Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - BLOCK BRILLIANCE, TURNOVER TROUBLE | Surprising Kansas Basketball Stats + Football Transfer Update

Starting point is 00:00:00 One of the best blocking teams in the country, one of the worst turnover forcing teams in the country. We're going to go over some stats that might or might not surprise you about this KU basketball team so far. You are Locked-on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making Locked on your number one podcast listen. And thank you for making the Lockdown Sports Network, the number one sports podcast network. On today's edition, we're going to go over some interesting stats for KU basketball that would tell the early season of the story, maybe some that surprise you, some that you might have an understanding of, okay, that makes sense. We're going to do some team stats, some individual stats, and then we'll finish up with some of the latest in the transfer portal for KU football. football. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanduel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long with Fanduel. So let's open things up on this one with a little bit of some stats that, you know, might surprise you to this point in the season for KU basketball. And we're going to start with

Starting point is 00:01:22 their tempo ranking because I certainly think of this as being a fast-paced team. I think of this is being a team who, you know, thrives in scoring in transition. But to this point in the season, they had an early start where they were scoring a lot in transition. And I think in general, like, they're very efficient when they score in transition and can be deadly there. But actually, their tempo ranking is a lot lower than I would have expected. 254th in the country right now is Kansas in tempo ranking, according to Ken Palm.

Starting point is 00:01:50 They're also just 223 in the country in adjusted possession length on the offensive end of the court. So what that means is that Kansas is having a lot of slow, longer possessions, right? And again, for a team that I think is a good transition team, you look at mobile big men that are able to run the floor very well. You look at an extremely fast point guard in Melvin Council. I mean, Peterson's good from every level. But like, you have a lot of just individuals that are going to be and are good in these transition settings. And I think KU is a good transition team.

Starting point is 00:02:26 but because of how slow they've been, whether it's forced to play or have been playing recently, they're down to just a little under 11 fast break points per game that is, it's still above average. It's still a solid number nationally, but where they were earlier in the year and where I think that can be, those are numbers that I think need to and can go up, right? The more you can get out of the half court is going to be good for this offense. Maybe some of that is just you've played some good opponents and stuff. And so that's going to, you know, knock that down.

Starting point is 00:02:54 but I think what it tells you is specifically when you look at the tempo rank, how often has KU, when they get into the half court, how often does it feel like they end up having to take a shot at the end of the shot clock? Because they can't get anything available until the end of the shot clock and that's somebody forcing up a shot. That's something where Darren Peterson helps. That's something where as the season goes on, you hope they execute better some of the stuff that Bill Self is running. But yeah, certainly a little interesting there. And I think it would behoove Kansas to start playing faster. but I think that comes naturally when they're able to get quicker shots up because they're able to find them quicker, right? This one, you know, I don't know if this would surprise you or not, but the turnover ranked defense, I know we all know it hasn't been great, but what might surprise you is just how bad it's been.

Starting point is 00:03:39 Kansas is one of the worst teams in the country right now in forcing turnovers defensively. They're 355th nationally, 350th nationally in turnover rate defense. They're also just 331st nationally in steel rate, Bettsley. And the weirdest part about all of this is I think Kansas has personnel to be good at getting steals. And like look at like recent numbers of some of these players. So Melvin Council, Melvin Council is a 1.4% steal rate this season. That's just in the 29th percentile. Last season, he was at 3.5% was in the 93rd percentile.

Starting point is 00:04:17 So last year, Melvin Council was elite at getting steals. This year he hasn't been very good at it. It's part of that that Peterson's been hurt and you have some other guards that you don't know if they've been available or if they're trustworthy and Bill Self doesn't want him reaching into foul. Maybe. I don't know. El Marco Jackson is just in the 17th percentile this year in Steele rate. He was in the 73rd percentile in his true freshman season. Flory Budunga was in the 74th percentile for Steel Rate among big men last year.

