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Hearingš The AJ Storr Situation
Inside Bill Self's looming decision about one of its highest-paid players

šš«£Hearing: The AJ Storr Situation
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The view from my street on Jan 7
Part of the reason KUHearings works is because I donāt live in Kansas. I donāt need access ā or to make coaching staffs happy ā to bring you what Iām Hearing, which sets the work apart from other outlets.
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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 havenāt sent a newsletter while evacuated.
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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 ā or Storrās limited role will continue to shrink.
Storr has fallen to KUās ninth man in a nine-player rotiation. And you have to wonder how long KU can keep him in the limited role. Iām not sure it can last through the end of the year.
Ultimately, the key question with Storr was never talent ā it was buy-in.
In a VIP-only newsletter on July 1, I wrote the following:
āUltimately, Storrās success will come down to him buying into being a team-first player. It canāt be about āwhat will Kansas do for me?ā"
Iāve Heard about good stretches followed by bad ones this year. About his defensive effort dropping if his shot attempts arenāt there. And that lack of consistency has shown up in games.
For example, Storr has had particularly bad moments the last few games as heās closed in on 1,000 career points.
Iāve 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 KUās most talented players. He brings a unique ability to beat his man off the dribble, forcing the defense to react to KUās attack. Thereās value in making it work with Storr.
But thereās also value in moving forward without him.
(I want to be clear: Iāve 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

Blue = better for KUās defense (via CBBAnalytics.com)
KUās defensive numbers are consistently worse when Storr is on the court vs. when heās not playing.
KU allows 14.8 more points per 100 possessions with Storr playing ā 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 ā the worst on/off split for any KU player in 6 years. This is as far back as CBBAnlytics.com measures.
KUās next worst mark this year is Diggy Coit at +1.3%.
KUās rebounding %, steals, and blocks all trend the wrong way with Storr playing.
The numbers match the Hearings about Storrās 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.
KUās ball movement suffers with a 5% drop in assist rate.
I think this is a particularly important trend for this yearās team. They need to whip the ball from side to side, creating driving lanes and deeper post touches.
KUās offensive rebounding rate drops 4.8% with Storr playing.
And the teamās mid-range attempts increase while rim finishing percentages drop.
Where do we go from here?
Self has said all along that KUās 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 KUās substitution order off the bench.
If Storr starts to check in earlier ā or before/at the same time as Coit ā itās a sign that his buy in has improved in practice.
If Storr stays as KUās 9th man, then it appears Self hasnāt changed his mind.
This isnāt over or decided. I just think weāre approaching that point. Eventually, the rotation will likely shrink to eight.
And even if it doesnāt ā Iām not sure how much longer you can play Storr so little and expect him to remain engaged.
Weāre approaching decision time, the point of no return. And KUās rotation the next few games will tell you everything you need to know.
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š The Jayhawks landed Texas EDGE Justice Finkley. You can read On3ās commitment article here. And you can watch him vs. an NFL OL here.
š Check out this list of KUās recent top-10 road games. The Jayhawks need to reverse the current trend.
š Watch Bill Self break preview Wednesdayās game vs. Iowa State below.
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