Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Schedule Creates Opportunity Starting with Colorado Buffaloes

Starting point is 00:00:00 Could this be a start of a run for KU basketball? They certainly need it. We'll preview the Jayhawks against the Buffaloes of Colorado. 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 it your first listen every day. We're going to get into a KU Colorado preview today, headlines of the game, the opponent's scouting report for the Buffaloes, and we'll also get into keys to the game and players to watch for the Jayhawks against CU as well.

Starting point is 00:00:53 This episode of the show was brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. So Kansas taking on Colorado, and i guess one headline is it's a renewed conference matchup we saw these teams play some non-conference meetings uh we saw kansas win i think the most recent one uh we saw i think it was like askia booker or something like that hit like a half court shot to beat kansas and the andrew williams team uh but now they are back as conference foes against each other with Colorado rejoining the Big 12. And certainly things have not gone well for Colorado. For them, they're just trying to get their first

Starting point is 00:01:28 win, a Big 12 play. That's kind of their headline coming into this one for Kansas. The schedule opens up a little bit here in their next five, if you include this as the next five. How are you going to take advantage of it? Because I remember last season, we had kind of a similar conversation the team had uh just lost i want to say it was maybe it was the at texas tech game last season and they were 19 and 6 they were 7 and 5 in the conference which is the same record this year and it was a conversation that hey uh the schedule maybe opens up a little bit here you're at oklahoma who you know was was fine but they weren't anything special you were home against texas

Starting point is 00:02:03 and byu you had the app bay game, which was going to be tough, but then home against Kansas State at Houston. Could you take care of some of those stretch of games and finish on a high note, really? And it turns out, well, Kansas lost at home to BYU. They lost at Baylor. They lost at Houston. And they ended up going basically 3-3 in that stretch

Starting point is 00:02:21 with a blowout loss to Houston to finish off, and then you lost on a Wednesday in the Big 12 tournament. So you weren't able to take advantage of it. Can you take advantage of it this time? Right. When you look at it versus Colorado at Utah at BYU versus Oklahoma state at Colorado, can you go five and O in that stretch? Can you at least go four and one in that stretch? I think four and one keeps you afloat from the standpoint of like, you'll feel okay about where they are five and oh you're going to feel like you're starting to build momentum even if really outside the byu is the big one like that's the one on the road where they're a top 40 team they're an ncaa tournament team at least i would think so uh but the rest of them are ones that you should win at the end of

Starting point is 00:02:57 the day this team doesn't always win games that they should win so uh this is an opportunity for kansas and we'll see if they can take advantage. Also, other headline, it's the weird uniform game for KU. It's a cool story of what they're wearing the uniforms for. I will say, seeing them in person, I saw them at a local retail store. I thought they looked a little bit better in person than they did on social media. So, you know, whatever. And I do think it's cool to throw in some alternate uniforms every now and again. And like I said earlier on the postgame of the K-State, I think if they win and they win big and they look good in the uniform, then the uniforms are going to look great.

Starting point is 00:03:32 And they should wear them every time they win, right? All that sort of stuff. Now, as far as the Colorado Buffaloes, they come into this one at 9-14 on the season. They're 0-12 in Big 12 play. And so, yes, they've lost 12 consecutive games their last win was on december 21st against bellarmine um and they play kansas obviously twice in these next five games so you know if you're to give up a win to them that would uh be very embarrassed that would probably be the new low of where these past couple seasons have been if that ends up being the case um but yeah i mean they've, they're consistently losing by double digits.

Starting point is 00:04:05 They do have some close games in there. I mean, they lost by 10 to Houston. Like that isn't a bad loss at all, but losing by 13 at Utah, they lose by 11 at TCU again, close to lost Arizona state. They lose by 15 to Arizona, lose by 16 to BYU, 10 to Oklahoma state. There are only four games in the big 12 so far where they have lost by even single digits. And one of those is like by eight points. So like point being, this has not been a very good team. As you would imagine, if you look at conference only numbers, they are 16th in the Big 12 in offensive efficiency.

