Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Dajuan Harris is THE KEY to a 2nd Weekend for Kansas + Bill Self vs John Calipari for the Last Time?

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Can the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team outmaneuver Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament? With Dajuan Harris as the pivotal x-factor player, the Jayhawks' path to victory hinges on his performance.Explore ...the strategic dynamics between legendary coaches Bill Self and John Calipari, whose storied rivalry adds another layer of intrigue to this matchup. Discover how Rylan Griffen's recent form could be the game-changer Kansas needs to advance. Derek Johnson breaks down these key elements, offering insights into the Jayhawks' strategies and the critical role of guard play in March Madness.Will Harris rise to the occasion and lead Kansas to triumph? Tune in for an in-depth analysis and uncover the secrets behind the Jayhawks' potential success.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!NissanTake your adventures to new heights in the All-New Nissan Armada PRO-4X. Learn more at NissanUSA.com.Disclaimers: Optional features. Towing capacity varies by configuration. See Nissan Towing Guide and Owner’s Manual for additional information. Always secure cargo.Supply HouseJoin the Trade Master program today at SupplyHouse.com/TM and start ordering plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies with just a few clicks. Plus, use promo code SH5 for 5% off your first order. That’s SupplyHouse.com!FabricJoin the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their families. Apply today in just minutes at MEETFABRIC.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. 5-Hour ENERGYHead to 5-hourENERGY.com to find over 15 flavors to choose from, including Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, and Peach-Mango. Need one now? Grab a 5-hour ENERGY shot at your local grocery or convenience store—they’re everywhere! Stock up today and stay energized.UpworkVisit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free to connect with top talent and grow your business today!FactorLooking to optimize your nutrition this year? Eat smart with Factor. Get started at FACTOR MEALS.com/FACTORPODCAST and use code FACTORPODCAST to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGEfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

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Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked On Jayhawks, which Kansas Jayhawk player is the X Factor, is the key for Kansas making it to the second weekend, plus a little history lesson on what's gone on in the past between Bill Self and John Calipari. on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson. This is Locked On Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. Thank you to the every dayers catching each and every episode of the show.
Starting point is 00:00:35 Whether you find us on our YouTube page, where you can like and subscribe, or anywhere that you get your podcast side of things, please give us a five star review there. And on today's edition of Locked On Jayhawks, we're going to discuss why Dewan Harris is the X factor is the key for Kansas making it to the second weekend. Can you get Rylan Griffin going again? That'll be a separate conversation we have in the same episode. And then we're going to go back and look at past history, what it tells us about Bill Selfers, John Calipari, because
Starting point is 00:01:01 this will be yet another chapter in what has been a pretty long series between two Hall of Fame coaches. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Nissan and the 2025 all new Nissan Armada. Stay with us for the Armada team the week later on in the episode here on Locked on Jayhawks. Alright, so Duann Harris enters the NCAA tournament for his I guess sixth NCAA tournament. Well, no, I guess that's a lie because the COVID year didn't end up playing anyway. So I was going to say technically his sixth only plays in five because he's redshirted one year.
Starting point is 00:01:32 The year he redshirted was the COVID year anyway. So his fifth NCAA tournament. And I don't think any are maybe more important to, I don't know, I guess they won the title in 2022, right? Outside of that 2022 season, none of them are more important to his legacy than this. But even that, like the 2022 title, you know, if you make a strong run in this tournament,
Starting point is 00:01:54 it almost wins some stuff back about like your level of plays are good enough to win in March, because you don't want to go out, you know, losing in the first weekend again, which would be the case every year in his career outside of the National Championship. And again, the National Championship matters more because that's the ultimate goal here. But when you look at Duann Harris, this is an opportunity for him not just to
Starting point is 00:02:15 you know, quiet the haters or whatever, right? I'm less concerned about that. I'm more concerned about or I guess more interested in the fact that I think there is real backup as I was going through this and looking at Arkansas and I was looking at St. John's and trying to figure out which player do I think is going to be most important their level of play this week for Kansas, like obviously Hunter Dickinson, right? If he's your your go to option and offense that becomes the most important and that's
Starting point is 00:02:41 probably the most intriguing because Arkansas is a bunch of big men. And then if you play St. John's in second round like Zuby Ejiofer, that becomes an intriguing storyline. But it feels like with Hunter Dickinson, yes, there are different levels to it. There's the senior day Hunter Dickinson that put up 33 points. There's Hunter Dickinson that puts up 20 and 10.
