Flory Bidunga responds from exhibition struggles with career-high
Flory Bidunga responded from an exhibition performance against Fort Hays State that Bill Self called “not very good” by setting a career-high in Kansas’ first official game against Green Bay. Bidunga scored 23 points on 9/11 shooting in the Jayhawks’ 94-51 win on Monday night.
After the Fort Hays State game, Bidunga dove into the film. He wanted to play true to his athleticism. Bidunga showcased that against Green Bay, blocking three shots and scoring on post moves along with his patented dunks.
“I watched a bunch of film of [the] past game and just wanting to get better,” Bidunga said. “I think me playing to my athletic ability really helped me tonight.”
One of Bidunga’s teammates also helped him push past the performance against Fort Hays State. Melvin Council Jr. said he had a quick text conversation with Bidunga about moving on to the next game.
“I texted him after the first game, Fort Hays,” Council said. “I text him, I said ‘I love you.’ Right. He texted me back and said he love me. And I told him ‘Next game. Like we know what you can do. You don’t gotta prove nothing to nobody. Just play your game.’ And that’s what he did tonight.”
Self thought Bidunga improved from Fort Hays State exhibition
Self noted the improvement from Bidunga’s performance from the Jayhawks’ final exhibition to their season opener. He thought Bidunga played more to his size and was able to have a presence in the low post.
“Since Fort Hays State, we’ve made an emphasis on how our bigs don’t play big like they need to,” Self said. “He got the ball in tight and made some shots without bouncing it and played to his length. He was a lot better today.”
Bidunga was also agressive driving to the basket and playing downhill. He got to the free throw line for six attempts, making five. That was another improvement from Fort Hays State, where Bidunga missed all five attempts from the line.
“If he can attack the basket and shoot that little six to eight foot jump shot, great, and he actually made one of those tonight,” Self said. “But for the most part, he needs to play downhill, he needs to get fouled, he needs to want to get fouled. And we’ll be so much better when he’s like that, and he was like that tonight.”
Bidunga and Darryn Peterson combined for 34 of Kansas’ 48 first-half points. Peterson threw an outlet pass that resulted in a Bidunga transition dunk, and their two-man game was effective throughout the first half.
“He’s a great player, you know, we all know that,” Bidunga said of Peterson. “If we’re running two-man, me and him, if my player just helps a little bit, I’ll be open for the lobs. I think we do that pretty good.”
Flory Bidunga and the Jayhawks’ next challenge is travelling to Chapel Hill to take on UNC. He is excited for the road test.
“We’re really excited,” Bidunga said. “I would say, we have a lot to work on, it will be a pretty good crowd, and then, just can’t wait to see what we’re made of.”
