Breaking down Kansas’ offense and defense, with a focus on the guard trio of Melvin Council Jr., Tre White, and Darryn Peterson, along with frontcourt player Flory Bidunga. These four players account for 60 of the Jayhawks’ 75 points per game.
Overall, the Jayhawks have perimeter firepower and depth, along with a versatile, athletic power forward who protects the rim, dives hard, and impacts the game on both ends.
Chapters are below, with the full video available at the bottom of the page.
1) Offensive Personnel
a) Flory Bidunga
- A top-10 frontcourt player nationally this season
- Extremely smart and athletic
- Soft touch with his left hand,
- Good shot blocker
- Surprisingly aggressive offensively.
Guards (in no specific order):
b) Melvin Council Jr. — Gets into driving lanes and finishes extremely well.
c) Tre White — Shooting 46% FG and 43% from three. Secure ball handler and can shoot it. To me, he looks like someone who can get into an NBA rotation.
d) Darryn Peterson — A unique and elite talent who takes this team to another level. He gets whatever he wants on the court and effortlessly scores it at all three levels this season. 19 points and 4 rebounds in 28 minutes per game.
e) Supporting guards — Elmarko Jackson, Jamari McDowell, Kohl Rosario — all capable players who can come up big when the team needs a bucket.
2) Kansas Defense
There’s two sides to it and I think the net result is they are truly a very good defense.
a) Concerns
Thin in the frontcourt. Even if Bryson Tiller and Bidunga play together, it’s not always pretty defensively in terms of stopping opposing teams with multiple bigs.
Secondly, bigger perimeter players like Nate Ament, Isaiah Evans and Dame Sarr have found success muscling their way into the lane against Kansas’ smaller guards.
b) Strengths
They play solid, connected team defense. Bidunga roams inside and out with elite awareness. They hustle for loose balls, successfully box out bigger players, push the ball on defensive rebounds due to their elite guard play and Flory’s motor, are attached in rotations, and there’s lots of effort and communication everywhere. They don’t give up easy points.
c) A few more hustle plays
Overall: To me, Kansas is a Final Four caliber team.
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Full video below:
0:00 Quick introduction to KU’s main players
0:30 Offense – Flory Bidunga
3:18 Offense – Melvin Council Jr.
4:46 Offense – Tre White
6:50 Offense – Darryn Peterson
8:27 Offense – Supporting guards
9:53 Defense – Concerns
12:40 Defense – Strengths
17:46 Hustle and effort Plays