Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks vs Kansas State Wildcats: Zeke Mayo Time for KU

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked On Jayhawks, can the Jayhawks bounce back in a rivalry game against Kansas State? 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 up, Derek Johnson? And I just realized I picked the worst day to wear my Baker Wildcats sweatshirt because, no, we're not going for the Wildcats in this one. It is Kansas

Starting point is 00:00:31 Kansas State. We're going to be previewing the game. Jayhawks need a bounce back. No KJ Adams. We'll get to the K-State scouting report, matchups of the game, and players to watch. Thank you for making Locked on Jayhawks your first listen every day. Thank you to the everydayers catching each and every show. We are free and available wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find us on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show.

Starting point is 00:00:51 And on today's edition, we're going to go over all that stuff. Let's get started right away with our headlines of the game for Kansas, Kansas State. A little mid-afternoon or early afternoon, I guess you would say, a game on your Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. So Kansas is in need of a bounce back. I mean, heck, Kansas State needs a bounce back in a big way. They're on the floor. They need a bounce up.

Starting point is 00:01:13 They need to get back up off the mat. For Kansas, they need a bounce back after the Iowa State win. And it'd feel great if you could have another win like you had against UCF or like the second half against Arizona State or Cincinnati where you're able to win it kind of comfortably where you get that bad taste out of your mouth and you feel like you're headed back in the right direction and you know if kansas gets this thing rolling again like we'll be able to point back and be like oh they lost at iowa state one of the best teams in the country on the road and yeah the score looks worse than it was but it

Starting point is 00:01:42 was it was a five point game with like five minutes to go or something like that but yeah of course we can't but you can't do that unless you bounce back and that starts with winning this game but also looking good and doing so if you win this game against what's been a bad kansas state game state team um even though it is a rivalry game if you win this one by three points needing to stop at the end of the game or needing a buzzer beater needed you know just five things in the last minute 30 of the game that's not a good sign either right so as much as style points don't matter they kind of do in this one just to i don't know prove that you're you're a better team and it it's super interesting because you look at bart torvik um since that like january 4th date kansas still has the number one defense in the country since then,

Starting point is 00:02:25 but the offense is now in like the mid-100s. So you want to see the offense show something in this game and show a sign of life as well. The other big headline in this one is Will K.J. Adams play. At time of recording right now, I have no idea. And it's kind of weird because he went out with the injury against Iowa State. Then he comes back from the tunnel from the trainer's area and comes back into the game.

Starting point is 00:02:46 So it was almost like, oh, he came back into the game. He's going to be fine. So I don't know what the injury is. Typically, you'll see that with, like, ankles, where it's like, okay, the ankle, you know, I don't know why I'm trying to be a doctor because I'm the furthest thing from it. But, like, point being, you see with ankles where it's like, okay, after time off, it swells up more, and then you can't get back on it.

Starting point is 00:03:09 I don't know what it would be with, like, that shoulder area for KJ Adams, but maybe it's something similar. And I think with KJ, obviously, you know, he's somebody who relies on trying to play a physical game. So if he can't bump with somebody with the shoulder, right, that's going to make it even harder for him to get out on the court. But I did find that interesting. And I don't know, like you're never rooting for a player to get injured. So I want to make that perfectly clear. Like I hope KJ gets back

Starting point is 00:03:33 as soon as possible. Never would like anybody to get injured, all that sort of things. At this point in time, given that it's already happened, could this end up being a situation where Kansas gets an opportunity to give AJ Storr, to give Rylan Griffin, to give some of these guys more minutes to find their rhythm and get into the swing of things and figure out what your best lineups are?

Starting point is 00:03:54 Maybe it's entirely possible. At least that's the hope, right? There's no guarantee it happens. But in trying to view this like as a half glass full thing like but again you hope kj is okay and everything like that but maybe it presents that opportunity so is he going to play i think it'll be very interesting in this one now you look at the kansas state scouting report they come in at just seven and nine on the season kansas comes in obviously at 12 and four uh jay hawks three and two in big 12 play kansas state is one and four the wildcats had a dreadful non-con that was highlighted by an 11 point loss to lsu a 19 point loss at wichita state wichita state this isn't you know greg marshall fred van vliet wichita state but uh so far in the big 12 they did beat cincinnati by three in the big 12 opener but since then they lost a tcu by one they lost at oklahoma state by 13 and oklahoma state's not great they lost to

