Yesterday Kansas wrapped up its early-season tournament, going 2-1 in Orlando to finish third. The team defeated North Texas and Iona, but it lost to Dayton on a buzzer beater. Here’s what the stats say about the way KU played.

Good Offense, Bad Defense

In the three games over the weekend, KU scored at a pace of 1.165 points per possession, but gave up 1.049 points per possession. Let’s start with the offense. The team didn’t shoot great from outside of easy baskets in the paint (34% on 3, 59% on FT’s), but got itself a ton of great looks with good transition play and solid half-court offense. Not many defenses will be able to slow down this team with its versatility. They’d need too many offensive talents to have off-nights.  

On the other side of the ball, Kansas did show some good defense at times, forcing 50 turnovers in the three games, but the Hawks gave up too many easy baskets considering the opponents. With North Texas, Dayton, and Iona all having offensive ratings in the 100’s, KU should have been below 1.000 points per possession allowed over the course of three games. Coming in to the season, the defense was the big question mark. Following the Orlando tournament, this question has only grown. It isn’t a question of depth, size, or athleticism. The potential is there. But the defensive skill is lacking. The discipline isn’t fully developed. Coach Self will harp on this all year, because if he can find guys who can defend while maintaining the scoring ability we’ve seen so far this team can have a great year.

Rotation Reminds Open

Coach Self played all 12 scholarship players in all three games in Orlando, and each one of these 12 got at least 9 minutes in at least one of the three games. This is very rare for Self, which got me to thinking how to best measure roster depth and dispersion of minutes.

One way to measure how spread out the team’s minutes are is to use a modified form of the Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index (HHI). This index is used in economics, but we can modify it for our purposes. Basically, if the number is 1.0, this means a team would never sub (play 5 players all 40 minutes). A team which played 10 players 20 minutes each would be at 0.5. Any realistic number for a basketball team will be in between these values, with numbers closer to 1.0 meaning less substitution. So far for this year, KU’s HHI is at 0.585. As a comparison to a past KU team with limited depth, the 2018 team had an HHI of 0.754. Self never plays 10 guys throughout the course of a season, let alone 11 or 12. But aside from the top 3 or 4 players, it isn’t easy to see who should get more minutes at this stage. Expect this HHI to stay relatively low (close to 0.600) for at least the non-conference season.

Player Rankings from Orlando

Below are the per game Adj. PPG +/- scores for the Orlando tournament:

• Braun                   +3.91
• Martin                  +2.73
• Agbaji                   +2.71
• McCormack        +2.49
• Yesufu                  +0.67
• Adams                  +0.16
• Wilson                  +0.05
• Clemence            -0.95
• Pettiford              -1.48
• Lightfoot              -1.51
• Harris                    -2.54
• Coleman-Lands -4.55
• TEAM                    +1.99

Any surprises here from your expectation are due to defensive performance. David McCormack battled through a couple poor offensive performances before playing well against Iona, but it was his defense which netted him a positive weekend. On the flipside it was Mitch Lightfoot’s poor defense, particularly in the Dayton game, which caused his negative score. The TEAM played slightly above bubble level, dragged down by its lackluster defense.

The Season Thus Far

Ochai Agbaji: +6.83 Offense -0.02 Defense +6.81 Total. 5 positive games, 1 negative game. 3 MVPs.

Agbaji is playing nearly 7 points a game better than a KU-level replacement player. Even though he cooled off some during the three-game stretch in Orlando, he is averaging 22.5 points per game and continues to show adeptness at scoring the ball. The team would not nearly be as good without his improvement, so we should all be glad he came back to Kansas for his senior campaign. His only negative performance was against Iona, when he gave up nearly as many points as he scored and didn’t win enough possessions on defense. Overall, his defense has been stingy with regards to allowing points, but his defensive rebounding has been non-existent. Given his size, quickness, vertical, and length; there is no reason for him to be struggling to win defensive possessions following a missed shot or loose ball.

Christian Braun: +4.19 Offense -0.88 Defense +3.31 Total. 6 positive games, 0 negative games. 1 MVP.

CB is the only Jayhawk to post a positive score in each of the first 6 games, and was the team’s MVP in Orlando. He was also the only Jayhawk to make the all-tournament team. He is KU’s second-best scorer, assist-man, and offensive rebounder. He is scoring inside the arc more than he has in past seasons, making him the most efficient player on KU’s offense. Defensively, he is playing worse than in prior seasons. He is doing well at winning defensive possessions on missed shots/turnovers, but he is giving up too many baskets to his opponent. Basically, he is playing opposite of how Agbaji is playing on defense. Like Agbaji, Braun is taking on an extra load on the offensive end which is likely hurting the amount of energy he has for defense. Braun’s game-to-game consistency has been remarkable, posting positive scores in all six games. His best game this season, and only MVP, was the Dayton game.