Starting point is 00:04:33 They are 15th in the Big 12 in defensive efficiency. Go beat them. Go blow them out. You look at the personnel for Colorado. Julian Hammond III has been a really good guard for them. He's averaging almost 14 points per game, over three assists, 1.2 steals per game, shooting 44% from the floor, 40% from three, 89% of the foul line. He's been a really good player for them, but nobody else is getting

Starting point is 00:04:56 double-figure scoring for the Buffaloes at this point in time. Andre Jakamowski is averaging close to it, 9.7 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, but only shooting 38%, 29% from three. Trevor Baskin, 8.5 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, two assists per game, 1.2 steals, 52%, but only 24% from three. You know, I can go into some of the players to watch. I mean, if you're interested in the center position, Bangkok Dak, who's a 6'11", 185-pound center. Elijah Malone, who's complete 6 11 185 pound center uh elijah malone who's complete

Starting point is 00:05:26 opposite 6 10 268 pounds and then a little bit of baskin at the five it'll be very interesting to me you know with dickinson if dach is is matched up on him is he just able to bury him in the post if it's malone you don't have as much as the the weight advantage you do have a little bit of a height advantage in that specific matchup but um you look at it for colorado it's you know there's not a ton of players who are getting 14 15 per game that we can kind of point out and be like oh well you know watch out for that guy uh javon ruffin six points per game is their two guard 36 from three so like that's a little bit interesting rj smith is shooting 42 on on a little lower volume because he's playing 20 minutes per game off the bench but

Starting point is 00:06:01 yeah man this is just a game that that i can point to a lot of these players and say yeah there's this guy and this guy and he does this well but at the end of the day kansas should just win this game and you should find a way to win this game you know kind of going away uh overall on the season colorado 159th on offense 86th on the defensive end of the floor now what they do well what they don't do well if you're looking at conference only numbers um so far this is a team that has gotten to the free throw line a good amount. They're fourth in the league in being able to basically get to the free throw line, and they've shot them well when they get to the free throw line. Fourth in free throw percentage in Big 12-only play.

Starting point is 00:06:35 They're also at least in, I guess you would say, the middle of the pack, slightly above the upper half in two-point percentage offense. Seventh in Big 12-only games in that area. On the defensive end of the court, this is a team that's done a pretty decent job of getting blocks and steals. They're sixth in block rate, seventh in steal rate, eighth in turnover rate defense. So they're at least, you know, have a little bit of heartbeat on that end of the court. And overall on the season, the areas that they've done best is defensive rebounding

Starting point is 00:07:00 and steal rate on the defensive end and then free throw percentage and getting to the foul line on the offensive end. where they have struggled this season i mean obviously there's been a lot of struggles when you lose 12 consecutive games uh they're turning the ball over at an alarming rate they are last in big 12 games with a about a 23 turnover rate in and to show you how bad that is so over the course of the full season including the non-con in the Big 12, Colorado is turning the ball over 21.7% of the time on offense. That ranks 353rd in the country. And in conference play, the number's gone up from almost 22% to over 23%. So you should be able – we talked about postgame and the K-State game.

Starting point is 00:07:41 Kansas basically over these last seven games outside of the Baylor game, so six of the last seven games outside of the Baylor game. So six of the last seven games combined has basically put up numbers that they're forcing the worst amount of turnovers in the country. Again, over the last seven games, you take out the Baylor game. So there's other six. They're only forcing like six and a half turnovers per game. The worst team in the country this year is forcing over seven turnovers per game. So this is the ultimate, instead of the, what is it, the immovable object versus unstoppable force, this is the stoppable force versus the movable object in terms of that category

Starting point is 00:08:12 and what kind of ends up happening in that area. Also, this has not been a good rebounding team in Big 12 play, offensive or defensive. They are, even though they're getting to the foul line a lot, they're also putting teams to the foul line at the highest rate in big 12 only play they've been eviscerated from three point range teams are shooting 37 percent from three uh against them so far in big 12 play and they haven't shot well from three themselves they're shooting under 31 percent in big 12 only games uh to this point in time now again overall in the season you include their non-con they have

Starting point is 00:08:43 been a good defensive rebounding team, but so far in conference only play that has not carried over for them, to say the least. All right, let's get to our keys to the game for the Jayhawks to come out on top, and then we'll get to players to watch. What Jayhawk do we think can have a big game for KU? We'll get to that on the other side.

