Everything Bill Self Had to Say Before Kansas Basketball Faces Texas Tech

With three games remaining in the regular season, Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self addressed the media ahead of a crucial showdown against Texas Tech. The Jayhawks find themselves in one of their most challenging stretches of the season, facing three consecutive top-25 opponents.

Self acknowledged the difficulty of the upcoming slate, calling it perhaps the toughest stretch his team has encountered.

Here's everything the Jayhawks coach had to say on Thursday.

What has impressed you about Texas Tech this year?

"Well, the roster impresses me a lot. I think they had a good roster last year. They certainly added to it. Their quickness at the guard spots, and they play mismatches as well as anybody in our league. So they’re a good team. You know, I looked at the NET deal yesterday—if I could be all—Houston 3, Tech 7, and Arizona 9, our next three games. And so, you know, great opportunity for us, but certainly, we're playing the hardest part of our schedule."

I know you talked about it, Coach, but the idea of the "fresh start"—where was it born?

"I mean, I invented it, you know? I think that is something that people talk about all the time, whether it be a coach giving a "do better" talk, as he said it, or, you know, anybody that’s failed the first test—"Well, I can’t get that back, but from this point forward, I’m going to be this or that." I don’t think that’s unusual at all."

"And I’ve done it with players a lot—not as much with teams, but players a lot—where, hey, so, okay, you're, you know, five of 23 from three in league play. Well, conference stats for you start tomorrow. You’re zero for zero, you know, just to try to give them a different, fresh outlook. But I’m sure I’ve done it before. I don’t think it’s anything new."

Any developments on Bryson [Tiller]? How’s he coming along? Has he been cleared for anything additional?

"No, no, he has not been cleared. You know, he's having tests done coming up here pretty soon, but he has not been cleared. And hopefully, he will be so we can get him out there and see where he is. But at this point, we're being very cautious."

Coach, you kind of just talked about this being the hardest part of the schedule coming up. Rylan [Griffen] said it was kind of like a mini-tournament run in how you guys are approaching it. Do you kind of like that mindset?

"Yeah, I haven’t told him that, so that’s good Rylan [Griffen] said that. I didn’t come up with that, but it is kind of like a—I didn’t use the word "mini-tournament," but it is kind of a mini-season, so to speak."

"So, you know, there’s about—I don’t know what the exact number of days were—17 days or whatever, to have five games in that time frame. Eighteen days, maybe, to have five games in that time frame. And how you do in that 18 days will be a big determinant on, you know, where you're seeded and where you're going, and to make sure that you’re actually in postseason play. So, you know, we're off to a nice start, but still, you know, we need to be 3-0, not 2-1."

I know Hunter’s not going to score 32 for you every time, but what can he do to be more consistently toward the upper end of his offensive production?

"I think putting himself in a position where he’s playing closer to the basket."

"Hunter is a good midrange shooter, but he's played to that too much this year, in my opinion, and that's our fault too. He needs to get to the free throw line some. He needs to—you know, if you look at percentages nationally, out-of-lane or out-of-a-restricted-area twos, or long twos, compared to close to the basket, there’s a big difference, a significant difference from a percentage standpoint."

"So I think him playing to the percentages—and we’re not saying take away what he does, I’m not saying that at all—but to also do more of the other, I think, would benefit our team offensively a lot."

You just mentioned seeds. It’s not uncommon to track it all the way into January. In years past, have you tracked it?

"Yeah, but not at all this year. We're in the big group this year. We're not in the finite group."

Is that freeing at all?

"I’d rather be in the other group, sure. But, you know, I'd say—and I could be exaggerating—15 of the 22 years we've been here, we’re looking at eight teams, and of those eight teams, who we had, who we had not had. Early on, now, you can't do that because you'd be looking at—there are 30, 40 teams out there that could potentially fall. We could move up this high, or we could drop. Whatever."

"We're in the mix, but we're not in the small, small mix at the top of the seed line. So I haven’t studied it this year."

Do you think DaJuan [Harris Jr.] and KJ [Adams Jr.] will talk about last year’s game to the guys who weren’t here for the Tech game?

"Yeah, they could. You know, Hunt could too. If they don’t do it, it will certainly be brought up."

"I mean, they whipped us from start to finish last year down there. I think we tied it at 12, and then after that, I don’t think we ever got it back even. So I actually think there’ll be some incentive for that, but it’s a different team, a different roster. That message will be relayed, but how it’s received—with only, you know, three guys that really probably played in the game—maybe a little different."

Do you expect their injured players back?

"We're anticipating everyone playing, but I have no idea on their injury report, nor do I suspect I will know before Saturday."

Are you down to an eight-man rotation, and do you like what you’ve seen out of your guys?

