Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Locked On Jayhawks - 10.29.19

Episode Date: October 29, 2019

Les Miles talks first Big 12 win; Bill Self's exhibition concerns Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome in, welcome in to this Tuesday edition of Locked on Jayhawks. I am Sean Kellerman, Learfield IMG College Broadcaster and University of Kansas Insider. This is Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, giving you insight, numbers, and a chance to hear from all the voices within Kansas athletics. Well, yesterday of course we talked a lot of, and we're going to talk football again today. And we're also going to get a chance to hear from Bill Self and some of the KU players. Coach is going to talk about maybe the biggest concern he had coming out of the exhibition win last Thursday against Fort Hayes State. And then KU, of course, gets Pitt State in a couple days here at Allen Fieldhouse to close out the exhibition season.

But we're going to start with Kansas football coming off that emotional win. The first win of the Big 12 season, 37-34 at home against Texas Tech. And Liam Jones hitting the game-winning field goal. Today, Liam Jones was named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week. He was good on four PATs, and he also, of course, had the game- game winner, his first game-winning kick. And KU quarterback Carter Stanley was named as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week as well. Stanley, 26-37, 415 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception in the homecoming win, which improved KU to 3-5, 1-4 in Big 12 play. We're still holding out hope, absolutely, in Jayhawk Nation that this team can get to

six wins. It's all going to start on Saturday, though, in the big Sunflower Showdown that takes place at Cavisto Field. So, Les Miles, his first Big 12 win at the helm at Kansas. Of course, he's had a couple emotional wins already. One, the non-con road win, which KU had been waiting for for quite some time against an FBS foe, against anybody they hadn't won on the road for about nine years before their win last year at Central Michigan. But this one was much more impressive.

You're facing a Power 5 team, you're 20-point underdogs, you get down big early, you come back and you end up doubling them up 48-24. And of course, that was the highlight of the first half of the season. And now the beginning of the second half is highlighted by this win on Saturday against Texas Tech. Coach Miles was asked after the game about where that win ranks in his coaching time. I've had two spectacular memories for life, okay, at the Boston College and this game. And where it ranks for me, I don't know, pretty high. But, yeah, enjoyable moments.

Great team. Great people. You know, you've always felt confident about the guys within the Kansas football program. And, you know, you assume there's a family atmosphere and you assume that guys are working hard, playing for each other, believing in themselves, their teammates and the coaches. But there's just something different about this team and this coaching staff. With Coach Miles, you hear guys talking about it. We heard yesterday the quote from Carter Stanley that I brought up, him saying that these coaches are going to turn it around and he would play for Coach Miles and Coach Dierman for 100 years if he could. That's big stuff, and that's something that we have not had here at Kansas in a while.

I'm sure there have been a lot of love passed on from players to previous coaches and whatnot, but something's a little bit different, and there's a sense of community with the fans as well. So Coach Miles talking about the great memories from the two biggest wins so far of the season, but hopefully not the two biggest wins when we look back on this season come season's end. All right, Kansas got that performance out of Carter Stanley, as I mentioned. He was named Big 12 Player of the Week. Definitely Stephon Robinson had an opportunity to be named that as well. Perhaps if they had called his first long reception correctly, then Stephon

would have gotten Big 12 Player of the Week honors, but it's a Jayhawk nonetheless. Les Miles talks about both his quarterback and his quarterback's top target today. Carter Stanley was, oh my goodness, I know he was six or seven in the last drive and with a drop, with a receiver that dropped the ball. So he was seven for seven when the chips were on the line. Stephon Robinson, we knew he had that, okay? And 294 all-purpose yards, 186 receiving, two touchdowns. Oh, my goodness.

We've got a good team. We've just got to play consistently that way for the length of time of the game and we will be very happy. Stephon Robinson's final line, six catches, 186 yards and two touchdowns. Should have been three touchdowns. I'll probably take that sour grape to my grave as Stephon clearly got in and there was no review, as we've mentioned, but it's all in the past now. His numbers are what they were, and they were impressive even without getting that tally of a score. Stephon was over 100 yards receiving,

of course. Andrew Parchment, seven catches, 109 yards, and he had a touchdown, that 70-yard touchdown, which improved his stats big time after catching a lot of short passes from Carter Stanley. So Parchment improved his stats, and that was a big play in the game. That was on a third and 21 when KU got the 70-yard touchdown hookup from Stanley to Andrew Parchment. We know about the offensive numbers and how great this team has been in two games under new OC Brent Dierman, but let's talk a little defense. We're not going to laud the defense too much. Texas Tech did get 483 yards in this game,

but if you look at what Texas Tech has done to Kansas the past couple years in fact the past three years Texas Tech has scored 48 55 and 65 points against Kansas this game just 34 and maybe even more impressively and certainly more importantly Kansas defense got the last stop of the game and they got stops and forced punts on three of the last four offensive possessions for Texas Tech. So this KU defense stepped up, and they did so when it mattered most without their leader, senior captain Bryce Tornadin. Here's Coach Miles after the game talking about Bryce. Closed those gaps that were wide open.

