Kansas Jayhawks Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams address the media after their victory over the Baylor Bears on Saturday, February 10, 2024. They discuss the short bench, the importance of this game, the short turnaround before heading to Lubbock to play Texas Tech and more.
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00:00 >> Hunter and KJ, obviously you guys were short handed tonight.
00:04 I'm just wondering if the final game plan going into tonight was what,
00:07 knowing that you guys weren't gonna be with Kevin or Jamari?
00:10 >> Just to try to move the ball.
00:13 I mean, obviously we're missing a lot with Kevin being one of the best players in
00:16 the college basketball.
00:18 But we all felt pretty confident in one another to step up and make big plays.
00:23 And I think we did that there today.
00:25 We're at campus for a reason.
00:28 Everybody's hot enough to play at campus.
00:30 And so it's not a surprise that guys stepped up.
00:35 That's kind of what we expected.
00:37 >> And all the starters played at least 30 minutes.
00:39 Are there things you guys can do between now and
00:41 Monday to maybe give your body a little extra rest?
00:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:48 >> Get in the cold tub.
00:48 Drink this smoothie right here.
00:52 Probably just relax.
00:53 >> I mean, people say you're young guys, but
00:55 I mean, it's playing that many minutes two nights after a game like tonight.
01:00 >> I don't feel young.
01:01 I don't feel young anymore.
01:02 I know I'm a old 23 now.
01:04 >> AJ, I wanted to ask specifically about that two minute stretch after
01:08 the warm up, how briefly and you were handling the ball.
01:11 Just what was that like, having that extra pressure on you and the big leads?
01:15 >> Not really, we practice those scenarios every day in practice.
01:18 So we're kind of used to it.
01:20 Just trying to get better at swinging the ball more when we don't have
01:24 a good player like DeJuan Harris, a primarily a ball handler on the team.
01:28 So just try to swing it and just get it moved as quick as possible.
01:31 >> Hey, for both of you guys, is there any different preparation or
01:36 instruction when you know you've got a short bench like that?
01:39 Do you have to think different or prepare different?
01:42 >> Not really, I think coach really just told us to let us go.
01:46 We have a bunch of really good bench players and people that have to step up.
01:51 But yeah, when Kevin's out, we have to account for a lot of rebounds and
01:55 a lot of points that we have to account for.
01:57 So just being more aggressive than everybody that played today was
02:00 the key to the game today.
02:01 >> Hunter, what did you like about Nick tonight in that starting row?
02:06 >> He came out aggressive.
02:07 Obviously we knew, or we needed him to come out aggressive because we were
02:13 obviously missing a lot of cans, scoring, rebounding, passing and all that.
02:17 So he just came up there and was really aggressive and
02:20 just tried to make an impact out there.
02:22 And so I think that was really huge for us defensively.
02:25 He had that really big, he ran through that passing lane and
02:29 that was huge for us to get that dunk.
02:31 That was a big win of shift for us to really kind of extend the lead.
02:34 >> Hunter, when you come in a tough loss like Monday night,
02:40 how important is it to get back on the winning track right away?
02:42 And not let one become two.
02:44 >> Extremely important, that's kind of you hit it right on the head with that one.
02:48 Trying to make sure one didn't become two.
02:50 Especially at home, playing in front of these great fans,
02:55 the energy they give us, it should really not be many times
03:00 that we lose at home, just with the atmosphere, with our coach,
03:04 with the system that we run.
03:06 It should be really hard for somebody to come in here and
03:08 beat us no matter who's playing out there.
03:10 And so I'm just really glad for the guys to get that confidence.
03:14 Hopefully that we wanted to give some of the other guys that weren't able to play
03:19 for most of the season, they get some good reps in there.
03:22 So hopefully they can carry that on and hopefully we can carry on the success and
03:26 try to make one, two with the win this time.
03:28 >> Baylor is one of the best teams at drawing fouls in the conference.
03:33 With the short bench you guys had,
03:35 what was the approach like there to try to avoid getting into foul trouble?
03:40 >> We really didn't really focus on that too much, just trying to stay on our feet.
03:44 We kind of just played freely, just because if you play timid,
03:47 you really won't be playing too much good at the defense.
03:50 But we just really just played free and really wasn't thinking too much about it.
03:54 >> Anything else?
03:57 >> Hunter, what was it like to face Eve Missy tonight?
04:04 It looks like he's really come along for Baylor.
04:05 What was the challenge he presented and how did you all feel like you handled him?
04:08 >> Yeah, he's a really good athlete obviously.
04:12 And just runs really good out of the ball screen.
04:14 So that puts a lot of pressure on a defense when you got really good guards out
04:17 there that can stretch the floor.
04:19 And I think that's what makes them so dynamic when you have a really good rim
04:22 runner, surrounded by four really good shooters and four playmaking guards.
04:28 That can really provide some mismatches out there.
04:30 But I think my teammates did a really good job of loading up and
04:34 not letting him get those rolling bobs that we saw in film.
04:39 >> And KJ here in the back, just another Saturday, Monday swing, but
04:42 also back to the road of what's gonna be the secret to beating Tech and
04:46 kind of flipping the switch there.
04:48 >> Just focusing in, trying to see the scouting report as quick as possible and
04:52 just tune in to Texas Tech as much as we can.
04:54 We had a spurt like this and gave one up to Kansas State.
04:58 So just trying to really capitalize on this week and get that win against Texas Tech.
05:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]