Zach Clemence: +1.68 Offense -0.43 Defense +1.25 Total. 4 positive games, 2 negative games.

With all the questions about the rotation moving forward, Zach Clemence’s place is a big one. He has been the team’s best performer on a per-possession basis, with the only question being if he can keep up that level of efficiency playing 15, 20, or 25 minutes a game instead of the 5.6 he plays now. Coach Self seems content to play him minutes in games which appear to be a good matchup, not wanting to expose him to quicker or more physical opponents. Clemence is an underrated rebounder and a tremendous shooter. We should hope to see more from him, because he’s performed in the minutes he’s seen so far.

Remy Martin: +3.17 Offense -2.20 Defense +0.97 Total. 4 positive games, 2 negative games.

Martin has performed on offense as well as expected, but like others on the team it is his defense which is forgettable. It’s not a good habit to cherry pick in statistics, but his value score looks much better once you exclude his Stony Brook performance in which he was hampered by a back injury. Defensively, Remy is a much better rebounder than you might think given his size. He’s also very pesky, drawing charges and interrupting ball-handlers. He’s won double the defensive possessions Agbaji has in 45 fewer minutes, yet despite this activity has given up too many easy looks to his opponent. Thinking strategically, one might wonder if this is partially due to the numerous switches the defense employees. Opponents work the ball around until they find a mismatch, and oftentimes this leads to Remy playing defense in the post. Still, Remy has to play more disciplined on the defensive end and force opponents into tough shots even when he’s in a defensive mismatch. I expect the defensive score to improve, but it isn’t likely he will be a positive contributor on that end.

K.J. Adams: +0.04 Offense +0.19 Defense +0.24 Total. 4 positive games, 2 negative games.

Believe it or not, through the team’s first six games K.J. Adams is the only player to play in all games and be positive both on offense and defense. This distinction matters less than being the best player overall, but it still shines a positive light on K.J. who has played hard in the minutes he’s been in. One great attribute he brings is his ability to add value not through scoring, but through hustle plays like rebounds. With so many offensive weapons, the team doesn’t need another scorer as much as it needs someone like Adams to get loose balls, compete, and win possessions.

Jalen Wilson +0.01 Offense +0.04 Defense +0.05 Total. 1 positive game, 2 negative games. 1 MVP.

Jalen Wilson was a welcome sight in the North Texas game, coming back from his suspension to earn team MVP honors despite only scoring 7 points. However, his next two games were less-than-spectacular, and over the course of the tournament he played at replacement level on both ends of the floor. His 13 total points (4.3 per game) in Orlando were surprising for someone who scored well last season. He will need to shoot better to get back to where he should be. One silver lining is that his defense appears to be better than it was last season, but the real test on that end will come against tougher opponents. Coach Self wants to play him more, but for now he hasn’t earned the right to start.

David McCormack +0.80 Offense -0.86 Defense -0.06 Total. 2 positive games, 4 negative games. 1 MVP.

This may sound surprising, but D-Mac’s per-minute offense has been good through 6 games. He has struggled at times, of course, but he played well against Iona and got himself back to where he should be. Despite not being a great defensive rebounder, he does win enough offensive rebounds to add value on that end. His defensive score is improving as well following a solid outing in Orlando. When he plays big inside, he can make it tough for opponents. Had the Dayton buzzer-beater not dropped, we might be talking more about his excellent weak-side block which saved a layup. Nevertheless, it is consistency where McCormack hurts the team. With only 2/6 games being positive, he has too many off-nights. Instead of being great once or twice every five games, the team could use a starting center who is good most nights and average to mediocre on the others. Let’s not write him off, as he is the team’s best interior scorer and will be needed if KU wants to accomplish its season goals.

Mitch Lightfoot +0.73 Offense -1.32 Defense -0.59 Total. 4 positive games, 2 negative games.

Mitch took a step-forward during the off-season on offense. Having never sniffed a positive contribution on offense over one of his previous four seasons, he is comfortably on the plus-side through six games. Even with expected reversion, this should be his best offensive season. Defensively, he has struggled to keep his man from scoring and has lacked discipline staying on his man at times. Lightfoot loves the weakside block as well as stepping in to take a charge, but this can lead to overhelping and easy points for the opponent. Mitch has been more consistent than his counterpart big in David McCormack, and his score is hurt most by the poor outing he had against Dayton.

Bobby Pettiford +0.08 Offense -0.85 Defense -0.77 Total. 2 positive games, 4 negative games.

