What an incredible journey it's been for KJ Adams Jr. during his career with the Kansas Jayhawks. He went from playing just under five minutes a game his freshman year to 27 minutes per contest last season, to 33 minutes a game this year.
He has improved on nearly every front. His ability to guard any position, and any player, at any time, is an incredible luxury for head coach Bill Self, who loves to switch out front on defense.
His ability to score has made him an intergal part of the offense. As a freshman, he only average a point a game. Now he is dropping 12.6 points per game. In Big 12 play this season, he has scored in double figures every outing, averaging 13.3 points per game. In all, he's scored in double figures in all but four contests this season.
The one area of his game where there has been the most improvement has been in his passing. He's nearly doubled his assists average from 1.9 a game last season, to 3.5 this year. In the last two games alone, he's tallied 13 assists.
His field goal percentage was high last year at 62.9%, but he's even higher this campaign, shooting a 64.6 % clip. Considering that he takes more shots this year makes it even more impressive.
Maybe the most important aspects he brings to the team is his high energy and hustle. His ability to dunk and dive for balls fires up his teammates and the crowd when the Jayhawks are playing in Allen Fieldhouse.
KJ ADAMS JR. HAS ROOM FOR EVEN MORE IMPROVEMENT GOING FORWARD
As amazing as it has been seeing the leaps forward in Adams' game this season, he still has room to get even better. While his shooting percentage is sky-high, his range is still limited to about 12 feet and in. When he improves that somewhat, it will add another dimension to his game and it will make him a nightmare to guard.
His free throw percentage sits at 60%, but he started the season making just two of his first 13 attempts. Since then he's shot 68.6%. There has already been improvement within this season and his recent growth in this area gives hope he will get even better from the line.
While his assist totals are on the rise, so are his turnover totals. Some of this can be attributed to how the ball is in his hands more, even to the point that sometimes he is leading the fast break. More turnovers are inevitable with more opportunities, especially for someone who isn't a primary ball handler for the team.
The area where he needs to be more careful is sometimes, he makes one pass too many. Self can't be too unhappy because Adams is unselfish; the coach will just want him to take the shot instead of making that unnecessary extra pass. This will improve over time.
Lastly, for as athletic Adams is, and his quick of a jumper he is, it is surprising he isn't a better rebounder. He's only recording 4.7 boards a game. He had one four-game stretch where he corralled 38 rebounds, including three games in double digits, averaging 9.5 a game during those games. Outside of that brief stretch, he's only pulled down more than five rebounds in one other game.
To be fair, Adams does a great job blocking out, making room for Hunter Dickinson or other teammates to get the rebound. Still, it would be nice to see a bit more aggressiveness from Adams on the boards. It's not a huge issue because there are other good rebounders on the team, but look for him to pick up his numbers in this area soon.
Adams offers so many positives right now. In most areas, especially on offense, he has shown great improvements already. That there are still areas where he can lift his game even higher is incredible. Once Adams reaches his full potential for this Kansas basketball, he will be an unstoppable wrecking ball that no opponent will want to face.