Bill Self answers questions from the media during the break out session of the Big 12 Men's Basketball Tipoff.
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00:00 >> Four guys are gonna start, have you ever, have guys started to separate?
00:04 >> No, not really, not as much, we talked about that the other day.
00:07 I think the best teams are the ones where there's competition, but
00:10 there's also separation between maybe five and six.
00:14 And we don't have that yet.
00:17 I could see starting any of those four perimeter players at some juncture
00:23 right now, so Mark O's right, maybe the most raw talent,
00:29 next best shooter, Johnny's great.
00:34 And Jamari's probably the best equipped to play in a college game right now,
00:40 from a field and college standpoint.
00:44 >> Any surprises?
00:47 >> I think Jamari with the outspin was a surprise to me.
00:50 He's not gonna be a humble disc or whatever, but
00:54 it's easy for the other guys to play with him.
00:57 Because he knows what he's doing.
01:00 >> [INAUDIBLE]
01:06 >> That may be a little strong.
01:08 I never thought I was in a situation where I was,
01:12 it could go a really bad direction.
01:14 But I also didn't know, I didn't feel bad until I started looking at it.
01:20 So, hey, it was a wake up call.
01:23 And it's probably best for me that it happened.
01:29 Obviously, time is such.
01:30 But I feel better now.
01:34 I certainly realize now that I really enjoy what I do,
01:40 maybe even more so if I had to go.
01:44 >> Did you have any of those emotions here, walking back to the game?
01:50 >> No.
01:51 >> Okay.
01:51 >> No.
01:52 >> [LAUGH] >> I just didn't know what to say.
01:54 >> [LAUGH]
01:57 >> I, no, I did try to do that.
02:02 So, but I certainly anticipate being there this year.
02:07 >> Are you gonna take things a little slower this year than you did for
02:09 the last season?
02:10 Knowing how things ended up with you health wise,
02:12 are you gonna take things a little slower and tone down some things that you
02:14 may have not toned down before?
02:16 >> You know what?
02:16 I think if you take things slower, I've thought about that.
02:21 I think you probably shouldn't be doing it.
02:25 You have to adjust to do your job.
02:30 Because if you take things slower, to me it sounds like you're not doing your job
02:35 as well or backing off.
02:38 What I think I should do is not spend any time on crap that doesn't have
02:43 anything to do with me doing my job.
02:46 And I think that by definition would be taking things a little slower.
02:50 >> Bill, the commissioner made the comment about keeping the Big 12 tournament here
02:57 in Kansas City, probably changed about face from last spring.
03:00 Your thoughts on the possibility of the tournament being in Kansas City for
03:04 the long haul?
03:05 >> Well, I think personally it's the best neutral court there is to have a tournament.
03:10 >> [LAUGH]
03:11 >> That was a joke.
03:12 >> [LAUGH]
03:15 >> I actually, I love it.
03:17 I think what Iowa State brings to it, what CK State bring to it,
03:24 I think even for schools outside our area, it guarantees you're playing in a real
03:30 atmosphere.
03:31 You look across America and you watch these conference tournaments the first day
03:36 and sometimes the second day, it looks like there's 1,000 people in the stands.
03:40 And that'll never happen.
03:42 >> This is pretty the state of the Big 12 right now,
03:44 especially with the addition of Cincinnati and Houston.
03:47 After so much talk of realignment for the past couple of years,
03:50 state of the Big 12.
03:52 >> Well, I personally think that we're in as good a position as we could ever be.
03:56 I, what was it,
04:02 ten years ago that we were hoping that we had a home?
04:07 And now I think that we have solidified ourselves as the third,
04:14 most solid league there is behind the big team in the SEC.
04:21 And from a basketball standpoint, I don't think we have to take a back seat to
04:24 anybody.
04:26 So I like where we're at.
04:28 I think a lot of us is under leadership and
04:32 over our commissioner because one thing about, say what you want to,
04:37 in a time when we needed somebody to be aggressive,
04:42 we had the perfect commissioner.
04:47 >> [INAUDIBLE]
04:55 >> I actually, it probably hasn't felt as
04:59 different as I hoped it would in large part because my dreams are so bad.
