Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Locked On Jayhawks - 12.17.19

Episode Date: December 17, 2019

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What's up, Jayhawk Nation? Welcome into this Tuesday edition of Locked On Jayhawks. I'm your host, 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. Hope everybody's having a great Tuesday. Of course, a weekend between games here. Kansas disposed of the Kansas City Roos at Sprint Center on Saturday, 98-57. Now we've got a week off. The guys are going to focus on their school work, focus on finals, and then it's up to the Wells Fargo Center in Philly on Saturday at 11

a.m. Kansas and Villanova. The newly number one ranked Kansas Jayhawks taking on the number 18 ranked Wildcats. It's a rematch of a game last year that KU won by three at Allen Fieldhouse. And of course, we'll preview that game more as the week goes on. Today, though, we're going to talk a lot about David McCormick and Yudoka Azebuki. In the first segment, we're going to hear from Christian Brown and Devon Dotson. They're going to talk about David. CB is even going to touch on some of the improvements that he's seen since he's gotten on campus as a freshman. Devon's going to talk about Big Dave's big day and how that contributes to Kansas' versatility on both ends of the floor. Second segment, we'll hear more from those guys as they talk about Doak and his

improved passing. And Bill Self will chime in and talk about that as well. Also take a look around the Big 12 and the Top 25 in Segment 2, as always. And in Segment 3, we'll recap the night that was for our Jayhawks in the NBA, and we'll also take a look at some of the stats in the Big 12, see where Kansas stacks up with some of the other competitors in the Big 12 in certain areas that could be important for this team moving forward. 98-57 was the final in the game at Sprint Center. The 28 points and 7 rebounds were impressive no matter how many minutes you play, but the fact that David McCormick did it in 17 minutes is all the more impressive.

Big Dave, 28-7. You know, you break that out. I said this on yesterday's show, but you break that out to 40 minutes, and for David, that's about 70 points and 17 rebounds, somewhere along those lines. So, I don't think if he would have played the full 40, he would have actually gotten that, but still impressive numbers nonetheless. Kansas got 18 from Devon and 13 from Marcus Garrett, and perhaps what was most important for this team was the fact that we got to see nine different guys play 17 minutes or more 17 apiece for Inaruna David and Dotson and you got 20 out

of Silvio De Sousa and 21 out of Christian Brown that was great to see Brown and De Sousa both pulled down seven rebounds in their limited time so So as the week goes on, of course, we'll talk about the importance of those guys to this KU team. But, of course, want to do our due duties and give David McCormick mad props for the 28-7 line in just about 17 minutes. Christian Brown met with reporters after the game on Saturday and chimed in on Big Dave. What I've seen since the summer, he's improved a lot.

And all of his shots were going down today. He was playing hard. He's doing a really good job rebounding. He did it all in limited minutes, so it's pretty impressive. Very impressive indeed. And you have to be impressed with this guy. If you've ever heard him talking on the radio or had a chance to chat with him in person, David McCormick, he is just a well-spoken, nice man. I mean, that's the best

way to put it. He's a great person to have for this program. And you look physically at Big Dave, compare some of his pictures. You can go on Google and you can look at some of his pictures. You know, he was not nearly as muscular as he is now. That happens to a lot of athletes. We know that as they move on to college and high-level Division I programs. But McCormick is all of a sudden completely shredded, and he has an NBA body compared to what it was late high school, even when he got onto campus last year as a freshman. So you see those improvements. He seems more comfortable as well on the court,

and that's beginning to show with everything he's been doing for this Kansas team. Devon Dotson is, without question, the leader of this team. He's KU's floor general, and for the second straight week, Devon, or second week overall, I should say, he was named Big 12 Player of the Week. Good performances against both Milwaukee and Kansas City, but Devon, he's given it up for his teammate, David McCormick, after the game. Here's number one. It was tremendous. Justick after the game. Here's number one. It was tremendous. You know, just going after the ball. His activity level was great. He finished down low. He hit some shots, so he did everything. It's funny, you can hear the coach when you're

hearing some of these guys talk, because you feel like it's Bill Self talking through some of their words, just with some of the language that they say. They all talk about activity level now, and we know that's important words for Coach Bill Self. If you want to get on the court, you've got to play defense. You've got to have a high activity level. That's something that we know David McCormick has always had. Even last year when the game was sped up for him, he was still high energy, high effort,

because he knew that that was his best chance to get on the floor and to help the team win. And while that's very true, and the guys talk about how he has great activity level, great energy, I thought Coach made a great point after the game. He talked about how, yeah, a lot of it's effort and energy, but a lot of it is skill set. This is a guy who can do a little bit of everything. And we saw that on Saturday. We saw spin moves in the lane. We saw jumpers from 16 to 18 feet. And that's going to be so

