Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Portal Issues: What's Gone Wrong for Storr, Still Hope for Griffen, Lessons Learned for Self

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Can the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team turn their transfer woes into a winning strategy? With AJ Storr and Rylan Griffin struggling to meet expectations, the spotlight is on how these players fit int...o Bill Self's system, if there's still hope for the rest of the season, and what lessons it should teach KU headed into next offseason.Explore the intriguing dynamics of Storr's performance drop from Wisconsin to Kansas, and Griffin's transition from Alabama, as Derek Johnson breaks down their stats and roles. Why Griffen's issues are more correctable for Self and there's hope about his prospects in March. Discover the lessons Kansas can learn from these challenges, focusing on recruiting players who align with the team's identity and defensive priorities. Uncover the impact of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals on player decisions and team dynamics.Tune in for a deep dive into the Kansas Jayhawks' transfer strategy and the potential path to success.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONCOLLEGEFabricJoin the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their families. Apply today in just minutes at MEETFABRIC.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Policies issued by Western-Southern Life Assurance Company. Not available in certain states. Prices subject to underwriting and health questions.ROYDownload the Roy app now from the App Store and start backing your favorite athletes the way they deserve—with transparency, trust, and a real impact. This is the future of college sports. Join it now by downloading Roy and supporting your favorite players!FanDuelRight now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if 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, we dive into why it hasn't totally worked with the transfer portal this year for Bills Self and specifically with AJ Storr and Rylan Griffin maybe not living up to expectations. 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 happening? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked On Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. Thank you to the everydayers catching each and every episode. We are free and available wherever you get your podcasts and you can find us on our YouTube page where you can like
Starting point is 00:00:41 and subscribe to the show. On today's edition of Locked on J-Hawks, we're going a little bit over, you know, what has gone wrong? Why is it that these transfers are not working with Bill Self? What lessons can we learn from, I guess, what you've gotten from AJ Storr? And to a lesser extent, Ryland Griffin, who still has been contributing, starting and doing some things, but maybe not to the level that you might have been hoping for. And clearly that's not happening with AJ Storr. So we're getting into what's going on there, what it can teach us kind of moving forward from Bill Self and the Transfer Portal.
Starting point is 00:01:09 Today's episode of the show is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins, do that at FanDuel. All right, so let's start right here. I think when you look at the Transfer Portal class, the KU brought in this pretty much applies to two guys. Now I guess you could throw Shaq more into this bucket as well of guys that maybe haven't lived up to the
Starting point is 00:01:35 expectations. But with Shaq more, I think it's more injury related than anything when he was playing healthy. You know, he was having a solid impact on the team when he entered the starting lineup at the beginning of January, and then he started playing through the injury. He wasn't the same and now he's kind of hurt. He was hurt at the beginning of the year. So that one's a little bit of a different bucket that you would put that into. And I know like Zeke Mayo has struggled on the road, didn't have a great game against Colorado, but like overall, if you would have said before the season, you were going to get, you know,
Starting point is 00:02:03 14.3 points per game, five rebounds, three assists per game on 40% from three from Zeke Mayo right now, you would have gladly taken that. I've never digged quite like, you know, he's shooting 39% from three. He has a very specific role off the bench that he seems content doing. So with those ones, I don't think you would have it as much.
Starting point is 00:02:21 When you look at the, I don't know, the hype of the transfer class that you brought in the the I don't know the the hype of the transfer class that you brought in and maybe not living up to the hope that you wanted to that would have made this team the best team in the country or was the thought of many why on paper they have this as the number one preseason team you look to the wing position and those two guys with Ryland Griffin and Asia store I mean maybe even before the season started, like, there were moments where I certainly thought so at different points that like the starting lineup would
Starting point is 00:02:49 end up being Dwan Harris, Ryland Griffin, AJ Stor, KJ Adams, and Hunter Dickinson, right? And that stuff obviously hasn't happened. And when you look at it, it's, you know, something where I think with Ryland Griffin, like I said, he still has contributed. And I think Ryland Griffin has, for me, more hope that he's going to go on a hot streak to finish off here. With AJ Storr, it's just kind of getting to a point where it's a little bit more unplayable. So what exactly has gone wrong? Is this on Bill Self? Is this on the player? Is this on situation? Is it on... I want to get into that and let's dive into AJ Storr first. So when you look at this, the stats are obviously down for AJ Stor.