05:06 But it is, you could, people don't know this, and this should know.
05:12 Anything that is, whoa was me, but when you're involved with something as
05:18 stressful as this and you feel responsible for so much of something,
05:25 it's so much bigger than just an individual and everybody that supports it.
05:29 I mean, you think about it between everybody.
05:33 You think about it every day.
05:38 You go to bed thinking about this.
05:42 And granted, the longer it goes on, the less you do.
05:45 But instead of thinking about it 14 hours a day,
05:50 you're only thinking about it eight a day.
05:51 I mean, it's a big deal.
05:54 So not to have that, I think is something that
05:59 I'll really, really, really appreciate and look forward to.
06:06 Because it's been a long time since we've been able to operate with a free mind.
06:15 And now we've had great success, and we've had unbelievable players,
06:18 and we've had maturity.
06:19 There's been a lot of things that have fallen right.
06:22 But that idea of operating with a free mind is something that
06:26 hadn't existed with us.
06:30 And so with that being said,
06:35 having a behind us is something that will be a huge problem.
06:41 But my ribs hurt right now, so it's not a problem.
06:43 >> [INAUDIBLE]
06:49 >> Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:52 Now let's be fair to everybody.
06:56 One reason why it's six years is because the FBI told everybody to sit tight,
07:01 which extended the period of time.
07:02 So but you're still talking about four and a half years or whatever.
07:07 And that's a long time to be in a situation where
07:10 you're on the defense, maybe too strong.
07:18 But what people say about you or your program or
07:23 how you conduct your business isn't defensible because you can't comment on that.
07:29 So whether or not in ways, whether or not the people that are involved in this,
07:35 and we're gonna go to months of work.
07:37 And you feel punching bags too strong,
07:43 and you feel like your tape blows, and you can't.
07:48 And that's been obviously going on a long time.
07:51 So the thing that has been most pleasing and
07:56 proud of us is our program and our players never took a step backwards.
08:02 We may have taken a step side, but we couldn't.
08:05 And I think is a true testament to them and also the program.
08:13 Because I'm not sure too many people could sustain the narrative that was
08:17 presented about us for that long a period of time and not be impacted.
08:22 And we weren't from a good day.
08:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]
08:30 >> Absolutely, now it's time to go through.
08:33 Absolutely, we haven't been in, we went through four years of time where,
08:37 I don't think we recruited about 20 players.
08:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]
08:42 We haven't been, we've gone through periods of time in our team here,
08:46 where we're one of three or one of four with four of the best teams.
08:50 That hasn't even happened.
08:53 We haven't been one of four or whatever.
08:55 Now fortunately for us, the guys we recruited turned out to be better than
09:00 those guys in many ways, whether it's the OGI or CB or G.
09:03 So I think that the opportunity now to actually to go forward,
09:10 I think is back where it was prior to when all this went down.
09:18 And I'm a little excited about that.
09:22 I can't imagine, we may not be, it's different, everything's different.
09:28 But to me, you can almost make an excuse for,
09:33 well, maybe this is why something didn't happen.
09:38 There are no excuses.
09:40 I mean, it's time for us to get back to being involved and
09:45 maintaining the growth.
09:49 In a way, it's hard to say you go for the trophy more than being a three and
09:52 one season.
09:53 The last four years or whatever, go for the trophy, win a national championship.
09:58 But I actually think there's an opportunity for that.
10:01 >> Coach, the AP came out last week, you got number one, Houston seven,
10:04 Texas, Baylor ranked, one of the teams that was getting the most.
10:08 The single biggest peak is the same success, nine to nine,
10:11 our team is leading the class.
10:13 >> Not let one become two, two become three.
10:17 I actually think you're going to get, you're feeling certain,
10:21 you're going to have nights where you get beat or get embarrassed and all that stuff.
10:25 But being able to, I don't wanna say right this year,
10:30 but being able to keep a team up when it doesn't look good,
10:34 I think those are the best ways to get success.
10:37 I thought that for the last seven years too.
10:38 I've had coaches on the call me and say, hey, we've lost three in a row.
10:44 The key is to make sure your attitude is the best they've ever been in your history.