In other words, he closed them with adjustments that he would make, signals that he would get from DJ that would fix the coverage. And we had a difficult time making that work. Clearly the loss of Tornadin led to those gaps, so many soft spots in this KU defense for Texas Tech receivers. But again, they were able to step up without him, and Coach Miles perhaps happier than anybody that Bryce will be back and he'll be able to play the full 60 against K-State on Saturday. Kickoff for that is at 2.30 p.m. We'll hear a lot more from Coach Miles from his press conference yesterday

and some of the KU players as well as this week rolls on. The next couple segments, though, we're going to talk some KU basketball. We're going to hear from Coach Self. We'll also hear from KU players and hear Coach Self's biggest concern coming out of that first game, that exhibition victory over Fort Hayes State. Locked On Jayhawks, a product of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Let's get into some KU hoops now.

Of course, Kansas picked up that exhibition victory against Fort Hayes State last week. And the Hawks won by 30. The game got a little close there at the beginning of the second half when Fort Hayes State actually cut it to a 36-34 Kansas lead, and then KU was able to get out in transition and obviously display their talent and athletic ability a little bit better, and they pulled away late. One thing, looking at the box score, obviously you see Ochai Abadji. He led the team 21 points.

He had 15 shots. He hit three threes. Marcus Garrett, we highlighted yesterday on the show. He had 15 points, five assists, no turnovers, three steals, and he hit four triples from deep. So Marcus Garrett, a great first showing. Of course, filling in for the injured Devon Dotson at the point guard role. But you also saw that Yudoka Azubuki had four points, two of two shooting from the field. He struggled again from the free throw line.

And here's Bill Self after the game talking about the big man. I didn't think he played well at all, you know, but but, you know, if you If you go back and look at Doak's stats in exhibition games historically, they haven't been very good. I asked him, do you rather play against an SEC team or an exhibition game? He said SEC every day because they were going to play two bigs. He played little guys underneath and he didn't get angles. The thing that he's got to improve on, obviously, I mean, obviously it's very apparent to, I think, anybody that saw the game

is his energy level was certainly affected by how he didn't get much done on the offensive end because of the way they played. And so that can't happen. You can't go down to the other bench and say, would you please play this way? But the reality of it is, in most games, they're not going to play like that and dare you to shoot the ball like Ford Hayes. That was a smart way to play us.

And what's interesting, and I think a lot of KU basketball fans will remember, it's not that surprising that Doak is struggled, or at least didn't put up the numbers in the first game against such a small team. And not just for Doakak like Coach Self just said but you think of guys like Jeff Withey in the past remember Jeff Withey in his junior and senior years here at KU games against the likes of say Missouri or Iowa State that it was a team that played four guards and they were much smaller Jeff Withey did not excel. Jeff Withey did his best work when he was going up against some of the biggest,

tallest teams, and that's kind of the same thing with Doak. Just kind of uncomfortable-seeming, down low on offensive and defensive end, but particularly offensive. And Fort Hay State was doing a lot of sagging, and we'll talk a little bit more about that. But Doak did not put up the numbers. We heard how Coach Sell feels about his energy level because of that. But the other thing was the excitement for this year, a lot of it was based on the fact

that Kansas was finally going to have that depth in the frontcourt with DeSosa and Doak and McCormick. The first game didn't exactly go well on that front, at least not in the eyes of Bill Self. Here's Coach Self talking about Silvio and Doak. I didn't think they helped each other much at all early. I thought he was certainly better late, but I didn't think Silvio played to a really high energy or a real high athletic ability, and he's got to improve on that. The other thing is the way they played us, guys are nervous and everything, but Silvio was catching the ball at 22 feet when he could have caught it at 14. And that 14, 15-footer is a good shot for him.