Starting point is 00:03:27 He went from averaging 16.8 points per game on a Wisconsin team, they got a five seed in the NCAA tournament. Now what a Kansas team is actually projected to be like a six seed right now, and he's averaging six points per game. So it's like, technically you went to a worse team if you're just looking by that one very basic way
Starting point is 00:03:43 of looking at things and you're averaging, you know, less than than half the amount of points per game. And it's it's not just Oh, the points per game is down because the role is down and the minutes are down like the efficiency is down big time to stores field goal percentage was 43% of Wisconsin. It's 37 this year at Kansas three point percentage was 32. It's 26 and a half. This is the weird one. The free throw percentage is down from 81% at Wisconsin to 65% at Kansas. That tells me there's some mental aspect to it, right?
Starting point is 00:04:14 His effective field goal percentage down from 48% to 44% at Kansas. His true shooting percentage down from 53% to 45% at Kansas. That's a sizable jump. His offensive rebound rate and his defensive rebound rate have both dropped from last year at Wisconsin. And he wasn't really known
Starting point is 00:04:32 for being a very good rebounder at Wisconsin. And that's dropped. He has a higher turnover rate this year than last year. His O rating went from 109 at Wisconsin to a 91, basically points per 100 possessions when he is on the floor. That's a huge differential. His box score plus minus is a plus 4.9.
Starting point is 00:04:52 That's basically your average plus minus per game. He's a negative 1.3 this year for Kansas. So he has been a net negative for KU on the court after being a net basically plus five every game for Wisconsin last season. And then you look at it against Ken Palm top 50 opponents. He had a 52.6 true shooting percentage this season against Ken Palm top 50 opponents, 38.6 true shooting percentage, true shooting percentage. Basically, you know, you get extra points for threes and free throws and stuff like
Starting point is 00:05:24 that. And basically is a way of saying, oh, this center shooting you get extra points for threes and free throws and stuff like that. And basically is a way of saying, oh, this center shooting 60 percent that hasn't shot a three and this guy is only shooting 40 percent from the floor, but he's shooting 40 percent and three. And so those are equal the same amount, you know, per shot in theory at that percentage. So that's been a number that's dropped almost 15 percent. And then you look at it to store averageor averaged more points per game last season
Starting point is 00:05:46 at Wisconsin than his season high is this year at Kansas. Season high this year is 16. His season average at Wisconsin was 16.8. And after having only two games where he had single digit scoring games as a sophomore at Wisconsin, only two games of single digit scoring. He now has just six games at Kansas in double digit scoring as a junior, it has been completely
Starting point is 00:06:10 turned on its head night and day. And what's interesting here is there are certain things that you know, he did well, that just haven't translated and this is the part where it's like, you can't blame, oh, Bill Self isn't doing well, you know, acclimating the transfer here. When you bring somebody on who is good at something and then they become not good at that thing anymore, it's not just about, you know, fit or how you're bringing the player along, stuff like that.
Starting point is 00:06:38 Like at some point there is a certain notion of it on the player. And so when you're looking at certain things, AJ Storr went from ranking in the 60th percentile in free throw attempt rate to now just in the 25th percentile. So he's not getting to the free throw line anymore. He's not maybe driving as hard or as well as he was at Wisconsin. Part of that could be, you know, the spacing, maybe a little bit, but still.
Starting point is 00:06:59 Would you believe me if I told you that AJ Storr last season for his position ranked in the 89th percentile for his turnover rate. Would you believe me with what you have gotten to see this year from him? That was the case last year. Haven't seen it this year. At the rim last season, he shot 64% at the rim. That was 74th percentile for his position.
Starting point is 00:07:20 This year he's at 57%. That's below average nationally. In the paint, but not at the rim, he's down from 34.5% to 26%. Mid-range, he's gone from being a pretty good mid-range shooter, 38%, to this year being just 33% from the mid-range. Above the break threes, down from almost 31% to 27%. Corner threes, he's down from 43% on corner threes at Wisconsin to 25% on corner threes at Kansas.
Starting point is 00:07:47 But what I find interesting is the volume has gone up on corner threes for him. But basically everything is just worse. So like, this isn't a situation, like it's almost like you say, hey, we brought this transfer in because we think he's gonna, obviously this doesn't apply as much for store,
Starting point is 00:08:02 but we brought this transfer in because we think that he's going to be error. He's shown the ability to be this like knock down corner three point shooter at high volume and then he comes to Kansas and he can't hit a corner three to save his life. That was almost like the Nick Timberlake situation too. But that one makes a little bit more sense because you had the adjustment to competition. This one makes even less sense because like all those things have just gotten worse, but he still was at a power level last season. If we're looking for kind of a verdict here, I do want to touch back on that corner three thing with AJ Storr. So again, 43% on corner threes at Wisconsin, 25% on corner threes so far this season, but he's taken 24 corner threes so far this season.
