I heard Jesse Newell on the radio this evening, and he had a few interesting comments. Apparently he was sitting behind the KU bench for yesterday's game. Newell said that by the 2nd media timeout he heard Bill Self ask his players on three separate occasions "what are you doing out there?!" He went on to say that he overheard Self questioning their toughness (very valid) and told them "all you guys want to do is jack up threes." He thought many of the Kansas players were gun-shy and were playing afraid to make mistakes.
Newell went on to discuss discuss Evan Wessel, who Self called a "stud" after the game. He raised an interesting point - if Wessel were on Kansas' roster yesterday, would he still be comfortable taking open three pointers early in the shot clock? Newell thought he would have been pulled for doing so. Apparently he later talked to Fred VanVleet, and asked him where they get the confidence to take shots early in the shot clock. He said their staff instills in them the confidence to take open shots, regardless of where they are, and they don't play afraid of making mistakes.
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with anything Newell said, but I do think there's an element of truth to what he said. Oftentimes it seems our underclassmen (and occasionally upperclassmen) are out there thinking instead of playing, often looking over to the bench as soon as they make a mistake. Playing time is the ultimate motivator, but you can't have players who aren't playing instinctively.
Just thought I'd share what I heard, as it made me think.
Newell went on to discuss discuss Evan Wessel, who Self called a "stud" after the game. He raised an interesting point - if Wessel were on Kansas' roster yesterday, would he still be comfortable taking open three pointers early in the shot clock? Newell thought he would have been pulled for doing so. Apparently he later talked to Fred VanVleet, and asked him where they get the confidence to take shots early in the shot clock. He said their staff instills in them the confidence to take open shots, regardless of where they are, and they don't play afraid of making mistakes.
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with anything Newell said, but I do think there's an element of truth to what he said. Oftentimes it seems our underclassmen (and occasionally upperclassmen) are out there thinking instead of playing, often looking over to the bench as soon as they make a mistake. Playing time is the ultimate motivator, but you can't have players who aren't playing instinctively.
Just thought I'd share what I heard, as it made me think.