Pettiford has struggled to find the same type of value he provided against Michigan State, particularly on the defensive end. Undersized, he can give up points by being shot over. He is a solid distributor, but not a great outside shooter yet (0-2 from 3). There are also questions about his health.

Jalen Coleman-Lands +0.25 Offense -1.03 Defense -0.78 Total. 3 positive games, 3 negative games.

JCL had the worst tournament of any Jayhawk, failing to score a point while playing worse defense than he did in prior games. It’s clear his value has to come from outscoring his man…making shots and playing solid perimeter defense. He doesn’t get many defense possessions (zero defensive rebounds so far), and if he continues to play poorly could see his minutes shrink as Jalen Wilson gets better acclimated.

Joseph Yesufu +0.54 Offense -1.39 Defense -0.84 Total. 3 positive games, 3 negative games.

Yesufu is trending in the other direction as Coleman-Lands, as Joe has had his three positive games come in the most recent ones. Despite limited minutes, he has scored in spurts including a season-high 9 points in 12 minutes against Iona. Like others on the team, he is struggling to defend. He doesn’t win defensive possessions, and he is getting scored on at too high a clip.

Dejuan Harris -1.17 Offense -0.16 Defense -1.33 Total. 2 positive games, 4 negative games.

Harris rounds out the 12 players in the rotation, scoring the lowest per game. He hasn’t had any dreadful games necessarily; he just doesn’t score enough to add value. He makes an occasional defensive play, has played good on-ball defense, and takes care of and distributes the ball well of course. Having played the third-most minutes on the team, one would think he could score more points than guys like Mitch Lightfoot or Joseph Yesufu, who’ve only played around 1/3 the minutes Dejuan has. Juan has the worst offensive score on the team, in fact the only negative performance on the season.

Team +10.91 Offense -3.07 Defense +7.84 Total. 5 positive games, 1 negative game.

For the season, the team has played mostly fine aside from one half against Dayton. The team’s offense, particularly the emergence of Ochai and CB, is fun to watch. There’s reason to think Remy Martin and David McCormack will get things going as well. Add in Jalen Wilson and a number of other offensive talents and the team should not have trouble scoring. The 2022 Jayhawks could be Bill Self’s best offense at Kansas. Defensively, the team has only played to an expected, Top 10, Bill Self defense once in six games (North Texas). The new players in particular have had trouble understanding how to defend. Even KU’s two best returning defenders (Ochai and CB) haven’t played up to their capabilities, although some of this has to be due to the energy they’ve expended on offense.

Point Guard Problems

Much has been made about the poor play of Dejuan Harris, but on a per minute basis he has provided more value than both Joseph Yesufu and Bobby Pettiford. Pettiford has only been a slightly positive offensive contributor. Yesufu has been the best on that side of the ball, but his defense has been very poor. Pettiford hasn’t been as poor on defense as Yesufu, but he is still grading out negative by a wide margin which negates his positive contribution on offense. Dejuan Harris has been the best defender of the three, helping to balance out his poor offense.

• Per 60 possessions Adj +/-
• Harris:                   -1.68
• Pettiford              -2.17
• Yesufu:                 -3.15

I don’t see much argument to be made for any of these guards. None of the three have been playing up to KU-level through six games. This doesn’t mean Coach Self should base his rotation on these numbers alone; practice, potential, and other factors should be weighed to determine who plays. Instead of criticizing Self on his rotation at the PG position, the criticism should come down on these three to improve if they want more minutes. Otherwise a rotation of Remy plus three wings and a post might be the team’s best lineup.

After defeating Stony Brook 88-59 last night, KU improved to 3-0 while finishing up the first portion of its schedule. Each season has its own unique flow, and this flow will change as the season progresses. Starting on Thanksgiving Day, KU will play 3 games in 4 days in Orlando. By that Sunday evening, it will have played double the games it has to this point. The flow of the season also changes due to travel, as KU won’t return to Allen Fieldhouse for a game until it faces Missouri on December 11, a gap of 5 games over 23 days away from Lawrence. Lastly, these first three games were the ones without redshirt sophomore forward Jalen Wilson. For these reasons it seems justifiable to take a look back at the season thus far.

Ochai’s Dominance

The most significant part of KU’s season has been the impeccable play of Ochai Agbaji. He has been a scoring machine, accounting for double the points that the second and third-most productive Jayhawks have provided. He has been the team’s leading point producer while maintaining better efficiency than the team average, a tough thing for a scoring guard to do. He is taking more shots, tougher shots than his teammates, but still scoring at a efficient pace. Defensively, he has been the team’s best player as well, giving up an estimated 6.4 points per 60 possessions. After calculating all relevant factors, Ochai is producing an Offense, Defense, Total Adj. PPG +/- of: +9.20, +1.69, +10.89. This is validated by the eye test. Ochai is scoring more at the rim and has gotten adept at driving with his right hand. His jump shot is quicker and more composed, and he has shown the patience to stay aggressive, even when starting out in a slump against Stony Brook. He has accompanied this by playing smart and tough defense, not taking plays off. If there were questions before the season they should be answered now. Ochai Agbaji is KU’s best player.

