Volume 128 Issue 80
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
kansan.com
COMMENTARY
Ellis remains consistent despite criticism
When Perry Ellis committed to head coach Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks in Sept. 2011, the five-star recruit from Wichita was an instant fan-favorite.
The longer Ellis has been in Lawrence, the less popular he has become. In his junior season, he has become one of the most maligned Jayhawks, even though he is the leading scorer (13.3) and rebounder (6.9) per game. He has only failed to score in double figures six times this season, and has been the Jayhawks' most consistent player outside of Frank Mason.
However, Ellis still cannot seem to escape the criticism: the most common one being that he is "soft."
Ellis is not the "prototypical" Self big man. He is not an athletic force who uses his size to back people down, and he is not a shot blocker. Ellis utilizes his finesse and relies heavily on a face-up game to score. The undersized power forward struggles to score on long and athletic players, but that should come as no surprise.
Despite his height, Ellis has been a very effective scorer for the Jayhawks. Exceeding 1,000 points in his Jayhawk career, and passing Thomas Robinson on the Jayhawk's all-time scoring list Monday.
With 3.9 seconds remaining, Jamari Traylor threw an excellent inbounds pass to Ellis, who was streaking down the middle of court. Ellis took off awkwardly and missed a finger roll with two seconds left that would have won Kansas the game. Instead, Kansas lost 62-61, and Ellis took most of the heat.
Ellis was one of three Jayhawks who scored in double figures. He had 19 points and five rebounds. Mason had 18 points, while Kelly Oubre chipped in 14. Nobody else had more than four points.
Kansas lost Monday because they could not rebound, not because Ellis missed a layup. They allowed West Virginia to grab 22 offensive rebounds, which resulted in 14 second-chance points.
Sure, Ellis should have made the layup, or better yet, taken a dribble to gather himself and dunk. But, it's not like it was an easy play to make. He had to sprint the length of the floor, make a tough catch, and decide in a split-second how he was going to go up for the shot. If he had to do it over again, he probably would have stopped to dunk. But without him: Kansas would not have even been within shouting distance.
I will be the first to admit, I am not innocent. I have gotten upset with Ellis this year, and even called him soft at times. But, let's face it layhawk fans, this team would be in a world of trouble without him.
Edited by Garrett Long
Kansas players take to Twitter after loss
SCOTT CHASEN
@SCHasenKU
Following Monday's one point loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers, the Kansas Jayhawks saw their lead in the Big 12 title race drop to just one game. After falling at the buzzer, 62-61, a few of the Jayhawks took to Twitter to express their disappointment in the result. Landen Lucas was the first to comment, sending out the following message at 10:40 p.m.
"My bad y'all I shouda made my free throw... it won't happen again...," sophomore Landen Lucas wrote on his Twitter account after the
game.
Lucas was referring to the fact that with less than a minute to go, he went to the line for a one-and-one with the Jayhawks holding a mere one-point advantage. Lucas missed the front end, and sure enough, the Jayhawks went on to lose the game by one point.
Another player who missed an opportunity was junior Perry Ellis. Ellis had a golden opportunity to win the game at the buzzer, but he was unable to get his layup to go in, as the jayhawks lost 62-61. Like Lucas, Ellis expressed disappointment in his performance.
and I will grow stronger from it I know it! All I can do is thank god for giving me the opportunity to play this game!" Ellis wrote on his Twitter account after the game.
The missed opportunity theme was certainly evident throughout the night. All night, Kansas struggled to capitalize on West Virginia's mistakes, while the Mountaineers were able to out-hustle the Jayhawks in just about every area.
West Virginia forced more turnovers than Kansas, while out-rebounding the team by 11 on the offensive glass. West Virginia also had more
steals, bench points, second chance points, total rebounds, made three-point baskets and assists, and all of those numbers combined to give the Mountaineers a narrow victory.
Senior Christian Garrett echoed this sentiment, but ever the optimist, he put his own positive spin on things. Garrett noted that the game was tough, but he looked toward the future:
"Tough one. But we trust in the Lord and we play for Kansas. So we'll bounce back and get better," Garrett wrote on his Twitter account.
The Jayhawks will certainly have their chance to bounce
back, as they'll face off against the Mountaineers again, albeit in Allen Fieldhouse, where the team has won 21-consecutive outings. Three of the Jayhawks' last five games will occur at home, with only one of the road contests coming against a team that is currently over .500 in Big 12 play: the Oklahoma Sooners.
Despite the loss, the Jayhawks are just four wins away from guaranteeing an 11th consecutive Big 12 title, and considering the Jayhawks have beaten four of the five teams they have yet to play, the odds are certainly in the team's favor.
Edited by Victoria Kirk
Knight goes for 29 but Jayhawks fall short
JILL STIVERSON/KANSAN
Freshman guard Lauren Aldridge, runs the ball up the court in the game against Texas on Jan. 28. Despite Kansas' strong performance, with senior guard Natalie Knight putting up a career-high 2 points, they lost to TCU 73-67 in Fort Worth, Texas, Tuesday night.
DYLAN SHERWOOD
@dmantheman2011
Kansas (13-14, 4-10) started hot, as Knight connected on eight of the Jayhawks first 10 points, hitting both three-pointers she took in
After joining the 1,000-point club on Saturday against Texas, senior guard Natalie Knight posted a new career-high with 29 points. Her previous career-high was 25 points against Oklahoma last February in Allen Fieldhouse.
But it would not be enough as Kansas lost its fourth consecutive game, 73-67.
the first four minutes of the game. After that, the Horned Frogs took control going on a 12-0 run over a four-minute period before senior forward Chelsea Gardner hit a jumper to cut the game back to two points.
Freshman guard Lauren Aldridge picked up her second foul, which placed her on the bench before returning to the game and scoring a layup with 3.51 remaining in the first half. It would be the last Kansas points of the half.
Knight would be the only offense of the first half, scoring a game-high 11 points in the first half alone.
Three players would pick up two fouls apiece as Aldridge, Gardner and sophomore
forward Caelynn Manning- Allen.
Knight continued her hot shooting in the second half, with back-to-back three-pointers to get Kansas closer, but still trailed by 15 points. TCU kept answering Kansas's hot three-point shooting, scoring easy buckets and getting offensive rebounds.
When TCU went with a smaller lineup, Kansas took advantage. Kansas got the deficit down to ten points and kept trying to find any
other offense besides Knight.
Kansas had one more shot, and that was Gardner's time to shine in front of her family and friends who attended the game in Fort Worth, Texas.
Gardner showed up scoring eight straight points getting the deficit down to two, but TCU would make free throws down the stretch to seal the deal for the Horned Frogs.
Knight led all scorers with 29 points, while Gardner added 20 points, with 16 points coming in the second half. Even only scoring four points in the game, Aldridge broke a career-high in assists with ten. Her previous
career-high was eight assists on Jan. 24 against West Virginia.
Kansas shot 23-of-49 for 47 percent, five-of-18 from beyond the arc for 26 percent and were 16-of-17 at the free throw line for 94 percent. All of Kansas's free throws came in the second half.
Kansas will stay on the road and head to Stillwater, Okla., to take on the Cowgirls on Saturday. The Cowgirls defeated Kansas 65-57 on Feb. 7 in Lawrence.
— Edited by Vicky Diaz Camacho
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