10:49 And that's how I've been on the side because there's going to be this week,
10:54 everybody's gonna go through ups and downs and it's too competitive.
10:59 >> [INAUDIBLE]
11:09 >> Yeah, yeah, it's gonna change a lot.
11:11 >> [INAUDIBLE]
11:21 >> I think what we need to do as coaches is not worry about this.
11:26 I think so often we get hung up on what's the situation,
11:31 what's the situation, what's the situation,
11:35 what's the situation, and we're not gonna be able to do that.
11:40 And I think that's what we need to do as coaches,
11:44 is not worry about this.
11:46 I think so often we get hung up on what's a successful season.
11:51 I think now, and I think we've been here a long time.
11:54 I think what a successful season means, how do we get through it?
11:57 Because the 20 games makes a difference.
12:01 And I think 20 games is the best bar to leave for each team.
12:06 I don't think it's the best for us.
12:07 >> No, no.
12:08 >> Because it eliminates some of the problems.
12:11 >> Well, the fact that you came out of all this past experience,
12:15 you're preseason right number one.
12:18 Let's not say that just the continuity and
12:20 keeping things going is the fact that you're here after all that.
12:23 >> Yeah, you know what, I don't know why I look at it that way.
12:26 Because I don't feel like that this impact on us
12:32 is near as big today as it was three years ago, if that makes sense to you.
12:38 I think us winning in the 22 is a much bigger deal
12:41 than being preseason number one now.
12:43 Because to be honest, the kids that we're playing with, none of them were in college.
12:47 I mean, some of them were in junior high when this started.
12:52 So I don't think it's impacted me.
12:54 What I thought was the toughest thing was when it was more talked about daily,
13:00 and you couldn't really make a statement.
13:04 And so we made our opening statement after that.
13:10 You know what I'm saying?
13:13 But what we did say initially was exactly what played out to the end.
13:18 So I believe that even though it has impacted me
13:26 preseason number one this year, I don't think Hunter Dickinson,
13:30 that was a part of his decision coming to Kansas was incidental.
13:35 [Indistinct chatter]
13:50 [Indistinct chatter]
14:10 There's a lot of things that I think are very positive,
14:13 at least from my standpoint,
14:15 and being energized to basically lead and those sorts of things.
14:22 And what you said, Vahe, I think relief is a better word.
14:28 What else did you say? Relief or excitement?
14:31 There's no excitement in this, zero,
14:34 because what actually happened is what we thought would happen to the kids.
14:41 So there's not excitement from that standpoint.
14:44 But relief, I don't know how you can go through any situation in anyone's life
14:50 and have something that's been a burden removed and not feel better about it.
14:54 So it certainly can be a problem.
14:56 [Indistinct chatter]
15:04 I actually think the combination of a fresh start, I think,
15:14 is probably--I don't know if I consider it one too much,
15:18 but it probably gets something that's very positive.
15:22 Just following up about the conference,
15:24 Houston got your guys' first place vote among the remaining teams.
15:27 What's it like having a newcomer come in who you haven't played too much before
15:30 have them be right in there in the thick of things?
15:32 We haven't played Houston at all.
15:36 I don't think since I was at Tulsa, we gave up a 20-point lead
15:40 and went to a 2-3 zone in the second half and lost it all.
15:44 I remember the fans yelling at me as soon as I'm walking onto the court.
15:48 They had every right to yell at me.
15:52 But one thing that we are familiar with is we're fans of Houston.
15:57 We've had a lot of playing against Houston for years back, me being from Oklahoma,
16:02 and watching firsthand on how his team's competing.
16:05 So even though our players won't know,
16:08 I think it will be easy for us to get their attention.
16:11 With Hunter, you mentioned up there a good team that you've seen.
16:14 Did that show up right away?
16:16 Absolutely.
16:17 The thing about Hunter is he's a unique individual.
16:22 If you put a microphone in front of him and ask a question,
16:24 unfortunately he answers it.
16:27 They tell me, "Hey, no comments."
16:30 I've actually gotten pretty good at that.
16:32 But with him, no, there ain't a comment.
16:35 I'm having no comments.