Offensive Skill, Defensive Mediocrity

Through 3 games, KU is scoring 1.25 points per possession and allowing 0.92 points per. For all Division 1, the average is 0.992. At first glance, it appears that KU is doing well on both ends. And while this is true for the offensive side of the ball, once you adjust for the current strength of schedule these points per possession scores are unimpressive on the defensive side. Simply put, KU will face better teams during the bulk of its schedule. And if these games are marred by some of the defensive lapses we’ve seen, these skilled teams will score more than what Tarleton St. or Stony Brook were able to muster. As a team KU has been +14.69 on Offense and -1.18 on Defense for a Total score of +13.52. If they could keep this pace, this would put them as the third-best Bill Self team (behind 2008 and 2010). However, there are questions as to whether KU can keep its offense so well-tuned; can Agbaji keep scoring this well, will there be a reversion to mean from guys like Clemence, how will the team perform against tougher defenses, etc. The questions on defense also remain. While there should be improvement in some areas, this year’s team has no great individual defenders, a few good ones, and many poor ones. While I don’t see this wide of a gap remaining between offense and defense, there is good reason to think that the 2022 Kansas Jayhawks will win most of its games by outscoring its opponents. But improvements on the defensive end have to come.

A Run of Positive Play

One interesting thing of note is that, along with Ochai Agbaji +10.89, these other three players have made positive contributions in each of the first three games played: Christian Braun +2.69, Jalen Coleman Lands +2.98, and Zach Clemence +3.44. Unsurprisingly, these four players have been KU’s best players during this opening stretch. When we look further into the numbers, each of these four players is adding value on both offense and defense. While three games is not a large period of time, it does show who has earned minutes so far. Consistency is key.

Slow Start, Turning Around?

David McCormack posted his first positive performance against Stony Brook. After a poor game against Michigan St. and an okay one against Tarleton St., McCormack played to the level he is capable of in the season’s third game. With each game he is starting to play more like he did last season. Still, he is -2.63 on the season, a value score he will have to improve upon by consistently strong play.

Rotation with Wilson?

The first chapter of the season, the one without Jalen Wilson, is finished. Each one of the 11 scholarship players has played well at times. Some have played better than others. How does the rotation look moving forward? We can assume that Wilson will get at least 20, and likely closer to 30, minutes each game that remains competitive. Where do these minutes come from? At first, one would think these would be wing minutes that Wilson would get, and the current wings would each play a little less. But Coleman-Lands, Braun, and especially Agbaji have all been solid pieces helping win games. Perhaps Wilson will get some minutes as a small-ball 5, but again that means fewer minutes for Clemence (very good so far), Lightfoot (playing slightly positive thus far), and the guy who will hopefully become the team’s best inside scorer in McCormack. The last option is to play more minute with Agbaji at the 2, basically go to a 1 guard, 3 wings, 1 post look. This would take away minutes from the four-headed point/combo-guard monster of Harris, Martin, Yesufu, and Pettiford. Of these four, Yesufu has played the worst but has so much upside. Martin is battling a back injury which may limit his minutes for some time, but when healthy he is an excellent scorer. Harris distributes so well and has solidified his defense which makes it tough to not have him on the court. Pettiford has been a pleasant surprise, although he has lost his man on defense recently. It isn’t an easy question. And we haven’t even mentioned K.J. Adams, an athletic defender who doesn’t need shots but can do so many little things that this team in can use. Self may eventually shorten his bench, but I expect that to be later in the season rather than sooner.

After getting off to a slow start, the Jayhawks blitzed the Sea Wolves for a 29 point victory. It is the team’s final game before heading to Orlando for the ESPN Events Invitational over Thanksgiving weekend. KU will face North Texas on Thursday afternoon.

Once again, Ochai Agbaji earned team MVP honors. After scoring 25 last night, he is averaging 26.3 ppg on the season, with his shooting percentages as 71%/42%/90% (2pt/3pt/FT).

Below are each player’s offensive and defensive efficiencies, followed by the Adj. PPG +/- player values from the Stony Brook game. The efficiency score calculates points produced over possessions (if on offense) or points allowed over possessions (if on defense). Player value incorporates these efficiency scores, along with measures of player production.