Starting point is 00:02:58 There's Hunter Dickinson that puts up 16 and eight. But like that's a level of like, you're still getting good production no matter what. There's a lot of players on this Kansas team that the level of production has been Inconsistent and you could name a lot of different names into that. I wouldn't put hundred against it in that He's been very consistent with his production. It's just either like solid production or like elite production That's kind of the levels that you're going to with Dewan It has been maybe a little bit more consistent than like a Ryland Griffin or an AJ Storr, for instance, or maybe if you're just referring to Zeke Mayo
Starting point is 00:03:29 on Home and the Road, like those have been vastly different. But there have been some more ups and downs for Dewan Harris that I think has frustrated people for what you would expect for a guy that is supposed to be more of your kind of glue guy, like do what you do well, and that should carry and translate and be consistent no matter where you are in there.
Starting point is 00:03:49 Some games are maybe it has four turnovers and a couple of them are bad and you know, it's just not there. And then you have other games where you have 10 assists to one turnover, right? So the consistency becomes important here. And I think this all boils down to one main thing as part of this.
Starting point is 00:04:02 Guards do win in March. And so if you want to win in March to want Harris has to play well for you to advance in March and you look at Arkansas, they've got some very talented guards. So you know, they're gonna be playing a team who if guards win in March, like they on paper might have the upper hand right now. Well, the one Harris plays well, maybe that shifts over. Now, the second part of this is, we know to want to Harris is going to play a ton.
Starting point is 00:04:25 He's gonna play a ton of minutes. That's always been the case with Bill Self, especially now NCAA tournament. Like he's really gonna go with the guys he trusts. And so DeJuan Harris becomes somebody who could be playing 35, 36, 37 minutes in each of these games or the lone game. We will see how far Kansas makes it, right?
Starting point is 00:04:41 And if that is the case, the longer you're on the court, the more impact you have on things. The other part of this is he is the most experienced player on the team, right? This is a team filled with experience. Hunter Dickinson in his fifth year, KJ Adams in his fourth year, right? Transfers who have been around for a couple years in college
Starting point is 00:04:58 basketball. Diggie Coy who's been, you know, around, I guess, between Juco and college for four years. You have experienced guys throughout the roster, but nobody's more experienced than Dewan, this is sixth year of college, right? It's his fifth year of play. And when you're talking about trying to be a steady
Starting point is 00:05:13 point guard, that experience should matter. Unfortunately, there've been a lot of moments this season where it felt like that experience hasn't mattered, it hasn't carried over to calming the team on the road or in clutch moments down the stretch. And there have been some tough clutch moments for not just Kansas this season, but for Dewan Harris this season or in his career. When you think back to some of the plays that right, stepping out of bounds in the national title game and the 10 second call against Arkansas the last time you played him in the NCAA tournament.
Starting point is 00:05:41 And there's some of the stuff that happened this year. But I would be remiss to not mention the fact that like, he did have, it is unfortunate that the 10 second call happened because he was having an awesome game against Arkansas. And if you remember, that was the Arkansas game where he got hurt, like running into the cameraman, like rolled his ankle and he was playing through that and still played really well.
Starting point is 00:06:00 And I think the production went down after that happened. So that certainly hurt a little bit there, but like this guy who has had some good moments in the NCAA tournament for Kansas. I don't want that to be forgotten here as a redshirt freshman. I mean, he was more so playing kind of a off the bench. You all come in for spurts here, their type role. He had 13 points against Eastern Washington, three for four from three with four assists and two steals off the bench. He was really good as a redshirt freshman in that game against Eastern Washington, three for four from three with four assists and two steals off the bench.
