansas’ 88-46 victory over Montana on Saturday, this is how Self explained his team’s defensive numbers. In their first nine games, the Jayhawks had allowed teams to shoot 40.9 percent from the floor. And to Self, who has regularly fielded teams who kept opponents’ shooting percentages in the high 30s, this number was inadequate.

“A lot of teams’ numbers are higher early because (they’re) still figuring it out,” Self said on Thursday afternoon. “And I still think that we’re (at a) higher number because we’re figuring it out. But this is not a lock-down defensive team yet at all, and I think every coach and every player would admit it.”

Two days later, Kansas limited Montana to just 26.4 percent shooting, including eight of 34 inside the three-point line. It was a defensive performance that pleased Self and caused a precipitous fall in the Jayhawks’ season numbers. Kansas is now limiting opponents to 39.5 percent shooting on the season.

For Self, though, the most encouraging sight was the way Kansas bottled up the Grizzlies. The Jayhawks “played to the scouting report,” Self said, which means, in simple terms, that they executed the game plan.

“The big deal with us,” Self said after the game, “is we just got to get better from a team defensive standpoint, playing to scouting report, guarding actions right, and doing things that we know we can do. And (against Montana) we were better at that.”

The numbers back up the sentiment. According to advanced metrics, the Jayhawks’ team defense is trending upward. After the Montana victory, Kansas now ranks eighth in the country in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com. The Jayhawks are holding teams to just 0.91 points per possession, a slight improvement over last season. What’s more impressive: The Jayhawks are putting up elite defensive numbers in a different way.

With guards Devonte’ Graham and Frank Mason wreaking havoc and racking up steals, the Jayhawks rank 23rd in the country in defensive turnover percentage, a nearly unprecedented ranking for one of Self’s teams. In most years, the Jayhawks excel at forcing teams to miss shots and then clean up the defensive glass. This season, Graham is pacing to have the best steal percentage by a Kansas guard since Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson during the NCAA title season in 2008.

In most seasons, Self has possessed an elite rim protector who can alter shots at the back of the defense. This season, Self is hoping that freshman forward Cheick Diallo can grow into that. But as Diallo continues to develop, the Jayhawks have gotten little shot-blocking from anyone outside of Diallo (seven blocks) and senior forward Hunter Mickelson, who leads Kansas with 13 blocks in 10 games.

“You look at blocked shots,” Self said. “Although we’re blocking a decent number, you take Hunter and Cheick out of there, there’s nobody blocking any shots. I think our third leading shot-blocker is a guard.

“If you’re not a shot-blocking team, then you should at least be an activity team, and we’ve got some big guys that are really not doing either one. So that’s where we’ve got to get better.”

In addition to the frontcourt, Self is hoping for improvements in other areas. In 10 games, the Jayhawks are averaging 89.8 points per game. At times, Self says, the scoring comes so easily that his team lets up on the defensive end. As the Jayhawks, 9-1, prepare for their first true road game, a matchup at San Diego State at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Self is hoping this is one trend that stops.

“When you know that you labor to score (and) you’re not a percentage-shooting team, then you really hunker down and do certain things because you know you have to,” Self said. “And our guys, in the back of their mind, they’re thinking, ‘We’re going to score enough points to win.’ ”

“For the most part, (it) has been true,” Self continued. “But it’s not the right mentality. We’ve got to change our mentality.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 8:15 PM with the headline "Kansas coach Bill Self wants different ‘mentality’ on defense."