Jayhawks aiming to play faster — everywhere, all the time, each night

To play fast or not play fast, that is the question that KU coach Bill Self most wants answered about the 2025-26 Kansas basketball team.

Well, after the obvious question concerning when KU might have star freshman Darryn Peterson full-time again, anyway.

And if you’ve been paying attention at all to the Jayhawks’ first 12 games of the season, you know that Self has an answer in his mind already.

If it were up to him — and in many ways it is — the Jayhawks (9-3) would play much, much faster than they have so far this season, using their athleticism, speed and interchangeable parts at most positions to put pressure on the defense and get easy baskets.

Before the recent home win over Towson, Self went as far as to say that this current KU team plays “ridiculously slow.”

“And I didn't anticipate that at all,” he added. “And we’re not (a good) execution team, so if you’re not then at least play with pace.”

"I feel like we’re at our best when everybody's flying downhill, creating close-outs."

— Senior forward Tre White

When you hear talk about teams playing faster, most fans immediately think about running in transition and getting up and down the floor as fast as possible.

Kansas does that. A fair amount, actually. I tracked as much during the Towson win on Tuesday night and found out that the Jayhawks racked up double-digit possessions of true fastbreak opportunities. They didn’t all lead to baskets. But they did all lead to good looks. And there were a couple of other possessions that nearly qualified as true fastbreak opportunities but just missed.

On one, Jayden Dawson’s toe hit the out-of-bounds line on a run out. And on another, point guard Melvin Council Jr., who is by far the Jayhawks’ best and most consistent pace creator, was cut off below the free throw line and had to pull the ball out and run offense.

Of course Self wants the Jayhawks to run. Off of misses. After makes. Throwing lobs. You name it. That’s always been the case and that will never change.

“It's everything,” Self said after the win over Towson. “It's pushing it, running it, running unselfishly, getting the ball down the court as quick as possible.”

But it’s when those opportunities don’t lead to immediate opportunities and KU has to settle into its offense that Self wants to see this team play faster on a more consistent basis.

In order to emphasize the agenda, Self has tapped into an old San Antonio Spurs training method known as the 0.5 Rule.

And it couldn’t be much simpler.

For all the playmakers, wings and guards who handle the ball on the perimeter, the goal is to either pass it, shoot it or drive it within half a second of catching it.

The result, which you may recall from the Spurs dynasty under Gregg Popovich and certainly have seen executed at a very high level with some of Self’s teams at Kansas, is to emphasize quick decision making in order to maintain offensive flow, prevent the ball from sticking and promote ball constant ball and body movement.

It’s a read-and-react philosophy that encourages a team-oriented offensive attack and aims to keep the defense moving to open up shooting and driving opportunities.

The current KU players, many of whom are new to the program, certainly understand the approach. But making it second nature and something they do automatically on every possession is still a work in progress and constantly preached with the backing of the 0.5 Rule.

After the Towson game, Self praised third-year Jayhawk Elmarko Jackson for a solid game even though the stat sheet showed 1-for-4 shooting and just 2 points in 23 minutes. A big part of the reason Jackson’s play stood out was his decisiveness and consistent ball movement, which led to him racking up 4 assists and being the lone bench player to receive a pat on the back from Self after the victory.

“I feel like we’re at our best when everybody's flying downhill, creating close-outs,” senior forward Tre White said after Tuesday’s win. “So, if that's a lob in transition or if that's just playing fast and back-door cutting, just playing with speed, I feel like that's what we're good at.”

Added KU big man Flory Bidunga, now in his second year under Self: “We need to play with good pace — being not slow — as much as possible.”

KU’s next chance to hit the half-second mandate will come Monday at Allen Fieldhouse, where the Jayhawks will take on Davidson in their final non-conference game of the season.

Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com