Scouting Report: Kansas Jayhawks

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“All Eyez On Me” was released on February 13th, 1996 by the artist 2Pac. The west coast hip-hop legend would only live for about seven more months, but his fourth album hit number one in the charts and posthumously won Best Rap Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards. What does this have to do with Kentucky Basketball? Well, the Wildcats have an “All Eyez On Me” opportunity on Saturday night at Rupp Arena. The #9 ranked Kansas Jayhawks come to Lexington riding a three-game losing streak, but still hold onto a 16-4 overall record. An 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time tip-off on ESPN will attract attention from around the globe for a Kentucky team that has won four straight and appears to be turning a corner. Time will tell how the ‘Cats do in their “Tupac game.”

Coach Bill Self is fresh off of his second national championship as the head coach at Kansas. He has an excellent team once again, but three straight losses have the Jayhawks reeling a bit. Despite recent struggles the defending champs have proven they are as dangerous as anyone in the country once again. The combination of Jalen Wilson and Gradey Dick give Kansas one of the most talented duos in the country. However, they have been held to under 70 points in three of their last four outings and are just 18-69 (26.1%) during the current three-game losing streak. Just as the Wildcats try to continue their positive momentum, the Jayhawks are looking to snap their negative slide.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room to help get your ready for Saturday night’s big game. After Kentucky’s upset victory in Knoxville they had three conference games that they were expected to win. However, winning conference games can never be taken for granted. The ‘Cats stepped up to the task though and took care of business. The completion of that four-game winning streak set up Saturday night’s “All Eyez On Me” opportunity. Let’s dive on in and get to know more about the Kansas Jayhawks.

Kansas Jayhawks Offense

Starters

#3 Dajuan Harris Jr.: 6’1″ 175 lbs, Redshirt Junior Point Guard

7.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 6.5 apg

Point Guard. Extremely quick with the ball. Aggressively looking to attack the paint. Have to get the ball stopped in transition. Good shooter, 15-36 from 3, but not super aggressive. Not looking to shoot many off of the dribble. You can hop underneath the ballscreens and handoffs to help stay between him and the basket. Be willing to switch to stay in front as well. Give him a step or two and shade to his right hand. No right hand drives!!! Have to stay between him and the basket. Get your hands up and make him finish over you. Do not over help on his drives, especially if he is driving it left. He is driving to pass. Help off of him when he doesn’t have it and closeout to stay between him and the basket. Contain him off of the ballscreen. No right hand drives. No layups for him!

#4 Gradey Dick: 6’8″ 205 lbs, Freshman Guard

14.9 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.8 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3’s!!! 119 of 223 shots have been 3’s. 43.7% from 3. Have to be tight to him at all times to limit his 3-point attempts. Absolutely no help off of him. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Get over the ballscreens and handoffs. Chase off of downscreens and get over the flares. Don’t get flared in on the backside while the ball is being driven. Tighten up to him with urgency. Be very willing to switch to stay tight and take him away from 3. Great driver going either direction. Play him straight up and make him shoot contested jump shots. Bring some help off of #3 or #15 when he is bouncing it to try and make him give it up. Try and make it hard for him to get a clean catch. Have to make everything hard for him. Contest everything. NO 3’s!!!

#15 Kevin McCullar Jr.: 6’6″ 210 lbs, Redshirt Senior

10.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.1 apg

Bigger wing. Right hand driver! No right hand drives!!! Low percentage 3-point shooter. 29% this season and below 30% on his career. Closeout short to stay between him and the basket. Do not want to let him attack your closeout. We WANT him to shoot 3’s if you are there to throw a hand up. Have to be ready to be physical at the end of his drives. Will shot fake and pivot around to finish with his right hand. Stay down on the fakes, wall up, and make him score over you. Pick your spots and look for opportunities to come take it off of him when he is driving. 39 assists, 46 turnovers. Help off of him when he doesn’t have it and then closeout short to stay between him and the basket. Make him shoot jump shots. No right hand drives. No layups for him!

