Here is the Cliff’s Notes version of Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self’s comments at his weekly press conference today.

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Full audio has been posted.

• Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson being back won’t be a big change for KU, as both have run with the first team in practice. Both players have gotten better. Both need to improve defensively and also with taking care of the basketball. Both have a tendency to lose focus. Russell Robinson was a pretty good standard when it came to defensive guards. The best perimeter guards defensively that Self has had at KU were 1. Brandon Rush; 2. Russell Robinson; 3. Brady Morningstar.

• Elijah Johnson has the capability to make a big jump this year. He will start on Friday. He might be a guy that plays better when he knows he can play through mistakes.

• Thomas Robinson is going to foul, but it was nice that last Tuesday, his first foul came in the second half. KU coaches will try to protect Robinson from getting fouls way away from the basket by defending in different ways than they have in the past.

• Towson hasn’t scored the ball well yet, but it’s exhibition games. It’ll be great to see how KU’s guys react in the first game.

• Self has been pleasantly surprised by Naadir Tharpe’s shooting ability. KU recruited a pass-first point guard, which he should still be. He’s been a bonus with his shooting. Self thinks he can still do a better job of running the team and understanding what the team is trying to accomplish. There’s a chance he could be out there in a game with both Johnson and Taylor.

• Self would like to see KU play every possession, as opposed to being inconsistent with effort in focus. Self believes not losing focus will be an issue with this team all year. The coach would like to see that reduced.

• The Champions Classic will be the highlight of the opening of the next three basketball seasons. Self doesn’t know if college basketball has had an event like this to kick off the season that will generate this much interest.

• John Calipari’s recruiting at Kentucky hasn’t been a surprise to Self. He’s been able to do very well with the NBA talent-type guys. The thing about Cal that is misleading is that a lot of people think he’s just a good recruiter, whereas as Self thinks he’s also a really good coach and gets his teams to play hard and guard.

• Jeff Withey is a very coachable. He’s a great kid. He’s probably a little bit too laid back. Self would like to see him get angry sometimes. His lower body strength isn’t going to allow him to do some things in the post like other players, but he’s very skilled.

• The coaching staff put a lot of time into Perry Ellis. Danny Manning did a great job of that. Self believes that he could have the same impact as Wayne Simien, as far as being a home state player coming to KU. He’s a hybrid at the 3 and 4. KU will use him both positions. Ellis is really quiet. When Self talked to him a couple days ago, Ellis told him he was playing “Call of Duty.” Ellis wants to be valedictorian. He wants to go into business once he comes to KU.

• KU’s team in 2005-06 was talented, but Kentucky’s team this year has more one-and-done-type players. There are a lot of things that go into having a great team, and talent is the most important.