Ochai Agbaji: 1.16 Off_Eff 0.80 Def_Eff +10.29

Zach Clemence: 1.75 Off_Eff 0.71 Def_Eff +4.20

David McCormack: 1.67 Off_Eff 0.64 Def Eff +4.04

Jalen Coleman-Lands: 1.83 Off_Eff 0.67 Def_Eff +3.74

Christian Braun: 2.25 Off_Eff 0.90 Def_Eff +3.20

Dejuan Harris: 0.95 Off_Eff 0.00 Def_Eff +3.18

Mitch Lightfoot: 1.40 Off_Eff 0.60 Def_Eff +1.57

Michael Jankovich: 1.20 Off_Eff No Def_Eff +0.97

K.J. Adams 0.00 Off_Eff 0.00 Def_Eff +0.51

Joseph Yesufu 1.50 Off_Eff 1.67 Def_Eff -2.05

Chris Teahan 0.00 Off_Eff 3.00 Def_Eff -3.65

Bobby Pettiford 0.90 Off_Eff 1.10 Def_Eff -4.82

Remy Martin 0.50 Off_Eff 1.43 Def_Eff -7.91

TEAM 1.28 Off_Eff 0.86 Def_Eff +13.27

Grade: A

Context: Beating Stony Brook by 29 points at home is similar to beating a bubble-team by 13.27 at a neutral site. If KU could perform at this level throughout the season, it would win 95% of its games and earn a 1 seed. This is the reason for the A grade. Looking at individual performances, Agbaji’s +10.29 score means he was 10.29 points better than an average player of a bubble-team, or about that many points better than the typical KU-level replacement player (think 7th or 8th man). Martin’s -7.91 score was the result of little offensive output and getting scored on. Hopefully it will be his worse game this season.

Defensive scores tend to vary more game to game. Stony Brook hit some tough shots over good defense, which will result in worse defensive scores for certain players than their actual skill level. This should even it self out over the course of 30-40 games.

Ochai Agbaji once again receives game MVP honors. His offensive game looked professional last night, but he has been playing very good defense as well. The Adj PPG +/- scores are similar to what BPM provides but take into account more information on the defensive end such as individual points allowed and other non-box metrics like charges drawn. It gets adjusted against opponent quality/game location. The number can be used to rate the quality of overall performance for each player.

Ochai Agbaji: 25 points, 6 rebounds, 0 turnovers. +9.64

Christian Braun: 15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks, 5 assists. +4.22

Jalen Coleman-Lands: 10 points, 4-4 FGs, 1 steal. +3.67

Remy Martin: 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists. +2.72

Zach Clemence: 3 points, 1-1 FGs, 1 assist. +2.40

Bobby Pettiford: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers. +0.43

Michael Jankovich: 0 points. +0.36

Chris Teahan: 3 points, 1-1 FGs. -0.93

K.J. Adams: 2 points, 2 rebounds. -1.06

Mitch Lightfoot: 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist. -1.16

David McCormack: 6 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks. -2.56

Dejuan Harris: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists. -3.17

Joseph Yesufu: 2 points, 3 assists, 1 steal. -4.73

Below are the stat-lines for each KU player from last night. The +/- value score is adjusted to account for Michigan State’s current rating. Players are sorted from best to worst performers.

Ochai Agbaji: 29 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 0 blocks. +12.47

Bobby Pettiford: 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks. +4.09

Zach Clemence: 7 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists, 2 steals, 0 blocks. +3.69

Remy Martin: 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks. +2.53

Jalen Coleman-Lands: 5 points, 0 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals, 0 blocks. +1.46

K.J. Adams: 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 0 steals, 1 block. +1.44

Mitch Lightfoot: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 1 block. +0.46

Christian Braun: 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks. +0.39

Joseph Yesufu: 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks. -0.37

Dejuan Harris: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 0 blocks. -0.69

David McCormack: 10 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, 2 blocks. -9.53

TEAM: +15.95 (Off: +13.45 Def: +2.49)

Kansas went to 1-0 after defeating Michigan State by a score of 87-74. Ochai Agbaji easily earned game MVP honors. His 29 points were a career high, but he also played solid defense. The three freshmen; Bobby Pettiford, Zach Clemence, and K.J. Adams; all made positive contributions in their first career regular season games as Jayhawks. Incoming transfer Remy Martin score 15 second-half points to produce a solid offensive outing but gave up some points on defense which reduced his contribution overall. Jalen Coleman-Lands was defensively solid in his 9 1/2 minutes of play off the bench. Returning veterans Mitch Lightfoot and Christian Braun each produced slight positive value. Braun struggled offensively but rebounded and defended. Dejuan Harris made some contributions on defense and was efficient offensively, but his lack of production meant a negative value score. Josephy Yesufu did little of note in 6 1/2 minutes of play. Last, David McCormack struggled mightily on defense, and his offensive efficiency hurt his output on that end.

