Self seeks urgency after loss to Kentucky

By Gary Bedore     Nov 22, 2014

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk leans down for a talk with head coach Bill Self during the second half of the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

After suffering a 32-point loss to Kentucky on Tuesday night, then getting a day off Wednesday, Kansas University’s basketball players figured to be itching to return to the gym and practice with passion on Thursday.

That was the hope, anyway.

“I thought there was very little sense of urgency compared to what I thought we should have had because of the way we performed on Tuesday, so we practiced this morning at 6 a.m.,” KU coach Bill Self said Friday.

“We’ll practice again this afternoon. Not as punishment,” he added of two-a-days on Friday. “We’ve got to get better. Hopefully that will be the case.”

Self said the return of a Boot Camp-like atmosphere did result in a “good” up-before-the-dawn workout.

“Our guys’ attitudes are good,” Self said.

Indeed …

“We got in there and we got better,” sophomore guard Brannen Greene said. “It was tough, waking up that early in the morning. Practice yesterday was tough, too. We understand we have to get better. What happened (against UK) was embarrassing.

“It was a big-time wake-up call,” Greene added. “I understand they’re Kentucky. I understand they have a number of McDonald’s All-Americans and lottery picks and four 7-footers, but we’re Kansas. We can’t let that happen. You can’t lose by 32. With five minutes left in the game all our fans were gone. That can’t happen. We understand that. We just have to get better. It’s a long season.”

There’s been a lot of talking in addition to practicing. The Jayhawks had a team meeting on Wednesday, then the players met alone “and said what we had to say then,” Greene stated.

It sounds like there’s been progress.

“We’ve been handling it well as a team, coming in, getting closer after the loss. It kind of brought us together as a unit,” freshman Kelly Oubre Jr. said.

As far as individuals, Self is hoping KU’s better players on paper soon emerge as the squad’s top players on the court.

“You know I think it’s probably discouraging for Wayne (Selden, Jr.) and Perry (Ellis) because they should be two of our better players, without question. They haven’t played better than any of the other guys so far,” Self said. “Now, I believe they will real soon, beginning next game (Monday vs Rider, 7 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse), and they have in practice since then.

“There hasn’t been a lot of separation. I really wish that a couple guys would establish themselves as our best. Our three most talented kids right now at this stage would be Frank (Mason III) and Wayne and Perry, but they haven’t really statistically played very well yet. I know they’re going to (play better) so I’m not worried about that. But I do think the young kids need to have some veterans play well for them.

“We’ve got really good, young players that are going to be good, but we don’t have Joel (Embiid) and Andrew (Wiggins). That’s a different level.

“But these guys are going to be good and they are going to be terrific college players and have a chance to play after college, but that’s putting too much on those guys right now.”

As far as what he wants specifically from Ellis and Selden … “Productivity, leadership, calming influence, intelligence. That’ll definitely filter to the rest of the guys,” Self said.

Guys like freshman Cliff Alexander, who had eight points of 2-of-7 shooting (4-8 from line) and eight boards in 20 minutes versus UK.

“The whole thing is Cliff is a good player, but Cliff is 6-8 and 6-8 struggles scoring over 7-foot,” Self said. “That was the thing about it. It’s one thing when your skillset is like Cliff’s. In order to maul people in the post and post strong and score close to the basket, you’ve got to learn to score before you catch as opposed to relying on a skillset to score after you catch.

“That didn’t work very well the other night, even though he did some good things. I think Cliff, as much as anything, was like, ‘I know now what I need to do more than I ever knew.’ Of course it takes a long time to go and do that.

“But hopefully through much practice and him understanding that better, I think it will help him quite a bit.”

Know the foe: Self soon will start scouring tape of Rider.

“I can stay up late just as easy as I can get up early,” he said, admittedly dragging a bit at noon Friday. “One thing about 6 a.m. practices that I failed to realize, is it sucks for the guys, but I think it actually is worse for the coaches. That may be something I want to adjust moving forward.”

Graham hurts shoulder: Freshman Devonté Graham suffered a sprained right shoulder in Tuesday’s game. It’s hoped Graham will be able to play in Monday’s game against Rider.

“Devonté sprained his shoulder against Kentucky from a fall. He left the game to get it checked. It’s sore and he’s taken a couple of days off,” Self said Friday afternoon. “But we anticipate him back in practice in the next day or two.”

Self on losing early in the season: “It is such a long season, we won’t even remember the Kentucky game two weeks from now. Or until after we get back from Orlando (playing three games in next week’s Orlando Classic) we won’t remember it again.

“That’s the way it works with everybody. Syracuse won’t remember last night’s game against Cal (73-59 loss) three weeks from now if they continue to get better.

“I hate to say this, but I would much rather look bad now than look bad in conference play. It was kind of a panic mode last year. You lose the game before conference play with San Diego State, and a couple years ago it was Davidson, if I’m not mistaken, in Kansas City. That team went on to go to the national championship game. So there have been some teams recover from a disappointing performance throughout time. Hopefully we’ll be one of them.”

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