While we wait....What would YOU do if you were Self?

Imagine for a minute that your HCBS and it's the day after the Texas debacle. You have the team you have. Assume that you have no idea if/when Silvio will ever be eligible. You've got a couple of crucial games ahead, what you do? Provide as much detail as you'd like.

I'll start.

I see 2 things that need to be addressed:
1.) the lack of leadership/motivation/hunger that seems to be exhibited on this team. That's an HR problem, not a basketball problem.
2.) the basketball problem. Grimes not living up to the hype, Dotson's inexperience, Vick, and finding a way to free up Lawson and find an alternate way to score.

Starting with #1, I'm scheduling individual meetings with Lawson, Vick, and Grimes.

With Lawson, I'm telling him that he's the team leader whether he likes it or not, and it's now HIS job to jump on guys if they aren't executing. He has to be a motivator on the court. He's experienced enough and should be commanding respect from his teammates.

With Vick, I'm explaining to him that he's no longer starting and that he's essentially at square one when it comes to earning time. IF he gets in, he has no leash. Mistakes will put him right back on the bench. I don't care if he plays another minute at KU and if he has a desire to play professionally, he'd better get to work earning back his minutes.

With Grimes I'm going to emphasize that he needs to work on OTHER things and let the scoring come naturally. I'm setting some goals for him too: # of rebounds I think he should be getting in a game, # of assists I think he should be targeting, setting picks, etc. If he can contribute in all of the other areas, the scoring will happen. Nevertheless I'm challenging him to do MORE of the other stuff (correctly) than he's been asked to do previously.

Finally, the whole team is going to get a lecture on pride. I might fly Frank Mason in to give a little "motivational talk" to these guys about what it means to have "Kansas" on the front of our jersey. Just as I told Lawson, I want this team to get on each other for screwups. Yes, Dedric will lead by example in this regard, but if you do something dumb, there better be 4 guys out there on the floor offering you "motivation" and correction.


As for the team, my starting 5 will be as follows: Dotson, Agbaji, Garrett, and Lawson. Off the bench, I've got Moore subbing for Dotson (very sparingly as is the case now), subs for Garrett/Agbaji would be (in order) Grimes, then a coin-toss between KJ and Vick (both on a short leash, but an opportunity for KJ). Morninstar is next on the list behind McCormack in the post.

My hope would be that McCormack would be able to free up Lawson enough that he wasn't always double/triple teamed. We'd play Self's hi-lo stuff, and I'd expect McCormack to focus most on setting screens, rebounding and post defense.

On the perimeter, I wouldn't count on Garrett doing much more of offense than he is right now, but I'd encourage him to slash/drive, and build some set plays around those opportunities. My "#2" scoring option would be Agbaji. Finally, while I had Frank in town, I'd lock him and Dotson in a small room with a ball and a hoop and not let them out until Dotson scored 100 points with no refs and nobody watching and Frank giving him lessons on how to draw contact in the paint.

That's my plan. No doubt we'd lose the rest of our games. What say you?

After looking at the numbers and folding in the objective assessment from the eye test, I would abandon the 4 guard lineup. It sounds sexy and sure was pretty sexy for us last year and some the previous year. But you better have 4 guards that can execute that lineup. Simply put, we do not. You need 4 guards that can bee effective on both ends of the floor. We do not. Not even close. As thin as we are up front, I believe we have a better shot going big than small. Here is how I would play it.

Dotson (PG) - Just keep learning. He is very effective in many areas and plays tough ball. He is not yet a true "make the rest of the team better" type PG that he will surely become, but as a freshman he has mostly upside and has done nothing in my mind to discourage me that he is not on the right trajectory. Only take him out when he needs a rest. Otherwise he plays. 30+ minutes per game.

Agbaji (SG) - Even with the minimal data set he is the most effective all-around guard we have. He is aggressive and plays much less like a freshman than even Vick. With PT he will continue to improve. Lots of upside here. He plays every minute that he does not need rest. 30+ ninutes per game.

Garrett (Wing) - Garrett can't shoot. Pretty much everything else he does above average to excellent. He plays smart and plays off of his teammates. He can rebound and defend. Start him and be ready to sub based on matchup. Probably gets 20-25 minutes per game.

D. Lawson (F) - Dedric is our most gifted and best scorer. Run plays for him often. He needs a Landen Lucas type to help clear space inside. He will be more effective. Plus that allows him to operate at the mid-range or occasionally outside if we have a true big in. Plays sparingly in the 1st half as needed but only sub for him in the 2nd half as he needs rest. Probably pushing 30 minutes or more per game.

