Kansas basketball: 5 things Bill Self should experiment with vs. Fort Hays State

In an exhibition that should quickly turn into a blowout, Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self can draw up some funky plays and run unusual lineups.

Coming off an 82-75 loss to Illinois, the Kansas Jayhawks have a gimme against Fort Hays State in their final exhibition game before the regular season begins next week.

While the team certainly didn’t appear to be the consensus preseason No. 1 with its showing against the Fighting Illini, they’ll have some more legroom tonight when they take on NCAA Division II opponent Fort Hays State. In the last scrimmage of the preseason, the coaching staff can try new things with their lineups and plays as they continue to get acclimated with the current roster.

These are five things Bill Self should experiment with tonight.

Kansas Basketball Experiment No. 1: Running a four-guard lineup of Dajuan Harris, Elmarko Jackson, Nick Timberlake/Johnny Furphy, and Kevin McCullar

We saw a few minutes of this lineup in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss, and the offense looked more fluent during it than it did the rest of the game. There were four ball handlers on the court, which made it easier to get the rock to Dickinson and improved the overall spacing.

Nick Timberlake / Johnny Furphy would hypothetically sub in for KJ Adams in this scenario, and it might seem odd for a player who started all 36 games one year ago to have his minutes reduced. However, he looked out of place against an athletic Illini squad and couldn’t stop opponents inside.

There will be times when KJ can make a serious impact on the floor, but until he develops a positional identity for himself, he will often find himself in no man’s land. His jump shot is still not developed, and he struggled mightily on defense in the loss. If that continues to be the case, certain schemes will take advantage of his flaws to the point where KU can’t keep him on the floor as much.