Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Paul Mbiya, Luke Barnett and More SUMMER SURGERS for Bill Self & Kansas Jayhawks Basketball

Starting point is 00:00:00 Direct quote from Bill Self. We had a great summer. Let's break down everything he said with John Rothstein and what it means for this upcoming season. 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 here? This is Locked on Jayhawks, a little bonus episode for you. Bill Self was on with John Rothstein and gave some interesting insight to the upcoming season. as well as on Tyron Stokes, the rest of the pieces, and his health.

Starting point is 00:00:39 Let's start with what he said, though, that quote the five words, we had a great summer because that's exactly what you want to hear. For a team that has some players that need some development, for a team that, you know, there are some questions about perfect music to my ears, right, of what I want to hear from Bill Self on that podcast. Some other quotes that he said kind of in regards to this, I think that we're a better shooting team. And that kind of backs up what I've kind of been saying about this team.

Starting point is 00:01:07 Like, you know, we'll see with Blyden and Barnett, if Barnett is in the rotation, like that could be two elite shooters. But even beyond that, it's just the amount of at least average, too solid to above average shooters you have on this team, right? It's pretty much everybody but the center position, right? He did mention we're not freakishly athletic, but we're definitely well above average athletically. So, you know, that'll be something kind of interesting to deal with there. He said, I also think we're unproven, which makes sense and kind of talked about that in terms of why he thinks they're underrated in some of the preseason rankings right now. But he did say we don't have as much margin for error, which I think also makes sense because, you know, it's not a team that is just going to be this juggernaut that's just blowing out a bunch of opponents. Probably going to have to be winning some close games here and there, right?

Starting point is 00:02:00 And maybe you can make some big additions at the end here that changed that a little bit more. But specifically when Self was talking about that we had a great summer, he went into some of the reasons why and some of them were personnel based. Paul M. Bia was a big reason why. KU needed Paul Mbia to continue his development trajectory that he showed in season and carry it over into the offseason into the summer. Here's the direct quote from Bill Self. Paul Mbia is so much improved.

Starting point is 00:02:25 And yes, he did put emphasis on the so much. I'm trying to reflect that as well, but that Paul Mbia has improved so much. That's exactly what you want to hear. Now, the thing is with where Paul Mbio was starting from and the lack of playing time, improved so much, that could be to turn into a 12 minute per game guy. That could be to turn into, I don't know, an all big 12 level player. You just don't really know. Self did mention at one point, like, can we get 12 and 8 combined out of like Mbia and Reeves this season, right?

Starting point is 00:02:54 Which would mean both guys average in six and four. It sounds doable, right? You would hope that would be the case. He did also mention this one. Cole Rosario averaged three a game last year. He's so much better. Again, emphasis on the so much there. So it sounds like Rosario is taking a positive leap forward as well.

Starting point is 00:03:11 It's interesting because I hadn't heard as much on the coal train as maybe the Mbia train specifically, but that is good to hear in this specific setting. And then we've gotten different little, I don't know, hints and notes here and there about that they seem to be pretty darn high on Luke Barnett and have been impressed with him so far. We'll just add another one to that fold. He said, quote, we've got a kid out of California, Luke Barnett, that nobody really knows about that's probably as good as shooter as we've had here in a while.

Starting point is 00:03:43 I think that makes sense. Like legitimately, he is an incredible, incredible shooter of the basketball. And so even if he's playing 10, 12 minutes per game, I think he's going to be a positive for KU is just, you know, another player who technically can handle. handle the ball, but just can take some pressure off other guys by being out on the floor. And, you know, there might be a specific game where he hits three-threes for you and kind of carries a game. So that kind of continues to back up the idea that maybe Barnett will be in the rotation for KU. He also said this. So we have some nice pieces, but can Tyron put us on his back?

Starting point is 00:04:16 Let's break down Tyron Stokes a little bit more next. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Our episode today is brought to you by Indeed, when workplace chaos hits and you need the right hire. Indeed sponsor jobs helps connect employers with candidates who match specific needs like skills, certifications and locations. So less time gets spent searching and more time gets spent finding the right fit. People are finding quality hires on Indeed right now. In the minute I've been talking to you, companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide. You know, running a business can be really, really difficult, right? And that's the same I'd imagine for, you know, Bill self running a basketball team between keeping track of everybody on and off

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Starting point is 00:05:58 Thanks you for joining us here on Lockdown Jayhawks, breaking down some of what Bill Self had to say. And very complimentary of Tyrant Stokes. And like I said earlier, so we have some nice pieces, but can Tyrant put us on his back? It is going to be very, you know, at the end of the day on the idea that Tyrant Stokes can be a superstar and that these pieces can be good, but they only work as good pieces around Tyrant Stokes, right? And he later said this, I think we'll have the most talented player on the floor, basically. every night we play. Again, like, that makes sense. It's not like groundbreaking that the number one recruits going to be the most talented player on the floor every time that Kansas plays. But it goes back in line with the he needs to put us on his back. He needs to play that way every single night.