Last night, the new look Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Emporia State Hornets 86-60 in the team’s only preseason exhibition matchup. They will start the regular season Tuesday against Michigan State.

Chris Teahan, starter

Predicting who the starting five was going to be has been a much-debated exercise among KU fans in the recent weeks, but I don’t think anyone had walk-on super Senior Chris Teahan in the lineup. With Jalen Wilson out on suspension and Remy Martin apparently not practicing in the way Self wants, Coach went with Chris Teahan alongside Dejuan Harris, Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun, and David McCormack. Teahan didn’t score in nearly 7 minutes of play.

From best to worst, here is how KU players performed. Keep in mind that this is just one game, and it was against a team that is far less competitive than KU’s normal opponents. The three PPG +/- numbers below reflect the unadjusted value score, the opponent-adjusted value score, and the per 60 possession estimated score. The per 60 possessions is made to normalize a player’s score over 60 possessions (or about what a key starter would play in an important, close game). Basically, it lets us see what the player would have contributed had he played at his value level for a full-length game.

Ochai Agbaji: 17 pts (6-12, 0-0), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals in 23 minutes. +10.68 +7.24 +10.64

Ochai was excellent on both ends of the floor, drilling 5-7 from 3 while playing good on-ball defense. He only gave up 2 points in 23 minutes. Despite being last season’s leading scorer, Och has been overlooked somewhat coming into the season. But it is clear from last night that he will be a key piece of the puzzle.

David McCormack: 16 pts (5-8, 6-6), 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal in 15 minutes. +8.75 +6.54 +14.94

D-Mac got off to a slow start but finished the first half strong and dominated inside during his second half minutes as well. It would have been nice to see more playing time out of the team’s best center, but Self wanted to see how the other post guys would do. He posted a 1.78 offensive efficiency score and should quietly be one of the team’s most valuable guys this year.

Remy Martin: 15 pts (7-10, 0-0), 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal in 18 minutes. +6.84 +4.18 +7.92

The most-expected performance was that of Remy Martin, and it didn’t disappoint. Benched to start as an obvious motivation ploy by his head coach, Remy came in and immediately started to score, posting 13 points in the first half. His defense wasn’t great at times, getting beat off the bounce and then over the top on a lob as well. Shot selection will be key this season. Keep in mind, however, that he is the best Jayhawk at getting his own shot and scoring is the most important element in basketball statistics.

Mitch Lightfoot: 5 pts (1-4, 2-2), 5 rebounds, 2 blocks in 8 minutes. +3.05 +1.90 +8.41

Mitch was the team’s best interior defender yesterday, as he finished with a 0.20 defensive efficiency score (lower is better) by giving up only 2 points. To translate that number, if everyone had played as good of ball defense as Lightfoot the team would have given up 51 points instead of 60. And while he hit his only 3-point field goal, his inability to score in tight was a frustrating reminder of his offensive ceiling.

Christian Braun: 10 pts (4-10, 0-0), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal in 24 minutes. +2.96 -0.58 -0.83

Braun played fine, and his adjusted number could have easily been on the plus side if the ball bounced slightly differently. Still, he continues to struggle to score on his own. He should benefit from better point guard play this year.

Joseph Yesufu: 4 pts (2-7, 0-0), 1 rebound, 3 assists, 3 steals in 21 minutes. +2.30 -0.78 -1.28

Yesufu’s value score looks better than what the eye-test says. But he actually defended adequately, giving up only 2 points while swiping 3 steals. He missed some shots inside, but shared the ball well to add value with assists. Still figuring out his role, if he continues to defend he should be a nice addition to this year’s squad.

Dejuan Harris: 6 pts (3-3, 0-0), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal in 22 minutes. +2.12 -1.16 -1.80

Harris was super-efficient (1.69 offensive efficiency), but like last season it was his limited production that contributed to a lower value score. He played 4 more minutes than Remy Martin, but produced nearly 11 fewer points of offense than his backcourt teammate. Defensively he bothered ball-handlers but gave up a few buckets. His value will increase with more transition opportunities.

Michael Jankovich: 2 pts (0-2, 2-2), 1 rebound in 4 minutes. +1.03 +0.49 +4.63

Jank outscored his man 2 to 0, while grabbing a defensive rebound as well in mop-up minutes. Would be nice for him if he can get in more games than last year when he was injured and only played in 1.

K.J. Adams: 2 pts (1-3, 0-0), 1 rebound, 1 assist in 14 minutes. +1.01 -1.08 -2.62

The last remaining Jayhawk who outperformed his Emporia State opponent, KJ showed some versatility on both ends (and didn’t give up any points). With both Jalens out to begin the season, he might get an opportunity when the regular season starts. If he can defend and rebound, he can add some value.

