Kansas basketball: Quotes from Bill Self following Jayhawks win over Chaminade

Here are all of the quotes Kansas basketball head coach Bill Self gave the media following the Jayhawks blowout victory over Chaminade in the Maui Invitational.

The Kansas basketball team took care of its first-round opponent in the Maui Invitational and is set to tip off another game tonight. Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar were the stars of the show in a blowout win. Here is everything KU coach Bill Self said after the victory.

Reporter: (Inaudible question about team’s overall performance):

Bill Self: “I thought there were times and stretches that I thought we played pretty well this evening, and there were times where I didn’t think we did at all. But it was good to get the first win, and I think Chaminade is hard to guard because they got three little guys that can spread it, drive it, and shoot it. And I thought, for the most part, we defended them pretty well. But it’s good to get the first win.”

Reporter: “You guys had two official triple-doubles as a program prior to these past few games from Kevin McCullar. What does that say about the kind of player he is?”

Bill Self: “Well, I don’t think they did triple-doubles back when Wilt (Chamberlain) played so that probably would be more than two. But Kevin, offensively he wasn’t great against Kentucky but came away with a triple-double. And then today, he wasn’t great offensively and came away with 22, 11 and 10. He’s playing at a really high level, and to me, he’s as good an all-around basketball player as there is in the country. When you include what he does when we’re on the defensive end. I think he can really play.”

Reporter: “You guys had to play the starters a lot of minutes. How do you think from a stamina perspective they’ll handle the next couple of days?”

Bill Self: “Well, I’ll put a positive spin on it. We didn’t want to play our guys that much. Our bench wasn’t any good today. So we didn’t want to play our guys that much. But I will say this — whoever we play tomorrow will play their guys at least that much, so it’s not going to be an excuse.”

Reporter: “Coach, congrats on the win. You talked about Chaminade. What were they doing out there that kept them scrappy and competitive throughout most of the game?”

Bill Self: “I thought they were quicker than us a good portion of the game. I think they beat us off the bounce too much. But, statistically, our defense wasn’t the issue. I thought we got in our way offensively a lot. And if were just patient enough to throw the ball to Hunter, we probably would have been a little bit better off than casting up some of the shots that we did. But at the end of the day, we can play a lot better. But maybe that’s not a bad message to get through to a team in the first of three days knowing that we got to be better.”

Reporter: “You guys obviously fed the ball to Hunter (Dickinson) quite a bit. He took 18 shots and was really efficient. Describe what it’s like to have somebody who demands that kind of attention and what it does to the rest of your offense.”

Bill Self: “I didn’t think we ran good offense tonight. I thought we ran good plays, which to me is a big difference. The thing about Hunter is he draws attention, and he’s a terrific passer. So, if guys made shots out of some of the passes he made today, he would have had four or five assists himself. He got up 18 shots today, and I’m sure the majority of the people on our bench thought that number could easily been 23 or 24. So, he’s a very unselfish great scorer.”

Reporter: “What did it mean to you and the team to see KJ make it in time, and can you go through the scenario, when did he get here?”

Bill Self: “KJ left us Friday morning around 6 a.m. to get home to see his mother in time. He stayed there in Austin until Sunday night. And then they went to Dallas and they were on the plane this morning by 6 to get here. He had a layover, I think, in Oakland. So it was a long day for him. He landed here at 11:53 and was on the team bus at 2:30 coming here. And then I was thinking, I’d play him 15 minutes but we’re just so much better with him in the game. I thought he played really well, especially considering the circumstances.”