NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - TEXAS SOUTHERN VS KANSAS

March 16, 2022

Bill Self

Dickies Arena

Kansas Jayhawks

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks, Bill Self, to the stage. We'll begin with an opening statement and take questions in the room. After questions are exhausted in Fort Worth, we will move to questions on ZOOM, if there are any.

Coach, you can begin with an opening statement?

BILL SELF: Well, on behalf of my team, we're all very excited to be here. You know, we haven't been here in a normal way at all the last two years, and we certainly missed it. And when you take something away from you, sometimes it makes it feel just how special it is when you get a chance to have it.

And so, we're excited to be here and competing at Fort Worth. And looking forward to every minute of it.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. We'll start in the front on the left.

Q. Coach, I think yesterday you said you guys had a pep in your step coming off a Big 12 tournament championship and Selection Sunday. Can you do anything to ensure that carries over? Can you model that in any way to carry it over to this week?

BILL SELF: Well, I think, you know, hopefully the confidence, you know, the good feeling of winning is something that you can bottle, so to speak, in a way to help carry over. But the bottom line is this: The way it's set up is you have good things happen, you have a feeling of energy, adrenaline, excitement. But there's a time that passes, and you have to kind of recreate that because you can't continue that each and every day.

But I think we got it in us to recreate that in a way. I know our guys are very excited to play.

THE MODERATOR: In the back row on the left.

Q. Coach, what can you tell us about the matchup, now that you know who you're playing?

BILL SELF: Well, I've known Johnny a long time. Great guy, great coach. I've watched quite a bit of tape on him. And the thing that -- there's a lot of things that impress me. Obviously, he's going to play a lot of guys.

But defensively, you know, you look at them and they're giving up, I don't know exactly what it is, 39.43 percent for the year. And you think, wow. I mean, there's some good teams in our league that guard that aren't close to that.

And then you think, well, maybe it's skewed a little bit from nonconference. And I looked at nonconference, and I think it's 39.6 in nonconference, and they played a monster schedule.

So they've got interchangeable parts. They've got three big guys they can throw you at you. And one of them is as athletic as any big we've gone against all year long. They've got a four man that can stretch it in Walker. And you certainly have a quick play up front.

So I think they're good. I think they've got a good team. I don't think that by any stretch after studying them they don't look like a 16 seed to me at all. So we know we'll have to really compete and play well.

Q. And following up on that: The way you guys played in Kansas City three games in a row, three days in a row playing so well, has the break been welcomed or would you have rather just played four, five, six, seven days in a row? I know you can't go that far, but you know what I'm asking.

BILL SELF: No -- yeah. We needed a break. We actually took Sunday off, which we had to. And Monday was a walk through. And then we practiced hard today and yesterday. So we're right on the schedule that we keep every other week of the year.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Self? Second row on the right.

Q. You said back in October that you wanted -- that you would like for Remy to be the Energizer Bunny for this team. Do you feel like he's turned into that? And how valuable is having a guy like that in March?

BILL SELF: I think he turned into that in Kansas City. You know, there's a big difference if he turned into it, like it's a permanent turn or if it's a 72-hour turn, but I think he's capable of being that for us.

He's healthy. He looks fast. He's got energy. His body's rested. You know, let's just be candid, because he couldn't do anything for about a month and a half. So I think he's poised to give us an element that we haven't had consistently all year long.

THE MODERATOR: More questions for Coach? I was worried we had too shy of a group here.

Q. Obviously, an update on Mitch and his availability for tomorrow and what you might think from him going forward?

BILL SELF: Well, it's still day-to-day. He practiced some today. Did not go full, but he did do some contact stuff, but it was limited. So we'll wait and see how he feels tomorrow. But we're hopeful he's available to us, but we're -- like I said before, we're not going to put him out there if we think there's -- if that puts him in some form of risk. But he's made tremendous improvements since Saturday.

Q. Bill, we're in Fort Worth where you guys lost last. I just wonder what you thought that loss did for this year's team?

BILL SELF: Well, I don't know that it was a -- I don't know that any losses are great. But I do think it was definitely a -- humbled us, which, you know, I do think that's good to have your team humbled from time to time.

It probably put a new emphasis on some things that we need to do to give us the best chance to win, i.e., you know, emphasizing making the other team play poorly as opposed to just trying to outscore people. Because if you really followed us the last five games, we haven't shot the ball near as well as what we had earlier in the year. But we've actually played better because we put more of an emphasis on defensively and also rebounding the ball defensively. So it's not like we haven't emphasized it all year long, but I think the guys are buying in more and more.

THE MODERATOR: Back again to the left.

Q. So many of your guys have talked about this team and the individual parts. They all know what their role is, they all know what they need to do. Nobody has to play above their head. With that regard, I wonder: Do you talk to them about what's expected the next few weeks or even tomorrow? Do you have to have those conversations on the side with guys? Or is this such a veteran group that that's obvious? And specifically, Dave, I wonder his importance, his role.

BILL SELF: I don't think that it's anything that we have in detail talked about. We talked about a lot in general terms. But I do think this afternoon, this evening, tonight, I think I will go into it more, just what this month feels like if we handle our business correctly and keep our minds focused.

Q. And then also with regard to role, Ochai has played in this, but he's a different Ochai now. What can he do in the next few weeks if you guys continue to advance?

BILL SELF: You know what I think he can do to really help us and himself is just be who he is and not try to be more than what that is. What that is is plenty. And he doesn't need to be a superhero. We've got good players around him. He's just got to -- you know, be like he was in Kansas City and take what the defense gives him and stay aggressive in all moments and stay positive.

And even though he didn't make shots in Kansas City consistently like -- I think he went six for 18, shooting a bad number by any stretch, but it wasn't anything that, you know, he's got to make shots for us to play well. He doesn't need to feel that. He just needs to be himself.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Remember, if you're on the ZOOM, you can raise your hand virtually and we'll get to your questions in just a moment.

Here in Fort Worth, let's go back right.

Q. Coach, you opened up talking about being back in this setting first time, really, in two years. I'm wondering: Do you guys harp on the little things, maybe just enjoying this a little more with these guys since it is -- you know, getting kind of loose with these last two seasons and being back, do you guys discuss enjoying this ride for what it all is?

BILL SELF: Well, yeah. You know, two seasons ago, nobody went. And last year we all went to Indy. So it was certainly different. But I do think the thing that can be lost sometimes with this is this is the reward of a lot of people's hard effort over a long period of time.

And we -- you can't lose sight of that. It's fun, it's a reward. But sometimes -- I think we can look at it as a we got to or we must, and I don't think that's the correct approach.

I think all we got to do is just be who we are. But certainly take the time to enjoy what we're doing. And the teams that I have had that have enjoyed it the most are usually the teams that perform the best in it.

THE MODERATOR: Time for a couple more questions for Coach Self. Not seeing any, Coach, we'll let you go.

BILL SELF: I didn't get a rodeo question.

THE MODERATOR: Oh, well. Gosh, we talked about how often the coaches have gone to the rodeo. We talked about their favorite events.

BILL SELF: Well, I'm from Oklahoma.

THE MODERATOR: Yeah. Did you participate?

BILL SELF: No, I did not participate. I had a player at Tulsa that actually was a steer wrestler. So he rode a horse and jumped off and wrestled steer around. That's what he did for his summer job.

But Jim Shoulder's brother was a dear friend of ours. And anybody that knows anything about rodeo, Jim Shoulder was probably the best rodeoer until the late 1970s, so I thought I'd show that out there.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach.

BILL SELF: Okay.