We'll work on that stuff, and I think that's stuff that we can iron out. Of course, one thing that was blatantly obvious in the game is Fort Hayes State's defensive game plan. Their coach, Mark Johnson, saying after the game that you can't take away everything from a top-tier team like Kansas, but you can try to take away something, and that's what they did. They were sagging, just packing the lane. They were trying to deny Doak the ball and then when he got the ball they were double, triple teaming it

and forcing him to kick the ball out. Forcing KU shooters to make plays and to make shots, more importantly, something that we know Kansas is looking for a lot of this year following Quentin Grimes and Quentin Grimes maybe led struggles from last year from shooting beyond the arc, so that's going to be a key for Kansas this year. Christian Brown spoke after the game, though, about Fort Hayes State's game plan and how he thinks KU's bigs did well in reacting to it. Fort Hayes State did a really good job of packing it in, and every time we threw it into Doak or whoever we threw it into,

they double-teamed, triple-teamed. So like you guys said, we had to do a really good job of shooting the ball, which we can get better at, but we do that every day. So we trust ourselves to shoot the three. But Doak and them did a really good job of not putting it on the floor and kicking it right back out. I'm sure that's frustrating for them, but they did a really good job of kicking it out and keep the possession alive.

That's Christian Brown talking about how he thinks Doak and the other bigs did a good job kicking the ball out when need be, getting it to the open guy, even if it's not an ideal situation for Doak and Silvio and David. Could be frustrating for them not getting any open looks and constantly getting their arms swiped at in smaller defenders going for the steal or whatnot. But obviously the guys did a pretty good job holding onto the ball, just seven turnovers in that first exhibition game. And Ochiai Abadji, after the game,

talked about what Coach Self said regarding Fort Hayes' defensive pressure. Coach kind of said in the locker room, he said, you know, we can't really control, you know, how teams are going to guard us. So in these early on exhibition games when teams are smaller, they're going to pack the lane like that, like she said. We're just going to have to adjust to it and we're going to have to play accordingly to that. And because of the defensive game plan of the Tigers and many potential future opponents for Kansas,

Ochai was asked if there's more pressure on he and all the other guys who can shoot it from deep to make those shots when they're open. I wouldn't say pressure, really. I feel like it would really give us more confidence. I feel like if we have that, we'll be able to make those shots. Kansas did do a decent job shooting from three in this game. They were 11 of 33, so not spectacular. That's probably closer to numbers from last year.

But Bill Self bringing up after the game that Devon Dotson and Isaiah Moss, who weren't out there, probably two of KU's top three shooters from the perimeter. So perhaps that would make a difference as well. We know KU's got a lot of options for guys who could potentially get hot any given night, and they're going to want that, especially if a lot of teams are going to sag in the paint and make life difficult offensively for Doak and company down low. So we talked about that and how that was a problem for KU in the first exhibition in terms of getting their big guys going offensively,

but Bill Self's bigger concern regarding that is coming up after this break. The Lockdown Podcast Network, the local experts on the biggest stories. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at Sean Kellerman. You can follow the show on Twitter at LO underscore Jayhawks. Feel free to tweet at me, tweet at the show, message the show, and let me know what you're thinking about these Jayhawks, either on the hardwood or the gridiron. Let me know what it's going to take for the Jayhawks to take out in-state rival K-State in the Sunflower Showdown on Saturday. It's in Lawrence. We got to get this one, guys. We're overdue for a win in that showdown and need to

make it happen. And of course, KU Hoops, they've got the big one coming up a week from tonight. How crazy is that? Kansas at Duke in the State Farm Champions Classic. A 6 p.m. tip. Of course, that's in advance of one versus two Michigan State and Kentucky at 8 30 a.m. or 8 30 p.m. rather in New York. So certainly going to be exciting. And let's take a look really quickly before we hear more from Bill Self regarding the KU Bigs. Just want to give you a quick rundown on the first official game for the rest of the members of the Big 12. Everybody else gets underway the same night with a few exceptions. It's eight teams in action on Tuesday, November 5th for their first official game. And the likes of Central Arkansas, Northern Colorado, Mississippi Valley State,

North Dakota State, and others are among the opponents, the first opponents for the Big 12 teams. Of course, Kansas gets a date with Duke. So no exhibition or so, you would say, for the first game of the regular season. KU will get UNC Greensboro, a team that usually has a pretty good basketball program, on Friday. But that's, of course, following the Duke game. Everybody else gets kind of a warm-up with a mid-major, but not the Jayhawks. As this Champions Classic gets earlier and earlier.

And for the second straight year, it's going to be the first game of the season for our Jayhawks. All right, so we've been talking about the KU Bigs and the struggles they've had, at least statistically, in that first game. Bill Self's bigger concern, though, is defensively with these guys. KU has been so excited this offseason about the prospects of having Doak and Silvio and David McCormick, and that's great, and they can potentially work great together on the offensive end. Bill Self wasn't thrilled with how that went in game number one, but perhaps a bigger concern is defensively, specifically with Silvio De Sousa starting at the four. This is what Bill Self said when asked about what he's expecting out of Silvio. You've got to guard a guard, and he doesn't.

