Bill Self, KU’s men’s basketball coach, took part in an online chat this morning with KUSports.com readers, discussing the Big 12 tournament, his first year of coaching at KU and his pre-game Diet Cokes among other topics.
Moderator: Thanks for joining our chat with KU men’s basketball head coach Bill Self. We’ll start in a few moments.
Elan, Lafayette, Ind.: Do you see the team starting to buy more into the system and start playing more as one unit and not just five players?
Coach Self: I certainly see our team playing better. I’m not sold that the reason we’re playing better is that we’re buying into the system. I do believe guys are sharing and understanding better what it takes for this team to play well, and share it and sacrifice for our team to play well, and understanding our teammates strengths and weaknesses.
Michael, Lawrence: I read this morning in the article on KUsports.com that Simien is the spiritual leader of the team. How has his faith impacted you as a coach as well as the team in general?
Coach Self: I think Wayne, without going into too much detail, he got saved this past summer. And since then, has been a great role model, great witness for all our players. I think players can not only learn from coaches, but coaches can learn from players.
Mike Daytona Beach, Fla.: What are the keys to winning the Big 12 Championship and making a run deep in the tournament?
Coach Self: I think things are consistent as far as winning – you have to guard, you have to rebound, stay out of foul problems, take care of the basketball. We’ll approach the Big 12 as a tournament that we very much want to go down and win. The road to win it is a very difficult one. We’re approaching the tournament this week to beat the Missouri/A&M winner – we’re going to take them one game at a time. Our preparation will be for the first game, then for the next game. For the NCAA, we’ll prepare for the entire weekend as opposed to just preparing for one game at a time without that break in between. Our health situation is such where I’m not going to jeopardize our guys next week by playing them too much this week. Hopefully that’s a problem we’ll have to address.
Brent, Olathe: The tourney committee loves to set up match-ups between teams with coaching connections, such as KU vs. North Carolina or KU vs. Illinois. Do you think it would be fair to the players to set up a game like that this year which would cause so much distraction?
Coach Self: I personally don’t know if fair is the word I would use. but I would say that I think all the respective parties concerned in a perfect world would like to play, but only late in the tournament. I do think the seeds, if they were to come out today, there’s a great chance that would occur. All three of those programs are a three- to a six-seed, depending who you talk to, there’s at least a 25 percent chance we would meet up in the second round, if in fact it’s a 3-6 or 4-5.
Carl, Rockport, Texas: What in the world can you do about all of the fouls called on our big men? It’s a good thing that you have five or six guys that can play center, forward.
Coach Self: Obviously, we don’t have as much depth inside. In a perfect world we’d like to play three big guys but because of the foul problems, we’ve had to go deeper into our bench. We have to do a better job playing with our heads and our feet instead of our hands. Hopefully late in the season, we’ll get into the post season when we’re not having to play out of foul trouble early.
Bryan, Tampa, Fla.: Your players this year have done well in adapting to your style of play, but do you think the new recruits you have coming in are more geared for the high/low half court offense?
Coach Self: I’ve always been a believer that you recruit athletes that are tough and can score. I think the guys coming in will fit in well with what we do, but the guys we have now fit in well with what we do. I certainly believe running offense through our big guys will benefit this team as time goes on.
James, Trinidad, Col.: Do you think that playing the Big 12 tournament, if played well by the Jayhawks, could give the team a four or five seed?
Coach Self: I think so. I think we have a chance to improve on that, and we have a chance to maybe not do that well. I think this tournament is going have a lot to do with determining our seed, maybe as much as four lines, from a best case scenario to a worst case scenario.
Jack, Tucson, Ariz.: Congratulations on a great season so far. Do you ever speak to coach Williams during the season? What about your former players at Illinois? Best of luck in Dallas.
Coach Self: No, on both accounts. I haven’t spoken to coach Williams since the season began. I have corresponded through mail to them wishing them well and letting them know if there’s anything I can do, don’t hesitate to call. I don’t feel like it’s my place to initate contact with them because I don’t think it’s fair to the staff that is in place there. Even though, I think about them all the time.
Josh, New York City: Hi Coach, way to go this weekend! Even with the way Big Dub has been playing lately, it seems that the single most important piece of the puzzle is Aaron Miles. When he comes out we seem to lose a lot of chemistry offensively. He is by far the most underrated PG in the nation. Can you talk about Aaron with respect to minutes played and taking him out of games? At this point is J-Hawk or Bahe the No. 2 point guard if Aaron has to come out? Are you happy with their play?
Coach Self: I’m not displeased with anyone’s play. I do think some guys can play better, but it’s been evident all year long that as talented as Wayne and Keith are, Aaron is the guy who is more valuable to this team. He’s playing 36 minutes a game and I wish it was 40. There’s certainly been a drop off whenever he’s out of the game. That’s why we try to keep him out very short periods of time.
Todd Witt, Prairie Village: What will your team have to do to “come back” and beat Oklahoma State in the Big XII tournament if you play for the championship?
Coach Self: We’re not even thinking that far ahead. We’ll have to handle pressure a lot better and we’ll have to rebound a lot better. We’re not thinking ahead of the winner of the Missouri/A&M. We’re certainly not looking ahead to a future opponent, because we know we’re going to have a very difficult first-round opponent.
Corey, Iowa City: If you had a mulligan for the season and could start back at day one of practice, would you do anything differently and if so, what? Thanks.
Coach Self: I think you can always look back and improve on things. That’s why when you don’t play well, you should look at what you do rather than blaming it on players. You should always look at the staff first, rather than players. We certainly emphasize defense, but maybe more of an emphasis defensively. Maybe if I had the foresight to know certain things about our team heading into March, maybe we would have played more zone. I think what we went through this year, every first-year coach would go through. I think we’ve done a much better job of playing faster the second half of the season. Probably the biggest thing is getting the players really to understand who they are, and learning that dealing with adversity is good as opposed to being surprised when they’ve had to deal with it.
Danny, St Louis: How is Langford’s knee, is this going to hurt “Mr. March’s” post season?
Coach Self: His knee is such that that it will be addressed when the season is over. We, meaning doctors, coaches, trainers, don’t see any reason why he can’t continue to play at a high level, but it will have to be addressed when the season is over.
Dave, Overland Park: Last night, you said C. Moody was on scholarship. Does giving him a scholarship for the semester count against the 5/8 rule? Yes or no, could you explain since that rule is frustrating even to the fans.
Coach Self: Christian does not count because the University of Kansas had some extra scholarships as well and Christian was put on the second semester last year. He will be on scholarship the rest of the semester and reevaluated when the semester is over on what direction the program will go if we have any remaining scholarships. But Christian and his family totally understand this is a one-semester thing unless it grows to something else, because there have been no commitments made after this semester.
Steven, Hutchinson: I believe you’ve done a remarkable job this season. I was wondering if you had any superstitions or routines you do before the game?
Coach Self: I do the same thing every game. I have certain routines, I eat the same thing for pregame meal. I know exactly when I’ll start getting ready for the game, will only wear ties that have worked before. I’m not as superstitious as I was before, but I’m going to drink a Diet Coke before every pre-game, I’m going to drink a Diet Coke at every pre-game talk…. There are several things that are sort of routine that I follow if, in fact, it works.
Moderator: That wraps up our chat for today. We’d like to thank Coach for his time and wish the team good luck in the tournament this month.
