• 🏀🫣Hearing: The AJ Storr Situation

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EVERYTHING IN THIS NEWSLETTER IS BASED UPON WHAT I AM HEARING FROM PEOPLE I TRUST. PLEASE DO NOT MISTAKE THIS FOR FACT OR FOR ACTUAL JOURNALISM, WHICH HAS VERIFICATION STANDARDS THAT I HAVE NOT ADHERED TO. I DO NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT.

A quick thank you from Los Angeles ❤️💙

Part of the reason KUHearings works is because I don’t live in Kansas. I don’t need access — or to make coaching staffs happy — to bring you what I’m Hearing, which sets the work apart from other outlets.

So I live in Los Angeles. Just down the mountain from The Palisades.

We evacuated our apartment on Tuesday, January 7 and have not yet returned. We’re safe, OK, and lucky to have a home we’ll hopefully return to later this week.

Thank you to so many of you who reached out this week checking in. It means more than you know. And also, thank you for your patience as I haven’t sent a newsletter while evacuated.

The value of community has never felt more important to me. And I know we have that here.

Thank you for being a part of it.

-Mike Vernon

Back to regular coverage starting this week.

Hearing: The AJ Storr Situation

Bill Self is approaching a pivotal moment with AJ Storr and the Kansas basketball team: Either the Jayhawks make it work with one of their most talented and highest-paid players — or Storr’s limited role will continue to shrink.

Storr has fallen to KU’s ninth man in a nine-player rotiation. And you have to wonder how long KU can keep him in the limited role. I’m not sure it can last through the end of the year.

Ultimately, the key question with Storr was never talent — it was buy-in.

In a VIP-only newsletter on July 1, I wrote the following:

“Ultimately, Storr’s success will come down to him buying into being a team-first player. It can’t be about ‘what will Kansas do for me?’"

I’ve Heard about good stretches followed by bad ones this year. About his defensive effort dropping if his shot attempts aren’t there. And that lack of consistency has shown up in games.

• For example, Storr has had particularly bad moments the last few games as he’s closed in on 1,000 career points.

• I’ve had questions about possible shot hunting to hit the 1,000-point mark, which is not the kind of thing that works at KU.

  • He took six shots in seven minutes in the 2nd half vs. UCF.

  • And five shots in 10 second-half minutes vs. Cincinnati.

Storr is undoubtedly one of KU’s most talented players. He brings a unique ability to beat his man off the dribble, forcing the defense to react to KU’s attack. There’s value in making it work with Storr.

But there’s also value in moving forward without him.

(I want to be clear: I’ve never Heard anything negative about Storr as a person or anything like that. My Hearings have consistently been about his fit for this current KU team.)

The Numbers Paint a Clear Picture

Defensive Issues

• KU’s defensive numbers are consistently worse when Storr is on the court vs. when he’s not playing.

  • KU allows 14.8 more points per 100 possessions with Storr playing — the worst on/off split for any KU player in 12 years. This is as far back as EvanMiya.com measures.

  • Opposing teams' eFG% improves 8.1% with Storr on court — the worst on/off split for any KU player in 6 years. This is as far back as CBBAnlytics.com measures.

    • KU’s next worst mark this year is Diggy Coit at +1.3%.

  • KU’s rebounding %, steals, and blocks all trend the wrong way with Storr playing.

The numbers match the Hearings about Storr’s inconsistent defensive effort.

Offense is mostly neutral

• Storr adds 1.3 points per 100 possessions to KU's offense.

• KU makes a higher % of threes with Storr on the court, but also shoots them at a slightly lower rate.

• KU’s ball movement suffers with a 5% drop in assist rate.

  • I think this is a particularly important trend for this year’s team. They need to whip the ball from side to side, creating driving lanes and deeper post touches.

• KU’s offensive rebounding rate drops 4.8% with Storr playing.

• And the team’s mid-range attempts increase while rim finishing percentages drop.

Where do we go from here?

• Self has said all along that KU’s ceiling is higher with Storr than without.

  • But at what point does KU worry about player development with Bidunga and Griffen if it keeps trying to make it work with Storr?

• Keep a close eye on KU’s substitution order off the bench.

  • If Storr starts to check in earlier — or before/at the same time as Coit — it’s a sign that his buy in has improved in practice.

  • If Storr stays as KU’s 9th man, then it appears Self hasn’t changed his mind.

• This isn’t over or decided. I just think we’re approaching that point. Eventually, the rotation will likely shrink to eight.

• And even if it doesn’t — I’m not sure how much longer you can play Storr so little and expect him to remain engaged.

We’re approaching decision time, the point of no return. And KU’s rotation the next few games will tell you everything you need to know.

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🏈 The Jayhawks landed Texas EDGE Justice Finkley. You can read On3’s commitment article here. And you can watch him vs. an NFL OL here.

🏀 Check out this list of KU’s recent top-10 road games. The Jayhawks need to reverse the current trend.

🏀 Watch Bill Self break preview Wednesday’s game vs. Iowa State below.