Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Is There Reason to Worry About Kansas Jayhawks Basketball + Why They Will/Won't Make the Final Four

Episode Date: March 7, 2023

Are there reasons to worry about Kansas Jayhawks' men's basketball after the last three games including a 16-point loss to Texas, or is everything fine for KU? What is this team's identity involving Jalen Wilson and reasons why Bill Self's team will or won't make the Final Four with Nick Schwerdt. Plus, another edition of Whose Stat Line is it Anyway featuring Ernest Udeh, Gradey Dick, and Kevin McCullar.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's Locked on Jayhawks, joined by Nick Schwert, we're going to be talking KU basketball. Should we be concerned at all about the recent level of play? What's the identity of this team headed into the NCAA tournament and the Big 12 tournament? And that line is it anyway? You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Johnson, you can hear me as well. We're Rock Chalk Sports Talk, Monday through Friday, 3 to 6 on KLWN in Lawrence.

Thanks for making Locked On Jayhawks your first listen every day. We're free and available wherever you get any of your podcasts. And today's edition of the show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook of Locked On. Make every moment more. Visit FanDuel.com slash Locked On today to get started. So joined by Nick Schwert on today's episode, you can find him with Cody and Golds on 10 to 2 in the afternoon morning ish I guess in Kansas City on 610 you'd also hear him on the wave in the wheat podcast with Odyssey and everything

so Nick I guess first things first just kind of over the recent games KU losing to Texas by 16 the two previous games were games that you won, but if you just base it on expectations, like if you look at the point spread or I don't know, some of the metric sites like at Ken Palm, they're expected to win by having to kind of grit out games against two of the bottom three teams in the Big 12.

Is there any level of concern for you about what has happened these last three games for KU as we're headed into the big 12 and NCAA tournament? Not really. I think coming down the home stretch, you know, you beat Baylor, you beat really, you go back to that stretch where you beat Oklahoma state Baylor and TCU. And that was, I think the real sense of accomplishment that, okay, we've overcome so much. We've gotten down big in these games. We come back.

We find a way to win it. And when you beat Baylor, I think that was the moment where you kind of realized, okay, this team is getting at least a share of the Big 12 title. So coming down this home stretch in what was a very anticlimactic ending to Big 12 play, It's tough for me to really read into it too much, especially knowing it's a long season. These guys know what's at stake. They know what's ahead. The Texas game was a frustrating one to watch. I don't think Kansas played great basketball.

I don't think Texas played all that well either, but it was a game that ultimately meant nothing other than NCAA tournament seating. Yes, Kansas was playing for the number one overall seed. Texas is maybe trying to play themselves from a four to a three or a three to a two, depending on where you think they're going to end up on selection Sunday. But that stuff will all be put in the rear view mirror starting on selection Sunday. We don't ever talk about how teams finished this season. There have been teams that have struggled to end the year that go on to win the national championship.

There have been other teams that have been red hot to end the regular season that get bounced in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. So I know it's fun to try and draw these conclusions and try and use them as like sort of predictive measures. But ultimately, I just think it's three games at the end of what's been a really, really long season and knowing that your most important games are still out in front of you. Well, I think for me, the big worry is what's going on with Grady Dick right now, like individually. Is this hitting the freshman wall? Is it just a bad couple games? It could be that. I don't know.

Jalen Wilson seems to have moved out of his route. I think that game for Texas represented to me everything that was going wrong when you looked back to that three-game losing streak. Jalen Wilson was playing out of his mind. Didn't have an out- his mind game but he had 23 points 10 rebounds against Texas and nobody really else stepped up and it felt like the entirety of the bench that you know you were seeing some flash from Ernest today a 14 point game from Joe Yasevu against Texas like it wasn't consistent but you were getting something and the

bench the last three games has completely disappeared as well and I know that the bench the last three games has has completely disappeared as well and i know the the bench isn't like a giant concern in the ncaa tournament the longer tv timeouts and everything i i guess i'm i'm hesitant i i'm not overly worried like you said the game doesn't really matter it didn't really change anything for what this team is and uh where they're at like from a national scope but when you add in the last for that or you were kind of in bad situations against lower end teams in the big 12 i guess to me just more in a wait and see for like the big 12 tournament because i think it puts more pressure on the big 12 tournament if you go out and you lose in the big 12 quarterfinals i think there is going to be real discussion about this team in the wrong direction.

Versus if you win the Big 12 championship, nobody's going to even remember the Texas game. I think more than playing poorly to end this season, specifically, I want to look more about, I want to look more at how Jalen Wilson is playing. When's the last time he had a good shooting is playing. When's the last time he had a good shooting night? And when's the last time he had a really efficient offensive outing? You go back to the Baylor game. I think he went nine of 10 from the free throw line in that one.