important for this Kansas team because it's going to contribute to their versatility offensively. And aside from the big two of Devon and Doak, now you've got more pieces you got to worry about. We know what Ochai can do with his athleticism, his ability to stroke her from the perimeter. You've got Isaiah Moss, a sharpshooter, coming off the bench as well. But if you get that four spot, whether it's David or Silvio, if you get them going, that's just going to be a whole other element for KU offensively. And that was the plan heading into this season, right, was getting these guys in and contributing on both ends of the ball and

punishing people with our size we just haven't had to see it too much but now offensively if david's going to be a problem then that's just going to be one more thing that opposing teams are going to have to worry about here's devon dotson talking about how big dave's performance and hopefully continued improvement will continue to make this team more versatile. We're a very versatile team. You know, any given night, I mean, it can be somebody's game. So we're very deep, and it just shows how much potential we have. But, yeah, we just got to keep it going, you know, lock in each and every day in practice and keep it going.

That's Devon Dotson talking about how versatile this team is, the number one ranked team in the country, the Kansas Jayhawks. After the break, we'll take a look around the Big 12 and the Top 25, and we'll hear from Christian Brown and Devon Dotson. Maybe you'll be surprised what CB had to say or Coach's words about Doak after the game on Saturday. So stay tuned for that. If you're looking for a last-minute fun sports gift for the holidays,

go to BreakingTea.com slash LockedOn. Breaking Tea makes sports t-shirts around teams' passion moments. Great for all fans. Go to BreakingTea.com slash LockedOn, and then feel free to search the site for great shirts and fun sports gifts. This is LockedOn Jayhawks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, the local experts on the biggest stories. One game in the Big 12 last night, it was Texas Tech hosting Southern Miss.

Texas Tech entered this game as 20-plus point favorites, and they ended up having to come back to win. They were down 7 at half, 32-25, but Tech would complete the comeback. They win 71-65. They did it behind T.J. Shannon, who's been a killer. Terrence Shannon Jr., 18 points. He's the leading scorer for the Tech team last night. They also got a double-double out of their point guard, Chris Clark, 14 points and 11 rebounds. Now again, Tech was without Jamias Ramsey. He's been nursing a hamstring injury. The freshman is

probably Tech's most talented and best player. He did not play when Tech defeated Louisville earlier, so Tech trying to find their footing a little bit without their top guy. They improved to seven and three on the year, and you just got to give it up to Chris Beard and his staff. They continue to get it done. Davide Moretti talked in the preseason about how this team is new. They're going to have to go through some adversity. Of course, they lose Matt Mooney, Tariq Owens, and most importantly, Jared Culver. And adversity has struck Lubbock with Ramsey getting hurt. Three straight losses earlier this year, including two in overtime.

But they bounced back in a big way by defeating Louisville last week. And then, of course, the victory last night against Southern Miss Tech is back in business ranked 24th in the country one Big 12 game tonight it's Oklahoma traveling to Omaha to take on Creighton at 7 30 p.m. that game is a part of the Big 12 Big East challenge or Big 12 Big East battle as they say it's kind of interesting the first games of this were December 4th, and it goes all the way through this Saturday, where there are two games taking place, including our Jayhawks, but six games in the books thus far, and Big 12 has just two wins.

Iowa State took care of Seton Hall and Ames, and Baylor defeated Butler and Waco by one. Those are the only two wins for the Big 12 in this challenge. Losses by West Virginia, K-State, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State. So Big 12, rather, can get back on the right foot tonight, Oklahoma at Creighton, and the final two games of the battle Saturday, KU at Villanova and Texas at Providence. So that's a look around your Big 12. And taking a look around the top 25, there were no games last night. We know there's been so much shakeup in the top 25 with all the teams that have been losing,

particularly in the top five. So no games last night. But tonight, Ohio State, they're ranked fifth in the country. They host Southeast Missouri State. Dayton is back out there. The 13th-ranked Flyers host North Texas. Florida State's ranked 19th they host north florida at 7 30 in washington they're ranked 22nd in the country they host seattle that game a late night game on the west coast so that'll do it for your big 12 and top 25

recap now let's kind of get back to our jayhawks we've been talking a lot about david mccormick the player of the game on saturday the 28 and-7 in just 16 1⁄2 minutes. How about his running mate, Yudoka Azubuki? Doak, who carried this KU team on the block in Maui. He had 55 points in the three games in Maui, was named co-MVP. Doak only had nine points in this game, but he had five boards and four assists,

and he, too, played just 17 minutes. Listen to what Christian Brown says Bill Self was the was talking about in the post game locker room to the big fella he said that was one of Doak's best offensive games he's seen and Doak did a really good job passing in the second half he had three quick assists and it's pretty easy when Dave's doing that well and Dave and Doak's throwing the ball CB would continue talking about how Doak has been so helpful, such a big fan of his teammates this season, which is great to hear from a freshman because you come in and there's a senior guy who clearly wants to eat. We know that about Doak. He wants to put up his numbers. Bill Self has talked about that in the past few years, how he hasn't been happy with Doak at times. If he's not getting the ball or gets what he wants, maybe his body language isn't what it should be. That was not the case on Saturday. Doak was able to find David

