Kansas walked away from its season opener with a 95-65 win over Fordham, but Bill Self didn’t spend much time celebrating the margin. The Kansas coach came out of the game focused on one glaring issue that has followed the Jayhawks from the exhibition slate into the regular season: free throws.
Self addressed the problem in his postgame press conference on Nov. 2 and didn’t soften the message.
"We've shot them like crap so far,"
That frustration wasn’t limited to one night. Kansas had already shown the same issue in exhibition play against Louisville and Duke, then carried it into the Fordham game.
Against Fordham, the Jayhawks went 16-for-30 at the line, which works out to 53.3%. Self noted that if you remove the five misses from Will Thengvall and Paul Mbiya, Kansas was still only 16-for-25, or 64%.
The bigger concern for Self was the group that logged the most minutes. Those players combined to shoot 9-for-21 from the stripe, a number that only sharpened the coach’s concern about consistency.
The Duke exhibition loss offered the same warning sign. Kansas finished 18-for-27 at the line, while Duke made 27 of 33. Self made the point bluntly after that game:
"You can't get outscored nine points at home from the free-throw line,"
For Self, that kind of gap is hard to survive against elite competition. A team can do a lot right offensively and still leave the door open if it keeps giving away points at the line.
There was plenty to like elsewhere against Fordham. Kansas shot 58.3% from the field and grabbed 50 rebounds, numbers that usually point to a comfortable night. But the free-throw issues stood out anyway, and they stood out for the wrong reasons.
The Jayhawks do have experienced pieces who can carry more of the scoring load, including Tre White, Melvin Council Jr. and Trey Kaufman-Renn. Self knows that if Kansas is going to keep building its offense, those players have to be more reliable when the game sends them to the line.
Early-season mistakes are one thing. Repeating them against stronger opponents is another. And for Kansas, the free-throw line is already shaping up as a problem that can’t wait.
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