#10 Jalen Wilson: 6’8″ 225 lbs, Redshirt Junior Forward

21.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 2.5 apg

Versatile, skilled forward. Have to make it as hard on him as possible. No easy catches and no uncontested shots. Shooter! No catch-and-shoot 3’s! 45-132 from 3. Have to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Switch when he ballscreens to take away the pick-and-pop 3’s. He will also look to slip into a pop. If there is no screen there is no switch. Stay tight and take him away fro 3. Tighten up as the ball comes towards you. Don’t get flared in on the backside while the ball is being driven. Tighten up to him with urgency. Handles the ball a lot. Excellent right hand driver. No right hand drives! Always coming back right to finish. Loves to spin back right at the end of his drives. Stunt as he drives it. No help off of him. No 3’s! Make him uncomfortable.

#24 KJ Adams Jr.: 6’7″ 225 lbs, Sophomore Forward

10.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.0 apg

Extremely athletic, strong forward. Exclusively looking to score at the rim. Will ballscreen and roll to the basket. Looking for it on the short roll so he can drive it right to the rim. Also will pick-and-pop to drive it right. No right hand drives!!! Closeout short. He is a complete non-shooter. Back up off of him on the perimeter and get over to cut off the right hand drives. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Take away the quick drop steps. Don’t let him turn the corner. Only really looking to score if he can lay it up or dunk it. Stay between him and the basket. ELITE offensive rebounder. Averaging over 2.5 offensive rebounds per game. Be physical and box him out! Don’t help up off of him at the rim and give up a dunk. Play off of him on the perimeter. No right hand drives!

Bench

#1 Joseph Yesufu: 6’0″ 180 lbs, Junior Guard

3.4 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.3 apg

Backup guard. Will run the point some when he is in there. Not super aggressive offensively. Willing shooter. 38 of 68 shots have been 3, but he is a low-percentage 3-point shooter. 28.9% from 3. More dangerous as a right hand driver. No right hand drives! Go under the ballscreens and handoffs. Closeout a step short to stay between him and the basket. Be aggressive looking for opportunities to help off of him when he doesn’t have it. Go bother #4 and/or #10 and the closeout short when you recover to stay in front. Just put a hand up to contest when he shoots. Cut off the right hand drives. No layups for him!

#11 MJ Rice: 6’5″ 215 lbs, Freshman Guard

3.2 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 0.2 apg

Strong, athletic backup guard. Low-percentage 3-point shooter. Just 2-12 on the season. Much more dangerous as a right hand driver. No right hand drives!!! Closeout short to stay between him and the basket. Throw a hand up to contest the obvious catch-and-shoot, but much more worried about cutting off the right hand drive. Go under the ballscreens and handoffs. Be aggressive looking for opportunities to help off of him when he doesn’t have it. Go bother #4 and/or #10 and the closeout short when you recover to stay in front. Just put a hand up to contest when he shoots. Cut off the right hand drives. No layups for him!

#0 Bobby Pettiford Jr.: 6’1″ 190 lbs, Sophomore Guard

3.0 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 2.0 apg

Backup point guard. Non-shooter. Just 2-6 from 3 this season. Really looking to drive it right. No right hand drives!!! Loves to use the left to right hand crossover to get downhill. Get over and cut off the right hand drives. Go under the ballscreens and handoffs. Need to stay between him and the basket. Closeout short to him on the perimeter. Be aggressive looking for opportunities to help off of him when he doesn’t have it. Go bother #4 and/or #10 and the closeout short when you recover to stay in front. Just put a hand up to contest when he shoots. Do not over help when he drives it. Primarily driving to pass, especially when he is going left. Stay between him and the basket. No right hand drives. No layups!

#23 Ernest Udeh Jr.: 6’11” 250 lbs, Freshman Center

1.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.2 apg

Backup 5-man. Exclusively looking to score at the rim. Will ballscreen and roll or handoff and roll to the basket. Not really looking for it on the roll. Just give ground and stay lower than him on the roll. If you get switched onto him get around in front to deter the entry pass. You’ll be okay if you are around in front. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical and get him off of the block. Make him score over you at the rim. Don’t help up off of him at the rim and give up a dunk. Will be physical when the shot goes up. Box out! Right hand inside. No dunks for him.