Starting point is 00:04:46 houston by 30 and then they lost to texas tech by four in which they actually kind of hung in there but tech ended up coming away with the win they are barely ranked right now inside the top 100 on ken palm which ken palm currently has this just under a 20 point deficit projected for the game which um i think is very alarming after like the past couple years where i just like even when you played the last place team in the big 12 it was like oh maybe it'll be a 12 point spread maybe it'll be a 15 point spread that was certainly interesting to look at that it was like 18 19 in there uh you look at the kansas state personnel doug mcdaniel their transfer from michigan who mentioned bill self in his uh transfer videos so

Starting point is 00:05:23 that'll be kind of an interesting storyline on this one. But he averages over nine points per game, over four assists, just under two steals per game. He's not shot it well. 39% from the floor, 21 from three. Had much better numbers last year at Michigan. And he's kind of been in an – it's been kind of a, I guess, abrasive situation with him and head coach Jerome Tang in terms of how that relationship is going, it seems at least.

Starting point is 00:05:48 6'5 guard CJ Jones. He's shooting 42% from three. Not a huge score, but shoots it well. The real big shooter to watch out for in this one, Brendan Housen, 6'4 shooting guard for Kansas State, 12.3 points per game, 40% from three on very high volume. So you got to check him in this one max jones 6-4 on the wing he goes for nine a game 37 from three so that is kind of a theme here you've got some

Starting point is 00:06:11 interesting three-point shooters then david uh gasson is a 6-9 220 pound forward he's had a really good year 12.6 points per game 7.4 rebounds he's shooting 64 from three he takes a little over one three per game for them and then coleman hawkins is certainly a lightning rod for them six foot ten 235 pounds he was kind of the uh the hunter dickinson of illinois um he also played against hunter dickinson multiple times and they kind of went at it a good amount he can play the four or the five versatile big man who can really shoot the three ball. 10.6 points per game, 6.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.2 steals, 1.3 blocks. So he's really filling it up on the stat sheet,

Starting point is 00:06:52 but the efficiency hasn't quite been there. 41 from the floor, 33 from three, just 57 at the foul line. I do think he's pressing a bit. There was that report that he's getting like $2 million from the offseason, and he's had a solid year, but obviously he hasn't totally related to winning and you would expect two million dollars to be like all-american level but he has played well against hunter dickinson and i do think he is pressing a bit because of that but playing in this environment on the road against a guy you're familiar with with hunter i think it will make him play uh with a more freed mind

Starting point is 00:07:23 then you have uh you'll also see see David Castillo a little bit, a seven-footer in Uganda, Onyento, but those will be more limited minutes for those two guys. Now, what they do well for Kansas State, they don't really send teams to the free throw line at a very high rate. They've had a solid two-point defense so far this season. They've also had a solid steal rate, and that's been something that Tang teams have done well at Kansasansas state that they force turnovers kind of year in and year out

Starting point is 00:07:49 now big 12 only games they've shot twos pretty well as well and they do fire up a large amount of threes on what's fine efficiency you know solid efficiency above average efficiency so that'll be something to watch for in this one. What they struggle with, though, in terms of Kansas State, they turn it over too much on that end of the court. Like, they're just losing the ball way too much. They don't shoot many free throws themselves, which, you know, it's not as bad as what Kansas is. But they also don't make their free throws when they get them.

Starting point is 00:08:21 Kansas State's also been a bad defensive rebounding team, and they don't really get blocks. So I don't know about the interior defensive presence. If you look at Big 12 only games, Kansas State has also been bad at both ends rebounding the basketball. So this one for Kansas, if you play with hustle, you should be able to win the rebound battle. That said, we haven't always seen Kansas play with hustle or energy,

Starting point is 00:08:40 so we'll see how that one goes. And then both sides of the turnover and three-point battles have not benefited Kansas State through their five Big 12 games so far as well. Let's continue on matchups of the game. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Our episode is brought to you by PrizePix. The place to get real money sports action.

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Starting point is 00:10:10 And don't forget to check out our bonus episode that we're going to have later today. Talking about, you know, the lack of fit on this KU basketball roster. Lessons it can teach moving forward. Stuff like that. I think they should hire a GM. But get into that episode on the bonus episode. You can also check out Locked On College Basketball or Locked On College Football. Get you ready for the national title game coming up on Monday night here.

