Nick KrugSeven games into the pandemic-altered 2020-21 college basketball season, Kansas coach Bill Self says the Jayhawks are starting to figure out what kind of team they want to be.
“I think we’re closer to developing an identity and how we want to play and who we are and where the shots should come from and things like that,” Self said after last Friday’s 95-50 victory over Omaha.
Winners of six in a row since an opening day loss to No. 1 Gonzaga in late November in Fort Myers, Fla., the Jayhawks boast wins over two Top 20 teams and sit on the brink of a stretch against three more highly ranked foes to open Big 12 Conference play.
First up is No. 14 Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Thursday in Lubbock, Texas. After that, the Jayhawks will return home for a Dec. 22 game against No. 8 West Virginia before taking some time off for the holidays and then hosting No. 11 Texas on Jan. 2.
KU’s first seven games of the now-26 game regular season — last Sunday’s canceled contest with Tarleton State woudl’ve made for a 27th game — came in a stretch of 16 days, giving the Jayhawks limited time to work through things in practice.
What little time they did get in the practice gym was spent spent talking scouting report and going over the game plan for the next opponent.
Film study, however, did reveal some of the areas the fifth-ranked Jayhawks need to work on,
“I think there’s some things, offensively, that we haven’t (done to develop an) identity yet,” Self said. “But we’re getting closer. And, defensively, I still think we play in spurts. I think we can be pretty good defensively when we’re turned up and we know we have to guard in order to win.”
Interestingly enough, defensive efficiency is the only category in the KenPom.com rankings where the Jayhawks rank in the Top 20.
KU is currently sixth in that category, which measures points allowed per 100 possessions, with a mark of 87.0. That ranks just behind Texas Tech (84.9), Clemson (85.7), Texas (85.8), Virginia (86.2) and Tennessee (86.7) and is well ahead of the Division I average of 99.5.
KU ranks 22nd in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency category (number of points scored per 100 possessions), with a 109.6 mark that is currently the fifth best in the Big 12 behind Baylor (116.2, third), Oklahoma (111.7, eighth), West Virginia (110.8, 14th) and Texas (109.8, 20th).
