It’s amazing how many Kansas basketball fans have lost sleep over Kelly Oubre playing just four minutes in the season-opening, 10-point victory against UC Santa Barbara. It was one game, not even 3 percent of basketball season.
Whatever point Self made in limiting Oubre’s minutes, the freshman McDonald’s All-American either adjusted or he’ll continue to spend long stretches on the bench until he gets the point. For all we know, Oubre already has worked his way out of a short stay in the doghouse, every coach’s favorite word to read in the newspaper.
Self has not revealed the identity of his fifth starter tonight and it won’t come as a surprise if it’s Brannen Greene, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk or Devonte Graham, playing with Frank Mason, Wayne Selden, Perry Ellis and Jamari Traylor.
But if I had to guess the identity of tonight’s fifth starter against Kentucky, I’d say Oubre. He didn’t like sitting for 36 minutes, so my guess is he gave Self what he wanted of him in practice. If Oubre does start, it doesn’t hurt Kansas than Kentucky hasn’t seen more than four minutes of regular-season game action to learn how Self wants to use him.
If Self had more showmanship in him, he would substitute his entire starting lineup two minutes into the game, beating John Calipari to the punch, just for laughs. It would last forever as one of the most memorable moves in Champions Classic history, lead every SportsCenter and add juice to the already strong Self-Calipari rivalry. Self’s too old-school for that. Every move will be designed at trying to win tonight’s game. Maybe even every move he made last game had a little of tonight in mind as well.
