Bill Self breaks down the impact Johnny Furphy brings for Kansas

Johnny Furphy has started the last five games for Kansas as a change to their lineup. That shift has led to some improved offensive production even though the Australian freshman is still feeling his away around college basketball.

Bill Self spoke about the effect that Furphy has had on the Jayhawks during a press conference on Monday. He noted his clear impact on the offensive end based on their statistics on that end since they inserted him as a starter.

“Well, if he continues to play at the level he’s playing at now offensively? We’re going to end up being a pretty good offensive team,” said Self. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”

“If you go back and look since he has been starting and the production he has had? It hasn’t been offensively where we’ve struggled at all,” Self said. “We’ve actually done a pretty good job in those areas.

Furphy is averaging 7.9 points and 3.7 rebounds through 19 appearances, including six as a starter. He has done so efficiently by shooting 52% from the field and 41.2% from distance.

While the past few games haven’t been the best for Kansas, Furphy has started to flourish as an individual in the starting lineup. Over the past five, he is posting 14.6 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting 60.8% from the floor, including 54.7% from three, in just over 30 minutes per game.

That stretch included a career-best performance in a win over Cincinnati last week. Furphy put up a double-double of 23 points and 11 boards while shooting 7-8 (87.5%) and 3-4 (75%) from deep.

That production has the Jayhawks’ scoring output at 80.4 points over the five games with him as a starter.

While he admitted that Furphy still has a ways to go, especially defensively, Self feels that he is still just scratching the surface of his potential. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s also a player that the rest of their roster is enjoying their time competing with.

“He wants to be coached. He wants to learn,” said Self. “This is all new to him.”

“He’s a guy that our guys have total comfort playing with and confidence in,” Self said.

Furphy could make even more of an impact as his freshman campaign continues with this new opportunity. That’s what Self is hoping for too based on what he has seen early on out of the 6’9 scorer from down under.

“He has been great. He has been great,” said Self.

Self shares his message to Kansas after Iowa State loss

Bill Self wasn’t overly discouraged by the Jayhawks’ loss to Iowa State this past Saturday.

In fact, the effort “encouraged” Self but the Cyclones did just a bit more in the upset.

“I was actually encouraged,” Self said. “This is the best offense we’ve run and you score 75 points against Iowa State in their building? It should be enough. We did some good things. We did make shots. They outscored us, you know, 21 points from beyond the arc. But I thought we hung in there and did some good things offensively. Defensively? We weren’t good but we rebounded the ball better in the second half. 

“We did some good stuff. They were just better. And, certainly, they made us pay,” said Self. “I don’t know how many shots they made, you know, in the last five seconds of the shot clock. But you know, they made us pay.”