McCormack (C) - Let the kid develop. Hopefully this could be De Sousa if he gets cleared. Tell MccCormack to grab every rebound and teach him how to set a mad screen. Make him the worlds expert at setting the low screen to free up Lawson for a smooth move or a back door lob to Agbaji. Sub for him based on effectiveness and matchup. Probably 25 minutes per game.

Vick - Not sure he sees the court much. The numbers are not good for him. I may be a little biased here because I am fed up with him but he just does not seem to make the team any better when he comes on the floor. If he comes on he is on the shortest of leashes. Play team ball or else.

Grimes - I veiw Grimes and Vick totally differently. Grimes still has lots to grow. Vick is a senior/ Grimes plays as needed to rest Agbaji and Garrett but only then.

Moore - I have seen nothing from Charlie Moore that says he is worthy of playing a minute. Sub for Dotson only as Dotson needs rest or has foul trouble.

Lightfoot - Great team ball. very aggressive. Limited size for a center and cannot cover a small. He will find a way to get 5-10 minutes a game.

K. Lawson - Still a bit of a conundrum to me. He is aggressive on defense but less so on offense. Size but not super skillful. He has shown flashes. I would make him the main sub for Garrett since they have similar net effect.

I would go back to the high-low some and a modified high-low with the ball in Lawson's hands. Set more screens both elbow and low screens and move move move. In practice I would make the guys learn smart shot selection until they are sick to their stomachs and mostly focusing on Dotson as the PG. He has to be the coach on the floor.

My 2 cents.

With all due respect to all those talking about lack of leadership, I don't recall anyone mentioning this before Dok got hurt. And as important as he was, I don't think he was much of a leader. They just aren't playing well, and part of the problem as mentioned above is many of them have real limitations. Too many, probably, for even Self to figure out a way to overcome them.
But I agree with several of the suggestions above. Pulling the redshirt off Agbaji has already paid good dividends...why not make more changes?

Great points. I too, would look at the two bigs thing. McCormack just hustles and at times is way ahead of game speed, but maybe floor time can help match that up for him. When you look at what Agbaji brings, effort, energy and enthusiasm and add some McCormack to that, well we need a lift. Hustle plays, floor burns, just plain "I want it worse than you do"- type of attitude. I think Dotson can show his explosive drive to the hoop and maybe the rest can get a fire lit. I just want to see some pride/passion. Not sure I see that right now. I'm not giving up, but it's a little late in the year to be seeing what we're seeing. Rock Chalk!

I think it comes down to whether Self is sticking with development of players in the KU "system", or trying to win at all costs this year. If he stays with the system and just wants players more ready for next year, we'll see more of the same. I think he'll stick with his system, which is his history.

If it's win at all costs this year, I think we have to use what we have, which is a group of offensively challenged, athletic guards, and McCormack who is an energy beast. Start pressing, and make us into the nastiest defensive team we can be. That's a tall order from a team who has shown no aggression on defense so far, but if that becomes our motto, then I think you unleash Grimes to focus on intensity, McCormack takes control of the middle of the press, Lightfoot now becomes effective as a quicker big, who is too undersized in a traditional defense, and we protect Lawson from being dominated by every other center in the league on the block. At a minimum we eat into the shot clock and limit the opponent from picking us apart for threes and easy inside post ups.

Per Riverhawk's astute observation that leadership wasn't an issue before Dok went down, two points.

1.) we were winning with Dok, so this "issue" wasn't as glaring of a priority.
2.) this makes me wonder how much Dok's injury has impacted development of Grimes, or effectiveness of Vick.

Imagine Dok's still in there. We're super strong in the post, and despite the fact that Dok and Dedric often got in each others' way, I think that by this point the spacing issues would have been worked out, and we'd have had a nice 1-2 punch on offense and the ability to really protect the rim.

In that scenario, some pressure is taken off Grimes, and maybe (who knows at this point) this frees up Grimes a little bit. If anything, we'd be getting more open looks on the perimeter as there would likely be 3 guys covering our bigs.

I also think that in that scenario, that Vick would be better. He'd also benefit from more open shots, and I don't think anybody would be in his ear about being the senior leader guy who needs to put this team on his back to win (a role that he's clearly not cut out for).

Anyway, this is all hypothetical, but Dok's injury didn't just hurt us inside, and I imagine the ripple effect is greater than one would immediately assume.

And of course the other thing that would be different is that Agbaji would still be on the bench in a redshirt.