Starting point is 00:09:03 Today's episode of Locked on Jayhawks is brought to you by Wayfair after the holiday hustle there's nothing like giving your home a little tlc i always find that decluttering and refreshing my space helps me get back into a routine whether you're tidying up clearing out or just want to give your space a new look to start the year wayfair has everything you need all within your budget my favorite part the free and hassle-free delivery, even for larger items, right? You order a couch and sometimes,

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Starting point is 00:10:03 We're just going to talk about playing with consistent energy in both halves and on both ends of the floor this is something bill self talked about postgame k state and we've kind of seen it with our eyes throughout the season this kansas team has been very inconsistent they've been inconsistent from game to game right you beat duke um you lose at kansas state you lose at home to west virginia right you beat ucf by a billion points on their home place. You barely beat them at your home place, right? So you can point game to game. They've been inconsistent half to half.

Starting point is 00:10:32 The first half of the West Virginia game, very bad. The second half of the West Virginia game, very good until the very end of the game. You look at, I don't know, a lot of other, like Houston, a lot of the game, you played great. But the end of the sequence at the end of regulation and overtime, you didn't play so great, right? There are other games where you had, you know, maybe bad. Arizona State, not great first half, great second half, right? TCU, not great first half, great second half. There are so many games this season and so many moments where you can point to

Starting point is 00:10:57 and be like, they've been so inconsistent this year. Can you find a little more consistency on this run where you have this schedule that opens up a little bit more for you? Maybe this is what you need to find consistency and do that now we're in february at this point in time i feel like if the light switch was going to turn on on this team being a more consistent team that played with energy all the time that played with that high motor it probably would have happened already and i feel like playing with a high motor is more of an identity thing that it is something that happens or doesn't happen like it's one thing when remy martin goes from you know being injured to not making a huge impact making a big impact like that comes down to just making shots and

Starting point is 00:11:33 doing other things it's another thing when it's like oh you're just not a team who plays with a high motor to all of a sudden ask to play with high energy and maybe they can turn it on like once we get to the ncaa tournament like maybe that's what this team will be maybe they just need their backs against the wall at the ultimate level for that to happen but I don't know I would like to see it happen like Bill Self called it out in the press conference let's see if it happens in this one and can you have two good halves right if you get up big in this one you get up 12 at half can you win the game by 20 as opposed to winning the game by 13 and coasting the rest of the way you know that's what I'm going to be looking forward to seeing if they can kind of do that and if they take to

Starting point is 00:12:07 the challenge that bill self kind of posed to them and i think in a real way i mean you're the more talented team here you are the better team kansas has had their struggles and issues this season but you are the better team here if you don't play with energy they're still going to hang around though right and if you play like oh oh woe is me this season is aka like they're going to come in and punch you in the mouth right any team is um can you come out with energy and if you do that if you come out with energy the talent and what you do well is going to show more than the things you don't do well and it's going to cover for some of the mistakes you do make if you play at a hard level so do that in this game all right number two get the transition game going again you look at it on the season Kansas is um overall the numbers have been dipping but for the season

Starting point is 00:12:51 they're averaging um over 11 fast break points per game but in big 12 only games they're down to 8.6 fast break points per game that puts them in just the 40th percentile uh during conference only games so basically below average well Colorado has been a very bad transition defense. So far in conference-only games, Colorado is giving up 13.5 transition points per game. That puts them in the fourth percentile nationally, so they have not been a good transition defense. You're coming off a game against Kansas State where you only had six fast break points, and that's been kind of the norm for KU of late. They haven't been getting in the fast break as much.

