Bill Self and his Kansas Jayhawks wrapped up another Big 12 conference championship on Wednesday night. KU has one more regular-season game before heading into the Big 12 tournament and, in all likelihood, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Matt Fulks spoke recently with Self during the “Behind the Stats” radio show.
Matt Fulks: This might seem like an odd first question, but you’re a good candidate for it. With the Olympics fresh in our minds, I’ve been asking people, as a player would you rather win an Olympic gold medal or a championship at the top of your sport — obviously right now in your case, an NCAA title?
Bill Self: You know, I’m not sure. I’d say it might depend on how you’re raised, because the majority of the gold medals you win, even though you’re representing your country, are individual awards, unless you’re playing on a team, obviously. With that in mind, I’d rather win a team championship that involves more people. Certainly the camaraderie that you build in the locker room, over time I think, would be the most unbelievable feeling that a person could have because you’re relying on each other and not just yourselves.
MF: Let’s look at your team this year. The biggest question for most basketball fans, what has gotten into the twins, Marcus and Markieff Morris? They’re completely different guys out there.
BS: First of all, they had great years last year. With the exception of McDonald’s All-Americans, what freshmen coming in here have had the types of freshmen seasons that those guys had last year? They were just inconsistent, learning, and finding their way. But I thought they played well last year. This year they’ve transformed their bodies a little bit and their confidence levels are much higher. I think Marcus is playing as well as anybody, not only on our team, but in our league. I’ve been real pleased with both of them. They’re both a huge reason why we’ve gotten off to a pretty good start.
MF: I’m glad you said that about Marcus, especially, because he might be the most underrated player in the Big 12 right now. Plus, he’s a scrapper inside.
BS: He’s a good offensive rebounder and one thing we thought he did a poor job of last year was stealing some extra possessions or scoring the ball off someone else’s misses. Unfortunately for us, the majority of his offensive rebounds are coming off his own misses because the dude misses more layups than anybody around, or at least he has in a couple of games. [Laughs.] But he’s just a good player. He’s found his way, but he’s still young. He’s still learning, but he hasn’t had a sophomore slump. If anything, he’s really elevated his game.
MF: Coach, I don’t want to jinx anything for you...
BS: Well, don’t then.
MF: OK, so I’ll ask it this way. As you get set for the final few games of the regular season, the Big 12 tournament and then look ahead to the NCAA tournament, do you tweak anything? Do guys such as Jeff Withey and Thomas Robinson get any more touches during the game? What’s the mentality at this point?
BS: I don’t know if we really tweak anything. I think we’ll do whatever we can to help our team get better. We change how we practice a little bit. I think we run more dry offense, which I’ve been really bad about doing with our team over the past six weeks, just to make sure all of our team is on the same page in any situation. For the most part, fresh minds and fresh legs are as important this time of the year as anything else.
MF: Sherron Collins went through a couple games where he wasn’t shooting the ball well. Confidence doesn’t seem to be an issue with Sherron, or any of these guys, does it?
BS: You know, Sherron thinks there’s something wrong with the rim or the ball when he’s missing. It’s never him, which is good. That kind of thing doesn’t concern me. He just needs to spend some more time in the gym, taking some more shots or putting him in different situations. In practice sometimes I’ll tell the other four guys on the floor with him that he’s the only guy who can shoot the ball. I tell them to keep playing until he shoots. I want to force him to see the ball going in the basket and being aggressive. And I could do that with Xavier (Henry) or Cole (Aldrich) or whoever. Everybody goes through stretches, so I’m not concerned.
MF: Coach, I appreciate your time. Best of luck in March.
BS: Thanks. Take care.
To contact Matt Fulks, visit
MattFulks.com or Twitter.com/MattFulks. To catch “Behind the Stats” with Fulks and Dave Stewart, go to
SportsRadioKC.com.