Starting point is 00:04:45 He's only in the 29th percentile this year. Trey White's are 21st percentile. but he's never been a big steel rate guy. Bryson Taylor is only in the eighth percentile. He has zero steals in his past five games. Cole Rosario's in just the 26th percentile. What I don't understand is the guys like counsel and El Marco and Florey, guys whose numbers have severely dropped off in the steel rate category

Starting point is 00:05:06 from a previous season to this year. I don't know if this is something where, again, is Bill Self like, is this a scheme thing, right, where Bill Soff is not wanting them to go for steals? Is he preferring them to play solid defense and not try to use? get steals? Is he preferring them not to get fouls and not get regions? Maybe it's schematic because for that to be a consistent trend across the board of guys being below their normal steel rates, I don't know. I don't know what else, what other way there'd be to kind of look at it. One thing that will help here is Darren Peterson playing more because he has

Starting point is 00:05:37 a 93rd percentile steal rate. But this is something where I guess just looking at it now, like it's not going to be a strength for KU, can you get it to at least not be like one of the worst in the country. Offensive rebounding has also been maybe a stat that might surprise you. Because again, if you just, I don't know, the way we talked about this team coming into the off season, and again, the personnel makes me think they should be a good offensive rebounding team. You're running two big lineups. You have a springy center in Flory who gets a good amount of offensive rebounds. You have athletic guards with wingspans who should be able to get you some. And actually, if you look at some of the individual numbers, Flory Bodunga is in the 75th percentile for offensive rebound rate for

Starting point is 00:06:16 forwards. So like that's a solid number. Trey White's in the 97th percentile for guards in offensive rebound rate. So you're like, okay, well, those are both good numbers. Why is Kansas only a 38th percentile? I guess it's just the other people aren't stepping up. I mean, Bryson Tiller is only in the 22nd percentile. So he hasn't been very good on the offensive glass. The guards, I guess, are not getting enough of them. And that probably means if you want to improve this, it means obviously Tiller's going to have to see that number go up. It means that floor he's going to have to instead of being in the 75th percentile, he's going to have to be in like the 90th percentile, which is possible. That's what he put up last year. And you look at it,

Starting point is 00:06:53 the early part of this season when Darren Peterson was out, you know, he's getting a majority of the offensive looks in the half court. It's going to be harder to get the offensive rebound there. Now that Peterson's back, maybe he has more time to free roam and grab some of those rebounds. But that's another thing where it's like, I feel like there's room for improvement for this team grabbing offensive rebounds. And then this one, I think, is interesting. Obviously, the Kansas being 40th percentile in three point attempt rate, I don't know that that's like a huge surprise that they're below average in that with a Bill self team, especially if you're playing too big basketball. But like, what's interesting to me is the splits in the games with and without Darren Peterson. So in the games that Darren Peterson has played, Kansas, about 42 percent of their field goal attempts are from three.

Starting point is 00:07:40 That would rank in the 64th percentile. so like pretty solid number. Whereas you look at the games that Darren Peterson has not played, Kansas only has attempted 35% of their shots from three. That's in the 27th percentile. So obviously the three point percentage, the made threes is going way up with Peterson, but I find it very interesting to just the threat of KU shooting threes,

Starting point is 00:08:07 the volume of them getting those threes off is extremely different when Darren Peterson is in the lineup. And if that doesn't show you, you know, I mean, he has so much worth to this team because he's so good at so many different things. But like, I don't know, for this specific team, maybe that is the most important thing he's bringing to the table right now.

Starting point is 00:08:25 Some interesting player ones that might surprise you, O'Marco Jackson is in the 96th percentile right now for guards in block rate. So we already know Florey's a good shop blocker. Kew's got a lot of good shop blocking numbers. And one of the other reasons why isn't just the big men, Omarco Jackson's in the 96th. six percent out for block rate among guards.

Starting point is 00:08:45 And then how about this one? This one doesn't shock you if you looked at like past years of Melvin counsel assist to turnover numbers. But I know some people have felt like it's been helter-skelter with him. I'm not one of those people. I love Melvin counsel. That dude is, I hope that Kansas, because I think he was at Juko and then he goes Wagner, St. Bonney, I hope that Kansas tries to appeal for him having an extra year of

Starting point is 00:09:06 college ball and saying that like, oh, the two Juko years shouldn't count. But anyway, that's neither here nor there. Melvin counsel is in the 95th percentile in assist to turnover rate. So I've seen a few comments here, they're like, oh, I don't know. Is he under control enough? He's in the 95th percentile in assist to turnover rate. Like, this dude is playing strong defense. He's passing the ball well.

