-- I'll continue to update, but Bill Self just told the media that Kevin McCullar, Jr., is doing better and, if he can go full-speed at practice today and tomorrow, could make his return at Baylor on Saturday.
-- Bill Self was asked if Nicolas Timberlake has seen his season turnaround following his first performance against Baylor back on February 10. It was obviously a frustrating performance for Timberlake, especially near the end of the game. Here's what Self had to say following the question.
Self said Timberlake probably learned without having to be taught a real hard lesson, which, according to Self, is good. Self said it's good, because Baylor didn't make shots on the other end. Self added that it was handled poorly by everybody, including "us."
-- Self was also asked about turning Baylor over 21 times and what Kansas was able to do to have so much success on the defensive side of the ball.
"I thought we defended pretty well the first time," said Self. "They are a hard team to guard, because they can four shooters around a rim-runner and those are the hardest teams to guard, when you can put shooters around ball screen options. I thought our activity was pretty good and they didn't shoot it great, but they also helped us some the first game.
"They had some turnovers that were unforced as well," he added. "I thought our activity was pretty good and our ball screen coverage was pretty good."
-- Today is the first day that Kansas will practice since the loss to BYU, so Self hasn't seen the guys much since Tuesday night. Still, he was asked about his tone of his message since the first home loss of the season.
"Well, we didn't practice yesterday," said Self. "Yesterday had to be our off day. We didn't play well against BYU, but after I watched the tape, we actually weren't as bad as what I thought we were. There are certain things that need to happen, you know, when you play good teams. You need to make a majority of your free throws and you need to handle some things differently. One of the big negatives was, you know, going into the last four minutes of the game, we had been outscored 33 points from beyond the arc.
"That's a lot of points to make up in twos when you get outscored 33 from beyond the arc," he added. "In games in which we lost in the league, that's the constant theme. - 18, -18, -21, and in this particular game, I think it ended up being 30. That's a lot of twos you've got to make up. We're not going to make up those twos offensively. We need to do a better job of taking away from them defensively. We can make up a few, but we can't make up that number."
-- I asked Coach Self about the health of Kevin McCullar, Jr., and if he's any closer to making a return to the court. Here's everything he had to say on Thursday.
"Yeah, I think he's doing better," said Self. "I don't know when he'll play next, but I think he's doing better. I think he's gaining on it. Hopefully, we can get him back out there. There is (a chance he could return at Baylor) if he can practice full speed today and tomorrow. If he doesn't practice full-speed today and tomorrow, I would say no."
-- Bill Self was asked if Nicolas Timberlake has seen his season turnaround following his first performance against Baylor back on February 10. It was obviously a frustrating performance for Timberlake, especially near the end of the game. Here's what Self had to say following the question.
Self said Timberlake probably learned without having to be taught a real hard lesson, which, according to Self, is good. Self said it's good, because Baylor didn't make shots on the other end. Self added that it was handled poorly by everybody, including "us."
-- Self was also asked about turning Baylor over 21 times and what Kansas was able to do to have so much success on the defensive side of the ball.
"I thought we defended pretty well the first time," said Self. "They are a hard team to guard, because they can four shooters around a rim-runner and those are the hardest teams to guard, when you can put shooters around ball screen options. I thought our activity was pretty good and they didn't shoot it great, but they also helped us some the first game.
"They had some turnovers that were unforced as well," he added. "I thought our activity was pretty good and our ball screen coverage was pretty good."
-- Today is the first day that Kansas will practice since the loss to BYU, so Self hasn't seen the guys much since Tuesday night. Still, he was asked about his tone of his message since the first home loss of the season.
"Well, we didn't practice yesterday," said Self. "Yesterday had to be our off day. We didn't play well against BYU, but after I watched the tape, we actually weren't as bad as what I thought we were. There are certain things that need to happen, you know, when you play good teams. You need to make a majority of your free throws and you need to handle some things differently. One of the big negatives was, you know, going into the last four minutes of the game, we had been outscored 33 points from beyond the arc.
"That's a lot of points to make up in twos when you get outscored 33 from beyond the arc," he added. "In games in which we lost in the league, that's the constant theme. - 18, -18, -21, and in this particular game, I think it ended up being 30. That's a lot of twos you've got to make up. We're not going to make up those twos offensively. We need to do a better job of taking away from them defensively. We can make up a few, but we can't make up that number."
-- I asked Coach Self about the health of Kevin McCullar, Jr., and if he's any closer to making a return to the court. Here's everything he had to say on Thursday.
"Yeah, I think he's doing better," said Self. "I don't know when he'll play next, but I think he's doing better. I think he's gaining on it. Hopefully, we can get him back out there. There is (a chance he could return at Baylor) if he can practice full speed today and tomorrow. If he doesn't practice full-speed today and tomorrow, I would say no."