Starting point is 00:10:31 Our matchups of the game for Kansas, Kansas State. Number one, Bill Self versus the rotations and the lineups. This is an internal one, obviously, but it feels like there's been a lot of criticism over how many minutes player X is playing over how many minutes player x is playing how many minutes player y is playing why is this guy not getting more run why is this guy getting too much run why is this guy playing in clutch time why is this guy playing next to this guy right there been a lot of questions going on it feels later in the season than we're used to um to have this many questions about the rotation it's not just one like we've had other years where they went later into the season and be like okay who's the center you know who's this

Starting point is 00:11:09 guy right but to have this many moving parts i i can't remember another one last year it felt similar to this but they didn't have as much depth or like as many options to do it so it was almost like i don't know which of these guys it's gonna be but you have a very limited amount of options this year it's like no you have a lot of options but it's like you know i don't know which of these guys it's going to be but you have a very limited amount of options this year it's like no you have a lot of options but it's like you know i don't know which one it's going to be so um this is an opportunity especially if you do end up winning big like some are going to project it to maybe get some different lineups out there and if kj adams can't go that's an opportunity to get some other lineups out there if kj adams can go isn't an opportunity to play him a little bit less because of the injury that you don't

Starting point is 00:11:45 want to play him as many minutes? And then maybe you see what that looks like, right? There's a lot of ways you can go with this, but it's certainly we're getting to a point where you're running out of time to figure out that rotation. And the way I look at it, like typically Bill's off teams are talking about this a lot in the offseason. You know, they might once we get to the thick of things at the end of the year, it might be a seven man rotation where the eighth man is just playing kind of spot minutes. Well,

Starting point is 00:12:06 right now, that hasn't really been the case for KU, right? Because you're seeing, obviously, Ryland Griffin, the starting five, and then you have Ryland Griffin, who's part of the rotation. Right now, they're giving AJ Storr, you know, minutes as part of the rotation. David Coit is getting minutes as part of the rotation. Floyd Padunga is getting minutes as part of the rotation. And then you're seeing spot minutes for R for Keith Passmore. So that's really a nine-man rotation with a 10th guy getting spot minutes. At what point is this going to trim down to an eight-man rotation with a ninth getting spot minutes? Is it going to jump that and just go straight to seven and eight?

Starting point is 00:12:35 And if it is seven and eight, who are the two guys? I think Flory is clearly one of them. It's your backup big, and also he's awesome. And I think Ryland Griffin would be the other. So would the eighth be A.J. Stewart? Would it be Diggy Coy? I don't know. That remains to be seen.

Starting point is 00:12:49 So I do wonder when that is going to happen exactly, but especially in this game, which is one of your most winnable Big 12 games left. At least it should be. You never know what's going to happen. Rivalry throughout the record books, all those sort of things, but played at home.

Starting point is 00:13:02 Maybe this is an opportunity to do that. All right, matchup number two. Guard guarding the three ball and guarding stretch bigs uh colin hawkins for them who plays the four and the five he takes 3.8 three point attempts per game that ranks in the 90th percentile for his position so he's getting them up about as much as any big in the country david gasson is 6 of 18 from 3 so you know he's been fine at it not taking a ton of them but he can at least here and there so you know you do have to worry about that a little bit with the two bigs then you have hausen who is shooting 40 from 3 he is taking almost eight three-pointers a game 7.8 per game to be exact that ranks 98th

Starting point is 00:13:40 percentile nationally for his position so he is getting him up uh basically as much as anybody in the country now they haven't been a great three-point shooting team but they're solid at it right they're not they're not shooting 40 but again they're solid out of their above average and they're doing it on high volume and they can get it from a lot of different positions you can get it from a couple of those bench cards you can get it from housing you can get it from a couple stretch big so you're getting it from different areas from unique places they take a super high rate of three-point shots from the corner so i think those figure to kind of test ku in this one um because i do look at it and i'm like okay sometimes you can take away some of those above the break threes with your hard hedges it's a little bit harder to do that

Starting point is 00:14:18 in the corner so i'll be interested to see how ku defends them um and can guard them and that's kind of the the avenue i look at where it's like, if Kansas State is going to be in this game or is going to scare you to the end or even pull the upset, it's going to be because of the three ball. Number three, don't turn the ball over getting the ball inside. You had a lot of turnovers against Iowa State, way too many, and you need to hone that in. So that's part of this.

Starting point is 00:14:43 Kansas State has actually allowed one of the largest volumes of shots at the rim defensively. They're in the top 7% in the most shots they've allowed at the rim in college basketball. And that number's going up in Big 12 play. Like during league games, they're in the third percentile. So basically 97% of college basketball is doing a better job at preventing shots at the rim than Kansas State. That's not a good thing for the Wildcats. So you should be able to get shots at the rim. And that is an opportunity for K one of the most common ways you turn the ball over is trying to get the ball inside, right?

