Bill Self: First summer practice ‘encouraging’

By Gary Bedore     Jun 9, 2015

The Kansas Jayhawks ran through their first World University Games practice on Monday. It lasted almost two hours in KU’s practice gym.

“Day One was actually very encouraging,” KU coach Bill Self said. “Of course the guys had a lot of bounce, and we didn’t go real hard, but we looked athletic and threw it all over the gym. For the most part, the returning guys did a good job helping Lagerald (Vick) and Carlton (Bragg). It was a good day.”

“Felt great to get back on the court with my brothers!” junior point guard Frank Mason III tweeted.

At the Otto Schnellbacher/Jayhawk Club Golf Classic in Topeka on Monday, Self told 580 Radio that KU would practice with officials several days to get used to FIBA rules.

“There are only 20 qualified officials (for FIBA competition) in the United States. We found that out when we were trying to get officials for the Sprint Center games (June 23, 26 vs. Canada) that fit the criteria,” Self said. “The biggest deal is the 24-second clock, eight seconds to get past half court. On a foul in front court it resets to 14 if it’s under 14 as opposed to going back to 24. So you’ll be playing with a short clock a lot of the time. It’ll give us a chance to soft press back to zone, maybe switching man to zone in the middle of a possession to keep teams off balance. It’ll give us a chance to look at some things that maybe can help us down the road.”

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