Here is the Cliff’s Notes version of Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self’s comments at his weekly press conference today.
• Michigan has lost a couple of tough games. The Wolverines are definitely a team that has a chance to be a top-25, top-20 type team. Their guard Manny Harris probably doesn’t get as much respect nationally as he deserves.
• Michigan will play some zone, including a 1-3-1 and 2-3 zone. The 1-3-1 zone is a staple of coach John Beilein’s teams.
• Brady Morningstar will play Saturday. Jeff Withey might not. Self just isn’t comfortable with Withey yet, as the big man hasn’t been able to practice for the last seven weeks. That’s not a knock to him, but there’s not many coaches that would give players a lot of minutes when they’ve missed that much practice.
• Morningstar and Xavier Henry can play a lot together. The combinations of guards don’t matter much as long as Self has a point guard on the floor. Morningstar could play a lot with Tyshawn Taylor as well.
• Self thinks Morningstar has grown up a lot as a result of the suspension. KU’s players now realize the consequences of their actions from an individual basis are probably greater than they assumed. The experience has been humiliating and disappointing for Morningstar, but Self said he’s handled it beautifully. It’s tough when both of Morningstar’s parents live in the community, too. Brady’s a winner, Self said. The coach thinks Morningstar will be a better man because of the incident/suspension.
• Self doesn’t know if Morningstar is a better player than he was last year, because practice is a lot different than games. It’s a lot easier to play on the red team (KU’s second team in practice) than it is the blue team (first team). Self would like to think Morningstar is a better player, but Self needs to see Morningstar in a game before saying that is the case. Self thinks Morningstar will probably be better, though.
• Morningstar will be put defensively on Manny Harris when he’s in the game.
• Tyshawn Taylor will start over Elijah Johnson against Michigan.
• Self believes this is KU’s first true home game. He would like to see great energy from the fieldhouse.
• Self will remind his guys that KU is 0-5 against Michigan.