Starting point is 00:15:28 It's tighter windows. You have to be more accurate with your passes, and whether it's throwing into the post or throwing into a crowd, trying to fit one in to somebody, especially if they're sagging, they're defensive middle if KJ's playing, right? It gets a little tighter in terms of the windows you have to throw to. So just don't turn the ball over in getting those passes to the inside. And if you can do that, then you should be able to get a good amount of shots up at the rim and have a comfortable and high percentage area where you can consistently go to and you want to typically go to as a team.

Starting point is 00:16:01 Let's get to our players to watch. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Our episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. From the first whistle to the final drive, FanDuel makes the NFL playoffs even more exciting. Right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win your first bet. That's $300 to keep the action going. The FanDuel app is easy to navigate navigate and the variety of bets keeps every game exciting. Plus when you win, you get paid instantly.

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Starting point is 00:17:01 episode coming out today, too, talking about KU basketball and the lack of fit. And there was an interesting quote from Bill Self after the Iowa State game talking about their, you know, fitting roster. So we'll get into that on a bonus episode. But thank you for joining us today. We'll have a recap up for the Kansas State game after the game later into the night on your weekend as well. All right, player matchups for Kansas and Kansas State. Let's go with Coleman Haw hawkins versus hunter dickinson because i i know this might technically like be david

Starting point is 00:17:31 gasson might be guarding hunter dickinson and i think part of it too will will be dependent on this kj adams play or not right like at that point maybe they'll just be like we're gonna put both guys in the paint and then we're gonna double hunter dickinson i don't know um but i i still think it's very interesting because you have two guys who uh both from former big 10 schools both have been you know good players at their previous stops both are having good seasons this year right but maybe not quite living all the way up to the expectations uh both are probably very high paid in NIL. Both of them are guys who I think are very polarizing. I guess I would say Hawkins is very spoken out on social media, which for some people has rubbed them the wrong ways at different points.

Starting point is 00:18:16 For Hunter Dickinson, there's been some antics on the court. There's been certain things that he's said or done that has also done the same thing. Other people are bothered by either, and other people like it, the characters that they're bringing to the game, right? Either way, they're polarizing, and they're going at it, and they've been at it before, and they just played when Hunter Dickinson was at Kansas in that exhibition game last year that they played at Illinois, and Hawkins hit a bunch of threes.

Starting point is 00:18:43 I think he made four threes in the game. He ended up with like 14 points and i think five rebounds obviously illinois won the game terence shannon was really good uh kevin mccullough was healthy and he was good for kansas in that one but um yeah i think that matchup is interesting because it it goes beyond just the actual on the court and it's two important players one for each team but it also goes into the kind of storylines um or i don't know of both players histories and and how they've kind of gotten here uh high on the go-off meter we're gonna go with zeke mayo zeke mayo has been nails at home so far this season he is shooting a much higher percentage in the home game so far this season we brought this up before the iowa state game and you know he had a good game against i State in general he ended up just 7 of 19 which you know maybe forcing some shots at the

Starting point is 00:19:29 end and stuff like that but overall this season Zeke Mayo at home is shooting 41 percent from three-point range in Allen Fieldhouse he's also shooting 92 percent at the free throw line in Allen Fieldhouse 51 percent from the floor and in home games he's averaging 17.1 points 4.8 rebounds three assists per game so Zeke Mayo has been awesome at home on top of all of that I don't know like he probably means a little bit more to him than some other players like you know for everybody this is a rivalry matchup because you're on the team but it probably means more and feels like more for Zeke Mayo who's grown up with it who who grows up with, you know, maybe friends who are K-State fans in the Lawrence area or something like that.

Starting point is 00:20:10 Right? Like this one feels a little bit more personal. So I think he's going to care. And I think that's a good thing. And then on top of it all, like I think you can score on the K-State guards a little bit. Like I don't view them as an elite crop of the defenders with their backcourt. So I think a lot of things lining up for Zeke to have a big game for KU.

Starting point is 00:20:26 All right, that'll do it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. Don't forget to check out that bonus episode. Again, we'll be back on the weekend. Obviously, the Chiefs playoff game. I got some broadcast stuff on Saturday. So the recap for the KUK State game will probably come out Saturday night, maybe Sunday morning, but stick around for that. We will have it at some point over the weekend and find it anywhere you get

Starting point is 00:20:44 podcasts, including on our YouTube page. See you then with Locked on Jayhawks.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks vs Kansas State Wildcats: Zeke Mayo Time for KU

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