Understanding Bill Self

What I find myself trying to do as a “new Bill Self” fan is understand him…why he does things the way he does….why he doesn’t do certain things….etc.

I, for one, think I got so comfortable with RW over the years that I pretty much had a good feeling for the way he ran things or the decisions he would make. I didn’t always agree, but I generally had a good understanding of why he made the decisions….or I had come to the conclusion that “that’s just the way Roy does it” and I accepted it because of his tremendous winning percentage, the way he represented the university from a national perspective, the Final Fours he took us to, the conference championships he won, etc.

With Self, we’re still in the “getting to know ya” stage, so it’s uncomfortable. Some of us want that same comfort level quickly and some of us are fine with just letting it play itself out. It’s kinda like people and relationships…some people want things to move fast….others want them to move at a slower, more “natural” pace.

It is extremely difficult for the players that were recruited by, and played for, Roy Williams to fully buy in and trust Bill Self. They, too, are in the “getting to know ya” stage and some will move faster in that trust and others will want to take things more slowly….and may not have that true trust until they are long gone and graduated. Add in to the mix a bunch of freshmen that are adapting to college, being away from home, playing at the Big 12 and college level, etc. and Bill Self has a lot on his hands in terms of trying to figure out exactly what buttons work for each player. By default, he’s going to go with what’s worked before….but if it doesn’t work with a particular player, then he has to figure out what does. So he has a lot of learning to do as well…and I believe he knows that.

This may not be a divine revelation, but I was definitely struck with a little bit more clarity on just how difficult it must be for Bill Self to be everything to everyone after following someone that had been so successful. We are indeed in a transition period. And we’re doing pretty damn well all things considered. So put me in the camp of people who will question Bill Self….but do so for understanding and not meaning to be critical…..but I think Kansas Basketball is going to be in really good hands for a long time to come.

So let’s enjoy the ride and take some time to get to know Bill Self, the man and Bill Self, the coach.

But put me down for one of the folks that strongly believes we’ve got a good one….on both fronts.