Starting point is 00:13:26 I don't know if that's team just emphasizing, you know, getting back on that end. I don't know if that has to do with Kansas playing more too. And some even three big basketball where you don't have as many like fast guards and wings on the court to, you know, spread down the court and get those transit.

Starting point is 00:13:38 I don't know what the reason is. Is it, does it go back to the energy thing? Right. You think of the Kansas state where you have like five on three and i don't know is it an energy thing is a mentality thing who knows i don't know what's causing it but it's got to change like this team consistently year in and year out like bill's of teams even the ones that aren't like ultra athletic are usually pretty good in transition and early in the season this team was lately they haven't been like that's an area

Starting point is 00:14:03 you can make this offense better even if your your half-court offense doesn't get any better, if you can average another three or four points per game in transition per game back to what you were doing on the season, as opposed to what you're doing in conference play, that could be the difference of one win, two wins down the stretch, which could mean everything to what seeds you get or, you know, where you go in the NCAA tournament.

Starting point is 00:14:21 Number three here, and by the way, going back to that one, getting out in transition, going back to matchup number one, the energy, what area of the game do you get the most momentum plays? Do you get the biggest energy plays? It's not always, but like a lot of times it is in transition. That's a lot of times where you can get an open three, you can get a dunk, you can do something pretty special.

Starting point is 00:14:42 So anyway, number number three play vertical defense without fouling we mentioned earlier colorado gets to the free throw line in big 12 only play they're in the 67th percentile in terms of uh free throw attempt rate overall for the season colorado is in the 79th percentile for free throw attempt rate they get to the free throw line and good amount and they knock them down at a fair amount too uh so far this season for kansas they haven't really been getting to the free throw line themselves so like if you're putting colorado to the line a bunch that's going to be a big advantage for them in kind of the point scoring ability um and so i think that's going to be kind of interesting here you look at the kansas defense though they have done in conference only games an excellent job

Starting point is 00:15:22 at not fouling teams i think that is one thing hunter digginson does a good job of he avoids fouls and does a good job just kind of staying vertical on the defensive end like um it probably also hasn't helped ku that sometimes they're just not there on the defensive end so if it's uncontested you're not gonna foul the guy um but you know you look at it kansas right now is in the 96th percentile in free throw attempt right defense so they are doing a good job avoiding that to this point in time. But you look at it, like Colorado's biggest win of the season, they upset UConn in the Maui Invitational. You go and look at that game, what was one thing they did really well?

Starting point is 00:15:55 They got to the free throw line. They got 28 free throw attempts for Colorado in their upset of the Huskies. So can you avoid sending them to the free throw line a bunch right it is a strength for them so like you're not just going to completely take it away but i think it also goes in line with the idea that if you do that you're probably going to avoid key players getting in foul trouble too which would obviously benefit ku uh two times and overall colorado has not been a great two-point offense and big 12 play they haven't shot the three well so if you're taking away the free throws they kind of run out of areas. At that point, they're just hoping

Starting point is 00:16:26 that they're uncharacteristically hot. So you do a good job being vertical, being there defensively, but not fouling, not overreaching or overextending in some way, and just make them shoot over you and not go to the free throw line at a time. Let's finish up here. Players to watch.

Starting point is 00:16:42 Who is high on the go-off list for KU against Colorado? This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for joining us on today's episode of the show. We will have a postcast episode after the K a statistic-based approach and compare how Kansas stacks up in different areas to past March Madness champions to see uh is Kansas good enough or what areas would they be lacking in to win a title then on Friday we'll get into a Kansas Utah preview if there is any breaking news we'll get to that too uh anywhere you get your podcasts or on our YouTube page with Locked on Jayhawks. Don't forget also, you can make Locked On College Basketball, Locked On Big 12, Locked On College Football. One of those is your second, third, even fourth lessons every day here