"I think we played eight against Colorado, if I'm not mistaken. And, you know, I'd like for Shak to be healthy. And of course, you know, Rock is the odd man out right now, but I’m okay with eight as long as those eight guys are all contributing and helping."

Could [Shakeel Moore] be back at any point?

"Yes, at some point, but I’m not sure about Saturday. It’s a situation where he'll just go as tolerated and deal with it when the season is over in whatever way he needs to deal with it."

"But even he’d be the first to tell you, "I'd like to go if tolerated," but he says it’s just been a situation where it's just been too painful for him to be able to be out there and play with remotely a free mind. And the medical staff has confirmed all that. So, you know, it’s unfortunate—sad for him and sad for us. But he’s going to be dealing with this the rest of the season."

Between the Oklahoma State game and Texas Tech game—or the Colorado game—the rebounding margin for you guys was vastly different. Do you see a difference from your perspective between the two games?

"No, I don’t see anything that we did between the two games, but I certainly see our going after the ball. I thought there was a difference."

"The best rebounders are the ones that chase the ball and go after it, and I thought Colorado beat us to way more 50/50-type rebounds than what we beat them to. Whenever a guy takes a 40-footer, guarded, at the end of the clock, and it grazes the rim, and we've got a couple of guys leaking out because they thought it’d be a shot clock violation, they end up getting the rebound—those are the types of things we have to eliminate. But we did not rebound the ball at all defensively in that game, and we've got to be much better."

Personnel-wise with Texas Tech, what are some of the things that stand out about McCasland's team?

I think their guards are very fast. I think they’re quick, and they can all shoot the ball. And then, of course, Williams was a nightmare matchup last year. They played a switch, and he was 10-for-10, if I’m not mistaken, last year. And then, of course, Toppin is a player that could be the best player on a lot of teams in our league. He’s good. So they’ve got a really nice roster."

Bill, you were talking about how tough these next three games are. Is there a stretch earlier this season that compares to it at all, or is this in a league of its own?

"These next three games… I don’t know that we’ve played three consecutive games against teams in the top 10. So, I would say this would be a league of its own, so to speak, with these three games in a row. We’ve played good teams, but you know, in non-conference, you play Duke, you know, Carolina, and Michigan State—I think we had those back-to-back—but I don’t know that we’ve strung three together like this. So, this is probably the toughest it’s been."

With three games left, who is the Player of the Year in the Big 12?

"I don’t know. Uh, uh, I don’t have… I guess I do have a vote, uh, at some point in time. But I’ll, I’ll, I’ll wait till after the three games are over, and then I probably still won’t say publicly who I voted for. But, but right now, to me, I’ve always said when Devonte [Graham] was Player of the Year and other guys were Player of the Year, I think there should be extra value given to the best player on the best team. But I’m not saying that’s my stance this year. "

"There may be a Kevin Durant-type player—someone who’s clearly the best player in the league, even if their team isn’t the best—and nobody would argue against that. But if there’s not a clear-cut choice, I would say the best player on the best team should carry significant weight."

Has any coach stood up for that award?

"Well, you could obviously say the team with the best record, so Kelvin [Sampson] has a strong case. But I personally think Grant [McCasland] has stood out as well as anybody. If you’re looking at the teams in our league that have been a pleasant surprise, regardless of where they were picked, I think Texas Tech would probably win that award as much as anybody."

Someone mentioned Scot Pollard may be here. Would you like to see him after what he’s been through?

"Yeah, yeah. I think Scot is planning on coming. I haven’t spoken to him, but I know [Greg] Gurley talks to him all the time. I look forward to seeing Scott. It’s a remarkable story. When you think of a professional athlete, you think of a picture of health, regardless."

"And then, just shortly after that, to go through what he’s gone through—and from the outside looking in, to have the attitude to fight it the way he has—I think that’s great."

Bob Huggins has said he wants back in. Are you in favor of that if he does?

"Oh yeah. I love—I think Hugs is great for our game. Uh, I don't know, I haven't talked to Hugs, so I don't know exactly the context in which it was said, but I'm sure it was said exactly in the context that you presented it. But I would love to see Bob have an opportunity."

At this point in the season, Zeke’s numbers have been significantly better at home than in road games. Have you had situations like that in the past? And what do you think could go into that?

"You know, I think that there's been a lot of individuals that had better numbers at home than on the road. And if that wasn't true, then your road numbers as a team would be just as good as your home numbers are—but it's never that way, or very rarely. So, I don’t know what’s going on. I think he's taking the same shots. He may maybe appear to be a little bit more aggressive at home than he is on the road, but I don’t know if there’s a set reason why."

"But there has been a significant difference, and I'm sure there are players on teams all across America where it’s been a difference as well. Right now, I'm just concerned about him being in a home game as opposed to thinking about anything else."