Bill Self calls for Kansas players to take more responsibility in games

Bill Self called for his Kansas players to take more responsibility in games, following the Jayhawks loss in the Big 12 Tournament. Kansas lost to Arizona in the quarterfinals 88-77.

Self echoed comments made by star Hunter Dickinson. That included saying the team has to be professionals in settings like this.

Kansas now awaits its NCAA Tournament fate. But perhaps on the advice of Self, the Jayhawks could muster a little March magic.

“I actually think Hunter hit right on the point,” Self said postgame. “The thing that’s — what he said is true. What he says, take more responsibility, that stuff, it’s the same with every one of our starters. Dajuan has got to feel the same way. Zeke’s got to feel the same way. KJ has to feel the same way. We don’t have the depth not to feel the same way, which I think makes our team look more volatile, because when one of those guys aren’t there we don’t have guys off the bench and replace that.

“So I think Hunt is right on the point, but I think that everybody need to take that ownership, what Hunt is talking about, because that’s just the way it is this year. There is just no other way that we’re going to be this year.”

Self and Kansas received the No. 6 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, which the head coach cited towards difficult league play. It’s definitely been a rollercoaster year for the Jayhawks.

“Guys, our league is really good,” Self said. “It would be hard to win the tournament playing four games in four days with basically playing five or six guys. So that’s not a — I’m okay with that. But I do think this: we need a couple of days to rest, because we’ve got a tired team. We’ve been riding the starters or at least four of ’em hard for a long time. So we could use a little rest.

“I would rather play tomorrow and not have rest, but it can also turn out to be an advantage for us going into next week.”

As far as what seed Kansas will get in the NCAA Tournament, it’s anyone’s guess. Self has some sort of idea.

“I don’t know enough about — what did they have us at, 6 today,” Self said. “We certainly didn’t help ourselves tonight, but we also lost to a team that’s going to be probably a top 4 or 5 seed at the worst. Arizona is good and they’re talented and they’re athletic and they have depth and they throw bodies.

“The thing about their team from my perspective, their success in large part will be determined how well they shoot the basketball. You start out 5 of 6 from three, you know, that was — we couldn’t keep up with that. But seed, I don’t know, G.B. There are still games to be played. I would say 6, 7 line probably.”