LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas junior power forward David McCormack has yet to score in double figures or secure double-digit rebounds in four games against NCAA Division I competition this season.
"He's going to be fine, folks. He's going to be fine," KU coach Bill Self said Monday, addressing a question about the play of the 6-foot-10, 265-pound 5-man, who takes a 9.4 scoring, 4.4 rebound average into Tuesday's game against No. 8-ranked Creighton, a 4 p.m. tipoff in Allen Fieldhouse that will be shown live on ESPN.
"It's just been a little bit different than the way we anticipated starting based on how practice has gone, because he scored at will during practice. Like I said all along he's been our best player consistently since Aug. 1 up until the games started. I am very confident we are going to get out of him exactly what we thought we would at some point in time, hopefully sooner rather than later," Self added.
McCormack's best game was a 17-point, six rebound outing against Division II Washburn on Thursday. He had seven points and two boards in 13 minutes in Saturday's narrow 65-61 win over North Dakota State.
McCormack picked up his third foul early in the second half and did not return as the No. 5-ranked Jayhawks (4-1) played five guards the rest of the game against winless NDSU.
"Same thing as always, I want to see him be a presence," Self said of what he expects from McCormack on Tuesday night versus another small team in Creighton (3-0). Junior forward Christian Bishop (15.0 ppg) is the tallest Bluejays starter at 6-foot-7.
"I want to see him have balance. I want to see him give opponents something to guard and I also want him to be a guy that is a deterrent to other people getting to the basket. Nothing has really changed with David at all. There are some technique things he can do a little bit better to certainly put him in position to maybe score before he catches or catch it a step deeper rather than six or seven feet (from goal)," Self added.
Self said the Jayhawks, "may have to do more misdirection things. We are getting way too much stuff where a guy is posting with a defender dead behind. We haven't done anything to move him around. I think David is better than what he's shown so far. I think teams have defended us pretty wisely, too," Self added.
Self would like to see increased production offensively from sophomore Christian Braun, who had 30 points in the second game of the season versus Saint Joseph's, but in the last three games has scored just 26 points.
"He was fabulous against Saint Joe's," Self said of the 6-6 guard who averages 12.8 points and 7.0 rebounds a game. "Against Kentucky (in 65-62 win) he didn't shoot well (2 of 10 for eight points) but what'd he get 13 or 14 rebounds (actually 13)?
"He's had a way to impact our team regardless of whether the ball is going in the hole. I get a little frustrated with him at times because I don't think he realizes how good a shooter he is. I think he turns down some looks. As good as he is he needs to not pass those up and realize that him shooting an open shot is the best offense we can run.
"I think a little bit with him is just his aggressiveness and those sorts of things which I know he is more than capable of doing. I think he defers a little bit too much. I think he needs to be the type of guy who is looking to score for us as opposed to just being a blend guy like he was last year. He needs to be more than that this year," Self added.
Braun said his goal remains to be aggressive every game. He'll face a stern test Tuesday in Creighton standouts Marcus Zegarowski and Mitch Ballock. Zegarowski is Big East preseason player of the year.
"Just take shots that are open. I'm not a guy that likes to force anything. Like coach said, shoot when I'm open," Braun said of his plans for future games. "Just being more aggressive, getting back to what I was doing, getting loose balls, making scrappy plays and stuff like that."
As far as his teammate McCormack's mindset, Braun said: "I think David will be fine. We see it every day in practice, like we see he could be leading scorer. He's just got to be patient. Sometimes when he catches the ball he tries to force it a little bit in games which is fine because he is so talented offensively. He can score with his back to the basket so well. He just needs to slow down a little bit. Like I said we see it every day in practice. We are all confident in what he can do."
This game against Creighton is part of the Big 12/Big East Challenge.
"I do think this game has seeding implications in that if we are successful tomorrow I think it goes a long way to create a better seed line for you," Self said, adding that's it's awfully early to "figure out what seeding is (for 2021 NCAA Tournament)."
KU will remain home and meet Omaha at 6 p.m. Friday and Tarleton State at 1 p.m. Sunday. Crowds of 2,500 fans will be allowed at all three games.