16:38 Just so you know, I think the thing that's great about him is his personality.
16:44 You don't want to take that away.
16:46 But I also think there's a tie, and I could be wrong,
16:52 where Ledger Clay also can be talking.
16:56 Not that he talks too much or has talked too much,
16:59 but he's been in Michigan for three years, and he's here now.
17:03 To me, instead of being a soundbite,
17:06 it's time to be a guy that everybody looks at and says, "That's a bad guy."
17:13 Besides him, do you see that good teammate showing up?
17:16 Have you heard from your other guys about that?
17:18 Yeah, he's ridiculously unselfish.
17:20 It's amazing to me.
17:22 The best teammates, a lot of times, at least your first impression,
17:25 is who they like playing with, and they love playing with him because he's so unselfish.
17:30 Then I think there's something about him that gives--
17:36 You know, when you walk through an airport or you go out on the court,
17:39 you're a dope, even if he didn't play well.
17:43 People say, "Oh, my, that guy gives us confidence by having him around."
17:48 I think Hunter makes the same.
17:50 Not from a height standpoint, just from a--
17:52 No, no, walking into a place and saying, "No, no, no, I've been here.
17:55 This is what we're going to do."
17:57 I think he can give a team confidence.
17:59 You've had some fiery guys in the past.
18:01 Does anybody that reminds you of them at the moment, that personality-wise?
18:06 We've had some fiery guys.
18:08 You know, Christian ended up being about as fiery a guy as we've had.
18:12 But when Christian first got there, he wasn't prepared to be a fiery guy.
18:16 He was a fierce guy.
18:19 But, you know, I don't know.
18:23 Cole Aldridge may be a little bit more so than Cole.
18:29 Cole would talk.
18:31 [unintelligible]
18:34 Yeah, the twins would talk.
18:36 [unintelligible]
18:38 No, no, he's not--
18:40 [laughter]
18:42 I don't know if he's prepared to start a fight just by bumping into somebody on the court.
18:47 So, although I did love the twins, but I don't see him as a superior player.
18:54 Coach, how important is selflessness?
18:56 You've got a lot of guys that could go to basically any team and be the guy and it'd be their team,
19:00 but they're all going to have to kind of share and be patient.
19:02 You know what?
19:03 I don't know that I agree with that.
19:05 Juan could never be that.
19:07 Kevin could never be that.
19:08 KJ could never be that.
19:10 But they are great pieces to something bigger than themselves.
19:14 So Hunter is the one guy that can be that.
19:17 So I think that's what gives you the chance to be good
19:22 because you're not going to have to deflate or take away from somebody's mindset
19:30 what they feel like wins because these guys already know what winning looks like
19:36 and what role they would play in the game.
19:40 Coach, El Marco has been brought up in the UCI,
19:42 and he's been playing basketball for three years.
19:45 So what's the pressure like for him?
19:47 Totally different.
19:49 El Marco's tried to make that bigger.
19:53 El Marco's been playing basketball for three years.
19:57 So there's a lot of stuff he has to learn, all those things.
20:02 Grady, to me, had one skill that he says is called "like it is," guys,
20:08 but I'd love to see it in your surprise.
20:11 And that was different.
20:14 But as far as the other aspects of his game, I would say El Marco's more advanced.
20:19 But you can't hide the fact that if he gets nine good lookers,
20:22 he gets six.
20:24 That was pretty special.
20:27 Is there more of a sense of urgency to win with the talent you guys have this year
20:31 or are you just kind of keeping it as normal?
20:35 You know what?
20:36 I don't know how Kansas fans really feel.
20:40 I don't like there's a freaking urgency to win every year, you know.
20:45 To be honest with you, I don't know that we've gone into a year
20:49 where expectations were high.
20:53 You know, guys, in the last 23 NCAA tournaments,
21:00 the worst team we've had was the 4C going back to Illinois.
21:07 So being in a preseason one and people say with all the talent,
21:13 does it put more pressure on?
21:14 I personally don't think so.
21:15 I think that we put pressure on ourselves regardless.
21:18 And I think from our fan base standpoint, the way that I've always thought this
21:23 is our fan base believes we've got better players than everybody else,
21:27 regardless of the league.