Or Doak doesn't, and David doesn't. So we may be better off playing him at the five and playing David at the five and rotating those three guys, to be honest with you. Because if we can't play, if those guys can't defend a four, then their effectiveness would be, okay, let's play a big zone or let's just get ready to play two bigs in the games in which other teams play two bigs. So for a coach who his entire career has for the most part played with two bigs and you know he's been all about the high low offense he's a little bit concerned after the first exhibition game that Kansas is going to have to go back to playing four guards like they've done the past three years solely because of the defensive end talking about the bigs not being

able to guard the perimeter. Now, Fort Hayes State hit eight threes in the game last Thursday. Six of them were by forwards, guys being guarded by Silvio, David, or Doak, and that's a concern, and Self talked about that a little bit more after the game. Those guys making shots isn't going to equate to what the four-man on the other team can do making shots. So if Silvio makes one three a game and David combined to make one three a game, that's irrelevant if the other team's four-man's making four. So those are the things that we've got to improve on.

They've got to be able to defend on the perimeter. And it's really not their fault because they never really had to do it. But we've got to get good at that. So when you look at the roster the past couple years for the Jayhawks, let's go back three years. Who's playing the four? You got Marcus Garrett, Sfima Kailuk, and Josh Jackson the last three years. So you got undersized guys, guards really, playing the four. And that's most noticeable last year when you had Marcus Garrett, who's about six foot five. Jackson and Sfi were about 6'8". But with how basketball is now, and not just at the college level, there's kind of the Steph Curry effect where everybody can shoot and everybody needs to be able to shoot to stay on the court. And that's not changing anytime soon. So Kansas is thinking they're going to need

to have a four who can stretch it, which is always something that Bill Self has wanted, but even more so a necessity nowadays. They're going to need a four who can stretch it because most likely other teams are. Especially when you get those smaller teams, they're more often than not not only going to have four shooters on the court, they're going to have five shooters on the court.

So Kansas is going to have to be able to deal with that. It's one thing if Doak struggles, he's the five and he's dominating inside. Maybe you can deal with him giving up one, two, three shots from the perimeter to an opposing five man if they've got five shooters. But the four man, now you're talking four, five, six shots you're giving up from deep. And that's a real problem. So guys like Silvio and David McCormick,ick who the majority of their time have been post up five men they're really having to change defensively and that's something that'll be very interesting to track throughout the year not only their progress on that but how often is bill self gonna go with the four guards because of that simple fact that we

got to get out to shooters because even teams that are big now have guys who can shoot. Just look at Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis just dropping threes in the NBA like it's nothing, and those guys are seven feet tall. I mean, you have guys, everybody on the court nowadays needs to be able to shoot. Now, Yudoka Azubuki is maybe the exception to that because of how dominant he is inside. But that being said, he's got to be able to guard. So it's interesting that just one exhibition game in, Coach Self is already thinking,

all right, well, I may be only able to have one of these three guys on the court at one time because of our inability to get out on the perimeter. Now, if you go back to Coach Self in his prime high-low days, he's had fours that can stretch it. I mean, go back to Wayne Simeon, and then you come all the way up through Marcus Morris. Thomas Robinson began stretching it his junior year when he was a National Player of the Year contender. And then, of course, Perry Ellis was great at stretching the floor as a four.

So you've got to have those guys, and I think that's kind of what Coach Self was saying about Silvio catching the ball at 22 instead of 14. Coach says 14-footer's a good shot for Silvio. We've seen just the scrimmage at late night in the game against Fort Hayes State. David McCormick has certainly improved his range. Hopefully he can become a consistent shooter. If that's the case, then you can afford offensively to have two guys out there because you can hit 14, 15, 16 footers with those guys, and they can dump it and play a little high-low with Doak, but no matter what, those guys, if they're going to be

on the court, two of them at a time, the three bigs, they're going to have to get out to the perimeter and guard shooters because every team nowadays is going to have them. All right, we got a lot more to get into as the week rolls on. We'll hear a ton more sound from Les Miles, Carter Stanley as well, and, of course, we'll hear more from Bill Self and KU players. Exhibition game number two is coming up Thursday, so that'll be the next game on tap for our upcoming schedule, and then, of course, football on Saturday against K-State. Thanks so much for tuning in.

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