You know, when, when KU's playing well, despite Jalen not having great shooting performances, you say, wow, look at this team. You know, they found another, it got another pitch, man. They found another way to win. They're evolving. They're growing. Other guys are stepping up. They can win without Jalen playing great. But the second they start playing poorly, you go, oh, I guess this team really does need that guy to play really well. By the time March rolls around, I mean, we can talk all we want about other guys stepping up. You mentioned some dudes off the bench. Kevin McCuller, DeJuan Harris have, I think, played better as of late.

I think we would all agree, if Jalen Wilson doesn't play like an All-American in March, KU's not going to the Final Four, right? We don't have to overcomplicate this. Your guy, who has been a National Player of the Year candidate all year, hasn't looked like a National Player of the Year candidate for a couple of weeks. And it makes sense. Think about the workload that he's been carrying. Think about how much they've asked him to do, even on off nights. He has grinded it out to the point where he is always making an impact on the game.

Saturday against Texas is a perfect example. Nothing else was working, but Jalen Wilson found a way to make an impact specifically with what he does scoring the basketball. He hasn't been doing that as at an efficient of a clip. Like he's still getting his 21 points but he is grinding to get to that point and I think that to me is the biggest thing that stands out right now can he get fresh legs can he get back to the point where he looks like one of the 10 best players in the country because if he doesn't I think the rest of this conversation is all for not. You're not going to Houston unless Jalen plays like an All-American.

I want to get on to some identity talk here and then we'll get to who's stat line is it anyway. But first, this episode of Locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by FanDuel. The midway point of the NBA season is here and now is the perfect time to download FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook because new customers get a no sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's bonus bets back if your first bet doesn't win.

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Okay, so I'm curious because I was thinking about this and I know this is something that you like to bring on any talk. What is this team's? To be clear, I don't know if I even know what last year's team's identity was, to be completely honest, but it feels like the best Bill Self teams have had that identity. You go down the list, whether it's a defensive calling card or being really good from three-point range or just having elite guard play.

Maybe that's just what it is. Maybe it's similar to last year where it's like your identity is just having a national player of the year candidate and having just other good starters around him i i don't know what do you what did you view last year's team's identity to be and what do you kind of view this year's team as last year i thought their identity was transition like this team was lethal in the open court Ochai and Christian Brown were two of the best open court finishers in the nation and they were really solid defensively so they created a lot of those opportunities that to me was last year's identity and we saw they just happened to do that very very well in the NCAA tournament and we know how the season ended this year. And I don't know if,

because that's the thing about identities, Derek, is it's one thing to say like, oh, they create turnovers or they get easy shots inside. It's like all identities are kind of created equal. How good are you at that? How can you maximize your identity? I think this year's identity,

it doesn't sound all that impressive. They move the ball about as well as any team I've seen in the country. And I think a lot of that is due to Dwan Harris, but a big part of it is KJ. That's usually the spot where the ball sticks a little bit. And we know how it was with David McCormick down low, right? That was the big complaint for him is when he touches it, we know it's only a matter of time before that ball's going up. This team moves the ball so well. And that to me is a testament to them being a really high IQ basketball team. So maybe that's part of their identity as well. They just play really smart. It's not the most talented team. It's not the deepest team. It's not the

most explosive team. Doesn't have the best shooters. Doesn't have the best finishers around the rim. They're just smart. You've got two of the best defensive guards in the country in Harris and McCuller. You've got Grady, who I think for a freshman is pretty advanced with how he plays, going after hustle, hustle plays, moving the ball, his offensive acumen. Like I said, with KJ, he's so decisive with the ball. Whenever he catches the ball at that high post, it's either immediately passing, immediately shooting, immediately drive. There's no hesitation to his game.

There's no, let me figure out, split second, what am I? He's going. And then Jalen's Jalen. That is the identity of this basketball team. And when they're in the zone, it looks so effortless. The ball is just moving. They're finding the open guy. And some of the stuff that we didn't know was going to be

like efficient basketball from them before the season has become that like KJ taking mid-range pull-up jumpers or Jalen taking 36 foot threes or or DeJuan taking like open threes like now that's a part of what they do really well but when it's not working like it was against Texas and again that was a weird game there were a lot of whistles I didn't feel like there was much momentum going, especially in the second half. When it's not working, it looks really clunky, and it looks like there's no rhythm,

and there's no timing to their offense. So it's tough. I don't know exactly what the rhyme reason is as to why they give you those grooves and when they get out of them, but that's where I start. They're just a high IQ team who moves the ball really well and they play really smart basketball.