Starting point is 00:17:32 with the Locked On Podcast Network. All right, so KU taking on Colorado. Play your matchup to watch. We're going to go Julian Hammond against DeJuan Harris. So Hammond is the lone Buffalo averaging double-digit points, but he's doing it on very good efficiency, right? It's very impressive. The production he has had on, you know, even though it hasn't been a great team, the fact that he is shooting 40% from three when he is for sure the

Starting point is 00:17:56 top target that you have to go after if you're an opposing team is really impressive, right? I mean, you're getting the best defenders or getting the highest attention or detail from the opposition, and you're still shooting very efficiently. So for Kansas, can you take him out of that efficiency a little bit, right? If you take him away, so overall in the season, Colorado's shooting like 34% from three. And again, that number, as I've mentioned several times

Starting point is 00:18:19 in this podcast, is down to 31% in Big 12 play. But if you take away Hammond from the rest of the team, and this would be for the overall portion of the season, not just Big 12 play, they go down from shooting 34% as a team from three-point range to shooting just 32% from three-point range overall in the season. Now, if we look at Big 12 only play for Hammond, he has been 21 of 55 from three. That's 38%. If you take that away from them shooting only 31% in conference only

Starting point is 00:18:54 play from three, I mean, I didn't do the math on that one, but it's got to be what, 29, 30% at that point in time. So if you can slow him down or make him inefficient, it becomes just that much harder for Colorado when it's already been hard enough for them so far this season. And you look at DeJuan Harris, he's been a good defender. I think there are times he hasn't been necessarily locked down, has maybe been more go for steals and stuff, but there has been some games he's been locked down. I think it'll be interesting how he does in this specific matchup.

Starting point is 00:19:20 And can you stay on the court going back to Colorado that they draw fouls? Avoid that if you just had a three- three foul first half against K-State and, you know, just kind of get the ability to slow him down, but also take advantage of the fact that Colorado turns the ball over a lot. Well, DeJuan Harris is as good as anybody on this Kansas team in getting those steals and getting those swipes. So I think that is the matchup of the game, especially when you're looking for DeJuanane harris you know missing all that time with that foul trouble in the first half against k-state you saw his value you saw his value in the game that he missed against ucf um they could really use his presence out there in a big way against the buffaloes high on the go-off meter for me in this one for ku uh so colorado gives up one of the highest rates of above the break threes of this season so far in conference play. They're in the top, I guess, I don't even know how to say this, top 20% in terms of the most attempted above-the-break threes by percentage of shots teams are taking. Point being, who takes a lot of above-the-break threes for Kansas? That would be one Mr. Mayo. Zeke Mayo is taking 4.8 above-the-break threes per game, and he is knocking them down at a very high clip Zeke

Starting point is 00:20:25 Mayo is shooting 46 percent on above the break threes so far this season on almost five attempts per game that is uh remarkable for what he's doing plus uh I guess cross this off on the locked on Jayhawk bingo board hey Zeke Mayo home road splits uh because Zeke Mayo at home here's his updated home home splits 18 points per game 5 5.6 rebounds, 3 assists per game. He's shooting 48% from the floor, 44% from three, 83% at the foul line on seven three-point attempts per game. Zeke has been awesome at home, and he takes a lot above the break threes

Starting point is 00:20:58 where Colorado gives up a lot of them. So big game for him. I will also mention D.E. Coit is second on KU in such shots, but he's only shooting them 21 which is not great uh rylan griffin is third on ku in such shots 42 i want to see if bill self sticks with rylan griffin in the starting lineup he hasn't had good shooting games he's gotten some good looks though like those are going to fall eventually i would like to see him in there especially against team who does give up a bunch above above the break threes i would think

Starting point is 00:21:23 that this could be a a slump buster, so to speak, for Rylan Griffin. But yeah, Zeke Mayo is the official pick for KU on the high on the go-off meter. All right, we'll be back for that KU Colorado recap after the game and plenty more KU content coming at you right here with Locked on Jayhawks throughout the week. So make sure to subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts

Starting point is 00:21:40 as well as on our YouTube page. See you next time with LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks Schedule Creates Opportunity Starting with Colorado Buffaloes

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