Starting point is 00:06:25 He was really good as a retro freshman in that game against Eastern Washington. 2022 first round, it's Texas Southern, but he didn't have 12, three, two, and two, like solid numbers there. He had nine points on three of five from three, four assists, two steals against Villanova in the 2022 Final Four.
Starting point is 00:06:40 He was really good in that game. But there's some bad ones too, right? 2022 Elite Eight versus Miami, not a ton of stats in some of those games along that journey. The 2021 blowout wasn't great, nor was it for, you know, most KU players who played in that game. The stats in the national championship don't look good. Then again, he, in a lot of ways,
Starting point is 00:06:57 helped control that second half with his ability to disrupt, play defense, and help lead to transition opportunities for KU. So I guess point being, like, going over all these, I'm kind of saying like. It's been a inconsistent thing, right? It's been some games and good, some games have not. It's not just one thing or another. You need him to be consistently good in this go around.
Starting point is 00:07:17 I will say, I don't think people realize how good the stats look for Dewan Harris over his last two NCAA tournaments. So that would give you four games over the last two seasons. He has four straight games and double digits in the NCAA tournament and between the 2023 and 2024 NCAA tournaments, Dewan Harris in those four games is averaging 11 and a half points, seven and a half assists, almost four rebounds per game, almost two steals per game.
Starting point is 00:07:43 The efficiency in the turnovers isn't quite to the level you'd want it there. It's not like horrible, but it's not quite up to par with his regular season numbers. But I do find that at least a little bit interesting that to a certain extent, you could say that he actually has, you know, produced at a pretty decent level in the tournament, maybe more so than you might think.
Starting point is 00:08:00 But this is your last go around. You were the most experienced guy here, show it and play well, especially against an Arkansas team, which brings me to the next part of this. Like they have a bunch of young guards. And so for you look at the Arkansas matchup, Boogie Fland is supposed to return, who's over 15 points per game.
Starting point is 00:08:16 DJ Wagner, John L. Davis, like those are both guys who get 11 points per game. Basically combined, their three main guards win healthy, or giving them 37 points per game. And so you need Harris to step up in a matchup like that, where you have three athletic guards, because if DeJuan doesn't have a good game, like they might already have the guard advantage in this one with their athleticism and the pure
Starting point is 00:08:39 talent that they possess. If DeJuan, you know, can neutralize one of those guys, it makes it more winnable for Kansas, right? Or if he can have a better game than one of those guys, or if he can have a good defensive game that disrupts one of those guys, that becomes important. And when you're looking at trying to slow down the Arkansas offense, yeah, slowing down those guards is obviously of critical importance. And to one Harris would have as good of a shot as any of the KU guards in
Starting point is 00:09:02 doing just that. And then you look back to the exhibition game that happened between Kansas and Arkansas, and he did have a good scoring game. He had over 20 points in that exhibition game. You also look back to the previous time that DeJuan Harris played John Calipari. It was when he was at Kentucky in the Champions Classic. And I think DeJuan had 23 points that tells me two things. One, it tells me DeJuan has played well against John Calipari. Two, it tells me Dewan has played well against John Calipari. Two, it tells me that John Calipari
Starting point is 00:09:27 has the last two times he's played, Dewan Harris has set up systems and schemes to say, we're gonna let this guy beat us. We're gonna try to take away these other things. If Dewan Harris goes off, he goes off. And in the exhibition, he went off, didn't hurt Kentucky in that game, but also Hunter Dickinson didn't play around.
