Cliff’s Notes: Bill Self press conference, 12/13/12

Posted by Jesse Newell December 13, 2012 at 12:33 p.m.

Here is the Cliff's Notes version from Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self's comments at his press conference today.

• Full audio has been posted.

• Self said this Belmont game is a good RPI game. It's picked to win its division of the Ohio Valley conference. KU schedules the tough teams in small conferences by design. Belmont plays small and can't stretch it from all spots. That can cause potential matchup situations if KU doesn't guard it right.

• This was a maintenance week for KU because of finals week. KU's players took Wednesday off. Beginning Sunday, practices and film sessions will be more intense because there are no limitations.

• Guard Ben McLemore still hasn't played like he can play yet. Just wait till he gets comfortable, Self said. He's scoring better than Self thought he might this soon, because he wasn't sure if he'd be aggressive. McLemore's becoming a much better player. He's unselfish, and he's learning to be more aggressive while being unselfish. He's one of the premier players in the Big 12.

• McLemore and KU forward Jamari Traylor learned how to compete going against Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson in practices last year. Also, McLemore and Traylor were stellar in the classroom last year.

• SMU coach Larry Brown watches all the KU games he can. Brown called Self after one of the games that KU struggled, and he told Self how good his team was. Self jokingly asked him if he watched the same game that Self did. Brown likes his team at SMU.

• Self doesn't think this year's team is as good as last year's team at this time, because last year's team was more seasoned. It was more battle-tested with its schedule and was more tough. If you take out clips of this year when it plays well ... KU plays just as well at its best this year as other KU teams in the past have played at their best. KU has been an average this team except for spurts.

• KU played better against Colorado because of energy level. Self said Travis Releford and Kevin Young keyed that. Young is the only guy with natural energy. Taylor and Robinson had that natural energy. The Morris twins had that. KU doesn't have those personalities this year, those guys that can naturally amp other players up. Releford and Young are the only ones that Self believes do that consistently.

• Self said it's not tough to get up for a non-name school. Belmont can beat KU. It could take advantage of ball-screen matchups and have success scoring. Self said KU's players can't pass up any opportunities to play, especially because you only run out of the tunnel so many times.

• Self said Belmont could compete in the Big 12 if it played in the conference.

• Self said Perry Ellis has done some good things in practice. He played well against CU, but he didn't have much statistical production. His minutes will go up if he continues to be aggressive. He thinks too much still. A lot of KU's guys still think too much.

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Jesse Newell 5 months ago

Had a few typos in the first version. Should be fixed now. Sorry about that.

TaCityHawkFan 5 months ago

Hey Jesse, thanks for the notes. I do not get a chance to listen to the audio and I appreciate being able to quickly get through the high level of the press conference. I am not the grammar police by any means but one that caught my eye that changes the meaning is in the first note:

"Belmont plays small and can't stretch it..." Was it that they can stretch it which could cause potential matchup issues if we do not guard well?

Again, thanks for the notes! It is greatly appreciated.

Kubie 5 months ago

Belmont worries me more then Colorado did, am I wrong in thinking that? The match-ups just seem to be a worry, particularly with our inconsistent guard play on the defensive end. Of course I could just be confused, I often am.

marchphog88 5 months ago

Well, I was worried about Colorado, because their best scorers are guards and we've shown some trouble stopping teams top scorer if he was a perimeter player.

But you are right to be more worried about Belmont, simply by virtue of the fact that they are a much higher-rated team by Ken Pomeroy. Colorado sits at #68 now, but was #57 in the Pomeroy rankings prior to our game against them.

Belmont, by comparison, is #26 in the Pomeroy rankings. They are the highest-rated team we've played other than Michigan State, which was 18th at the time of the game.

phogphan2000 5 months ago

Sagarin has Belmont 40 and CU 47, any way you look at it Belmont is a quality opponent and might be the #1 team in the state of TN. We'll see how Memphis looks at home against UofL and Belmont looks @KU.

