Kansas coach Bill Self made it painfully clear Wednesday night how he felt about his team’s preparedness for regular-season action, with three days of practice remaining before it tips off Monday versus North Carolina Central.
“No, we’re not ready,” Self said. “No, no, no, we’re not ready.”
The central areas of concern for Self coming out of Wednesday night’s 73-55 exhibition victory over Fort Hays State were the team’s overall energy and its inconsistent defense. Those two deficiencies exacerbated each other in a second half that saw the Tigers embark on 8-0 and 10-0 runs, often while much of KU’s starting lineup remained in the game (in part because KU does not have enough scholarship players on the bench to very easily form any other sort of lineup).
“I thought tonight we looked like we were playing in slow motion,” Self said.
The Jayhawks were also 6-for-28 from beyond the arc, a number that Self put in even harsher terms by noting that backup center Parker Braun banked in a 3, KU ran a play late for Nick Timberlake and the other four 3s came from Kevin McCullar Jr., who almost didn’t play due to a sore neck, dating back to Sunday at Illinois, that he reaggravated during the exhibition. Self said it was “just soft-tissue stuff” and he’ll be OK.
“When you have somebody that’s willing to play for you like that, even if it’s an exhibition game, it really helps our team, and we’re really thankful that he played today,” forward KJ Adams Jr. said.
But beyond the ailing McCullar’s disproportionate success — maybe an encouraging sign for his future production, though he has also, in his career, shot 29.8% from deep — the team was 0-for-18 on all other three-point attempts.
“I actually think that we’re better than that,” Self said, “but I don’t think anybody’s thinking that we got Svi (Mykhailiuk), Gradey (Dick) and Malik (Newman) all out there at the same time.”
Self and his players were on the same page postgame, though: It goes back to defense.
“If we can’t make a shot, then we need to make sure the other team don’t score,” point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. said.
The Jayhawks deployed 13 players in the second half, but then again the Division II Tigers did them one better by playing 14. Fort Hays State shot about the same overall as KU (11-for-27 as opposed to 11-for-28) and much better from deep (6-for-12 vs. 4-for-18) and ultimately outscored the Jayhawks 32-30 in the period.
“I think we just got to work on playing with more energy, playing with more fun,” Adams said. “I think everybody’s a little bit tense and a lot of people haven’t played in Allen Fieldhouse before.”
That’s another component of KU’s lack of readiness: The freshmen, who account for a third of the scholarship athletes, are still getting up to speed. As Harris put it, “They just came from high school.”
Jamari McDowell played solid defense in limited minutes and the late-arriving Johnny Furphy made a positive impression on Self in his first real action, highlighted by some nice interplay with Adams, after missing weeks of practice due to severe shin splints. Elmarko Jackson, though, has been “paralyzed” by overthinking, Self said, and out of a desire not to burden him further, Self has determined that McCullar will serve as point guard when Harris is not on the floor.
“We’ve seen that since we started practicing,” Self said, “but I do believe that, you know, it’d be nice if Elmarko’s ready for that, but Elmarko’s thinking so much he can’t play.”
Jackson remains one of the candidates for the final starting spot alongside Hunter Dickinson, Adams, Harris and McCullar; the others are Furphy and Timberlake.
The Fort Hays State exhibition was the fifth of the preseason for the Jayhawks, who also played three games in Puerto Rico in August and then the charity matchup at Illinois on Sunday. Self said the team’s energy and “adrenaline levels” needed to be better but acknowledged that the positioning of this game following the Illinois trip played a role.
“I think the Illinois deal, playing those guys that many minutes wasn’t smart in hindsight, and then practicing yesterday and playing today, I think we looked like a tired team,” he said.
The Jayhawks will have a somewhat longer break before hosting North Carolina Central Monday in their official opener.
Notes on the Eagles
NCCU was picked to finish third in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference this year after coming in second last season — just behind Howard, the No. 16 seed that KU beat in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Eagles, who will be traveling to the state of Kansas for the first time in 10 years and who have never played KU, lost seven of their top eight players in minutes per game from last season. Their lone preseason all-conference selection is 5-foot-9 senior guard Fred Cleveland Jr., a third-teamer who averaged 5.6 points per game off the bench last year.
They will bring a new-look roster including double-digit transfers, many from the JUCO level but also guards Chris Daniels (High Point) and Guy Fauntleroy (Austin Peay) and forwards Emmanuel Izunabor (High Point) and Perry Smith Jr. (Vermont).
Self and his NCCU counterpart LeVelle Moton will take part in a panel at the Lied Center on Sunday about John McLendon, the KU alum and former NCCU coach, centering on a screening of the documentary “Fast Break: The Legendary John McLendon.” That discussion also features director Kevin Willmott, who is a KU professor, and KU’s Director of Equity and Success Initiatives Melissa Peterson.
KU and NCCU will take to the court the following night at 7 p.m. in a game televised on ESPN+.