Starting point is 00:08:47 Last season, all of last season, right? Cause the season's done. Season's still going this year for Kansas. All of last season, he only had 21 attempted corner threes. So he's taken more corner threes this season than he took last season, all of last season. And that's even when last season he was playing like double
Starting point is 00:09:02 the amount of minutes that he's playing this season. So I do wonder how much of that, like that's something you could point back to and be like, yeah, if your whole goal here was to have this guy who would be a corner three point shooter from the wing, this was a bad fit from the start to kind of have. And I don't think Bill Self has trust in AJ Store, but at the same point in time, and yeah, sure, you could make the argument of, oh, you know, give these players a longer leash. I don't think AJ stores are done anything to earn a longer leash. In fact, I kind of think if this was not like an IELT tied down, AJ store would typically have been cut from the rotation by now. I think you'd be getting some DNPs, but because you have the NIL stuff come into play
Starting point is 00:09:48 where guys are promised things, and yes, you could say, okay, well, if you think he's going to transfer at the end of the year, what do you care about promising? Well, that stuff gets around the portal. That stuff gets out to other players. I don't know what agent AJ Store has, but that agent probably has other prospects
Starting point is 00:10:04 that are going to be entering the portal this season, and you don't want to spurn that relationship. So it is a difficult thing that you have to kind of tightrope walk, if you are Bill Self. Now, could it just be going back to the NIL thing? Like, maybe it's just as simple as like AJ Store feels too much pressure and he hasn't been able to handle it. Or is it just that he's content cash in a paycheck
Starting point is 00:10:26 and he's just like, whatever happens, we'll roll the ball out here, right? I don't know. Could be either of those things. Could be none of those things. But I think some of those things that we just touched on are true. And I also combine those with the fact that,
Starting point is 00:10:37 yeah, I don't think this ever was a great fit, right? AJ Store ranked in the 99th percentile in usage rate when he was at Wisconsin. That was never gonna be the thing now that he's at Kansas. And yes, you could also say that, oh, he's kind of more of a straight line drive, power wing who likes to get downhill and the spacing was never gonna be there for Kansas too.
Starting point is 00:10:59 That might be a fair comment to make about the fit, but also looking back at the Wisconsin team last year that he was on, you realize they started a power forward and Tyler Wall, who was three for 16 from three last season next to a seven footer. So like they were playing two bigs and yes, their seven footer, Steven Crowell was a good three point shooter, 45% from three on limited volume. But if you add up Tyler Wall and Stephen Crowl, they're two starting big men. If you add up their total three point attempts, you get 74 three point attempts,
Starting point is 00:11:30 which basically means that they were taking like two through a little over two, three pointers per game from the big man position. So like, was it really creating that much more spacing for AJ Storr than he has now, even though you're playing KJ next to Hunter, right? Like, I don't know that that's the case. I don't even know if you could point to that as the fifth thing.
Starting point is 00:11:48 I think it's more of the corner thing. Like you brought him in and essentially turned him into a corner three point shooter, and that's not really his game and was kind of a waste there. And then there's some stuff that he's a fault and some stuff that you're a fault. I think this is just one of those where it's just you kind of play fingers all the way around. All right. What about Rylan Griffin? Is there hope for a big run in March here? This episode of the show is brought to you
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Starting point is 00:13:04 OK, what about Rylan Griffin? Because I was going to AJ Stor and you see some of the things there that it just doesn't seem like that's ever going to be recovered. I still do have hope that Rylan Griffin can find his stride at Kansas and the hope would be that he can come back for another season and really find his stride next season working around Darren Peterson. But the stats are also down here for Griffin, not quite as down as they are for AJ store. Griffin same situation, though. He played on a four seat Alabama team, obviously made the final four, and now you're projected to be a worse seat at Kansas. And yet you go down from 26 minutes per game to 20 minutes per game, right?