Starting point is 00:09:45 Griffin didn't play, right? Boogie Flanders was playing, right? Just kind of a different situation all the way around. You look at the J-Biz Classic, it did lose them the game in a way, right? That Dewan Harris went off. So you go back to that idea and say, okay, if he's going to say, hey, we're going to let Dewan Harris beat him. Well then DeJuan Harris has to kind of win this game and another one. And then the last part of this is this, going beyond just the first round. If Kansas does make it past Arkansas,
Starting point is 00:10:12 you're most likely playing St. John's. And if you play St. John's in the second round, what do the Red Storm do well? They force turnovers. St. John's is top 15 nationally. They were first in Big East games in turnover rate defense. They were also top 20 in steel rate nationally. No one has it in their hands more for Kansas than Dewan Harris,
Starting point is 00:10:29 maybe 100 seconds, but realistically, Dewan Harris. We've seen some games with excruciatingly painful Kansas turnovers that have been unforced or just dumb plays. Not saying Dewan specifically, some Dewan, some A.J. store, some even 100 seconds. Everybody's kind of contributed there. We've seen others where it's been a master class. Like I think the first game against Houston where Kansas sure won the game to get
Starting point is 00:10:52 12 assists to one turnover, right? And so of course it only adds more intrigue based on the St. John's style of play, but also the fact that St. John's plays a six six point guard, like how on earth would Dewan Harris match up against a team like that? So I think Dew one Harris is kind of the key to Kansas moving on to the second round and moving on to the second weekend. If you can get to that point in the NCAA tournament, you have known commodities and hundred Dickinson. And I guess we'll see what what happens with Zeke Mayo shooting.
Starting point is 00:11:19 But we saw in the Arizona game Zeke Mayo was shooting really well. They still lost the game to Arizona. I think the one Harris is kind of the key for KU moving forward. All right, let's talk a little bit about the Bill South, John Calipari pass matchups. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Nissan and the Armada team of the week is brought to you by our friends at Nissan
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Starting point is 00:13:24 company not available in certain states prices subject to underwriting and health questions. I continue on thanks for making locked on Jayhawks your first listen every day. Don't forget to check out locked on college basketball really get you ready for the NCAA tournament there. You can check out locked on Arkansas with locked on Razorbacks. I should say it properly with John neighbors to maybe get you ready from their side of things. And just make sure you're making this your first listen every day too. Right. Okay. So John Calipari, Bill Self, it's been a fun, I would say back and forth affair between the two of them. I wanted to go back and look back at past history between these two guys. So you look at the
Starting point is 00:13:57 overall record and Bill Self is seven and six, I believe against John Calipari. One of those though, was when Bill Self was at Illinois. If you're just talking about, since Bill Self's been at Kansas, it would be six to six. If you're including the exhibition game this past year, then I guess it'd be seven to seven. So wherever you want to go with it. The first meeting between these two though, was 2002,
Starting point is 00:14:20 December 28th, Memphis beat Illinois. That was a home game for Memphis, 77 to 74. And then that takes us to the second meeting, which is the first one between Self and Calipari when Self's at Kansas. And some people might remember this game. It was the 2008 national championship game. Kansas wins 75 to 68 in overtime.
Starting point is 00:14:39 From there, John Calipari got the better of Bill Self for a while. 2011 champions classic, Kentucky wins 75 to 65 with Anthony Davis and the crew. Then later that spring in 2012 for the national championship, Kentucky wins 67 to 59. Then in the 2014 Champions Classic,
Starting point is 00:14:58 Kentucky wins 72 to 40, which is the Bill Self drinking water and wishing it was vodka postgame celebration, or not really celebration, morning, I guess you could say. And at that point in time, John Calipari's won three straight, he's four and one against Bill Self. And it's like, oh, does he have the elixir? Not many people are beating Bill Self. Does he know what, you know, does he have it figured out, which is the recipe, just get a bunch of guys who are
Starting point is 00:15:26 going to be like NBA Hall of Famers anyway. What changed it was the 2016 match we put in these two actually. So I think it was Yeah, I think it was the 1516 season. So it was in January of 2016 was the big 12 SEC challenge. I remember this one for being the rules of basketball game. It was the game that you've never seen the 30 for 30 basically, David Booth and Kansas by the rules of basketball. Obviously, that's there now at Allen Fieldhouse and everything like that. At halftime, they brought out the
Starting point is 00:15:55 rules of basketball. This is when they officially I guess, immortalized it in Allen Fieldhouse. They get out t shirts with the rules of basketball on the back and all that sort of thing. It was a really good game. That was the Kentucky team that I like Tyler Ulyss and Jamal Murray, like very good guard team. And oddly only made it to the second round of the tournament. But Kansas won that one 90 to 84 in overtime. That was obviously a very good Kansas team.
