The Kansas men's basketball team opened its season with a 95-65 victory over Fordham at Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night, in a game that had as many good moments as bad, but also featured Kansas showcasing one of its biggest strengths this season.
Depth.
When asked after the game if guys were still getting used to their roles and the rotation or if that was pretty well locked in, KU leading scorer Tre White said that the beauty of this team is how many different lineups head coach Bill Self can use and how many different guys can play together on the floor.
That's the general theme of tonight's "What was it, how did it happen, what does it mean?" series, and there was one key moment in Monday's win over Fordham that served as a nice reminder of what having more bodies means.
Let’s dive in.
What Was It
With Kansas leading by 12 at halftime (43-31), the Jayhawks opened the 2nd half looking to pull away.
But it was Fordham that scored the first five points of the final 20 minutes, first on a 3-pointer by Akira Jacobs and, shortly thereafter, on a high-effort tip-in by Jacobs, all in the first 64 seconds of the half.
Timeout Self.
It was just a 30-second timeout, so the huddle was brief and the message was simple.
"I thought we looked terrible to start the second half," Self said after the win. "I thought Tre and Mel got us off to a bad start."
The Jayhawks (1-0) recovered quickly and pushed their lead back to double digits, but, even after that, Fordham trimmed the lead back down to 6 (64-58) with just over 13 minutes to play before KU put the game away with a 19-3 run.
The point wasn't so much that Fordham trimming five points off of a 12-point KU lead put Kansas in immediate danger but more that it could become a problem if the Jayhawks learn to make that kind of start to the second halves a habit.
Remember, a lot of these guys are playing for Self for the first time and also together for the first time. So habits, of both the individual and team varieties, are very much still being formed.
How Did It Happen
There were, of course, five guys on the floor for the Jayhawks in that opening minute of the second half.
** It's worth noting here that Trey Kaufman-Renn started the 2nd half while coming off of the bench in the first half. The reason? "He's a starter," Self said after the game. "Let's make no bones about it. As long as he's healthy, he's starting." **
OK, back to the issue at hand.
Asked in the postgame presser what he meant by singling out White and Council as the two guys who got Kansas off to that sluggish start in the second half, Self went into more detail about what those two did to get benched temporarily during that quick timeout, while Kaufman-Renn, Taylen Kinney and Tyran Stokes stayed out there, with Keanu Dawes and Leroy Blyden Jr. joining them when play resumed.
"I expect (that) whoever's guarding (Number) 13 (Jacobs) when he's 3 for 3, you don't let him go 4 for 4 or 5 for 5," Self said. "And I expect... Mel's gotta take better care of the ball."
Some of that has to do with effort and energy and some of it has to do with focus and locking in. For what it's worth, White was seen standing and encouraging the five KU players on the floor shortly after he took a seat next to Self.
But at least there were tangible reasons to take both guys out of the game, even if they are by far the most experienced KU players under Self and two of the team's unquestioned leaders and top players.
What Does It Mean
In simple terms, it means Self hasn't lost his fastball.
It took him all of 64 seconds — and probably less — to be disgusted by what he saw on the floor and then a split second to do something about it.
And not just something superficial or small. Benching Council and White right out of the gate was his opportunity to send a message to the rest of the roster — not to mention those two vets — that what they all just witnessed was not good enough. It's those types of lapses in games that can turn the momentum and get you beat.
The fact that he chose this night and those two players to make that statement — in a game the Jayhawks won by 30, by the way — says plenty about where Self's mindset is at with this team. The bar is back up. The expectations are raised. And good enough isn't going to be good enough.
Why does that work? Because he has the roster and bench to make it work. And the younger guys and newcomers get that loud and clear now.
“I want them to (see) if Tyran’s not untouchable and Melvin and Tre aren’t untouchable then that means that they’re definitely not untouchable," Self noted.
Earlier, Self explained the benefits of having a little deeper rotation with this team than in recent years.
"The one thing about having depth is if you settle in and it's 8, everybody's gonna know they're gonna get certain minutes," Self said. "When it's 10, you're not guaranteed that if you don't perform well when you're out there that you're gonna get as many opportunities coming back."
He added: "It's probably not the easiest position to be in if you're a reserve, but I think we can benefit from it overall."
And they did. On Night 1.
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