Kansas Jayhawks Offense

The Kansas Jayhawks feature a Top 25 offense led by two elite individuals players in Jalen Wilson and Gradey Dick. They are a very free-flowing, Motion based team in the half court. Coach Bill Self emphasizes spacing that will be in a 4-around-1 or even 5-out alignment quite a bit with different players flashing down in the post area or rolling after ballscreens. There won’t be many set plays called, but when they do it is usually to isolate either Jalen Wilson or Gradey Dick. Kansas also has a ton of success in transition because they have so many guys that can lead the fast break. The Jayhawks shoot over 40% from 3-point range in transition and score an impressive 1.148 points per possession. We will have to be excellent at getting back and slowing them down in transition.

Here is a look at some of the Kansas Jayhawks half court offense. The possession begins with #4 Dick coming off of a floppy action to enter into what is essentially their ballscreen continuity. We cannot allow #3 Harris to turn the corner and get downhill to his right hand. That gap should have been closed by the Baylor defender guarding #15 on the perimeter. No layups for him when driving it right!

Typically you would think of #10 Wilson or #4 Dick as the primary pick-and-pop threats for the Jayhawks. However, despite being a non-shooter, #24 Adams is effective on the pick-and-pop. When he gets his catch he is exclusively going to be trying to drive it right. In this clip above that Kansas State defender should have immediately been sprinting to the right elbow to cut off the drive. Closeout short and sit on his right hand! Cannot give up layups like this to him.

Coach Self will call “Nose” from the sidelines anytime Kansas really needs a bucket. It could be to end a scoring drought, late in the shot clock, or at the end of a half like you see here. There is really nothing special to the action other than isolating #10 Wilson on the right wing. Perfect example of how hard he is too guard because of his size and skill. Not a whole lot else you can do as the defender, it is just a better shot.

This is a good look at a normal Motion possession for the Jayhawks in the half court. There will be screening actions for #10 Wilson and #4 Dick, but otherwise it is typically a lot of ballscreens. #4 Dick is so dangerous out on the perimeter. You have to closeout aggressively, but then he can attack off of the bounce going either direction. We would want to stay in off of #15 McCullar to help cut off #4 Dick’s drive.

The Kansas Jayhawks are so dangerous in transition because generally all five players on the floor can effectively start the break. Here you have #24 Adams, who is essentially their 5-man, pushing the ball up the floor. So much of Saturday’s defensive matchup for us will be based on KYP (know your personnel). There are two glaring issues in this clip that combine for a Kansas 3-pointer. First, you do not help off of #4 Dick. Period. We should give up a layup before coming off of #4 Dick. Secondly, you do not need to over help when #10 Wilson is driving it left. TCU is between him and the basket, and has him going left, which is about as good as you can hope for against the All-American caliber player. There was no need to leave #4 Dick and give up the 3 on the wing.

So often in the half court the Jayhawks will get to an early side ballscreen for one of their primary playmakers. What they really like to do, and have gotten very good at doing, is flaring in a shooter on the weak side as the ball is being driven. When guarding someone like #4 Dick this is why you HAVE to be tight to him at all times. Especially once the ball is driven towards you have to start tightening up to him with urgency to take him away from 3. Do not let yourself get flared in.

Kansas Jayhawks Defense

If you look at the metrics, the Kansas Jayhawks have actually been even better defensively than offensively. Per KenPom, they are ranked 16th nationally on the defensive end of the floor in adjusted efficiency led by solid rim protection and their ability to force live ball turnovers. Kansas is a man-to-man team on the defensive end. Their athleticism helps them be excellent getting back and guarding in transition while also guarding the paint pretty well despite their lack of raw size. They are going to switch a ton defensively, usually 1 through 4 on the ballscreens and sometimes even 1-5 depending on matchups. That ability to switch is a big reason why they protect the paint well and helps create steals as they always have a guy on a guy.

Keys to the Game

Contain #4 Dick & #10 Wilson. No more than 4 combined 3’s for those two. Hold them to 45% or below overall field goal shooting.
Dominate the glass. The Kansas Jayhawks are not a very good rebounding team. We have to create second chances while also ending possessions with a defensive rebound. 77% or better on the defensive glass.
Make 8 or more 3-pointers. Kansas is going to have a tough time guarding Oscar Tshiebwe inside, but that will also likely open things up from beyond the arc. We will need to shoot it in some on our way to trying to score 80.
Shoot 75% or better from the free throw line.