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CHAMPIONSHIPS BY THE DOZEN
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Mason, Graham prepare for landmark season
Missy Minear/KANSAN
Then-sophomore guard Devonte' Graham drives around a Villanova defender in the second half on March 26. Villanova beat Kansas 64-59.
Then-junior guard Frank Mason III drives to the basket against Villanova on March 26. Kansas lost to Villanova 64-59.
Missy Minear/KANSAN
BRIAN MINI
@brigeminimum
@brianminimum
With the rise of small ball NBA lineups, it's no surprise that college basketball often moves away from traditional lineup structure. What's surprising is that it's happening at Kansas with such great success.
To coach Bill Self's credit, he hasn't shied away from experimenting with lineups in the past. In 2014, Self debated playing former players Kelly Oubre and Wayne Selden Jr. as power forwards.
However, that makes more sense given Kansas'
history of developing forwards like Perry Ellis, Jeff Withey and Thomas Robinson, for example. History hasn't stopped Self from running a successful offense that features two point guards playing at once.
"I think the game is getting smaller," Self said at Kansas media day. "If you've got a three man playing the four spot, that puts a big guy guarding him, and if he can shoot, it's a hard matchup. We've always been a conventional three-out, two-in team, but I think this year we're going to get away from that a little bit."
Senior point guard Frank Mason III and junior point guard Devonte' Graham might be better suited to be simply called "guards" in Self's essentially positionless offense. The traditional roles of a point and shooting guard are thrown out when these two are on the court together, which has resulted in success so far. Kansas was ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of last season with Mason and Graham at the helm.
"I like it. I absolutely love playing with Devonte'." Mason said at media day. "I think it's great for our team when we have two good playmakers in the game.
Two good ball handlers in the game at all times."
I think it's great for our team when we have two good playmakers in the game."
Frank Mason III Senior guard
The two guards played almost identical minutes last season, and neither were affected negatively from the other being on the floor. In fact, the two set career highs in points, assists and rebounding while running this offense.
"We get other guys shots," Mason said. "That's a major key to the game, getting into the lane and creating easy shots for our teammates. Coach really likes that so I think it's good for our team."
On the heels of an Elite Eight appearance, Self seems to be sticking with the two upperclassmen in the starting lineup. What's not so concrete is who will surround them this season.
Some of the mystery is cleared up when considering highly touted freshman Josh Jackson's ability to
play as a guard.
"I see us playing small quite a bit," Self said. "It's really not small, Josh is 6'8", and we're not going to play him as a forward. We're still going to play him as a guard, but I think we'd be a hard team to guard if you can spread the floor with those four guards out there."
At Big 12 media day, TCU head coach Jamie Dixon said, "point guards win college basketball games." If that's the case, Kansas' point guard duo should win a lot of games.
- Edited by Ilana Karp
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