Suspended Kansas basketball coach Bill Self watched every second of Mondays season-opening win from his home in Lawrence, and, not surprisingly, it was the Jayhawks defense that stood out most to him.

I told the guys today, We dont guard, but we are a heck of a lot better defending than we were a week ago, Self said during his regular appearance on his Hawk Talk radio show Tuesday night.

Self, who will sit out KUs first four games of the 2022-23 season to serve a university-imposed suspension, was able to rejoin the team at midnight on Tuesday morning and worked with them in practice later that day. The restrictions put on him with the suspension cover the 24-hour periods of KUs first four game days.

Weve got to tighten up our ball screen defense or it will not be very pretty early, Self added during his assessment of his teams defense. I know we will. Last year we struggled with it until around Christmas. When we get better at that our defense will get a lot better, too.

There were plenty of things that Self liked about what he watched Monday night. And most of them had to do with individual performances and guys fitting into their roles.

You could make a case Gradey Dick was the best player on our team last night for a snippet, Self said on the radio show. You could make a case for Jalen Wilson, KJ Adams, Bobby Pettiford, Juan (Harris), and yet the guy who dominated the game more than anybody when we needed it the most was Kevin (McCullar Jr.). We go up from seven to 17 just like that (and) Kevin made every play during that stretch. Even though its never going to be like that, you saw flashes of each one, what they can potentially do and be. Thats exciting to me.

Self said he thought acting head coach, Norm Roberts, and the rest of the KU coaching staff ran things well in his absence. He also was pleased with the way the Kansas players carried themselves like it was any other game to pick up the 89-64 victory and move to 1-0 on the season.

I thought Norm and the staff did great, Self said. I thought the guys played hard. Their body language was good, all those things. I thought out of timeouts Norm got us easy shots a few times. That was good. Weve always taken pride in that.

Although hes not a fan of having to miss any time with his team, Self reiterated his stance from when the suspension was announced, calling the suspensions of him and assistant coach Kurtis Townsend, the right thing to do.

Having a veteran like Roberts and a roster full of players who are locked in to what needs to be done helped make his viewing experience from home much easier to swallow.

Hopefully what happens on game day is a reflection of what happens in practice the other five days of the week, Self said.

Next up, KU will play host to North Dakota State at 7 p.m. Thursday at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Bison are 0-1 on the season after falling at Arkansas, 76-58, on Monday. NDSU was picked to finish fourth in the Summit League in a preseason vote of the conferences coaches.

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Suspended Kansas basketball coach Bill Self saw defensive improvement while watching from home - KUsports