McCormick four different times for assists, and that's going to be so big for this Kansas team because when Doak is trapped, if he's able to shimmy his way out of those traps or at least expect the trap, then he knows where he can go with the ball. And if he's comfortable enough to pass the ball to David McCormick, then that's going to be a major problem for defenses because they're going to have to deal with Big Dave as the four spot. And then it's just going to be a problem. You just don't have enough bodies. You don't have enough fouls to give.

And you more often than not do not have enough size to keep up with those guys. So that could be huge for this team. Now, Doak has not always been a good passer. We know that. That goes without saying. Here's Devon Dotson talking about Doak's improvement in that area. Just in practice, doing a better job of putting him in different situations of when the traps come.

Just being more comfortable with it and embracing the trap. So he's developed. He's more experienced. That and embracing the trap. And so he's developed. He's, you know, more experienced. That helps a lot, too. So just different reads out there. And so he learned from his past mistakes, and he corrects them. Bill Self echoed Devon talking about how passing is something that Doak's really been working on.

He's put some time in, and, you know, he's better over his left shoulder, obviously, when he can do it with his right hand. In practice, when he makes a good play, I always say Bill Walton. I don't even know if he knows who Bill Walton is. He was a decent passer back in the day. I think he's getting better. I think he's getting better, but the one thing that's encouraging, if anything, is when you're trapped, you should embrace the trap. He sometimes wants to get out of his hands as quick as possible.

Granted, you've got 6'4 trapping instead of 6'9, but I thought he looked poised and comfortable and not panicked when he got the ball in tight. It's kind of funny. It seems like a transition for not just bigs at KU, but bigs when they get to the college level, just having to slow the game down. Look at the three bigs we've got on our roster right now with Doak, Silvio, and David McCormick. There have been times where all three of these guys have struggled holding on to the ball. They've treated the ball

like a hot potato and they haven't felt comfortable with it. Now we're seeing the slowing down process. Now we know that it's not going to be as easy when you have bigger bodies going against you. The last two games against clearly smaller teams, you don't have the depth and the size. And Villanova, Stanford, West Virginia, these next three games for Kansas, it's going to be a different story. But that being said, it's progress. And if we can get Silvio on board as well, he showed some good things, and we'll hear from Bill Self about him on tomorrow's show. If we can get Silvio going, then you really do have a three-headed monster

in terms of your bigs to go along with some of the best guards in the country, in my opinion, in the backcourt. So it's great to see. Next segment, we're going to take a look into the Big 12 stats as well as look at our NBA Jayhawks and check in on how some of our guys are doing at the next level. This is Locked On Jayhawks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

A couple of nice performances from our Jayhawks in the NBA last night. Start with Kelly Oubre. He had 24 points. He continues to be a top performer for the Phoenix Suns. Sheck Diallo did not play in that game. Ben McLemore, he has really taken on kind of a third scoring option role for the Houston Rockets. Ben had 17 points, 3 boards, and an assist. And the Rockets 109-107 victory over the Spurs.

And then two Jayhawks play for the Detroit Pistons. Markeith Morris, pretty good game. 22 points, five boards and three assists. Fee McIluke played 13 minutes. He had seven points in that game. So guys continuing to put up some numbers, and you look at it, and of the top 45 scorers in the NBA, five are Kansas Jayhawk players. So that's better than Duke, UNC, Kentucky. You've got five Jayhawks in the NBA, five are Kansas Jayhawk players. So that's better than Duke, UNC, Kentucky. You get five Jayhawks in the top 45, Kelly Oubre, Marcus Morris,

Devontae Graham, and, of course, Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins putting up numbers in the scoring department. You love to see it. And perhaps the whole notion that Kansas doesn't put forth as much NBA talent as some of those other schools that I mentioned needs to be put to bed because the Jayhawks are doing work. Three games tonight. Devontae Graham, speak of the devil,

he and the Hornets are hosting Sacramento at 6 o'clock. The Knicks and Marcus Morris host Atlanta at 6.30. And Oubre, Diallo, and the Suns are at the Clippers at 9.30 tonight. That's a look at your Jayhawks in the NBA. A couple stats I want to go through now regarding our current Jayhawks who are sitting number one in the AP poll for the first time this year. First off, Kansas has now been ranked in the last 207 AP polls. Unbelievable.