So if you were to give a biggest reason why they will make it to Houston, make it to the Final Four, and a biggest reason why you think they would fall short, what would come to mind for you? Well, I'll answer the second one first. The biggest reason why they would fall short is kind of what I just said there is they're going to hit a stretch where Jalen is not having one of those nights and nobody else picks up the slack. Grady has been your second best player all year long, averaging what, 14, 15 points per game.

But for him to be your second best scorer, second best player, and to have as many nights where it kind of feels like he doesn't make an impact on the game, that's concerning. He's also a 19-year-old kid, right? He's not, if Grady stuck around for three more years, he's not going to stick around for one more year. Then imagine how advanced he would get with just understanding all the little nuances of how teams are defending you, how to be ready coming off a screen, just always looking to score.

He's not that, which is why he gets taken out of games in times where you're just begging for him to do something. Please assert yourself, go find your shot. And it just doesn't for really, really long stretches. That's tough for him to be your second best player and for him to do something, please assert yourself, go find your shot. And it just doesn't for really, really long stretches. That's tough for him to be your second best player. And for him to so easily get taken out of games like that,

he can just as easily get involved in games as we've seen before. But it's sort of that Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, you'd rather him live more in the middle than on both ends of the extreme. So that's how they get bounced early is Jalen has an off night and the other guys aren't picking up the slack. It's as simple as that. How they make a deep run in March is it starts to me with DeJuan and Kevin, those two guys playing like the two best defenders in college basketball. I mean, I think they're two of the top five defensive guards in the country. And they're different, right? DeJuan is just so annoying.

He is that guy that you play pickup basketball with who's just playing you out to 40 feet the entire game and he's swiping and pushing the ball in the other direction. I think that's part of it. And the other side of it is you don't need Grady to play great for six games to win the national championship. You don't need him to play great to go to the final four. You don't need Joe Yesifu or Ernest Uday to come off the bench and be great and give you

quality minutes for four straight games. But you have to get a combination of those things. There needs to be a night where Grady goes for 22 or 21 and he hits five or six or seven threes like we've seen him do before. There needs to be a night where the A-list defense dares KJ to beat them and he does because we've seen him do that. Even if that's just for 15 points, there needs to be a night where Joe comes in and gives you 16 quality minutes and gives you eight points off the bench or Ernest comes in and gives you 13 minutes and he gives you seven points and five rebounds

and three blocks. You just need to stack up the little things, which when KU has been at their worst, you get none of. When they've been at their best, they're getting a little of everything. You don't need it every single night, but there's going to be a game or two where you're going to need the thing that you don't get very often to happen and then hope that the other three or four games Jalen can be Jalen. Grady can be Grady and you can just rely upon what's gotten you this far. All right, let's finish up with whose stat line is it anyway here with locked on Jayhawks.

Before we get into whose stat line is it anyway, I do have a I don't know. It's sort of stat based. I don't know. Have you officially plugged in the noticeability metric chart, whatever, into anything? And please tell me who number one on the list is this year and why is it Joe Yesifu?

Well, the reason why it's Joe Yesifu is because he seems hell bent on shooting his way out of every, he's like John Wick, you know, I'm going to shoot my way out of every problem I get myself into. The problem is he doesn't have the same hit rate. Like his accuracy is not quite as good as John Wick. Also something that's just been bugging me all year. I was talking to a friend about it during the game on Saturday. I know I'm not red hour back. Okay.

Like I'm not, I'm not hosting coaching clinics here, but it annoys the hell out of me. The Joe. Yes. If who has his feet like angled to the side on every jump shot, I'm sure. I'm sure some coaches,

it's about your hips. It's about your shoulders. Doesn't matter about you. I don't care what it's about. I notice it and it bugs me if he were shooting the exact same percentage but he just had his feet squared up to the basket i wouldn't ever talk about joe yesifu but it's joe yesifu jalen's up there in a really positive way but uh yeah joe like per minute like pound for pound he's the undisputed champ this year. Yeah, and when he misses a three, he misses a three. You know he missed the shot.

And then you have a 5'9 guard dunking on guys. It's very noticeable. All right, first one up for who's stat line. But anyway, we got a O rating, D rating one. So if you go to college basketball reference, they have O rating D rating one. So if you go to like college basketball reference, they have O rating D rating. It's based on how your team performs with you on the floor per 100 possessions. So this player has a 126.10 rating, which is third on KU. The only players who are better are Cam Martin and Michael Jankovich

in very limited minutes. And he also has an 88.7 D rating, which is best on the team. And you're not going to tell me anything else you're not going to tell me how often this person plays i will tell you they are a part of the rotation okay well that narrows it down because there's only like six guys in the rotation um i'm just this doesn't feel right. I feel like the O rating is too high for this guy, but I just feel like there's a drop off whenever he's not on the court. So I am going to say the one Harris is incorrect.

