Adams flashes rebounding potential in WSU victory

By Henry Greenstein     Dec 30, 2023

article image AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Kansas forward K.J. Adams Jr. dunks the ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Wichita State Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. Kansas won 86-67.

Kansas City, Mo. — Kansas point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. said Saturday that he gets on KJ Adams Jr. even more about needing to rebound than KU coach Bill Self gets on Harris about needing to shoot.

Considering how hot of a topic Harris’ shooting — or lack thereof — was in the early weeks of the season, that says a lot.

Both Harris and Adams did plenty to quell complaints Saturday, as Harris drained a couple of 3s in the early going against Wichita State and — in an eye-catching, season-best display — Adams grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds, three offensive and eight defensive.

“I just needed to get my rhythm with it,” he said postgame. “I feel like when I got (those) first couple ones in the first, second half, I feel like it started getting easier and easier to go get them every time.”

Even last season, when he was starting as an undersized center at 6-foot-7, Adams only secured 4.3 rebounds per game; this season, playing more outside to make room for center Hunter Dickinson, that number had slid to 3.7 entering Saturday.

As Self has noted, Adams accumulates a disproportionate number of offensive rebounds but has plenty of room to improve on the defensive glass in particular to complement Dickinson and teammate Kevin McCullar Jr. So far, rebounding has persisted as what Adams calls “one big weakness that I really need to focus on.”

But his athleticism has teammates believing he can make a consistent impact on the glass, in the vein of what he did against WSU.

“He’s more athletic than any player on the other team, and because of the size and strength, that leads to a lot of rebounds if he’s going after them,” Dickinson said Saturday. “And I think he just did that today.”

Part of motivating Adams to improve on the glass could be reinforcing the idea that defensive rebounding is about more than just minimizing second-chance opportunities. As Self pointed out, an Adams rebound means that a possession starts in the hands of an elite transition ball-handler.

“The thing about it is, if he rebounds it that means he can dribble it up the floor,” Self said, “and I think he’s figured that out, because we’re actually best when he brings it up, as far as playing with pace and everything.”

With just over a minute left in the first half against the Shockers, Adams snagged a board off a Colby Rogers missed 3, took the ball down the court fairly casually and then bounded toward the hoop, leaving the WSU defense flat-footed as he soared in for an easy dunk.

Just as often this season, he’s used that sort of play to set up teammates for uncontested shots on the break. He showed off that skill repeatedly against Missouri on Dec. 9 and hasn’t let up since; he added five assists to his tally against the Shockers.

“Once I get the rebound, they definitely want me to push it up and try to create open spaces and pass it for other people to get open,” Adams said.

Adams’ potential to succeed on the glass may ultimately come down to his inherent ability to outwork opponents. Self said postgame that former KU standout Christian Braun, who was at T-Mobile Center for the WSU game, told him he doesn’t think anyone works harder than Adams.

And to hear the forward himself tell it, that motor is “really what makes me me, and what makes me stand out. Without that I’m kind of an average player.”

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Written By Henry Greenstein

Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off "California vibes," whatever that means.