Five Things to Watch in KU Basketball’s Exhibition Games

The most wonderful time of year that’s not named Christmas is finally upon us. On Thursday, KU kicks off its 2019-2020 basketball campaign. Fort Hays State comes to town in the first of two exhibition games for Kansas. While KU certainly show everything in these two exhibition games in preparation for playing Duke in the Champions Classic in a couple weeks, we will get our first glimpse of what this year’s team has to offer. Here are some lingering questions about this year’s team that the exhibition games could help us start to understand.

1) Just how good will Udoka and Silvio playing together be?

I think this is the topic at the forefront of most KU writers’ minds. Historically, Self has typically used two bigs, but lately he has opted for the speedier four-guard lineup. It looked like we were going to get this last season until Silvio was ruled ineligible and Udoka injured his wrist. Now with both players active and healthy, it appears KU will be going back to playing with two bigs most of the time. The only issue is that typically both Silvio and Udoka have played at center. It will be interesting to see if Silvio can adjust to the 4 spot. The three point line did get pushed back this year, so that should free up some space for Silvio to work.

2) Did Ochai Ogbaji make his jumper more consistent?

After his redshirt was pulled half way into the season last year, Ochai went on a tear his first few games, putting up massive amounts of points in his first few games and shooting great from three. He was phenomenal. Then the freshman wall hit, and Ochai’s three point percentage plummeted. He finished the year averaging 8.5 ppg and rarely reached double digits in scoring toward the end of the season. If KU wants to reach its potential this season, Ochai has to become more consistent at three point shooting and creating his own shot, similar to what Dotson needs to do. Based on early scrimmages, it appears Ochai has fixed his shot a little, so it will be interesting to see if his stats improve.

3) How will the freshman fare?

KU is blessed this season with a lot of talented upper classmen, but the freshman will play key roles this season as well. Christian Braun, Jalen Wilson, and Tristan Enaruna will all be expected to play key roles for Kansas this year. Self has said that Braun appears to be picking up on things quickly and is past where the coaching staff had thought he would be at this point. I have a suspicion that Braun might become the next Tyrel Reed or Connor Teahan for Kansas—solid defensively and a good shooter. Enaruna has been praised for his versatility as both a wing and a big man, but he will really have to prove himself, as he has a lot of talent ahead of him. I expect him to be the most raw of the three freshmen. That leaves Wilson, and he is still the biggest question mark for me. He seems to be quite athletic, and his length will certainly allow KU to stretch the floor on defense. I’m betting he will give KU valuable minutes offensively as well.

4) How good will the defense be?

This is a hard one to assess based on exhibition games, as the competition is not nearly as comparable to what KU will face during the regular season. Still, we might start to get an idea of how KU’s defense can stretch the floor and put pressure on offenses to take tough shots. Some of KU’s best teams in the Self era have been the ones that are particularly good on defense, and this year’s team has the ability to be just that. Look for Devon Dotson and Marcus Garrett to continue to play solid defense, and see if KU can create more turnovers with its length by getting into more passing lanes. One question I have is whether the combination of Udoka and Silvio will lead to more blocked shots. Udoka isn’t known for his shot blocking, but he appears to be in much better shape and I expect his numbers to go up in this area.

5) How will the new three-point line distance affect the offense?

As I mentioned previously, this season will debut a new three point line that is farther back from last year’s. It will be interesting to see whether percentages go down across the board, or whether percentages will stay roughly the same. I think transfer Isaiah Moss’s numbers are the ones to watch here, as he was an outstanding three point shooter at Iowa, shooting nearly 40% from three. We’ll see if he, along with Ochai in particular, is able to adjust accordingly. The longer distance also means there should be more space for Udoka and Silvio to operate together and spread the defense out, leading to more lobs and Udoka dunks.

With the season finally upon us, I cannot wait to get the answers to these questions.