First... I will state that I'm happy Bill is at Kansas. If you look at where we were when he came and everything he accomplished since arriving... I think he has performed extremely well (though I, like others, wish we captured a few more NCs). Also... he is an excellent representative for Kansas because he knows how to talk in front of the cameras and mics.
Over the years Bill has improved and grown as a coach. I think that is because he has had to adjust to shortcomings in personnel, etc.
Here is my more critical view... and I say that knowing Bill will one day retire from college basketball as one of the most-winning coaches in the game.
DEFENSE - Defense is Bill's "go to." "Self ball" is a grind game where we are led by our defense. Most of my problems with defenses at Kansas relates to players not being coached up enough on how to personally contribute to their maximum on defense. Hedging, spacing, weakside help... players lacking enough basketball IQ. Also... how can we be known as a premiere defensive team without developing a press? I find it sinful to not spend time working on an effective press. It can totally change the momentum in a game. It can change the speed of the game. It can force opposing team offenses out of their comfortable sets. It can pep up your team and get them more active. I just don't see how we can hang "defense" as our identity without being able to put on a good press.
OFFENSE - I'm not sure what we were running this year. It started as more of a motion dribble-drive but ended as a weak version of a hi-lo. Again... it mostly seems like our guys are not coached up enough with a basketball IQ that can take advantage of what the defense gives. Anytime we get hit by an aggressive defense we fold. We don't adjust. Our guys should know if a player is in his grill then force the contact and the foul. Or turn the corner on the defender and drive to the rim. At least we are finally starting to see a few guys using shot/ball/drive fakes. I remember a few years ago we would never see that.
I believe Bill has most of the Jayhawk fanbase trained to believe athleticism wins championship. I'm not against athleticism... but you hang your hat on basketball IQ. Gonzaga has dominated this year NOT with athleticism! Their players play smart. The know the finer parts of the game and they know each other. They make it look so easy! I say this full well knowing that Gonzaga could lose to USC because USC is more athletic AND plays with pretty good basketball IQ. We are always going to be facing some horrible defeats because our guys are mostly just athletes (or not) and not developed ball players and team players.
MOTIVATION - We've had these discussions in here for years. Bill is not a motivator. He is not a cheerleader. This is, by far, our biggest issue and why we get thrashed by teams that come in jacked up. How many times do we have to fight back from deficits, sometimes big deficits, with a weaker opponent but we let them play motivated at a higher level. We should be bringing DEATH to most teams from the opening jump. Kill their spirit and pile on them. Notice how USC outplayed us. They never let off the gas from beginning to end.
GAME PREPARATION - Bill told us long ago that he does not prepare a game plan against opponents we face. He runs at them with who we are, not changing for another team. So I'm not sure what we are doing in practices leading up to games. Usually time is spent dealing with player match-ups. Is that what we are doing? Are we studying their plays? Do we ever think about how do we attack each team on offense? Exploit match-ups? Exploit weaknesses in their team defense? It seems like none of that happens once games tip off. We just run our normal stuff and if that doesn't create offense, too bad. We better win it on the defensive end. I think our team this year should have been a pretty decent trey shooting team. But our offense was a disaster and guys always faced contested treys, or received the ball in a bad place so we had no shot continuity. It was painful to watch our offense when this should have been a fun team to watch.
BAD IDEAS - I still can't believe someone thought it was a good idea to make Marcus our PG. It basically killed his identity he had proven the year before. He wasn't a play maker. Period. I know Harris was green and lacked aggression. What if he was boosted up by being our starting PG from the beginning of the season? He started becoming more aggressive at the end of this year, I'm not sure how because he wasn't really given incentive. How can anyone not notice his ability to make plays, make passes? His ability to apply tough defense and create steals? Even now, we are looking for a PG to replace Marcus and keep Harris on the bench to rot. The focus should be on Harris being our PG next year and pushing him now to beef up and work hard to take on that responsibility next year. The guy will become a phenom if we develop him properly.