21:29 Which isn't a bad way to feel, but it seemed like to me you recruit a top 30
21:35 player in Kansas and our fan base thinks that's the best shooting guard in the
21:41 country, which I'm actually good with because I do think it gives people
21:48 an unbelievable amount of confidence playing in a place where expectations
21:54 are high and you aren't expecting them to be.
21:57 [Inaudible]
22:10 I don't know.
22:12 I think little -- I think that the way that -- you know, I'm not the most
22:18 competitive guy, and I'm not saying that at all, but I do think there's little
22:22 things that happen in someone's life that provides motivation.
22:29 And I've had enough here in the last three or four years that I am probably
22:35 motivated in ways like my health.
22:40 I'm motivated to do something that I couldn't do last year.
22:46 And with the NCAA stuff, I'm motivated to say, you know what,
22:50 this is the way it's going to be, or this is the way it's been.
22:54 Nothing can please me more than to do it with who it was designed under.
23:00 So I would say that motivates me, but that's over now, so I don't know if that
23:06 will be motivation.
23:07 It's certainly been motivation the last few years.
23:10 [Inaudible]
23:23 I think my employee deserves something that is maybe more than a lot of
23:34 employers out there do just because of the story they tell.
23:40 Coach, I know it's an exhibition game against Illinois, but are you looking
23:44 forward to kind of sitting in the coach's chair, just missing out on the tournament
23:49 like you always have?
23:50 Is there something special?
23:51 It's for people in Maui, and if I could get my man's shirt back, I'd wear his
23:59 shirt if I could.
24:00 So, yeah, not nothing to that.
24:02 [Laughter]
24:04 I actually am, and for me personally, I think it's going to be a lot of fun for
24:10 me personally to go back to a place that, to be quite honest, I've been here for
24:15 many years.
24:17 And I don't know if that's the right thing to do, but whenever I got the NCAA
24:23 tournament every year bracket, the first team I looked at, you know, we only
24:29 faced them one time.
24:30 But now I feel like that's been removed, and so I'm actually looking forward to
24:35 doing that.
24:36 And plus, it could be a situation that totally helps us, regardless if it goes
24:42 good or poorly, help us become a better team.
24:46 Because I, guys, that'll be as good a home road atmosphere we play at as long
24:51 as we can.
24:53 I don't know what they've done, but the average tickets are like $300 each, and
24:57 sold out for how long?
24:59 So it'll be a juiced atmosphere, and our players will know a lot after that.
25:05 [Inaudible]
25:10 That would be the biggest deal.
25:12 Yeah, that would be the biggest deal is, first of all, we never, ever talked
25:17 about playing.
25:19 But, you know, I don't think Roy felt totally comfortable coming back here for
25:24 a month, and even though he was here much longer than I was there, that was a
25:31 pretty emotional deal.
25:33 For him, it was an emotional deal for us and me, too.
25:37 So that would be a reason.
25:39 [Inaudible]
25:45 Yeah, I'm not supposed to talk about things that were done, but I think it's
25:48 been reported.
25:50 And what was reported was, yeah, I was at the game, guys.
25:56 I don't know just about anything.
25:59 But for the protection of our players and for the future, not knowing the process
26:12 of the process is just sort of a great idea.
26:16 [Inaudible]
26:25 And when that was done, that was done the week that my father passed.
26:30 And I know my dad told me whatever he did, he was fine.
26:33 So there were some things that went on after that that probably influenced us.
26:41 And I'll be honest with you, we had a good team.
26:44 I didn't think we were that good.
26:46 I mean, Kentucky just beat us 20 at home.
26:48 So it would have been bad for the present players, obviously.
26:56 And looking back now, we've done a disaster.
26:58 But that was the only reason why, just to try to -- not with no admission of guilt,
27:03 but just to try to move it forward where the stress and all the things that
27:07 were going on with it were not a part of it.
27:09 [Inaudible]
27:12 Oh, yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
27:14 Yeah, we've got much better.
27:16 [Inaudible]
27:24 Probably not.
27:25 Curtis and myself, we've been next to each other side by side.
27:30 So no problem.
27:33 [Inaudible]