Chat wrap with Bill Self

KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self chatted with KUsports.com readers Thursday, answering questions about the team’s rebounding, David Padgett’s health and other topics.

Moderator: We will begin our chat with coach Self in a few minutes. Thanks to coach and our readers for their time this afternoon.

Brandon: Is there anything special you will do to prepare your players as you approach tougher conference games this season?

Coach Self: We prepare basically the same way for each and every game. The one thing we will do when we get into February is spend more time on scouting reports and less time on physical workouts, to make sure our legs are as fresh as they can be.

Dan: Obviously, you’ve been pleasantly surprised with Moody’s play this season. Do you see his playing time increasing, or do you see him more as a role player?

Coach Self: I see all players as role players because everyone is. Certainly, Christian’s role could change, but I don’t see his playing time going down. When we get all our pieces back I see him probably as the fourth big guy, but that could change a bit if the other guy has a perimeter four-man.

Parker: Coach, just wondering how David Padgett is doing and when you expect him at full health.

Coach Self: I think there’s a chance he’s at full health now. We’re going to practice him at full speed tomorrow, so we’ll know a lot more after that. If it is the case he’s pain free, he will play against Richmond. It may not be a lot of minutes, but he will play in short spurts against them and then hopefully be at full speed where the doctors will release him to play Sunday.

Todd: Great first half of the season! I’m impressed with the way you have brought this team together after so many changes. What improvements are you looking for out of the guys as the second half of the season progresses?

Coach Self: I think there are two key things we can do things that we can control without having to make shots. I think we can become a much better, and potentially great, rebounding team. And after we become that I think we can do a real good job of scoring easy baskets. Right now, when we run and have the opportunities to we’ve been efficient since Christmas, but we haven’t had many opportunities to run. I think you’ll see more transition baskets after we become a better defensive rebounding club.

Dan: Coach, I notice during you like to throw a soft trap at a team during various parts of the game. Any plans to incorporate a full court trap to maybe throw the opponent completely out of sync?

Coach Self: We could do that. Basically, we’ll use that as a catch-up defense. We could periodically do that, and we do have a press in, though we haven’t spent a ton of time on it. When you press, you have to get more out of it than you put in, and I don’t like spreading the floor and creating numbers for the other team in the half court. And when you don’t have a lot of depth in the inside, it opens your big men to foul problems. We will do it some, but I’m not a big proponent of that.

Jamie: In watching the game Saturday, it looked like we got our hands on a lot of rebounds, but couldn’t bring the ball in. Is this lack of position or lack of desire?

Coach Self: I think some of it is a lack of a position. I wouldn’t say a lack of desire, just a total lack of aggressiveness in attacking each ball with two hands and reacting to the best of our ability. Whether or not that’s effort or just focus or energy or whatever, we certainly have to do a much better job in that area.

Paul: Coach, did you expect this job to carry as much heightened pressure from the fans/community as it does? What do you do to relax?

Coach Self: I’m sure there is a lot of pressure, at least perceived pressure, from people outside. I don’t think the pressures have affected or changed me, because I don’t think other people can put as much pressure on me as I put on myself. I know fans love Kansas basketball, but I can’t get hung up on pleasing everybody. There are pressures with the job, but I haven’t felt more here than at other places because I’ve always put a lot of pressure on myself to perform at a high level.

Benton: It seems like every player has had a game where he’s played great, but there haven’t been many games where each and every player is playing to his potential. Do you think the team is close to firing on all cylinders?

Coach Self: I think we’re closer than we were, but I also think against Michigan State we were a very good team, borderline great team. We’ve had so many things we’ve been dealing with, be it injuries or sickness, that I think it’s been tough for the guys to get to that magic level coaches want them to. We’ve had different things going throughout, but I think we’re about ready to be whole and hopefully that will occur sometime later this week.

Carter: This schedule is driving us fans crazy. With 8 days off at the end of December and 9 days off at the beginning of January, the players must be getting tired of practice. Do you think this has been a problem?

Coach Self: I think from that standpoint, the schedule has been pretty frustrating. I’m happy we got Richmond in there or we would have had another break like that. I think practice has been good, but it’s time for school to start and us to get back to playing two games on a weekly basis. Saturday-Monday games are tougher for us because we’ve been nicked up a little bit, but I’m really looking forward to getting in a routine because this team hasn’t been in a routine as far as the schedule for quite a long time.

Chris: Wayne Simien has had some marvelous games this year, and yet at other times it seems like he’s gotten lost. Why is that and what plans do you have for getting Simien more involved heading into March?

Coach Self: I think we’ve done a much better job of feeding the post, but I also think Wayne’s health hasn’t been really great. You can certainly tell how that goes by him chasing down balls and doing a great job by being aggressive all the time. I think his health has had a lot to do with that and we had a time where we weren’t getting the ball into the post and forgetting what we were trying to accomplish, but I really do think we’re doing a better job of that.

Peter: After only three Big 12 conference games it may be difficult to pinpoint, but what is the biggest difference between conference play in the Big 12 versus the Big 10?

Coach Self: I think it’s a little early to tell. I really believe the Big 12 is faster. I do think the Big 10 will have more half-court possession games, especially the second half of the conference season. There is a lot of athletic ability and open-court play in the Big 12. Other than that it’s pretty similar. I think they’re both great coaches leagues, and the home crowds have been comparable at both places, I think because when you’re Kansas, wherever you go you’re going to have a great crowd. I think there’s certainly passion in both leagues.

Chris: I imagine KU will see zone from a bunch of teams in conference play this season. Can you explain generally how you would like the team to attack a 2-3 zone in the high-low offense?

Coach Self: Ninety-five percent of all teams when you play zone will have to keep the high and low post filled. Attacking a zone has principles, and however you get to it you want to accomplish the same things. We run a lot of what we call “zone motion” and what we call “stationary,” but the bottom line is that we will see a lot of zones. We’ve done better against zones lately, and I think we’re shooting the ball much better than we were before. Hopefully getting Mike Lee back will be a big asset in that regard.

Mike: It seemed to me at the beginning of the season the players had some difficulty making the transition to the new offence. Do you now see them becoming comfortable and fully adjusted to your system?

Coach Self: I think that he transition term has been way overused. By now, it’s not because of a transition that we don’t play well. It’s because we miss shots or don’t execute well or whatever. I do think the guys have a much better understanding of what we were trying to do than before, but they still have to execute. I’d say when we struggle most is when we don’t pay attention to detail, and when one or two guys aren’t on the same page it doesn’t look very good. I think the guys are doing better, but we have to pay more attention to detail on both ends.

Moderator: That was our final question for coach Self. Again, thanks to him and our readers for their time today.