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 KUAD: Kansas vs Kentucky pregame notes
KUAD: Once a Jayhawk, always a Jayhawk - Adolph Rupp On what he's seen from Kansas: "They are running their stuff. They're doing a terrific job of doing what they do. I mean, they play a style and they play it well. They're playing hard, they're pressing, they're denying, they're pushing up on defense. They're trapping randomly at times. They're trapping pick-and-rolls. They're being very, very aggressive." On complaining in the past about the timing of this event and if this year it's good to get an early test: "Well, we're in a little different position than I've been in the past where you got a brand-new team and you're trying to just get your team together. This team needs to be challenged to see where we are, and this is gonna be one of those kind of games. Kansas, they're always well coached. They're always gonna play hard. They're always gonna be physical and get that ball inside. What they do they do really, really well." On the caliber of competition Kansas presents as opposed to what UK has seen so far: "Everybody has the same kind of schedules. You play games that you get at home, and then you start playing these kind of games. Some people play them early. I'm hearing Texas is really playing well. I'm hearing UCLA is really good. Obviously Louisville's playing well. North Carolina, Kansas, Providence – we have a tough schedule. So our thing is kind of spread throughout the whole preseason, but this is the next step. They're a top-five team. They're predicted to be in the Final Four. They're that good. And if we play like we did in the first half last game, we'll get smashed. If we play like we did in the second half, we got a chance. Because you're gonna have to fight on every possession." …On what he wants to see from his players vs. Kansas: "Just that we sustain energy, that we follow schemes, that we're really executing together – more defensively than offensively. And then we're a little more specific offensively. Because here's what's happened: we're like this (holds hands wide apart) so we're disconnected. We're going to narrow it a little bit (moves hands closer), so that they're more connected, so that they understand a little bit better. So you'll know when a guy's stepping away from what we need them to do. …"Doesn't mean I don't want them to have freedom to play, but I want them to know – like we didn't run enough stuff when we could have, we just kept trying to go. It's not there, there's five guys back there. When we did run our stuff on either group we were good. We got the ball wherever we wanted it, we scored, we got great shots, we got fouled, we were in great position to offensive rebound. When we didn't, and just shot quick, contested, they have three guys around the goal, or drive into five guys; we charged, we didn't look the same." On whether he means more control on the bench: "No, just give them more specifics what they're looking for." On if he's heard from other coaches about what he's trying to do with the platoon: "Yeah, I talked to guys today. They're all saying the same thing. One guy said, 'I'm playing 10; they're not saying I'm platooning. Why are you getting all the credit,' he said. Louisville CJ Calipari presser  KUAD: Kansas hosts Gauchos pregame notes
KUAD: Coach Bill Self presser The Jayhawks open the 2014-15 basketball season at home against UC Santa Barbara — and the country’s top rebounder in Alan Williams — at 7 tonight and that’s a huge happening in itself, coach Bill Self says. “The first game of the season I think everybody is jacked,” Self said, noting the Gauchos return four starters off last year’s 21-9 team. Top returnee is 6-8, 265-pound senior center Williams, who averaged 21.3 points and 11.5 boards in earning Big West Player of the Year honors. “I think our guys will be real excited to play and they shouldn’t look ahead because Santa Barbara can come in here and have success and put themselves in a position to win — or win. They are good enough to (win) and are well-coached enough (by 17th-year mentor Bob Williams). “Come Saturday they (Jayhawks will) be juiced for Tuesday, so that’ll be a different type of deal. I don’t see how your first game can be a trap game because our guys should be juiced to play. The bottom line is they definitely will have our respect.” …Self said sophomore Brannen Greene would start along with Ellis, Frank Mason III , Wayne Selden Jr., and Jamari Traylor. Greene has had the best quote of the season so far about turning it up “when the popcorn’s poppin” during actual games. “It’s amazing to me what some of our guys come up with. I would still like to see him turn it up once anyway, period,” Self cracked. “But he was turned up a little bit the other day. He got three offensive rebounds, and I’d say that’s a great way to go after the ball. But his responsibility is getting back every time we shoot it. He actually got three balls that he shouldn’t have gotten if he had done what he was supposed to do, but that’s Brannen for you. That’s kind of how we operate from time to time.” LJW  KUAD: KU vs Emporia State Pregame Notes KUAD Storify: Coach Self does Q&A on Twitter KU sophomore forward Brannen Greene, who suffered a concussion Monday versus Washburn, returned to practice with contact Friday. LJW |
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