Starting point is 00:09:26 He's holding on to the ball well. I know the field goal percentage isn't what you want it to be. I know the three point percentage isn't what you want it to be. But this dude's a dog and I love watching a play. And usually when you think of guys who are like, oh, he's got that dog mentality. It's just they're going to be like this rugged competitor. but that's a finesse number that's really good, the assisted turnover ratio. All right, let's get to some other rate stats that might not surprise you,

Starting point is 00:09:47 and then we'll finish up with some of the latest on KU Football's Transfer Portal exits. This is locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Aura Frames, which is about as good, in my opinion, of a Christmas gift as you can get for somebody, especially if it's a parent or a grandparent, especially if you're away, like you live in a different city, live in a different state, great way to keep everybody up to date on kind of what's happening with pictures that you're going to send in. The holidays are here, man. And if you want something

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Starting point is 00:11:17 All right, other stats that might not surprise you actually on the KU front of things. KU is in the 76th percentile right now and shooting at the rim. They're doing it at a rate in the 75th percentile. So they're getting a lot of shots at the rim. They're making a lot of shots at the rim, both in terms of volume and efficiency. Obviously, they're not 76 and 75th percentile. I wouldn't say they're elite at either, but they're good. at both. And obviously, given the schedule that KU has faced is a lot tougher than a lot of

Starting point is 00:11:43 these other teams who maybe played some cupcakes, a lot more cupcakes than KU has played to this point, that number is probably better than the percentiles indicate. But it's also on the defense event. Kansas is 78th percentile right now in defending at the rim. And I think what this just tells you is the story of this. Kansas is a team that wants to get easy buckets and prevent easy buckets. That's always been a Bill's Health staple. And I think it's something that they've so far carried over into this year. And I think that's, that allowed them to, even when Peterson was out, still be competitive and still win some key games. And if you can combine that with Peterson, we go back to one of those stats that you

Starting point is 00:12:16 might not have known, like the Peterson three-point attempt rate when he plays for KU. You combine that with this number. That's where you're kind of cooking there, right? Kansas is also tied fifth nationally in total dunks this year. This was as of coming into Wednesday night, but Georgia has 70, so I don't know, apparently they're probably pretty fun to watch. Kentucky, ironically, has 68. I say ironically, because Kentucky, Tucky is not off to a great start. I don't know. I guess that's like the one thing they're good at right now.

Starting point is 00:12:43 Providence has 60. Duke has 58, which that one makes sense. North Carolina is the team tied with Kansas, which I thought they would have actually led the country with Caleb Wilson because he dunks everything. But they have 55. But also, of note, Kansas has only missed three dunks this year. All those others on that list that we just mentioned are schools that have missed four or more.

Starting point is 00:13:04 So KU is legit one of the best dunking teams in the country. And obviously, that's what happens. you have, Flory B. Dunka, but Flory has a majority of them, 25 of the 55, which honestly, it's also actually already more than Hunter Dickinson had all of last season just to show you how much he's dunking. But like other players are contributing to, right? Tiller has nine of them. Cole Rosario has eight of them. Melvin Council has five of them from the guard spot. Trey White has four of them. So a very good dunking team in KU. And I think that's like, again, it's a stupid thing. And I guess it's not working out for Kentucky. But like,

Starting point is 00:13:38 I would like, like, A, it's a fun thing to watch. B, it shows your athletic. C, like, dunking can be momentum shifters. So maybe for Kentucky who's been blown out a couple times, they're being high on dunks, doesn't change the momentum if you're down by 30. But I don't know, if you're in close games, like being a good dunking team, I don't know, it's the crowd into it, right? How about this one? KU has played a top 10 schedule to this point in time,

Starting point is 00:14:01 according to Ken Palm and a top five schedule of the defenses they've faced so far. If you look at the overall schedule they face to this point, they face the number seven schedule according to Ken Palm. But if you're looking at just the opposing defenses, KU has faced the number three schedule. So even though there have been moments where the offense hasn't looked great, and again, part of that is because you haven't had Darren Peterson in some of those moments. And I'm not going to fib and be like, oh, they're actually really, really, really good.

Starting point is 00:14:28 No, like they have areas to work on there and stuff. But I will say this. Like, it probably looks a little worse than it actually has been on the offensive end at certain times. because you've been playing really good defenses at an early portion of the season when you have a young team that's learning and getting to know each other. And so that makes things more difficult right now.

Starting point is 00:14:46 It'll pay off, though, during Big 12 play. It'll pay off when you're taking on all these great defenses like Houston and Iowa State typically have and on and on down the list in the Big 12th. Here's some player ones that I think are interesting. Trey White is in the 99th percentile in shooting fouls drawn per game. That one kind of adds up and makes sense.

