Friday, February 15, 2008
Let’s be clear, Bill Self wasn’t concerned about his team’s toughness.
“We didn’t play tough one night,” Self said about his team’s Monday performance against Texas. “We didn’t play tough on the glass one night. That doesn’t mean we have soft guys,” Self said.
Self said not to question his team’s toughness after it gave away a four-point halftime lead Monday against the 11th ranked Longhorns. Kansas, leading 42-38 at halftime, let Texas dominate the glass in the second half, and let them sneak away with a 72-69 victory. Texas out-rebounded Kansas by 11 in the second half.
“We have plenty of things to work on, but I’m not ready to say the sky is falling because we lost to a Top 11 team on the road by a possession,” Self said.
Still, Kansas’ flaws were magnified after its second loss of the season. Kansas is 0-2 against teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, and the Jayhawks seemed to have lost their outside shooting touch. Kansas shot 4-for-26 from the three-point line during the last two games.
“It just happened,” Self said. “I’m not going to make a big deal out of that, certainly we need to shoot the ball better.”
Self said he liked how Kansas’ schedule shaped up for the next two weeks.
Kansas plays host to Colorado on Saturday, then has six days off before traveling to Oklahoma State. That gives Self a week to practice.
“I’m not a believer in that we can just play in the games and automatically get better, Self said. “You have to work on things you need to improve on.”
Senior guard Russell Robinson has played on teams that were questioned before. When Robinson was a freshman, Self brought shoulder pads and football helmets to practice. Self’s point was simple: that team needed to be tougher.
However, Self said no gimmicks were needed this year.
“I’ve never had a team, nor has anybody ever coached a team that didn’t go through periods of time where some weeks they were a little better than other weeks,” Self said.
The rest of the Jayhawks said the sour taste from the Texas game was gone.
“You can’t be too upset about what happened in the past,” Senior forward Sasha Kaun said. “We should see how it will affect us in the long run and turn a negative thing into a positive thing.”
First place (in the Big 12) Kansas is looking toward March after K-State’s loss to Texas Tech Wednesday.
“My goal has always been for our teams to start getting better in February, and hopefully be peaking in late February, early March,” Self said.
In order to do that, Self said Kansas had to regain its toughness and swagger.
—Edited by Nick Mangiaracina
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