Kansas basketball: Post problems continue to plague Jayhawks

Most years, Kansas head coach Bill Self is the man with all the answers. It’s what has earned him 15 Big 12 championships, eight Big 12 Tournament titles, a national championship, and dozens of coaching awards.

But so far this year, Self cannot seem to find the answer for this team’s troubles down low.

It looked like things were beginning to turn the corner after David McCormack had his best game of the year against Oklahoma State just over a week ago. Then the clock struck midnight when Kansas went on the road to Texas Tech.

Against the Red Raiders, the Jayhawks were outscored in the paint 44-18. McCormack finished with just four points on 1-3 shooting and six rebounds. Mitch Lightfoot had zero points and zero rebounds in over 10 minutes of playing time.

Adding salt to the wound is the fact that Tech played without two of their leading scorers due to COVID issues.

In Self’s latest attempt to solve this problem, freshman KJ Adams earned the first start of his KU career against Iowa State on Tuesday night. He finished with three points and two rebounds in a little under 10 minutes of play.

It wasn’t a bad performance as Adams continued to demonstrate the hustle he’s shown often this season – something Self said was lacking against Texas Tech – and his tenacity for rebounding. On the offensive end however, Adams still appears to have a long way to go before he can be counted on as a consistent scoring threat.

Mitch Lightfoot contributed just four points and four rebounds in 20 minutes of action. McCormack was essentially a non-factor as he had one point and four rebounds and was on the court for only nine-and-a-half minutes.

Though some may argue the starting lineup change should have happened sooner, Self deserves credit for making a concerted effort to find a solution.

It’s not easy to start a relatively unproven freshman over two seniors – albeit two seniors who are struggling. And although it wasn’t a performance that suddenly fixes the issue, it shows Self recognizes things need to change and he’s willing to give his younger players more of an opportunity.

Luckily, Self still has about a month and a half to solve the riddle that is KU’s post play. At this point, it looks to be the missing piece to KU’s potential championship puzzle.