Starting point is 00:15:05 Like, I think we all know Tray White's been excellent at getting into the foul line and drawing fouls. But did you know he's literally like at the top of the leaderboard in the 99th percentile there, right? Melvin Council, this is another one where when you start to think back to it, you're like, yeah, he has had a lot of and ones. I mean, shoot, he had what, like three of them in the Tennessee game. He's in the 97th percentile in and ones per game. So it's like Melvin Council doesn't always make the shop. When he does, it's a big one, right? And then Flory Budunga is 93rd percentile block rate.

Starting point is 00:15:34 So that's one that you kind of just expected, but just continues to show his value and importance for this team. All right. Let's continue on with a little bit of news from the KU football team. They've got a handful of players already who have decided to enter the transfer portal. I'm going to tell you, is it a big deal? Who have they lost? How does it affect the offseason for KU? This episode of the show is brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook.

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Starting point is 00:16:41 So if you want to be right in the middle of the action all season, visit fanduel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Fan duel, the game moves fast, and so can you. Thanks, Jen, for joining us here on Locked on Jayhawks and thank you for making it your first listen every day and making Locked on the number one sports podcast network.

Starting point is 00:17:02 You already live your team every day. now you can actually take it to the next level and go add free, join the Everydayer Club and you can get locked on Jayhawks with no interruptions, members only Discord access, and more all for just $5 a month or $50 a year. So that is at Lockedon Podcast.com slash Everydayer or check the link in the show notes to learn more. Our KU Football has already lost a couple players to the transfer portal. And the newest one was on Wednesday, Damani Maxon, and that might be. the most notable, I don't know, it's either him or Johnny Thompson, but we'll start with

Starting point is 00:17:37 Maxen. He's the most recent. And Maxson was a high rated three star, like an 88 rated three star, which once you get to a 90, then you're a four star. So he was kind of, you know, coming up on that as a hard hitting safety type who had good athleticism. He was a guy that I was kind of excited for in the future. At the same point in time, you could say, okay, but if he didn't crack the two deep yet, like maybe he hadn't impressed too much, but also it was a bunch of like veterans in front of him. So I was excited for what the future of Maxen was going to be. I think that one hurts kind of long term for KU. I guess it just allows you, though, if you do feel like your two starters are Lerick Rawls and Taylor Davis again, which, you know, I don't know, maybe you do

Starting point is 00:18:16 decide to try to upgrade over Taylor Davis and, you know, have him be more of a rotational safety or be more of the box safety because he is kind of a hard hitter who I think struggled a bit in coverage over some of his areas. So I wouldn't mind him necessarily as more of box safety um but that's there were there were starters returning there that it was going to be tough to crack from accident um even though you could view it as okay maybe he could have made the two deep this year i think right now based on on the roster i would have expected that to be the case there's no guarantee that kansas doesn't bring in guys via the transfer portal and that becomes a little bit more difficult there um then you look at johnny thompson again a guy who would

Starting point is 00:18:54 have been competing to get on the too deep i think right now you would look at it and and say you know with no transfer portal additions, it'd be him and Harry Stewart on the two deep. But realistically, is KU going to add a running back via the portal? And then what about some of the other young guys? You know, what if Thompson gets usurped? And I think it was probably important. I think Thompson was the third running back at the beginning of the year. Like he was the, when they were blowing out teams early in the year, like Thompson was, was ahead of Stewart, was out there to get touches first.

Starting point is 00:19:25 But as the season went on, Stewart became the backup, right? in like high shaw's missing game, Stewart's the one who is coming in to spell Leashon Williams. And I think from that standpoint for Thompson, it was kind of a realization, hey, I'm behind this guy. There's other young running backs in the room. They might add somebody via the portal.

Starting point is 00:19:40 I'll go somewhere else. So you wish him the best elsewhere. I think just, you know, looking for more playing time in another spot. I think KU will be okay there. And then Bryce Kuhn at Receiver, which is somebody who, I don't know if he ever earned a scholarship or not.

Starting point is 00:19:53 transferred to KU from Syracuse. But, you know, speedy receiver. he actually did crack the two deep this year. But I don't know if that was more of just like, you know, you have some young guys or players who were beat up like Bryson Canty at the beginning of the year. And that's how he kind of wound up on there.