Starting point is 00:13:37 Points per game drop from 11.2 to 6.9. Now, again, the minutes are different. So if you use per 40 to just compare it, it'd be about a three point difference per game and what he's getting there. But the efficiency is the notable thing that's down. And again, it's not down to the point of where AJ Storrs is, but it's like it's, you know, a rung down basically, right? His field goal percentage, 45 last year at Alabama,
Starting point is 00:14:01 it's 41 this year at Kansas. His three point percentage, still good at 36% for Kansas, but it was 39% at Alabama on even higher volume. Free throw percentage, this is another one where, you know, going back to the store one, this one feels like a confidence thing to me again. 81% in Alabama, 69% at Kansas. His effective field goal percentage down from 58 to 53%.
Starting point is 00:14:23 His O rating went from 123 at Alabama to now 109 at Kansas. His offensive and defensive rebound rates are down as well. His box score plus minus, still solid, at a plus 4.3 for Kansas, but it is lower than it was last season at Alabama when he was a plus 5.4. And he has this year three games where he has made three or more three pointers, including that game. He had Houston last season, Alabama. He had 10 such games.
Starting point is 00:14:50 So you see the I guess the ability to go off was was a little bit more often there at Alabama. And I think these are really two different case studies with Griffin compared to, you know, AJ store because Griffin still is starting. He's still playing in general. Store has just been kind of straight up pad, and might just be getting minutes because the NIL stuff like I think Griffin, you hope has a another year of future with Kansas and on top of it has a big march upcoming here and the things that haven't translated it is low volume
Starting point is 00:15:25 for both, but the rim field goal percentage, he was 75% at the rim at Alabama, 94th percentile for his position. He's only 60% at the rim this year at Kansas, which is still above average nationally, 56th percentile. But I find that very interesting. We'll circle back to that in a second. His above the break threes, it's about 2% lower. His corner threes go down from 44% in Alabama to 37% at Kansas on actually more attempts per game. So again, Kansas sticking somebody into the, just be a corner three-point shooter mold,
Starting point is 00:15:57 which does make sense actually for Ryland Griffin, but nonetheless. The mid-range shooting is actually better this year for Ryland Griffin. So that one is better. The deep shooting. So shout out to Kyle Martin on this one who reached out to me and pointed this out to me. So I started looking at the numbers and I find this very interesting.
Starting point is 00:16:14 So at Alabama, Ryland Griffin shot 44 three balls of 25 or more feet. According to CBB Analytics, he shot them at a 31.8% clip, which is like slightly above average nationally when you're shooting threes from that deep, right? At Kansas, he's only attempted 15. So about a third of those 25 or more foot threes, and he's only made two. That's good for 13%. 13%, 31.8%, right? Doesn't take a mathematician to know that's a very big difference there.
Starting point is 00:16:43 How about NBA range? Because there are certain threes that you can take that aren't 25 plus feet, right? They can be 24 feet that are still NBA range. So we're still deeper threes than the college game, but they're not like super deep, like the 25 plus. And last season in Alabama, Rylan Griffin took one hundred and sixty one three point attempts from NBA range. He hit him at 38 and a half percent. So he was knocking down NBA range threes, which is going to only open up your spacing and gravity
Starting point is 00:17:11 even more. At Kansas, he's launched 89 of them. So you know, those numbers are clearly lower, but still more season for KU. But here's the big difference from NBA range instead of shooting 38 and a half percent at Alabama. He's only shooting 32.6% from NBA range here at Kansas 38 and a half percent at Alabama, he's only shooting 32.6% from NBA range here at Kansas. So like just not finding a way to go in. So I think when you're looking at the verdict for this one,
Starting point is 00:17:32 I think the lower field goal percentage to me, like when I'm looking at, I don't know, maybe the corner three is not being quite as open. When I look at the at the rim percentage, right? Like that was a big one to look at there. The at the rim percentage was way better when he was in Alabama. to look at there. The rim percentage was way better when he was in Alabama. That just comes down to me the less spaced for with a much worse offense around him. Like think back to that Alabama offense last year, it was one of the best offenses
Starting point is 00:17:55 in the country. And that's what Nate Oates does. He paces, he spaces, he shoots a lot of threes, right? He pressures the rim. And so I do think that that's almost the tax that you put on a shooter to come into Kansas. That like he's going to get guarded a little bit more at Kansas because he is like the go-to threat on the outside from shooting threes him and Zeke Mayo, right? And then the driving lanes aren't going to be there as often, right? Because the thing in Alabama, when he was at Alabama last year, is sometimes teams would overemphasize guarding the three and then all of a sudden, Ryland Griffin's wide open at the rim on cut or driving. Let nobody's there defending and he's able to get an easy lay in.
