Kansas Basketball: Bill Self Ready To Storm Europe With Offensive Focus

Every year there is a solid amount of turnover for any college basketball team given the nature of NCAA athletics, but the Kansas Jayhawks have graduated a number of players to the pro level in recent years that's left Bill Self's team rather thin. Last year, the Jayhawks were supposed to rebuild after losing the Morris twins and Josh Selby among others, but instead Thomas Robinson led the team to the national title game.

Now Self is bringing in a slew of new faces that should keep Kansas very competitive in the Big 12 and the national scene, but it's going to take some work getting them in line. While Elijah Johnson and Jeff Withey are back to help take the mantle of leadership, the team's upcoming trip to Europe this summer will give Self a chance to focus on basketball -- or at least one side of it.

"I will say this ... we're not going to work on defense one possession," Self said. "We're not going to talk about it because if our defense is good that means we'll never score, and I have to somehow get these guys some confidence scoring the ball. I haven't said one word about defense yet. I am pretty confident we can teach them how to guard and that kind of stuff. That's never been an issue, but scoring the ball with these young kids and getting them in the right place ... I think that is pretty important."

Self has eight freshmen to bring into his system including promising players like Perry Ellis, Andrew White and Ben McLemore.

For more on the upcoming season for the Kansas Jayhawks' basketball team, check out the discussion and analysis over at Rock Chalk Talk.