Cam Martin: 0 pts (0-2, 0-0), 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 1 steal in 8 minutes. -0.59 -1.72 -7.68

Cam didn’t seem to get into the offensive flow much while he was in. As a scorer in D-II, the question of how he can help this team in a different role is still unanswered. Still, his size and rebounding shows that he can be a factor, particularly in the half-court. He will likely get more minutes in certain games as opposed to others.

Chris Teahan: 0 pts (0-0, 0-0), 1 rebound in 7 minutes. -1.50 -2.49 -12.70

Surprisingly Teahan didn’t get a shot off in 7 minutes of action. His only negative play was giving up 2 points during second-half action, so while he was with the starters, he mostly played a complimentary piece and did well to not hurt the team.

Bobby Pettiford: 3 pts (1-4, 1-1), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals in 20 minutes. -2.13 -5.13 -8.65

The eye-test judged him more favorably, as he can clearly handle the ball, score, distribute, and defend at this level. His defensive score fared worse than his offense, and that was him missing some shots. I don’t find it likely that he redshirts.

Kyle Cuffe: 2 pts (1-3, 0-0), 0 rebounds, 0 assists in 7 minutes. -3.44 -4.42 -22.69

Struggled on both ends, but did get a nice finish and 2 points late in the game. He is likely to redshirt.

Zach Clemence: 4 pts (2-2, 0-0), 4 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals in 10 minutes. -5.09 -6.50 – 23.29

Zach finished with a decent offensive efficiency of 1.25, but he gave up multiple 3-point baskets which killed his defensive value. Over the course of more minutes and more games, that number wouldn’t look as bad. As a freshman, expect little playing time if he doesn’t redshirt.

Lineups, lineups, lineups

As I wrote yesterday, the lineups in November buy games can get quite fun. Yesterday was certainly no different. Self stuck exclusively with four-guard/wing lineups, meaning that the four post players (McCormack, Lightfoot, Cam Martin, Clemence) shared 40 minutes of action. Self made comments before the game that since the team has only practiced 4-out 1-in, he won’t be playing 2 posts together. If he stuck with this strategy during a pre-season game, I believe him.

But playing this way also meant that the team had 3 “little” guards (under 6’1) in the game at the same time (Harris, Remy Martin, Yesufu, Pettiford). Going this small caused some defensive problems, and Emporia State was able to throw the ball over the top or dump it inside easier at these moments. This was especially true when it ran an inverted offense, i.e. it brought its big man out to clear space and gain the advantage inside at the “3” position.

For these reasons, it seems that the depth chart will look like this come Tuesday.

PG/SG (1/2 position): 2 of Remy Martin, Dejuan Harris, Joseph Yesufu, Bobby Pettiford

SF/PF (3/4 position): 2 of Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun, KJ Adams

C (5 position): 1 of David McCormack, Mitch Lightfoot, Cam Martin, Zach Clemence

With Jalen Wilson (PF) and Jalen Coleman-Lands (SF) out, this gives KJ Adams an opportunity. Even if both Och and CB played 32 minutes Tuesday, this would still leave 16 minutes for KJ Adams. Of course, Self could still go with 3 small guards for some of the game, but Adams will certainly play. David McCormack averaged 23 minutes per game last season, so unless he dramatically improves his ability to stay on the court, this leaves a decent amount of back-up time for the likes of Lightfoot, Cam Martin, and even Clemence. Expect the team to run a more guard-oriented offense when McCormack is out. What the backup posts can do is defend and rebound, and so far, Lightfoot looks like the most capable.

Closing Thoughts

The 2022 Kansas Jayhawks will be fun to watch. They will be able to stay in games since they can score at so many positions. The team’s depth should allow it to play better defense than it might otherwise be able to. At least initially, guys like Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun will get more minutes than fans think they should. This perception will especially hold if either struggle to make shots. But we know Self won’t play two posts together, and the other option of playing three small guards will make half-court defense and rebounding worse. Also, keep in mind that both Agbaji and Braun are KU’s most prolific 3-point shooters. Ironically going small can take away shooting and spacing for this year’s team.

Remy Martin will take over some games and pull the team out of the fire. But in playing so freely, he will also take ill-advised shots that will get him a seat next to the coaches. Self will want to get the ball into David McCormack, and this is a good thing. D-Mac can be inconsistent, but give him 25+ minutes and enough touches and his offensive efficiency and production tends to be quite good. He played absolutely great during last year’s Big 12 play (+4.97 Adj PPG +/- in 18 games), demonstrating he was the league’s best center. Feed him the ball and those force teams who want to play small to stop him.