Starting point is 00:06:44 Because again, we have some nice players around him, but Keanu Dawes is a nice player as a secondary piece. If Keanu Dawes has to be the guy, that's a different conversation. You know, like Luke Barnett, really good three point shooter. it's one thing if Luke Barnett is asked to be your best shooter, it's another if he's the fifth piece on the floor, just has to hit open shots. And that's what Tyrant Stokes can kind of set up. He was asked by John Rothstein to, you know,

Starting point is 00:07:09 kind of make some comparisons, like who does Tyrant Sokes remind him of? And he actually reached in and gave a combination of Andrew Wiggins and Josh Jackson. He said, um, kind of like not being quite the athlete of Andrew Wiggins, but still super explosive, combined with like the being a dog,

Starting point is 00:07:28 dog like Josh Jackson, right? That was the thing with Andrew Wiggins. It didn't really seem like he had the alpha mentality was Josh Jackson, he was still really good athlete, but he had the alpha mentality. Wiggins was even another level athlete, right? And Bill Self said, quote, I would much rather deal with a guy that you have to control the emotion sometimes than encourage it. I think that's important here because we have had some recent teams here where there have

Starting point is 00:07:53 been some really nice people on the team, nice dudes on KU, but maybe they, they haven't gotten everything that Bill Self would want on the basketball court. And it feels like with this year's team, right, like there is going to be a little bit more like reeling in, raining in, maybe a little bit more worry of, oh, did somebody crash a scooter or something like that. But like Bill Self said, and Bill Self tends to do some of his best work with those teams. I think that'll be the case with this year's team as well. All right. We also got to hear kind of a health update or maybe not as much an update, but more of a retrospect.

Starting point is 00:08:27 with a bit of an update in there as well. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Kalshi. And before season even kicks off, everyone is making their predictions, right? Who's going to win the division? Who's going to win how many games? Who makes the playoffs? Who's listing the trophy on Kalshi, America's number one prediction market platform?

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Starting point is 00:10:38 It certainly wasn't super deep or anything. You'd have some frontline talent. But they ended up making it all the way to the national title team because great organizations win when operations matter. And it felt like everybody had the operations oiled from the coaching staff to the assistant coaches to the players to everybody just on the same page. That's how you get it done. Try it for free at Odo.com slash locked on. That's ODOO.O.com slash locked on. So we got to hear from Bill self-talking to John Rothsey and kind of given an update to his health and kind of a bit of a retrospective on what went down.

Starting point is 00:11:15 And he mentioned having a pretty significant heart attack and complications at one point, but feels that he's kind of corrected it and everything. He was kind of asked about, you know, the end of season and the presser and everything. And Bill said that, you know, at that moment, so basically the end of the year, I thought that was probably it in large part because of health issues, right? But then he says he talked to multiple doctors, he even talked to like a separate expert at Dallas. And he kind of started thinking, okay, I can, you know, I can handle this here, right? And so this is kind of the main quote that to me sticks out from this. my doctor said, Bill, do what you want to do. But the reason you're doing this shouldn't be because of health, because your health is fine.

Starting point is 00:12:03 If you want to keep doing it, do it and don't look back. And I think that's all he needed to hear. And so when I see all of this, like if the health does remain fine through the season, like if he does have another health scare this season, then at that point, it feels like this should be the last year because then it's like, okay, I thought I was fine. We had another issue. That's that. if he gets through this season and doesn't have any more health issues in terms of the

Starting point is 00:12:28 heart stuff, I know he's dealing with the knee thing right now, but that's separate. I mean, why, like, what about, I guess I wouldn't be surprised if we, we get more than one year of Bill Self is kind of where I'm going with this, right? And then he gave this quote as well, I really want to prove myself that I can do it with the new generation of college basketball. I love coaching. I love being around the guys. I love teaching.

Starting point is 00:12:52 But I also have an inner drive to say, you know what, I'm not so long in the tooth that I can adjust. And that's basically him saying he feels like he is being doubted because he hasn't had, you know, the great level of success during the NIL specific era. And he did mention that, yes, they won a title during the NIL era, but it was right at the beginning of it and guys weren't making what they are now. And, you know, it's interesting because going back to the idea of could be. self-coach multiple years, what would be more likely? Would it be if, you know, if he loses in the second round again or something or it doesn't have the season he wants to? Like, clearly he is a competitor and wants to prove to himself that he can get it done. Would that make him more likely to come back? Or if he has a lot of success, would he say, okay, I proved it to me. I proved it to the

Starting point is 00:13:41 doubters that I can have a lot of success. I'm going to retire out on top, you know, even if that's like an elite aid or something like that. Or does that, you know, motivate you even more to be like, oh well i'm right there i'll keep going you know but point being as long as the health holds up like everything that i see in some of those quotes why wouldn't bill self be coaching for more than just a year uh for kansas all right that'll do for this episode locked on j hawks you can find their show anywhere you a podcast including on our youtube page we can like and subscribe to the show see you next time

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Paul Mbiya, Luke Barnett and More SUMMER SURGERS for Bill Self & Kansas Jayhawks Basketball

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