3 Quick Things👂How KU Shifts Into Postseason Mode

One Hearing, One Take, One Stat ahead of the Big 12 Tournament

In this Hearings newsletter:

1. A Hearing around KU hoops right now 🧘‍♂️

2. The major recruiting win shows why NIL is King 👑

3. One stat: Make the defense commit 🫡

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One Hearing: The Message Around KU Right Now 🧘‍♂️

Bill Self’s postgame speech to his team after the Texas loss was… unusually long. The closed-door speech had to be fascinating, so I started asking around. Unfortunately, I don’t have details from the speech, but it’s safe to say he used the loss as one last opportunity to get his team’s attention.

I do have a small HEARING on two general messages around the team right now. These aren’t much, but they do shed some unique light on how Self transitions a team from Big 12 play to the postseason:

• All that matters now is winning. Don’t get upset about the little things. Don’t lose focus over anything that isn’t the goal.

  • I view this as Self not wanting his players to spiral from officiating or their own small mistakes. The team has to immediately move onto the next play. This year’s team has had tended to get demonstrably upset with refs, too.

  • I also wonder if Self is trying to tell himself this more than his players. I literally question if he’s capable of brushing off the small things.

• Everyone has the same record now. Nothing KU did previously matters. Nothing KU’s opponent did previously matters. Everyone starts over with a 0-0 record.

And here’s Self sarcastically explaining to the media why he was so late to his postgame presser after the Texas loss – just a classic line.

Shreyas Laddha @shre98

Bill Self: Sorry it took a while to get out there, we were breaking down all the "great" play. #KUbball

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One Take: NIL is KING 👑

Kansas landed a major recruiting haul yesterday in bringing in Marcus Adams Jr. I’ve HEARD Self wanted Adams Jr bad, and it’s easy to see why. Based on his size and skillset, the 6’8” wing is a natural replacement for Jalen Wilson. Sources around the program raved about his visit.

But this goes beyond a recruiting win for The Jayhawks. Adams told 247Sports “I chose Kansas because of the NIL opportunities.”

This is a major quote from Adams. It infuriated some UCLA fans, but they’re missing the point. Adams can see the results for KU players this year compared to UCLA. It’s time we all see the big picture: NIL is the single most important factor in recruiting for basketball and football right now.

I think this is pretty cool, but (we) fans can literally make a direct impact on the success of KU Athletics in ways that weren’t possible before. The evidence is right there in Adams’ quote. I’m putting the damn link to KU’s NIL collective below.

https://massstrategies.com/#contribute

Scoopmeisters note: I didn’t get paid to do that, but I wish I did. Instead, a JayhawkTalk tweet inspired me to share it.

It’s clear KU’s NIL program stands out right now. Even the skeptics I spoke to early on in The Mass St. Collective days have changed their tune. I don’t have details,¹ but I trust some Hearings that generally indicate KU is kicking ass with NIL — and the results are starting to show.

ALSO: Adams has clearly been told to expect Gradey Dick to leave after this season, which I’ve been writing about here for quite sometime now. I’d be shocked if Dick returned next year. Here’s the quote to 247 sports:

“There’s opportunity to play right away with the older guys like Jalen and Gradey leaving after this year and they’ll need a replacement.”

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One Stat: Make the Defense Commit 🖐️

Kansas runs pick-and-roll offense as much as anyone in the country. The chart below shows ball handler pick-and-roll. These are possessions ending as a direct result of what the ball handler does.

The highlighted stat here shows why Dajuan Harris is so important. When the defense commits to sticking with Harris, KU scores in the 80th percentile in the country.

TL;DR: Run pick-and-roll and make the defense commit to stopping Harris.

1. Will take them if you’ve got them