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January 15, 2015
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self, whose No. 9 Jayhawks plays at No. 11 Iowa State Saturday in their fourth game of the Big 12 season, says every game played will impact the race for the Big 12 title. Self also discusses Perry Ellis and how close the junior forward is to playing to his potential.
Comments
Joe Ross 7 years, 5 months ago
One question is screaming in my head as I listened to this press conference. Perry Ellis mentally checks out sometimes. It's been an issue with multiple Kansas players in recent history including some of our best players. Wiggins, McLemore, EJ, Naadir, Tyshawn, Kelly Oubre, Wayne Selden, Josh Selby and others have all appeared very weak through stretches in the college careers, some of them as brief as they have been. It prods me to wondering if we should prioritize mental toughness in recruiting to stem the tide of players who lose their competitive edge so easily. Of course it "could" be that we need to coach it. I tell you what I'd do. If Im Coach Self, at the beginning of practice 2 (practice 1 being Late Nite) I preach a sermonette about the skills of basketball, and mental preparation being the most important among them. I prioritize this speech over Kansas' tradition, team goals, or anything else. Furthermore, I repeat that theme at the beginning of every subsequent practice until toughness becomes the unifying characteristic of the basketball team. Our guys just HAVE to develop better mindsets.
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