Starting point is 00:18:33 Well, that doesn't really happen as much when he's at Kansas because there's multiple defenders just kind of camped in the paint being like, OK, whatever you're going to shoot, you know. So I find that interesting. And then I think the other part of this year too has to be a confidence thing, because you look at the free throw shooting numbers, right? Down considerably from last year at Alabama. And then you look at the deep shooting numbers, because I don't think this is as simple to say, oh, you know, Bill Self isn't allowing him
Starting point is 00:18:59 to shoot as many deep threes and that has killed his confidence. No, we've seen guys, Devonte Graham, Sweet Macaulay, Sharon Collins did it, Devonte Graham, Svi Mikhailuk, Sharon Collins did it a fair amount here and there, right? We've seen guys at Kansas be able to have the green light, Otrek Bajy, Christian Brown here and there, well, on shooting those very deep threes, you know?
Starting point is 00:19:17 Bilsauf isn't as concerned with that as some people might think. Zeke Mayo does it on this very team. Zeke Mayo does it a good amount of times where he's shooting like a very deep three and he's not getting pulled from the game. So I think this has more to do with I don't think this has as much to do with like, oh, Bill Self has hurt his confidence. I think this is just his confidence has been shot a little
Starting point is 00:19:35 bit by maybe being in and out of the lineup, which maybe you could indirectly, well, I guess still directly, but point to Bill Self. But I don't think it's like you could say maybe the Bill Self relationship with Ryland Griffin is hurting his confidence or that his lack of success consistently or being in and out of lineup is affecting his confidence. But I don't think it's like a direct Bill Self saying, hey, don't shoot that D3.
Starting point is 00:19:55 Like, it's definitely not that. So that gives me hope because it's like he could easily have a game of coming here. And I think the idea was that that first Houston game was gonna be that game that raised his confidence got him going, but then he gets benched shortly after that. And it's like, okay, back to the confidence being down. If he can have another one of those big games from three
Starting point is 00:20:15 and you keep him in the starting lineup moving forward. I think that's a way that you see his confidence go up and the confidence goes up, free throw percentage goes up. I think those deep threes go in a little bit more. And so I also look at the fit stuff where it's like, I have questions about, you know, what was ever the fit with AJ Stewart, Kansas. I don't have those questions. I still don't with Rylan Griffin, because again, you want to make him
Starting point is 00:20:34 a corner three point shooter. Right. He shoots him well. Forty four percent last year, 37 percent this year, even though it's lower this year. That's still a really good percentage to shoot from beyond the arc. And then if you're looking at really the one fit being like defense, which, you know, I guess you could make that argument that like maybe at this point we should just only look to transfers who play good defense because that's what Bill Self wants.
Starting point is 00:20:53 But at the same point in time, Zeke Mayo hasn't been a great defender. You know, D.E. Coit I think tries hard on the defensive end, but like he's not a plus defender on the defensive end. So I look at this and it's this one is a little bit more prepared. Well, it's a lot more perplexing about why it's gone wrong. But I also have certain reasons that I point to and I'm still like, I still think this can work, whether it's the rest
Starting point is 00:21:14 of this season, and or you hope in the future moving forward, if you can commit him to come back for another year. All right, what is the lesson here for KU we discussed on the other side? Thanks for joining us on Lockdown Jayhawks. What is the lesson here for KU? We discussed on the other side. Thanks for joining us on Lockdown Jayhawks. What is the lesson that KU can take away from bringing on Ryland Griffin and AJ Storr? I think fit, fit, and fit. We've heard other coaches, whether it's Kelvin Sampson at Houston or Natoats at Alabama, coaches who have done well at the transfer portal, Dan Hurley with UConn, talk about bringing in guys who fit to the roster and bringing in guys who, you know, fit that mold. And then that can come from a couple of different ways,
Starting point is 00:21:50 right? That can come in the DNA of the player, so to speak, like the, you know, for Bill Self, he wants junkyard dogs, right? Like he wants guys who are going to be tenacious, who are going to dive on the floor, who are going to play good defense, stuff like that, right? That can be the almost identity from that perspective. It can also come from a standpoint of, hey, we shoot a lot of mid-range shots, or we shoot a lot of corner threes. Let's go find a guy who's good at corner threes, right? They might only be 34% from three,
Starting point is 00:22:18 but he's shooting 39% on corner threes, right? Find the right fits for your roster and find guys that are content if they don't necessarily have the biggest role in the world because you know that that probably couldn't have helped either for Kansas that you had players expecting giant roles and haven't gotten in and it probably doesn't make the
Starting point is 00:22:37 locker room super happy all the time, right? So finding the right fit I think is as important as anything. Now what does that fit mean? Again, I'm going to be kind of pointing to moving forward. Like I think you don't always get a Kevin McColler out there, right?