The next closest is 70. I believe the record is UCLA with 214 back in the late 90s being ranked consecutive weeks in the AP Bowl. KU up to 207, so not far off. The next closest at 70 is Duke. So the Jayhawks continuing to model that consistency that we've come to know and love under Coach Bill Self and his coaching staff, the right coaches and the right players in our program.

So this team is 9-1. They've got a couple of marquee victories over top 20 teams. That Dayton win is looking like the most impressive as the Flyers continue to blow out their competition and rise in the AP poll. They are 13th now in the country. Kansas also, of course, beat Colorado when they were in the AP poll. They are 13th now in the country. Kansas also, of course, beat Colorado when they were in the top 25. Kansas is first in the conference in each of the following categories, scoring, scoring margin, field goal percentage, and three-point field goal percentage. Maybe that's

not surprising. KU scoring 84 points a game, particularly after numbers were a little bit inflated over this past week's games. But 84 points a game for the Jayhawks, and they're plus 21. Next closest is plus 14 in terms of scoring margin. One thing that you notice over the national champions of the past years, they are usually going to have scoring margins that are significantly better than their opponents now I know that the NCAA tournament is kind of fickle and there's some crazy upsets particularly in the early rounds but you look at it and even go back 15 years Connecticut a couple times is probably the exception but more often than not you're going to have the best team or probably a top three team actually cutting down the nets at the Final Four.

So usually the best teams, despite everything that's crazy in the NCAA tournament, the best teams are the ones who cut down the nets. So that's important. Kansas first in field goal percentage. Of course, that's aided by Yudoka Azubuki shooting 80% plus from the field. KU's at 53%. They're also first in three-point field goal percentage, 37%. Like I said, that's maybe the most surprising is because KU fans are kind of nitpicking now on, okay, where can this team improve?

How does this team need to be better? Consistency of three-point shooting I think is definitely a key, but KU still leads the league. Coach Self saying yesterday, we've got to be the most inconsistent three-point shooting team, but we're leading the league. So 37% for KU. You'd like to see a more consistent number,

but as we've seen, Kansas can win shooting from outside the arc like they did against Milwaukee, or they can win inside the arc like they've done against BYU, Dayton, Kansas City, so many different games. Kansas first in all of those categories. KU's also second in rebounding margin. Defensively, KU, we know they're good on that end as well. Coach Self has compared this to some of his better defensive teams of the past. He says, we're not close though. We're not quite there yet, but KU third in the conference in terms of field goal percentage defense at 38 He says, Marcus Garrett and company getting it done. The most concerning stats through the first 10 games of the season as we're taking a look at where Kansas is in the Big 12.

Eighth in free throw percentage, not surprising, with Yudoka Azubuki and all his documented struggles. KU just 64.5% from the line. Kansas also seventh in turnover margin. Not surprising that those are the two where Kansas is near the bottom part of the league, at least statistically, because of all the turnovers that Kansas has had. They've had two 20-plus turnover games, and of course the free throw percentage, particularly with Yudoka Azubuki, that's going to be something to hone in on. I think you can't be overly concerned about the free throw percentage because Kansas is not going to have Yudoka Azubuki in the game when it matters

most. Now, if you run into a team that can afford to have big guys use all their fouls and constantly put Doak at the line, then that's a concern. But in close games, when it matters most, we've seen that David McCormick can hit free throws. We know Isaiah Moss and all the guards can hit free throws at a pretty high clip for Kansas as well. So that, to me, isn't as big of a concern. Cleaning up the turnovers a little bit. Coach Self last week at his press conference talking about how Devon Dotson, he is 1.5 to 1 right now with assist to turnover ratio, and he's more of a 3 to 1 player, according to Coach.

So that's one way that Kansas can clean up that part as well. So those are the two areas, free throw percentage and turnover margin, where Kansas is not where it wants to be statistically, but otherwise very impressive particularly offensively speaking of Devon Dotson we're going to hear a lot from Bill Self tomorrow he's going to talk about Devon and how impressive he has been and where Devon has improved since he's gotten here at KU came in as a five-star recruit he's only improved since he set foot on campus so we'll hear more from Coach Self tomorrow.

We'll also hear more from the star of the show on Saturday's victory over Kansas City, David McCormick. He'll chime in, talk a little bit about his performance in KU's defense. Thanks so much for tuning in. This is Sean Kellerman signing off. Locked on Jayhawks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And Rock Chalk, Jayhawk.