BainDread 5 months ago

Jesse, the San Diego State Men's Basketball web site is reporting a future home-and-home series between the Aztecs and the Jayhawks. First game at Kansas in January, 2014, skip one year, then the return game at SDSU during the 2015-16 season. I haven't seen any news of this from the Kansas end, but perhaps I just miss it. If true, it's too bad they couldn't have started it this year in SD so Jeff Withey could have played in his home town...and so I could have seen the Jayhawks in person this year.

http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/121212aaq.html

BainDread 5 months ago

Sorry, I see this news was already covered in the article on Tyler Self yesterday.

plasticJHawk 5 months ago

Kevin Young's family would have been able to attend as well.

jsatt3 5 months ago

How can Self say that last years team is better than this years team up until this point, when last years team lost to Davidson the week before Christmas?

Kubie 5 months ago

Coach speak for 'yeah, they are pretty good but no where near as good as I want them to be so I am going to poke and prod this team until the end of the season, perhaps longer.'

swunruhawk 5 months ago

In addition to the Davidson loss... how can you forget last year's awful win at Southern Cal during Christmas week. The team was sleep walking...but won.

phogphan2000 5 months ago

Also this team hasn't played it's week before Christmas games yet with tough tests against Belmont and Richmond. Then of course a brutal road game @OSU after that. Temple not too far off after that one. Hopefully these guys step it up in this stretch, Sagarin has those teams 40th, 94th, 6th and 35th in the country. The good news is everyone except San Jose St since the Michigan St game has been top100 in the Sagarin.

hbjayhawk 5 months ago

Bill Self is a legend. I just was thinking about how all KU fans were calling for his head after Bucknell and Bradley . . . Think about this . . . In Roy Williams first 9 seasons, he was 21-9 in the NCAAs . .. In Bill Self's first 9 seasons, he is 23-8 with a National Championship. I can firmly say that when Coach Self reaches his 15th season, he will put Coach Williams totals (including UNC) to shame. Based on the way he is coaching, he may give Wooden a run for his money by the time he is done. Wooden didn't win title until 15th year . . .http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/history/_/team1/6292

marchphog88 5 months ago

If I remember correctly, the number of fans "calling for his head" was a small minority.

HawkOverseas 5 months ago

I'm not so sure. These boards were rampant with people saying Bill was the wrong man for the job. The world had ended for KU bball fans after those two losses. Bill took a LOT of heat from fans.

hbjayhawk 5 months ago

In 2000, I recall Keegan writing about how he was glad KU lost with class against Illinois in 2000 in the NCAA's against Self's "thugs." He wrote about how Williams recruited good guys and Self's coaching style wasn't befitting of the NCAA but rather the NBA. He also stated that he was sure glad KU has a stand up coach like Roy Williams rather than Self. Even the sports editor of the LJWorld (who is a terrible editor) is a hypocrite and can't be objective.

whitechocolate 5 months ago

Keegan wasn't at the LJ World in 2000. He was in NY.

ralster 5 months ago

Regarding these KU fans, in the words of SelfhimBill: "KU has the most realistic unrealistic fans in the college basketball". Just peruse these boards AFTER ANY LOSS, and you can easily see all the non-analyst, gut-reactionary types having their typical 'coming-out party' on these boards...People rarely can change how they are wired. Passionate? Yes, of course. But it is always painful to see fellow Jayhawk men crying on these boards in public. Self may use the word "soft", eh?

plasticJHawk 5 months ago

Robinson coasted through a lot of games last year. He looked very lackadaisical at times. Of course there were times he did this to conserve his energy to play extended minutes all season long, but sometimes it looked like he just wasn't feeling it that night. I haven't really seen that coasting from this year's team. Even when they've struggled mightily they still look to me like they're giving their all. Sometimes their all just isn't as good as it was with TT and TRob. Other times, like against CU, their all is even better than last year's team.

This team so far has seemed to struggle as a team and excel as a team. If EJ has a bad night, everybody has a bad night. If Withey has a bad night, everybody has a bad night, etc. Likewise if one player is feeling it then the whole team comes alive. It's a sign of a team that doesn't have well established leaders.

I really think that a team needs at least 2 well established leaders in order to be a great team. That way the two leaders can have eachother's back and can challenge the other. If a team only has one leader, and the leader is having an off-night then the team can spiral out of control quickly.