Starting point is 00:22:49 Who ended up being what I think third team all big 12, his first year of Kansas and then third team all American by at least one publication, his second year of Kansas, even despite the injury. So I don't mean to say like, oh, just go get another Kevin McColler. It's not that easy. You don't always have players that are that good
Starting point is 00:23:04 just overall who are out there for you that turn into NBA draft picks. But from the standpoint of like, if Bill Self has the option between bringing in the next Ryland Griffin, whoever that ends up being, and bringing in the next Kevin McColler, again, just talking like player archetypes here,
Starting point is 00:23:19 I think that he needs to bring in the Kevin McColler one. And even though like the offensive the offensive entertainment, basketball, wanting the fun stuff, wanting the modern college basketball side of me and the side of me that's like, hey, you're gonna have Flory and Darren Peterson, you need three point shooting around him. Once that, I think it's better for Kansas
Starting point is 00:23:41 and for Bill Self if he has a guy that mends with him. And even if they're not as good of a three-point shooting team, if they're a better team overall, because you're not clashing with guys and you're able to figure out these roles right away, that's a much better place to be. And it's almost like that, you know, when you hear coaches all the time be like, you know what, if you mess up the play or I don't care if you go the wrong way, just go 100% when you do it.
Starting point is 00:24:03 And that's almost how I feel that this is here. It's like with Bill South, he's like, you know what, at this point, let's just bring in the defensive guy. I don't care if this is the wrong way to go about it. And we're just going to, you know, anchor in on these things. Let's just go for the identity. Let's just go for the 100% effort. And like you see teams like Texas A&M, for instance, who like they're one of the better teams in the country. They're a horrible three point shooting team, but they're just like an insane offensive rebounding to defense team like you can.
Starting point is 00:24:29 You can win that way. It's not the most entertaining style. I don't know that that consistently went in March necessarily, but still like I would have loved for KU to have added Kobe Brea. Who had Kentucky's giving him double digit points per night 44 over 40% from three. He's playing 25 minutes a night in Kentucky.
Starting point is 00:24:47 Is he playing more than 15 a night though, at Kansas, right, with Bill Self? So if that's where we're at, where it's like, I can give you the best ingredients in the world from the grocery store, but no matter what I give you, you're going to come out making a cheeseburger. Well then maybe we should just go shopping the... I'm just about to say the cheeseburger aisle. There making a cheeseburger. Well, then maybe we should just go shopping the I'm supposed to say the cheeseburger out. There's no cheeseburger out. So I swear I shop. But yeah, you know, I'll just go pick up some some ground beef. I'll go pick up some slices of cheese. I'll go pick up some buns. I'll go pick up some condiments. Like I ain't going to spend time going
Starting point is 00:25:19 and buy some some, you know, filet mignon for you to turn it into a burger, right? Like that. That's kind of how I view this. So I think that's kind of the lesson here for KU. And then there are certain shooters that I think make sense to bring on. But when I'm looking at that, look at the guys who have had success with those shooters. And I guess you could say a little bit was Zeke Mayo here. But when I look at Diggy Coy, it seems like the staff loves him. Staff love Jalen Coleman-Lance.
Starting point is 00:25:44 Shooters that are content being the, on a given night, seventh, eighth, ninth man. And if they're hot, they'll play a little bit more. If they're not, you know, maybe it's five minutes a night. Maybe it's eight minutes a night for that specific guy. But maybe that's just what makes sense. That your shooters are the guys that come off the bench and are content in that specific role.
Starting point is 00:26:00 And then I think there's probably another part of this lesson about like, you know, steering more into the high school level of things. But at the same point in time, you know, you're gonna be losing a lot of players next season. And like, you're gonna have to bring in portal edition. So I don't think and even in the future, if you do start to build up more at the high school level, you still are probably going to have to bring on two, three, four transfer portal kids every year.
Starting point is 00:26:23 That's just the current stage of college basketball. So you better just find a way to do it better. And you better find a way to do it that it fits your program and fits your identity. And so that's kind of what I'm looking at here. I don't know if this episode of Lockdown Jayhawks you can find her show anywhere you get podcasts including our YouTube page located football spring ball primer coming on tomorrow's episode and a little KU Texas Tech preview on Friday. See you then.

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