Why starting Flory Bidunga wasn’t a tough decision for Kansas basketball coach Bill Self

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LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball coach Bill Self had a decision to make, after it was determined veteran forward KJ Adams would miss this past Saturday’s game against Kansas State due to injury.

Self could start off with a smaller lineup against the Wildcats and choose to insert a choice of two of veteran guards into Adams’ spot in AJ Storr or Rylan Griffen. He could turn to a freshman forward, Flory Bidunga, so the Jayhawks maintained an element of size in the starting five. Those options, and others, came with their positives and negatives in a Big 12 Conference setting.

But following the 84-74 win at home against Kansas State, Self’s explanation for why he chose Bidunga to start in place of Adams didn’t sound all that complicated. In fact, it appeared very straightforward. And Bidunga’s performance helped leave little doubt he would be the player Kansas (13-4, 4-2 in Big 12) would turn to in that spot moving forward, as long as Adams is unavailable.

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“(Bidunga)’s been the best of the other guys, at least to this point, so there wasn’t really a decision to be made on that,” Self said postgame. “… And if you look at it statistically, our best team analytically, regardless of who’s in the game, the two best — the best combination is Flory and (center) Hunter (Dickinson). When you talk about points per possession offensively, and points given up defensively. So, it wasn’t a hard decision.”

Bidunga rewarded the trust Self and his teammates put in him for his first career start in college with a six-point, nine-rebound, two-assist and one-block performance. He explained in an interview posted on Kansas basketball’s account on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that starting meant a lot to him, and he knew they had to bring a lot of energy with Adams out. Finishing the game as its leading rebounder was a product, in his mind, of just…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-starting-flory-bidunga-wasn-120141366.html

Author : The Topeka Capital-Journal

Publish date : 2025-01-21 12:01:00

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