Starting point is 00:16:17 For my money, that is the most underrated Kansas team of the Bills South. That team was so good, that 2015-16 team. I mean, they won 17 straight games, which started with that win over Kentucky. And I think that was Wayne Seldon's career high. I don't know if he ever got more than that. Thirty three points against Kentucky. That was a fun one. Then 2017. That was another fun one.
Starting point is 00:16:35 Kansas goes on the road to Kentucky in the big 12 SSE challenge. And that was, you know, Josh Jackson, Frank Mason, Landon Lucas had a big game. He gets bam out of bio. I mean, looking back, that one looks even more sweet because it's Darren Fox, who's been like very good NBA player, like all star, Malik Monk, who's been a very good NBA player, not quite all star, but like good player, and Bam Adebayo, who's like Team USA. And Kansas beat that team in their home building, Frank Mason, man. 79-73. So that was a fun one there for Keio. Then the same year, same calendar year, but different season, 2017 Champions Classic for the 17-18 season.
Starting point is 00:17:08 Kansas wins 65-61. That was a game that you think of Devonte Graham and Malik Newman. They won a game ugly. And I remember Bill Self was so happy after the game because he knew what that team was going to be, that they were going to be more of a finessed three-point shooting team. The fact that they showed they could win like that, he absolutely loved it, even though it was a very ugly game.
Starting point is 00:17:26 So at that point in time, you go from Bill Self winning the big national title game, John Calipari is now four and one against Bill Self to then all of a sudden Kansas, can they be stopped against John Calipari? They've won three straight games, it's tied four to four. Well, then 2018 happens. And that 2018-19 Kansas team,
Starting point is 00:17:43 actually I think it would have been in 2019 in January, again, Big 12 SEC challenge and Reed Travis and not a great Kansas team. That was the game that David McCormick with all the confidence in the world pulled up in transition and shot like a mid-range jumper. I think it almost like banked in. That was my biggest memory from the game
Starting point is 00:18:02 which probably doesn't speak well to the game. Kansas loses 71 to 63 there. The next time they meet is the 2020 Champions Classic in which Kansas wins 65 to 62. Kind of another ugly one. That one was played without like fans. That was kind of the Jalen Wilson coming out party as a redshirt freshman for KU.
Starting point is 00:18:22 Next time they meet is 2022 in Allen Fieldhouse. And that was the kind of, oh crap moment of, are we sure this team can win a national title? They lose by 18 at home to Kentucky. And looking back on what happened from there, Kansas still had a couple of losses after that. But I think it was either the next game or the game after that that they like crushed, I want to say Baylor, just beat the doors of them where it was a reminder of, okay, maybe that was just one game.
Starting point is 00:18:50 And looking back to it's easier because oh, oh, Chad Bosch, I think the next game was out with COVID. He was clearly playing sick in that game. Wasn't himself the, you know, he was a national player of the year candidate that year. So that's kind of important. Remy Martin played through the game with an injury that he didn't play again after that for like a month. Like he probably shouldn't have been playing. He's probably a detriment because he wasn't 100%. So you're playing with two guys who by the time the end of the season game were two of your most five or six important players on the team. One of them probably the most important player on the team and Ochai that were, you know, beat up, I guess, in different ways coming in like him. And I remember there was that the forward. Oh gosh, what was the name started with a K for Kentucky? For some reason, I want to say Key on Ellis, but I don't think that's right.
Starting point is 00:19:34 Maybe it is that just like hit every shot. He was like making every shot from mid-range. I like 20 something points looking back on it. I'm just kind of like, oh, okay. No, that it happens, you know, sometimes right. But at the moment, like that was such an aberration. Anyway, 2023, Kansas goes into Kentucky and wins that one 77 to 68.
