An excellent KUSports.com article on Timberlake

I haven't had much positive to say about KUSports.com reporting since Matt Tait left, but I must admit this article from Sunday (which I just got around to reading this Boxing Day morning as the snow keeps trying to stick to the ground here) by new guy Henry Greenstein is quite good.

Excerpt
Timberlake still looked like a player who hasn’t spent substantial in-game time with KU’s core four starters. At one point late in the first half, he cut toward the basket instead of away from it and Adams threw a ball straight out of bounds — a clear miscommunication.

He also hasn’t been nearly as tight on defensive switches as his teammates, and still has plenty of work to do defending the arc in general. Yale didn’t go straight after him repeatedly like Missouri had, but still benefited from some of his miscues. For example, midway through the second half, he overpursued trying to go for a steal on a pass to Mahoney; that yielded a wide-open look that by all rights should have been a game-tying 3 to stem the tide of KU’s run. A minute later Timberlake fouled Bez Mbeng trying to provide help defense when he went too hard for a block.

At other times, though, he played his best defense of the season. Early in the second half, he withstood an attempted post-up by Matt Knowling, holding out until Hunter Dickinson could provide a double-team, and forced a shot-clock violation.

It’s clear, as Self has frequently reiterated, that Timberlake was brought to KU to be a shooter and not a defensive stalwart. But if his teammates continue, as McCullar put it, “trying to push him on other aspects of his game,” it can help him stay on the floor and find additional ways to contribute.
KUSports.com - Greenstein: Timberlake took full advantage of extended action Friday