Bill Self gets advice from the most unlikely of sources

LAWRENCE, KS - Kansas head coach Bill Self wasn't too thrilled with his team's performance in their 64-54 win over Texas A&M on Monday night.

He thought they lacked effort and made numerous mental gaffes.

But Tommy Lasorda, yes, that Tommy Lasorda, the eccentric, Slim Fast-promoting former-Dodgers manager, the same guy who went to Twitter just hours before the game to ask "what Rock Chalk Jayhawk" meant, had some sage advice for Bill Self after the game.

“He said, ‘Hey, you looked great.’ I said we didn’t look good at all,” Self said with a smile on his face in the media room following the the Jayhawk's 64-54 win over Texas A&M.

Self has always been a baseball fan, and noted that he has tried his best to stay up to date with all the advanced statistics. He's even used baseball fiction to help motivate his team in the past.

Lasorda was in town for a fundraising event, and was at the game with his niece and her husband, a KU alum.

As Self tells it, "[Lasorda] said, 'You don't understand. Stats don't matter.' I said, 'If your starting pitcher gives up five runs in six innings and you just hang on to win, you're happy?' He said, 'I'm happy. I'm happy.' He said, 'You’ve got to enjoy the wins.' He's right. We do. I just didn’t think tonight we were very good, but A&M had a lot to do with it, too."

Self is right, too.

The Aggies were the first team to hold the Jayhawks to under 65-points at Allen Field House this season. Kansas shot a dismal 20% (4-2) from behind the arc and did not score in the final 3:26 of the first half.

You don't go to Allen Field House in late-January and expect to hear a baseball anecdote, let alone see a Hall of Fame manager. But on a night where the Jayhawks looked less than stellar against an inferior opponent, expect the unexpected.