Starting point is 00:19:51 That was a fun one, night game in which they were able to really slow down like Oscar Shibway in the middle of the defense. And then the 2023 Champions Classic, Kansas wins 89 to 84, in which I mentioned DeJuan Harris had 23 points, he had seven assists. Hunter Dickinson was unbelievable.
Starting point is 00:20:07 Twenty seven points, twenty one rebounds for KU and then KJ Adams even had 16 points. But maybe the star of the show, I don't know, I guess, hundred twenty seven and twenty one. That's the real star of the show. Kevin McColler, though, had a triple double in that game. That is when things were really rolling. So in the end, Bill Self seven wins, John Calipari six between the two in the postseason. It is one to one both of them have been national titles. This is not a national title game. But you know, for both these coaches, they're gonna approach it like it is because they're both very big competitors. And what I find interesting too is the tournament success,
Starting point is 00:20:39 very similar for these two guys. They've done it in different ways. Calipari had that stretch where he had like four straight Final Fours, and that amassed a majority of his, you know, good tournament runs at Kentucky. He had some deeper runs at Memphis too. For Bill Self, it's been more spread out. It's been, okay, maybe a second round here and then in the lead A to lead A, second round, second round, like final four or something like that, right?
Starting point is 00:21:00 But in the end, Bill Self in the NCAA tournament, 53 and 23. John Kalapari is 57 and 22. So Calipari 72% win percentage in the tournament, Bill Self 70%. But if you look at Bill Self started 13 and eight in the NCAA tournament, going back to his time at, because that record I'm talking about here, it's for Calipari, it includes the stops at UMass,
Starting point is 00:21:22 Memphis, Kentucky, now obviously at Arkansas. For Bill Self, it includes his stops at UMass, Memphis, Kentucky, now obviously at Arkansas. For Billshoff, it includes his time at Oral Roberts, though he didn't make a tournament, Tulsa, Illinois, and now Kansas. And if you look at Billshoff, he started 13 and 8 in the tournament after those back-to-back first round losses at Kansas. Since that point, he's 40 and 15 in the tournament. So that's a 72.7 win percentage. John Calipari, 72.2. It's funny how close those are. Also, first round records, which is of note because they're playing in the tournament. So that's a 72.7 win percentage. John Calipari 72.2. It's funny how close those are. Also first round records, which is of note because they're playing in the first round.
Starting point is 00:21:50 Bill Self 23 and two, John Calipari 20 and three. So slight edge for Self, but again, it's close. Now we'll say the trend is going Self's way. Bill Self has won 17 straight first round matchups. John Calipari has lost two of his last three. So I don't really have a point to come with there. I just thought about sharing that information. I found it kind of interesting and chronicling back because who knows for all we
Starting point is 00:22:11 know this could be the last match between the two, right? Because now the Calipari is in Arkansas, you're not on the schedule every year in the Champions Classic. And right, I mean, don't sell for Calipari. Either one could retire in two years and five years, you just don't know. And for all we know, this could be the last matchup. We'll have to wait and see. All right. Can Kansas get Rylan Griffin going? What's been going on there? We discussed that on the other side.
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Starting point is 00:23:34 We'll have a Kansas Arkansas preview coming up for you to get you ready for that matchup. We'll have a postcast for you after the game late into your Thursday night here on Lockdown Jayhawks as well. So make sure you subscribe to the show so you won't miss any of the action. Okay, can Kansas get Rylan Griffin going again? That is the big question, but real quick, we're gonna take a break with the guys from CBB, Lockdown College of Basketball.
Starting point is 00:23:59 The NCAA Tournament is here and so is the bracket breakdown. Lockdown Podcast Network and the Amazon Fire TV channels are teaming up to deliver NCAA tournament is here and so is the bracket breakdown. Locked On Podcast Network and the Amazon Fire TV channels are teaming up to deliver NCAA tournament coverage like never before. Watch studio shows featuring former players and Locked On's local experts as they guide you through every upset, buzzer beater, and bracket matchup. Stream it all for free on Amazon Fire TV channels.