Starting point is 00:20:09 But obviously it leads to another scholarship open for KU at receiver where they do need to add some bodies. Jacori Stewart is a former linebacker three star that they brought in. That one kind of makes sense to me as well. You look at the linebacker room potentially have the ability to bring back Trey Lathan and Joseph Sip. who would both be seniors. John John Thompson took some good strides

Starting point is 00:20:30 and I'm excited what he could look like in 2026. Logan Brantley played a lot more on special teams and could be a guy that gets into the mix a little bit here and there. And then you got a youngster in there with Malachi Kirby who might be making inroads in a real way that's going to make it difficult when you just try to climb the ladder if you're Stewart. And then Jaden Ham kind of buried on the depth chart as well.

Starting point is 00:20:52 It felt like this would have been the year to try to get on the field when you look at the injuries KU had with Hanukkah and groan. when you look at Keon Burnett transferring away at the end of spring. And the fact he wasn't really able to be a consistent on the field tight end for KU. I think the writing was kind of on the wall that he'll go somewhere else looking for more playing time. And sometimes that's all a guy needs. You know, sometimes a guy goes somewhere else and he breaks out. And, you know, it's possible that any of those guys do that.

Starting point is 00:21:19 Now, as far as of those five players so far, I will say, the only one who is probably projected to be on the two deep for me would probably be Maxen because again I would probably view Thompson again if you're going it it depends how you look at it if you're looking at like right now without knowing any other additions are coming then yes Thompson would be on the two deep right now or Cohoon would probably be on the two deep right now but realistically we know they're probably going to add a running back in the portal we know they're going to probably add a receiver or two in the portal we know they're probably you're going to add a DB or safety in the portal.

Starting point is 00:21:52 So, like, if you're looking at it realistic, Maxen is the one where it's like, okay, I could have seen you being on the two deep even after making an addition, but even then it was kind of borderline. So that is the good news for KU, that I don't think you're losing necessarily anybody yet, right? The question is, can you hold on to the big wigs that you kind of have so far?

Starting point is 00:22:09 There was an interesting, I don't know, if we want to play reading between the lines, everybody's favorite game, Camp Pickett, the receiver for KU had a solid season, and good slot receiver yard after catch for KU. He posted on Twitter, on X, basically some pictures with like, I forget what it says, like, Blest or, I don't know, one of the classic, one of the classic posts that you see that, I don't know,

Starting point is 00:22:34 are we reading between the lines of like just this random post wearing some KU uniforms, you still have KU in your bio that you got a contract negotiation or you signed your new deal to come back for 2020. I don't know, maybe that's how you do it, maybe not. But that would be good news, because like I've said, I don't think you want to break the bank there necessarily. But, you know, if it's a slight raise or if it's around the same number, I think pickets a service will help full receiver that with a room that you don't have a lot of certainty there, your KU would be nice to have. Cam pick it back for a young quarterback, right? Especially with a guy who is good with the ball in his hands yard after catch, you can throw him a quick pass for one of these young quarterbacks and he can, you know, make a couple guys miss and get you some free yards there.

Starting point is 00:23:19 the back end. But we'll be on the lookout for more transfer portal levers for KU. As right now, I guess this opens them up for more scholarship openings, but they already had a good amount of those with all the seniors that had been leaving out of the program. Other quick notes, just to touch on real quick, KU volleyball is getting ready for Nebraska. That will be on Friday night. And then KU. Women's Basketball, there was just an update from Brandon Schneider. This is from Matt Tate on Twitter. Brandon Schneider said sophomore forward Reagan Williams will miss a little bit of time because of a recent injury, but added that it is nothing surgical or long term.

Starting point is 00:23:51 So that's good news, but also that makes it seem like it is going to be a while. He also said he hopes to get star freshman, Jaliyah Davis, back soon. Goal was by Big 12th play, and he thinks it might be sooner. Those are two players going to be really tough to play without. Obviously, Davis comes back and you have your top two players, but you'll still be missing Reagan Williams down low. The injury bug has not been kind to KU so far this season on the women's basketball front. but if they can get by until Davis comes back,

Starting point is 00:24:19 I think those will be your most important, too, with Nichols and Davis, and then can you survive without Reagan Williams from there and just hang around and hope she can come back and then maybe you get a push at the end of the season? Can you find a way to be an NCAA tournament team, nonetheless because with the recruiting class you have coming in next year, with the players that you have this year that could age

Starting point is 00:24:39 into being something even better next year, this is a really big opportunity to kind of springboard I think when you look at the 25-26 season into, if you handle it right, what could be a special 26-27 season. All right, that'll do it for this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. And we'll see you next time with another edition of LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - BLOCK BRILLIANCE, TURNOVER TROUBLE | Surprising Kansas Basketball Stats + Football Transfer Update

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