In the opening days of practice, Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self made an early read on what sort of talent he had and how best to utilize it.
This is what he said then: “If you want to look at it from a philosophical standpoint, we need to put pressure on the defense 94 feet. Whenever we have the ball, the ball is challenging the lane in some form or fashion. On the other end, when they have the ball, we’re always challenging the ball. Every bounce, every pass, every shot is challenged, where there’s not a comfort zone, both on offense and defense. We’ve got to get our opponent out of their comfort zone. As a team, we need to get that kind of mind-set, which I think we can do.”
It was as if Self shut his eyes and looked into the future to Jan. 7, watched the game against Kentucky and then analyzed it.
How in the world did the same Jayhawks who lost a 12-point decision to Arizona and close games to Arkansas, Nevada, and St. Joseph’s improve enough to completely trash Kentucky, 73-46?
One word.
Hint: Allen Iverson doesn’t like the word very much, and Self loves it.
Practice.
Self forever insists that if players perform well in practice, they eventually will take it into games. Saturday’s performance was validation of that belief.
After a quality victory against California at Kemper Arena, KU had layups Pepperdine, Northern Colorado, New Orleans and Yale, all in Allen Fieldhouse. Self viewed that stretch as the perfect time to turn up the heat in practice.
“It’s easier to be tougher on a team when you’re winning than it is when you’re not,” he said.
As KU struggled for stretches against weak opponents, Self decried the team’s inability to embrace totally a running mentality and at the same time take care of the basketball while picking up the pace, and Brandon Rush’s lack of assertiveness. None of those areas was a problem against Kentucky.
Now, of course, the challenge becomes maintaining it. Can the Jayhawks convince themselves that the front of every opponent has the word Kentucky splashed across the jersey?
Can they bring the same intensity Wednesday at Colorado, where they will need to play well to win?
“Yes, we can,” Rush said.
Why?
“It’s the Big 12, and we know that every game in the Big 12 is a big game,” he said.
Self loved the way his team played Saturday, but quickly put it in perspective.
“This is just one game,” he said. “We played well today, but can we back it up with a young team and go do the same thing on the road? If we do that and have a good next week or two, then I would say we’re definitely on the right track. It’s too early to say we’re where we need to be because this is just one game.”
One game that likely knocked Kentucky out of the top 25 and put KU in a position where it’s knocking on the door of the national rankings, though not likely to break through, at least until winning on the road.
The Colorado game will be somewhere between a home and road game because so many KU fans will be in the stands. In seven home dates at Coors Event Center, the Buffaloes have averaged 2,098. The building seats 11,064.