Starting point is 00:24:20 Search bracket breakdown to see it all for free. It's your team every day. channel search bracket breakdown to see it all for free. It's your team every day. And they'll be talking about Kansas and many of the other teams going on in the tournament. Alright, so can Kansas get Ryland Griffin going again? Well, in the big 12 tournament, they did not. Ryland Griffin had a combined two points between the two games. He was one for 10 shooting. I did
Starting point is 00:24:42 find it interesting though, that Bilsolf continued to start him now. Will that be different now that it's NCAA tournament time? Entirely possible. But that almost tells me that like, he's basically saying, hey, I'm going to continue to try to show him a little bit of trust because we have no other option.
Starting point is 00:24:56 If Ryland Griffin can't get going, there is not an alternative for us, right? Like AJ Storr hasn't made, he had the big game in the recall tournament followed up without a big game, right? And so Bill Self sees the big picture of saying if we are going to make a deep run in this NCAA tournament, Ryland Griffin has to get going. And so me keeping him in the starting lineup and
Starting point is 00:25:14 trying to show a little bit of that faith, maybe that is what he needs to get going. Well, it didn't work in the big 12th tournament. We'll see if it works in the NCAA tournament. I got to think though for him, Ryland, that is, he's got to have good vibes in this tournament, right after what happened last year. And now that you can save a new season thing all you want. But it's hard to really live that for some guys, I'm sure you hear stories about like baseball players who talk
Starting point is 00:25:38 about like, once you get in the slump, and then there's the stats up on the video board, and you see it every time you're at 198 and you start to press like, oh, I got to get above the Mendoza line. You wonder if that's the thing with Ryland Griffin. Maybe the fact that it's the NCAA tournament actually allows him to have a reset there, because since Monday, February 3rd, which was the game against Iowa State that the Kansas I think that's when they won. He's gone just 19 of 77 shooting,
Starting point is 00:26:01 19 of 77 shooting, including 13 of 51 from three, that equates to 25% from the field and 25% from three. And that is over a really long stretch of games. And that's the weirdest part about this was like, it's the same thing with Nick Timberlake where, for a while the big thing with Ryland Griffin, maybe not playing or playing as big a role as you might've thought,
Starting point is 00:26:20 it was maybe more about the defense or knowing where to be and yada yada, the trust things with themselves. He was still shooting, maybe not to the level he was at Alabama, but he was still shooting well. And now you're getting just a level where it's like, what's going on here? Why is this happening? But Kansas cannot make it through this weekend or, you know, make a run in the NCAA tournament without some sort of contribution from the transfer wings. I'm not saying they got average 15 a game, but you need a couple threes from Rylan Griffin per game in theory, right?
Starting point is 00:26:48 And this is what he did in the tournament last year, 12.4 points per game, 50% from the field, 48% from three. He was awesome for Alabama in making that run to the final four. He had eight or more points in every game. So you got consistency. He made a three in every game of the tournament run, including two or more made threes
Starting point is 00:27:03 in four of their five NCAA tournament games. So you've got consistency in a real level you could count on. If Kansas can get that in this tournament run, I think you would feel great about it. If you told me eight points per game on one to two to three made three-pointers per game that Kansas is in the tournament, I think you would feel okay with that
Starting point is 00:27:19 at this point in time. And you look at that first matchup with Arkansas, I mean, if Carter Knox is there three, Carter Knox is a very talented player. He's also freshman. Maybe he can take advantage with a little bit of experience and both Arkansas and St. John's allow a fair amount of attempts from three to so it's really him and Zeke
Starting point is 00:27:36 Mayo was KU's main shooters dig quite off the bench to that kids really needs him to get going in the same way that they need to want Harris to be an X Factor if they want to move on past Arkansas and into the second weekend beyond that. That'll do for this episode of lockdown Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast including on our YouTube page. See you next time for another edition talking KU basketball on LOJ

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