This team should have excellent leadership from each of the seniors, and I think that as the season continues to unfold, we'll see that those guys really do form that never die attitude. The seniors need to play like there's no tomorrow each and every day as well as expect the world from the underclassmen (whether they can or cannot deliver at this point) because unless the Seniors play all out and whether the seniors keep the young guys inspired is the difference between this team being an early upset team or an elite team.

chriz 5 months ago

Man, I love this team. The only thing I think we lack is some low post moves (from T-Rob) and a guy who can beat anyone in the world off the dribble (Tyshawn). But I think Kevin Young can replace SOME of T-Rob's "bulldog" mentality, and if Elijah snaps out of his funk, he'll provide some of Tyshawn's slashing. Withey has stepped up like we'd hoped from last year (although could provide some more energy), even on defense, and it looks like we're seeing a Releford that we thought we all would've seen prior to this year.

I had hoped Naadir would have some slashing abilities...not the same as Tyshawn's which was more speed and technique than anything, but I thought Naadir would be kind of the patient, spot-picking slasher who could pop up for the mid-range jumper and/or dish it off to a big or a wing at just the right time. Maybe next year (or the following).

But now we have ATHLETES. And by that, I primarily mean B-Mac. If he could develop some sort of post game with his back to the basket, I'd pee my pants. He would be Jordan-esque. But nonetheless, I love his fearlessness from three, which pairs up well with his fearlessness to dunk on ANYONE. I wouldn't be surprised if he accidentally-on-purpose dunked on Withey at some point during the rest of the season. He also seems to have good body control and avoids charge calls, considering how often and aggressively he attacks the rim.

I love our athletes. Even Perry Ellis...it doesn't seem like it, but he's an athlete. He seems to have a little Shady in him, although not as aggressive yet, obviously. But he knows how to put the ball in the bucket.

plasticJHawk 5 months ago

"more speed and technique than anything"

Might as well have said "talent and athleticism". What else is there? TT was the real deal.

chriz 5 months ago

I guess in my head I separate technique with patience...I guess they could be lumped into the same category. TT was INDEED the real deal. I hope he can figure out the NBA because he was a pretty exciting cat.

AsadZ 5 months ago

Jesse I wish reporters would have asked questions regarding PT/perf of Tharpe, Rio and AW3.

It would have been good to hear HCBS's take on these guys and how he sees rotation in the upcoming games.

ralster 5 months ago

I think alot of people see what Tyshawn's attack-ability gave us, as it is missing now. Self included, missing it enough that he has handed out "attack" orders to all guards at the 1, 2, 3 positions. Releford so far most effective slithering in. Wait til EJ feelin it, he will be unstoppable. BMac has potential also. Tharpe CAN be a mini-Tyshawn, and I recall him penetrating behind the un-set defense, as he obviously took notes from Tyshawn. So we will see who is most consistently successful with his attack game. Hopefully more than just 1. AW3 is a shooting guard. Rio is a true combo guard in the usual Self mold of versatile-with-hops athlete. Both are on a steep curve...

phogphan2000 5 months ago

Have to disagree on AW3, seems like a SF to me. He hasn't shown a lot of quickness but he's got the length to rebound which is good to see. Not hitting many 3's and not having a post player that is constantly doubled affects the small's abilities to drive it as well. TT had special athleticism, but it did take him 4 years of trying it to start finishing with any consistency, and he still got in trouble on the drive a lot but was fortunate to have quality teammates to give him an easy target. I don't like the idea of trying to make any of them play like TT, if they run the offense and drive on opportunities where there is an advantage on the defender they'll get into the paint plenty and hopefully good things happen. Granted it has taken Releford 'til his 5th year to start attacking, BMac is a little quick to pull the trigger on the jumper sometimes, and EJ has probably needed some prodding to convince him to attack a little more, but none of them need to just put their head down and go for it whenever they feel the itch the way TT could. None of RussRob/Chalmers/Rush was nearly as aggressive driving it, and that worked out just fine.

ralster 5 months ago

agree, phogphan on AW3: I almost wrote he a tweener 2/3, maybe more of a 3, but Self has called him a 2 specifically. Which is different than calling him a 1+2 "combo". Also, maybe since he is still a babyfrosh, all of our labelling him is premature. We really dont know how he will blossom.

drgnslayr 5 months ago

"Self included..."

