Duke Recap - Quick Thoughts
There was already a newsletter titled, "In Defense of KJ Adams" in the works, but that certainly isn't needed after last night.
Hunter Dickinson had just put in a bucket to give Kansas a 54-48 lead with just under 15 minutes left in the game when Cooper Flagg drove to the basket defended by Dickinson. As he rose to take a layup, KJ Adams came over in help defense and swatted the shot away. 16 seconds later, Duke had a 3 on 1 after Zeke Mayo turnover and was setup for what looked like a sure two points. As Duke’s Mason Gillis came down the floor, Mayo backed off to defend the pass, but Gillis still tried to hit Kon Knueppel for a layup. Knueppel passed the ball back to Gillis who went up for a seemingly uncontested layup. Instead, Adams came flying from behind to pull off a Lebron James 2016-esque block off the backboard.
On the offensive end, Adams made not one, not two, not three, but four jump shots. As Fran Fraschilla said during the broadcast, “I’ve been watching Adams for four years, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him make two jumpers in a game.” While Adams’ offensive skills have been maligned by Kansas fans over the last few years, he stepped up early in the second half when Kansas needed buckets. That’s the beauty of this roster: when six or seven players are struggling to put the ball in the basket, there should always be one or two guys who are both willing and able to pick up the load for a few minutes. Tuesday night was Adams’ opportunity, and he took advantage of the spotlight.
Quick Thoughts
Adams was fantastic defensively last night. He held Flagg, the presumed top pick in the 2025 NBA draft1, to just five points in the first 30 minutes of the game. While he did make an extremely questionable decision to take a second jumper on the same possession when Kansas was protecting a one-point lead with just over a minute remaining, Adams did almost everything else correctly and was one of the biggest reasons Kansas won.
While Adams held down the fort defensively, the offensive end contained another masterpiece put on by Dajuan Harris. In the final ten minutes of the game, Kansas’ best offensive set was getting Harris matched up on Flagg and letting him create for teammates. The highlight of this was watching him break Flagg’s ankles before getting under the basket and hitting Rylan Griffen for a huge 3 with 5:30 left in the game to give Kansas a 68-67 lead. Harris was a constant for Kansas on a night when they needed it. It’s obvious that playing fewer minutes in some games has helped give him a boost in the games where he’s needed for more than 30 minutes. After averaging 35.7 minutes per game last year, Harris is at 28.8 this year. While that number will likely creep up once conference play begins, it’s a positive sign that Self has been able to take him off the floor against some of the easier opponents early in the year.
You can argue whether Dickinson deserved to be ejected or not, but the replays certainly make it seem like he intentionally kicked Maliq Brown in the head. While I didn’t feel a Flagrant 2 was necessarily the right decision, he definitely needs to understand the situation and avoid making decisions that could cost his team a game. Dickinson plays the game with an edge which is part of what makes him so good. That’s something you don’t want to remove from his game. At the same time, it’s something that needs to be controlled in the heat of the moments in big games.
One of the positives that came out of Dickinson’s ejection was the final ten minutes of the game from Flory Bidunga. Bidunga looked overwhelmed and like he wasn’t ready for a game of this magnitude in the first half. Despite this, Self made a concerted effort to get him the ball immediately following the ejection. Bidunga drew a foul, made both free throws, and then threw down an alley-oop pass from Adams in the first two offensive possessions after entering the game. He had eight rebounds in 16 minutes and is continuing to show some tantalizing potential. Bidunga’s last ten minutes were a huge piece to Kansas winning.
AJ Storr and Griffen played alternating games which somehow worked out perfectly last night. Storr was locked in on both ends of the floor, particularly in the first half where he was more aggressive, scoring eight of his 11 points. It was arguably his best half in a Kansas uniform. Around the middle of the second half, he started to get picked on by Flagg and Knueppel in their two-man offense, and Self chose to insert Griffen. Griffen had a terrible mistake at the end of the first half, missing a shot with about fifteen seconds left even though the shot clock was off which gave Tyrese Proctor a chance to hit a 3 and make it a two-point game. It felt like he was in Self’s doghouse. However, Self let Griffen attempt to make up for this in crucial moments. Griffen was terrific over the last 7:40 of the game, hitting a big 3, grabbing an offensive board which lead to his 3-point play, and sealing the game with a steal and two free throws with three seconds left. While Kansas is better when both of these guys play up to their potential, last night was a good example of how resilient both players are and why they are both essential to the team’s success this season.
The final ten minutes of the game looked like the hardest Self had coached this season. He was more active on the sidelines. At one point he was almost on the court pointing out exactly where a player should be for an offensive set. His energy on the sidelines was a clear sign that he wanted this one, and the Dickinson ejection was the catalyst. Self is a competitive guy. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be as successful as he has been. At the same time, he’s definitely made a concerted effort to limit his visible sideline emotions especially in non-conference games that can be used as learning experiences. As he walked into the locker room after the game, the first thing he said “Y’all some bad motherf——.” I can’t remember another time Self reacted that way after a non-conference game, and it’s obvious he is excited about this team.
Numbers of the Game
In this newsletter’s preview, it was mentioned that 3-point shooting would play a significant role in this game. Kansas finished the game 8/17 (47.1 percent) while Duke shot 11/26 (42.3 percent). Overall, there wasn’t a significant difference, but the 3’s that were made by both teams in the second half all felt like momentum shifters.
Kansas shot 49.1 percent from the field against KenPom’s top rated defense. They averaged .974 points per possession according to Synergy, with the most successful action coming from ball-handlers off of screens (1.381 points per possession on 21 opportunities). This was the most successful offensive outing by a Duke opponent so far this season (Kentucky and Arizona both shot under 40.0 percent). It’s important to note that it didn’t feel like this was a fluky performance from Kansas. They were getting good shots and making them. It’s an important distinction that speaks to how good this Kansas team can be.
Synergy credited Harris with 37 points created (points either scored by the player or points off passes by the player, including FT’s). The next highest on the team was Mayo with 22. Harris is the heartbeat of this team.
Kansas can still probably increase its volume of 3-point attempts and needs to get to the FT line more frequently, but their defensive numbers from last night’s game are outstanding. Below are the CBB Analytics advanced metrics for Kansas from last night’s game. While Duke’s defense was highlighted in most game previews, including my own, the Kansas defense more than held its own last night.
Kansas outrebounded Duke 31-25, which was a little surprising given Duke’s height advantage across most positions. This was a game where Kansas would have been forgiven for being outrebounded, but they made a concerted effort as a team to crash the boards. It was an impressive showing up and down the roster.
Summary
Kansas could have easily given in and lost this game without much of a fight after the Dickinson ejection. Instead, every single player stepped up in the last ten minutes of a high-profile game. Adams and Harris led the charge, but the rest of the team bought in and helped solidify Kansas’ biggest win of the season so far. While most of the media discussions after the game centered around the idea that Duke is going to grow and improve before March, the same is true of Kansas. Self can continue to refine his substitution patterns to find lineups that work the best.
While the above chart doesn’t include the numbers from the Duke game, Harris and Adams consistently show up in the most effective lineup options for Kansas. There will be games where Kansas has to survive without those two, and it will be interesting to see how Self handles those situations. For now, Kansas fans can bask in the knowledge that they have some of the most impressive wins in the country and still have room for growth.
Let’s be honest, ESPN overdid the Flagg and Duke commentary before, during, and after the game. That doesn’t take away from the fact that Flagg is a special player.