Advertisement
November 5, 2009
Here is the Cliff's Notes version of Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self's comments at his weekly press conference today.
• If C.J. Henry was healthy, he would have played the same minutes as the other guys Tuesday. He needs to be out there to gain confidence. Self is hopeful C.J. will be out there for the next exhibition game. Self is a little bit concerned about the injury because C.J. needs to get out there to get in a rhythm. Self isn't concerned about C.J.'s long-term health, though.
• Tyshawn Taylor will probably start next Tuesday, but Markieff Morris has been playing well. Markieff is probably the most improved player KU has.
• Self wants be able to give Marcus Morris the opportunity to play on the perimeter. KU can be a big team if it wants to be. The "big" team could be a pretty good zone defensive team (the rotation that had Xavier Henry playing at the two and Marcus at the three).
• Tyhsawn will be fine, but he goes through times when he's careless.
• C.J.'s injury situation doesn't affect Mario Little, Travis Releford or Conner Teahan's red-shirt possibilities.
• Self and the players will probably decide Monday about red-shirts.
• All the guys want to play, but the reality is, some of them might be better with another year's experience. If you're a good player, and the deck's stacked against you and you feel like you are the odd man out, then red-shirting is not a bad scenario.
• The future is, 'What are we're going to do this weekend?' for a lot of college kids, so it is sometimes tough to get them to think about a year from now.
• Self thought a month ago Elijah Johnson was a definite redshirt candidate. Self doesn't see that now. He didn't expect Johnson to impact the program the way he has this quickly.
• Markieff's body has changed. He's put on 30 pounds. He's confident. Self's son even commented that Markieff dunked on his first attempt when he didn't dunk much last year. Cole Aldrich might not get as many rebounds because he'll be more contested by his teammates. Markieff has a good feel for the game.
• Self thinks the twins have the chance to be really good players. From a fan's perspective, Self thinks those guys could be frustrating to watch last year because they were inconsistent. Early in Julian Wright, Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers' careers, they were also inconsistent as well. Self thinks perhaps the Morris twins had too much expected of them last year.
• Self see Tyrel Reed's role as being one that he can make shots and make big shots. Reed also tries so hard and cares so much. Reed is an unbelievable leader for KU's players. Everybody respects Tyrel. There's no way you can play here and not respect his effort. KU fans should respect everything he does because he tries so hard. Self sees his role as comparable to last year, but perhaps with a few more minutes, especially early in the season. The coach doesn't know for sure, though, as it's too early to tell exactly what guys' roles will be.
• Self thinks some of the new recruiting rules are favorable and rules that all coaches would agree with. Some rules need to be tweaked, especially regarding summer camps. The thought is good, but some tweaking need to be done. With the current rules, Self couldn't bring in any coaches to speak at camp.
• KU needs to get Aldrich more shots. Self thinks a different way, though, in that instead of more shot attempts, KU needs to get Aldrich more touches. He needs to have double-digit shot attempts each game.
Comments
JayhawkBlvd (anonymous) says...
Jesse, why not change the title of these press conference posts? Quick hits? Press Conference Primer? Notes from Press Row? That's what he said? Self's stuff?
"Cliff's Notes version" always makes me think about studying for a test or something. Yuck.
The content's great though. Maybe if you quizzed us on these later I'd let you keep the cliff's notes name.
November 5, 2009 at 1:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jgoodvin (anonymous) says...
Love the Cliffs Notes. Thanks.
November 5, 2009 at 3:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
FairgroveJayhawk (anonymous) says...
"• Tyshawn Taylor will probably start next Tuesday, but Markieff Morris has been playing well. Markieff is probably the most improved player KU has."
I am anticipating seeing this development. There is always a surprise in off season progress. Markieff got very little press so who would have thought it a possibility. I expected Marcus to pull away and dominate more than Markieff. Being twins hopefully they will push each other and progress better than other players with all variables equal, minus fraternalism. Now if they could just out live the tag of 'thug' some have given him.
November 5, 2009 at 3:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
vmwskywalk (anonymous) says...
I think that we will truly know how the Morris twins have matured when we are in a close game and they have a bad call against them. If they are able to handle that, keep their cool, and continue to play well, we know they have arrived.
November 5, 2009 at 3:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
PikesPeakSmitty (anonymous) says...
I knew Marcus was going to be awesome this year, but now Markieff?!!? Cole and Sherron may be the only all-americans ever to struggle for minutes!
Regardless of minutes, I hope our team develops good chemistry and wins together. It gives me great comfort knowing Bill is the helm.
A championship would be awesome, but I'm looking forward to smelling the roses along the way. I wish our non-conference schedule was harder, including a 'warm-up' game in Indy. Playing Mizzery 5 times would be nice too.
November 5, 2009 at 4:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
milehighhawk (anonymous) says...
Thanks, Jesse!
November 5, 2009 at 4:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hawk316 (anonymous) says...
Jesse, many thanks for providing these "notes." Whereas I may take the time to watch the video press conferences that are offered on this site, I usually don't bother with the audio only version. Thus, your notes allow me to stay informed, and I really appreciate having that information made available.
November 5, 2009 at 4:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ku4bob (anonymous) says...
I just noticed that ESPN had posted the schedule for espn full court (http://tsq.com/alerts/2009-10%20espn%... ) which includes a handful of the men's games and several KU women's games. I assume that I should expect that none of the Jayhawk Network games will be televised in HD, which makes the purchase of full court less enticing despite being able to watch a competitive women's team for the first time in many years.
November 5, 2009 at 8:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mjlindsm (anonymous) says...
Hey Jesse, one of the most highly anticipated basketball seasons at one of the top programs in the country is starting; where's the Spodcasters on this?!
I love Spodcasters; hopefully this basketball season can be like two years ago where we had one every week of the season, and not like last year, where we had what, one or two?
November 5, 2009 at 9:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
carterpatterson (anonymous) says...
Jesse...you deserve a raise. Appreciate the Cliff Notes.
November 6, 2009 at 7:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )