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

• Jeff Withey has developed as much as anyone this year for KU. He’s developed into a presence defensively. He keys KU’s success as much as anyone when he’s on. He makes it tough for other teams to score in tight.

• Most big guys in the NCAA now are 4 men. There are not as many true 5 men like Jeff Withey out there. Kentucky’s dominant center is a 4 man. So is Ohio State’s. North Carolina is playing with two 4 men. There just aren’t that many anchors out there. The schools that can get those guys in recruiting have an advantage in some ways.

• Iowa State’s Royce White controlled the first game against KU. Self thought KU didn’t play as active as it could have against ISU. KU isn’t a good rebounding team if it’s not amped up. KU needs to have its guards do a better job of cleaning up rebounds. Long shots mean long rebounds, so KU’s big men need help defensive rebounding against ISU.

• Self says this is the toughest stretch of KU’s season, starting right now. KU’s next four road games are against ISU, Missouri, Baylor and Kansas State.

• Self likes what he’s seen on the road from his team so far this year. KU hasn’t played unbelievably well on the road, but it’s guarded well. Self doesn’t think KU has had a performance on the road that would guarantee a win any of its next four road games, though.

• Coaches can change gameplans from game to game against a team. Self doesn’t think ISU dared KU to shoot in the first game, but the Cyclones didn’t guard KU’s high-post players out top in that game.

• Self doesn’t like to put numbers on guys, but he thought Taylor could be a 40-percent three-point shooter this year, which is a good percentage. He’s shot it much better than that (Taylor is shooting 46 percent from three). If you take away a stretch to start Big 12 play, he’s shot well above 50 percent from three. But still the best thing he does is get tot he basket.

• Self thinks Elijah Johnson has played better than his numbers. He struggled last game badly, but Self thinks he’s really a good player. His numbers shooting the basketball haven’t been good at all. He’s shot 29 percent from three, and Self thinks he’s a 40-percent three-point shooter at worst. It’s going to happen. If it’s going to happen, now would be a good time, because KU needs him to be a double-figure scorer from here on out.

• Self thinks Johnson can still become a better defender. Self says there was an article not too long ago written about the pride he takes in his defense. He should have read that article before the last game. Self thinks he can become a much more solid defender, because there’s been times he’s been really good in that area, and there’s times he’s not. If you worry about your shot, you’re not going to shoot it good. If you have to make shots to play well, you’re probably not a complete player. Self just wants Johnson to focus in on being a guard.

• The way Johnson was shooting threes the other day, he wasn’t too worried about what happened on the previous shot. Self thinks that’s a positive, though his shot selection wasn’t great. It was almost like he was pressing, just trying to make one. He had a bad game against Texas A&M, but he also made the biggest shot of the game against Texas. So he’s done a lot of really good things. He just hasn’t shot consistently from behind the arc.

• Iowa State is good. That’s an NCAA Tournament team. That’s pretty good in just two years for coach Fred Hoiberg. He went through the transfer route. It seems to be working pretty well.

• Self isn’t a big guy to mess with a player’s shots, but he says you can make minor adjustments. Your release point can be too low, or your follow-through can be too flat. There are some minor things you can do. For some, though, to change their shot, you almost have to red-shirt them. In golf and basketball, if things don’t go well, you go back to the way you’ve always done it. That’s why Self thinks so much of shooting is between the ears. You can have poor form, but if you have a good follow-through, you have a chance to make shots. Tweaking is the most that Self would like to do for a guy that is playing. With a guy like Jamari Traylor, who is red-shirting, the coaches can work with his shot as much as they’d like, because it doesn’t matter if he misses a lot of shots in the next week. With other guys, the coaches can’t do as much. They might talk through minor stuff.

• Self says there’s nothing wrong with Johnson’s shot. It can get a little flat sometimes. The thing about shooters … if you’re a good shooter, you miss short or long. You never miss right or left. Almost all of Johnson’s misses have been a little long. He’s just a notch off.

• Self is confident putting Travis Releford defensively on the opponent’s best guard, but that might not always be best for KU, because that might put Johnson on the other team’s best rebounder. But Self is comfortable with Releford guarding anybody. He’s become a smart defender.