I agree. I think CS looks back to last year and how far we got, with a team not as stacked as other teams he's had, and he is seeing how important it is to have a PG that regularly brings it to the rim with success. And what about the year before? Kemba taking a UCONN team to victory and was also short on personnel.

phogphan2000 5 months ago

Even though I'm not all about trying to force EJ into a TT mold, the big positive of what yourself and others are saying about Self's desire for an attacking PG is the fact that his coaching philosophy is ever evolving. The thing I'm most excited to see change is the pressure defense Self has added to the team. For years I begged and pleaded with the TV screen for KU to put on some full court press against the likes of UNI and VCU to no avail, but Self has continued to expand his basketball philosophy to maximize the talent he has. He knows better than I do how much prodding EJ needs toward aggressiveness, and he's continued to learn more about coaching basketball in his time at KU than most will ever know. Pile that on top of the wealth of coaching ability and knowledge he brought into KU and you've got one of the greatest coaches of all time. We get to see his career as it unfolds, we get to see the great kids he recruits develop and compete, we've got it good.

ralster 5 months ago

Beautiful post, phogphan2000! I really have felt that last year's non-mold team, and the VCU loss that killed an overall #1 seed KU team have forced Self out of his box. He has indeed evolved. Or maybe a combination of input from Roberts+Sadler+Larry Brown (always in Self's ear). Funny thing that Self started out learning from Larry, and maybe still is. Equally cool is that Larry may be learning a thing or two from what Self developed over the years. I almost cannot wrap my mind around the fact that KU has more conf championships than it does home losses under Bill Self. That is just plain ridiculously unbelievable. Other teams get athletes as good as Self ever brought to KU, but they dont get Bill's results. But no one or their system is perfect, as evidenced by UNI, VCU...Players may execute perfectly for a stretch of time, rarely for a whole game (against good competition), and some days, their execution is simply not up to par (slump). Such things fell giants even...

ralster 5 months ago

People notice how KU schedules "top" teams in small conferences by design??? This is Billbrain trying to prep us against Bucknell, Bradley, UNI, VCwho type of upsets. Especially if we lose to a team like Belmont: wont look past a midmajor in the Madness with this type of experience under our belt.

REHawk 5 months ago

ralster, perhaps it is Billbrain trying to prep himself against the likes of Bucknell et al. If we should appear to be belly-up going down the stretch, can Bill find it in his neural mapwork to glance toward the end of his bench and wave a thumb at AW3 to leap forth for a wild shot to save the cause?

ralster 5 months ago

REHawk, I always wonder if in those (rare) KU losing efforts if Bill will go to the bench. He did put in Selby at the end vs. VCU, and Selby had the cojones to launch 3s when everyone else had long since puckered up. I believe a Morris may have airballed a 3 attempt even...It was very hard to watch the death of the overall #1 seed like that--other than it sorely reaffirming that there are no guarantees, and anything can happen in single-game, single-elim tournament. Against KY, Tharpe DID hit 1 (or 2?) treys off the bench--that swagger alone is a large part of my continued hope for Naadir. Nice stretch of games coming up. I'm sure the Richmond Spiders want a piece of us, especially after the swagTwins backed up their talk on them. OhioSt needs no introduction, and squarely is looking for revenge. I dont like Aaron Craft (compared to Self's prototypical combo guard athletes), want EJ to own him, period. Somebody make EJ mad before that game.

bb73 5 months ago

"tougher" not "more tough"

drgnslayr 5 months ago

"Guard Ben McLemore still hasn't played like he can play yet."

And we are in for quite a treat of MJ-style basketball!

"Young is the only guy with natural energy."

A-friggin'-men!

"He thinks too much still. A lot of KU's guys still think too much."

These two sentences are supposed to say about the same thing, but the first actually nails it best; "... thinks too much still" (real meaning; too much standing still and spectating on the court. On our down moments you see many of our guys doing more watching than playing.)

Still (ha), I'm liking what I'm seeing recently. This team is on the up-tick! When we bring energy to the game, the game rewards us with a "both barrels smoking" victory!