It takes one glance to see that Kansas guard Elle Evans is as tall and skinny as they come and, therefore, prone to being affected by physical play.
It’s something Evans has dealt with throughout her basketball playing life, and something that she knows is important and works on constantly, be it in the weight room or her mind.
“It might not look like it, but, yes, I’ve gotten a lot more physical than I’ve been in the past,” she recently joked.
“I think the physicality is something that I’ve always kind of struggled with as a player, just growing up. But I feel like as I’ve gotten older (I’ve started to understand) how to handle the contact, but also (am) running wrinkles off things.”
During KU’s recent loss to Baylor on Saturday, it wasn’t so much the physicality of the game as the pace that Evans and the rest of the Jayhawks struggled to match.
The Bears were relentless in pushing the pace. But Kansas did everything it could to run with them and match it.
The same went for Evans when it came to matching Baylor’s physicality. She handled herself fine on the perimeter, where the Bears looked to play underneath her and bother her on the catch. And her 3-of-19 shooting, including 0-for-10 from 2-point range, was more the product of Evans just missing good looks than the fact that the Bears bothered her physically.
Beyond that, she did not hesitate to attack the basket or crash the glass, throwing her long limbs and athleticism into the action whenever she could, without fear or concern for her body.
“I think just understanding that your best skill, as a 3-point shooter, good teams are gonna try to take that away,” KU coach Brandon Schneider said. “So, you have to be able to counter it by attacking close-outs, and if people are playing up underneath you, you have to attack the pressure and try to get to the free throw line, try to get a paint touch.”
“That’s where I think she’s really grown,” he added.
"I wouldn't say it's my favorite thing to do, but, at the same time, I'll do whatever I need to do to be able to get an open shot or do whatever the team needs me to do." — Elle Evans
As the game went on, the Bears’ unyielding physicality started to wear on Evans. In the first 5 minutes of the second half alone, she missed four shots in the paint which were either blocked or impacted by Baylor’s contact.
After each one, Evans hopped back into the action and refused to allow the Bears to wear her down. That’s a credit to the way the North Dakota State transfer has tried to grow her game, both as she has grown older and as she has stepped up a level in competition since joining the Jayhawks.
“Knowing if someone’s gonna beat a screen (at a certain spot), I may reject the screen and shy away from the contact,” she explained. “So, just knowing and being ready for that I think will be important for me.”
“It obviously could still use a lot of work,” she added of her handling of the bully-ball style. “But, yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite thing to do but at the same time I’ll do whatever I need to do to be able to get an open shot or do whatever the team needs me to do.”
Said Schneider of Evans preferring a less physical game: “If that’s how she feels, she better adjust her mindset before entering into Big 12 play, because it’s a very physical conference. That may not be her nature, but I do think that she’s gotten a lot better.”
It’s important to note here that Schneider said those comments before KU’s loss to Baylor on Saturday evening and equally important to reemphasize that Evans showed no signs of the contact and physicality being too much.
The 6-foot-3 KU guard said her evolution in figuring out how to handle it has been the result of both picking up little tricks to combat it and becoming stronger in order to better handle the contact when it comes.
Evans, who ranks second on the team at 13.3 points per game and fourth at 4.0 rebounds per contest, said last week that one of the big areas she has worked the most on outside of physical strength is having a short memory on the court. While that pertains mostly to her role as a lights-out, high-volume shooter — she’s shooting 37% from 3-point range on a team-high 76 attempts through 12 games — it also can apply to physical play.
If she gets beat up on one possession, it’s crucial for her to move on and come right back ready to go on the next, even if it’s in the same spot and against the same defender.
“I’d say the majority of it is just knowing how to use my body,” she said. “Obviously, I’m super-long and pretty skinny in some areas, so just knowing that the contact will probably move me a lot more than it will someone else (is important). And (I’ve mostly focused on) just knowing how to handle the contact and finish through (it) and stuff like that.”
The KU women (10-2) are off until Jan. 1, when they will travel to Ames, Iowa, to take on the Iowa State Cyclones in the first of two consecutive Big 12 road games after the new year.
KU’s next home game is slated for Jan. 7 against TCU.
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