Getting the Jalens back will be the cherry on top of a potent offense. Coleman-Lands will naturally provide the wing spacing and veteran consistency that the team is missing when Agbaji/Braun need a rest. Wilson will bring even more offensive potency to a loaded lineup. The games (and the stats) start to count this Tuesday! Rock Chalk!

It’s here! The 2021-22 Kansas Jayhawk basketball season is finally here. After a virus-shortened end to the 2020 season and a low-attendance, socially-distanced truncated 2021 season; 2022 will be close to back to normal. Allen Fieldhouse will be at full attendance, teams will be playing full 31-game schedules, and hopefully there won’t be any dramatic pauses or shutdowns. Tonight’s game against Emporia State is the only broadcasted exhibition game KU will have.

With that in mind, I wanted to celebrate the period of the season we are in. College basketball gets overlooked this time of year with football still in full swing, Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years holidays approaching, and the more important conference and tournament games still some time away. Even many fans of college basketball in general or KU in particular tend to downplay games in November or December. But here’s why you shouldn’t! Pre-conference KU basketball is a time to be excited about.

Reason 1: College Hoops is Back

This goes without saying, but any games are better than none. It’s been a long time since March. While the off-season has spiced up in recent years with so much roster turnover…who goes to the NBA, who transfers out, who transfers in, what late recruits decide, etc.…there’s nothing like seeing live competition. For KU fans specifically, it’s the return to the Fieldhouse, the Jayhawk on center court, the bright lights, the whistles, the squeaks of the shoes, the substitution horn, the band playing “Living on a Prayer”, the crowd roaring after a fast-break dunk, the Rock Chalk chant, the Alma Mater, the analysis on TV or radio or online before and after, etc. The season is just different than the off-season. This morning many Kansans awoke to frost on the ground for the first time in months. The cold weather has returned. It just feels like basketball season.

Reason 2: Season’s Unlimited Potential

Prognostication is fun, but until the ball is tipped you don’t exactly know how the games will turn out. Will this be the year that KU finally makes it back to the Final Four and cuts down the nets? There are no losses or periods poor play to poor cold water on those dreams yet. The journey begins tonight, even if it is only a preseason game. In the same way, it is fun to finally see how much the returning players have improved, how the freshmen look, and in this new era how the incoming transfers play. Thinking about Remy Martin breaking down his defender and getting to the cup or kicking it to a shooter, or how much Dejuan Harris has improved makes you believe that these are the guys and this is the team that can do it. At Preseason #3, this team has the accolades to be there at the end of the year.

Reason 3: Easy Wins, Less Stress

One-possession away conference games and nail biters in March Madness are fun, but can be very stressful to watch. Games that are basically guaranteed wins allows you to enjoy watching the superior talent and coaching of the Hawks. Looking at non-conference Allen Fieldhouse games against non-power opponents since 2003-04 season, Self’s Jayhawks are 106-3, with the most recent loss being against Oral Roberts in November 2006. And the games themselves are often fun, at least for a while. More fastbreaks, dunks, up-and-down play, and possessions equals more fun. And while these games sometimes find a lull in excitement as the margin gets wider, the walk-ons getting to play and the chance at getting 100 points doesn’t happen every day.

Reason 4: New Faces, Fun Lineups

Once we get into conference play, the rotation is normally shrunk down to about 8 key players. But early-season games allow Self to experiment with lineups and we get to see freshman and others who didn’t contribute much get more court time as they seek to improve the value they bring to the team. The 2022 team has 10 players who played at least 25% of minutes last year for their respective teams. None want to sit on the bench. It also has 4 incoming freshman who want to earn court time. Guys will play hard when they want to.

Reason 5: New Matchups

KU will face Tarleton State for the first time in school history, and then Stony Brook the following week. Where is Stony Brook located you ask? Why Stony Brook, NY of course!

Reason 6: Dave Armstrong

The corny catchphrases and homerism mixed in with the genuine excitement is something you don’t miss until its gone. He’s been doing games for years, and moved over to ESPN+ to call the Jayhawk Network games a few years back. We should get him tonight and also for the Tarleton St., Stony Brook, UTEP (in KC), Stephen F. Austin, and Harvard home games. Wow!

Reason 7: Games Only Get Better from Here

So, you’re not convinced yet? Who remembers what team KU beat by 39 the first game of the 2007-08 season (it was Louisiana Monroe, 107-78 btw), but we all remember how that season ended! Fair point. Sure, not every game of the season is equal. But we have to start somewhere. So even if you don’t find yourself as excited for preseason basketball as I am, try and make the most of it. Enjoy the season!