The correct answer is Ernest Uday. I should have, I should have trusted my gut that it was somebody with a very limited sample size. I think the offensive rating is the one that gets me. I get it. I should have I should have trusted my gut that it was somebody with a very limited sample size I I think the offensive rating is the one that gets me I get it he's he hasn't missed the shot right so I I don't know how much that helps with the efficiency but is there any any part of you that goes hey maybe Ernest should be getting like 15 minutes a game and KJ down to 25. No, no, not any part of me, man. This is one of those weird years where I have not found myself.

I usually I've got one of the one or two of those in my bag. Like, Oh, this guy should be doing this more. That guy should be doing that less this year. I'm like, the five starters are clearly like, there's so much better than everybody else in the team.

They, and it, maybe it's just, maybe it's just, uh just like a comfort, a chemistry thing, right? Like Ernest is probably one of the five most talented players on the team, whatever. But he doesn't know how to play with the rest of the guys yet. Like those five, like I just don't mess with it. If you could tell me that none of them would get tired and you could just get 40 minutes a game from them,

I would take it every single, at no point am I ever like, get so-and-so in there. Get MJ in there. Fix this. That has not happened once this year. Yeah, I agree with that. Number two, KU has six losses this season. In those six losses, this player is averaging 11.3 points per game,

36% from the field, 29 from three, 3.7 rebounds, 0.8 assists. Okay, so it's one of two guys. I am going to say Grady Dick. It is Grady Dick. Grady Dick is the correct answer. When you look at the, the wins, it is literally every part about his game does better when they win.

He's shooting a 43% from three. The field goal percentage is in the forties up to like 15, a game points wise rebounds up one and a half assists is up one and a half. The turnovers are down. Everything is better for K ku when grady just plays better in general isn't that the most freshman thing ever right just like uh when things are going good i can't be stopped when things are going poorly i can't find anything

that works that is the most 19 year old thing ever hasn't been battle tested man by the way i was looking at this today the most stark difference you'll look at any ku player this isn't on here between wins and losses dewan harris is shooting over 50 in the wins he's shooting under 20 in the losses you know what i've actually said i was actually looking at that a couple of weeks ago it's not just the efficiency it's the volume like if you notice the the losses like he's hardly shooting at all in and that's something that bill solves talked about a lot it's we don't need him to be great we just need him to be a threat and when he's a threat ku's played much better all right last one

i got for you here this is over the last nine games so this dates back a stretch that started february 1st and on 12 points per game 6.1 rebounds 3.1 assists 60% on two point shots so I think I know this one and I believe it is because I know this person has been very efficient and there's one stat you left off which is three point percentage which is I would assume because this player can't hit a three to save his life right now. And that would be, oh man, I hope I'm not wrong. I think I might have, now I'm overthinking it. Kevin McCuller. Yeah, I'm guessing you started thinking KJ Adams

without the threes on there. It is Kevin McCuller. I started thinking Jalen because I know he hasn't played well, but I was like 12 points per game. That's too low, even with, but Kevin, by the way, what's he shooting from three in that stretch? Like 15%? It is 5 of 24, I want to say. So that's right above 20%.

If he starts shooting threes, is he the best player on the team? Is it? I mean, does this call for a he's due proclamation maybe yeah he's getting hot hey I don't know if you can get like bets on once the tournament comes out on players to win like the regional MOP maybe bet on Kevin McCuller he gets hot from three does everything else well yeah and you know what's funny about that is he's also getting to the free throw line a ton. He's just playing with aggression. He's kind of figuring out, you know, he's a senior. So I think people kind of thought, okay, we think of the transfer portal, senior, really smart player, plug and play.

That element of learning to play with four other guys is really tricky. Even if you're a seasoned veteran like McCuller is, i think it's taken him some time to kind of figure out okay what's my role when am i deferring when am i sort of trying to take over and i feel like he's just kind of gotten better as the season's gone along well nick appreciate the time as always man anything we let you go nudge listen. Listen to Rock Chalk Sports Talk from three to six, Monday through Friday, man. Wow. I appreciate that.

Well, check out Nick as well. Cody and Gold, 10 to 2 on 610. Waving the Weed Podcast. Appreciate it, man. Hey, thanks, man. All right. That'll do it for this episode. You can find us on YouTube, anywhere you get podcasts.

Hit me up on Twitter at DJohnsonRadio. Have a good one. See you next time.