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World University Games: Defense Propels Jayhawks Over Turkey

By Matt Ostrowski

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After the Kansas Jayhawks’ last exhibition game in preparation for the World University Games, Bill Self was quoted as saying that they “weren’t running anything on offense”.

That became even more obvious in Friday night’s sloppy victory over Team Turkey to kick off group play, 66-57.

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The game was sloppy right out of the gate, as the Jayhawks went down early, trailing 21-12 after the first quarter.

The Turkey lead was trimmed to four by halftime, as they led 36-32. Then, some solid defense from the Jayhawks stymied Turkey to just 21 second-half points. Turkey shot just 35% for the game, and turned the ball over 20 times.

Bill Self was content with overloading the strong side of the ball, which left Turkey’s ball handlers either driving into multiple defenders, or attempting to throw a full court pass to the open shooter in the opposite corner, which is always a risky proposition. This is precisely what led to the 20 turnovers.

And it sure was a saving grace that the defense showed up, because the offense was awful.

Seemingly every possession that relegated the Jayhawks to the halfcourt was either a straight post-up for Perry Ellis, or a top-of-the-key isolation for one of Frank Mason, Wayne Selden, or Nic Moore.

Ellis managed 17 points, but on just 8 of 18 from the field. Mason put in 12 with  four assists, Moore had nine points, and Selden put in a team high 19 to go along with an also team-high nine boards.

Since the ‘Hawks were struggling to score in the halfcourt, most of their offense came off of Turkey’s turnovers, with Selden and Mason pushing the tempo. Kansas fans are used to seeing that from Mason, but seeing it from Selden was really a sight for sore eyes.

After a freshman season in which he was relegated to being a spot-up shooter because of how great Andrew Wiggins was, Selden was supposed to take a leap into stardom last season, yet he seemed to regress, shying away from contact when he got to the rim, leading to a 39% field goal percentage from inside the arc.

But that was far from the case Friday night. Selden was all over the floor, penetrating, and scoring from all over the floor. The team-high nine rebounds was even more encouraging. Due to his large frame for a shooting guard, he projects as a very good rebounder for his position, but hasn’t shown it quite yet in his two years at KU.

Selden has the unique ability to grab a rebound and immediately start pushing the ball up the floor, so his rebounding could prove extremely valuable for the ‘Hawks. He went just 2 of 7 from three-point range, but shooting has been a team-wide struggle thus far (5 of 20 as a team Friday night), as the three-point lines in international play are about a foot and a half longer than college three-point lines. Plus, the Jayhawks are without their two best shooters in Brannen Greene and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk.

Landen Lucas provided a nice spark off the bench for the Jayhawks in this one. He had just 2 points, but was an absolute load inside on defense. Carlton Bragg also played some solid minutes off the bench, showing the incredible motor that he has been praised for in scouting reports. He finished with 1 point and 6 rebounds.

Both of them could come up huge both this season, and in the World University Games, as Jamari Traylor continues his erratic play. He started on Friday night, but put in just 2 points to go along with 1 rebound. He also committed 4 turnovers with his out of control drives to the basket.

Up next for the Jayhawks is Team Brazil, which will tip-off Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m., eastern time. Better set your alarm clocks.

Next: Does Quinn Cook Have A Legit Shot With OKC?

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