The No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks are 9-1 through 10 games and putting together another strong season under head coach Bill Self.
With wins over Kentucky, Tennessee and UConn, Kansas has built one of the more impressive resumes to start the season. The Jayhawks can continue to add to their overall profile with Big 12 Conference play just around the corner following a few more nonconference matchups to close out December.
Now that we have reached a bit of a lull in the schedule, it seems like a good opportunity to take a closer look at this Kansas squad. Wins and losses only tell so much of the story, but what do the underlying metrics say about this year’s team at this point in the 2023-24 campaign?
All stats courtesy of KenPom, Bart Torvik, ShotQuality and Synergy Sports.
No. 1: Kansas clinging to top-10 ranking in KenPom
Despite a 9-1 start to the season, Kansas isn’t viewed as favorably by the advanced metrics as its No. 2 ranking in the latest AP poll would indicate. The Jayhawks are 10th in KenPom’s latest overall ratings, and have been as low as 11th at one point, after entering the year ranked No. 2 behind Purdue.
For comparison, KU was 11th on KenPom around this time last year before finishing No. 9 overall, and was rated as low as 11th in early February before winning the national title in 2022.
No. 2: KU has similar stat profile to previous Bill Self teams
Torvik has a tool where you can compare any team’s stat profile (or resume) to a previous program in the system. The Jayhawks are seventh overall in Torvik’s ratings, with a 20th-ranked offense and sixth-ranked defense. Based on this profile, their top comps through 10 games are actually previous Kansas teams.
Both the 2012-13 and 2011-12 squads had similar profiles in terms of adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency. The latter made it to the national championship game on the back of Thomas Robinson, while the former had Jeff Withey patrolling the paint before being eliminated in the Sweet 16. It remains to be seen where this Hunter Dickinson-led team will end up.
No. 3: Jayhawks lead the nation in assist rate
No team has been better at creating for each other than the Jayhawks, who lead the country with an assist rate on 73% of their baskets. Auburn ranks second in the nation with an assist rate of 68.8%. There hasn’t been a team to finish with an assist rate higher than 70% for a season since 2016. In the Kenpom era (since 1999), Princeton has the highest assist rate of 77.6%.
No. 4: Kansas is shooting well from deep, but not taking a lot
Much has been made about KU’s 3-point shooting, but this team has actually fared well from long range to this point. The Jayhawks rank 12th in the country with a 3-point percentage of 40.3%, but are 321st in terms of 3-point frequency. The 3-point shooting will likely go down when this team starts playing more true road games, but perhaps this issue has been overstated at times.
No. 5: KU does have a bench problem
The bench concerns haven’t been exaggerated, however. Kansas ranks 342nd in the country in terms of bench minutes with a rate of 21.5%. That is up from last year’s ranking of 361st (18%) in bench minutes, but shows how much the starters have had to play to this point. It won’t be an issue come NCAA Tournament time with extended media timeouts, but Self has to hope his reserves develop a bit more through Big 12 play.
No. 6: Jayhawks don’t get extra possessions
One of the more underrated issues plaguing this year’s team is its inability to crash the glass on the offensive end. Kansas has an offensive rebound rate of 26.5%, which ranks 266th in the country. That would be the worst mark in the Self era, with last year’s team (28.7%) being the next-closest in that metric. For a team that isn’t as lethal from deep, rebounding has to be more of a priority.
No. 7: The post-up is back
After utilizing a small-ball lineup last year, KU’s post-up game has returned with big man Hunter Dickinson leading the way. Per Synergy, Kansas ranks in the 97th percentile with 1.179 points per possession on post-ups this year while ranking in the 83rd percentile in terms of frequency of such plays. To compare, KU ranked in the 10th percentile in post-up frequency last year.
No. 8: Kansas is producing at the rim
Thanks to the post-up returning, KU’s offense is living at the rim so far this season. According to ShotQuality, Kansas leads the nation with an average of 1.38 points per possession on shots at the rim. It’s easily the team’s most-efficient shot type thus far, and a credit to KU’s ability to attack in transition and get the ball inside through multiple different avenues.
No. 9: Defense is giving up plenty of 3-pointers
While KU’s offense lives at the rim, its defense is surrendering plenty of 3-pointers. The Jayhawks rank 306th in the country by allowing a 3-point attempt rate of 42.3%, surpassing the 2018-19 team (41.8%) for highest number in the Self era. Opposing teams are shooting 31.3% from long range thus far.
This year’s Kansas team is losing the 3-point math each game, given the low volume of 3s taken on the offensive end compared to the high number of triples allowed on the defensive end. That might not matter as much in college hoops, but it’s also a recipe that could be more prone to an upset.
No. 10: KJ Adams Jr. leading team in dunks by wide margin
Let’s end this list with one of the more enjoyable tracked metrics, courtesy of Torvik. Junior forward KJ Adams Jr. paces the Jayhawks with 18 dunks on the year, which is 12 more than the next player (Kevin McCullar Jr.) through 10 games. Aside from Adams, this year’s roster doesn’t feature much in terms of players who can jump out of the gym. That’s why Kansas is just 34-for-39 on dunks this year.
