Volume 124 Issue 112
kansan.com
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
COMMENTARY Jayhawks' bench is super thin
If you don't know that the 2011- 2012 Kansas Jayhawks have a shallow bench, you must be living in an igloo.
The bench hasn't hurt Kansas recently, but the bigger questions are these: How much does this team lean on its best players when the going gets tough? And has a recent national champion ever had a bench quite as shallow as Bill Self's?
Coaches strategically use certain lineups against certain teams. Jeff Withey might play against Duke, but barely see the floor against a quicker team such as Missouri.
Answering those questions with statistical evidence poses problems.
Foul trouble, injuries and weak opponents can also skew bench statistics.
Quantifying the strength of Kansas' bench isn't easy, but I attempted to do so.
I looked at the percentage of min utes played by every Kansas player who played in Kansas' five losses. I also looked at the Ohio State game, the road Texas game and the home Missouri game.
This is subjective, but I think these eight games — ones where Kansas has had to play its best to win or stay close — best represent post-season-type rotations.
My results paint a picture of a team that is top-heavy when the games are tight, just as any of us might guess without looking at the numbers.
In those eight games, Tyshawn Taylor played 89.1 of the available minutes, 6.6 percent more than his season average. Elijah Johnson played 84.3 percent of the available minutes, 4.8 percent more than average. Thomas Robinson? 81.8 percent, 3.3 more than average. Travis Releford? 81.6 percent, 4.9 more than average.
The five other guys who play competitive minutes — Withey, Naadir Tharpe, Conner Teahan, Kevin Young and Justin Wesley — played 2.4 percent less often in those eight games than they have all season.
My conclusion: Self leans on Taylor, Johnson, Robinson and Releford when the games are tougher, so he probably will do the same in March.
Most teams rely on their best players in the postseason, but none of the national champions in the last seven years leaned on a core of six guys quite like Kansas has so far this season.
Releford, who has played the fourth-highest percentage of minutes for Kansas, plays more than the players with the fourth-highest percentage of minutes on any national champion since 2005.
Young, who has played the seventh-highest percentage of minutes for Kansas, plays less than the players with the seventh-highest percentage of minutes on the same title teams.
Kansas' starting five play a higher percentage of available minutes, 75.3 percent, than the any of the top-five minute-gobblers of recent national champions.
So has a recent national champion's bench ever been as shallow as Kansas' this year?
The answer seems to be, "No."
Edited by Katie James
A WINNING OPENER
Successes at bat lead the Jayhawks to a 7-4 victory
ANDREW JOSEPH
ajeoseph@kansan.com
The Kansas baseball team (6-5) put an end to its three-game losing streak with a 7-4 victory in its home opener against North Dakota Tuesday afternoon.
Kansas coach Ritch Price entered the game with an 8-1 record in home openers, and the lavhawks continued their
With a gusting wind toward left field, senior third baseman Zac Elgie made the early offensive statement for
"Honestly, coming into the game, I didn't think anybody was going to be able to hit a home run."
The grand slam was Elgie's second home run of the season, and he leads the team with 12 RBIs. As the lone senior in the Jayhawks' starting lineup, Elgie's performance in the home opener could not have gone any better.
the jayhawks. Elgie launched a grand slam over the left-field wall and onto Naismith Drive. The first Jayhawk grand slam since 2010 gave Kansas an early 4-0 lead and ultimately made the difference in the ball game.
"Anytime we can jump out to an early lead and help our pitcher settle down, it means a lot." Elgie said.
"Honestly, coming into the game, I didn't think anybody was going to be able to hit a home run," Elgie said. "The wind was howling in like it was. I was trying to see the ball deep and put a good swing on it."
The Jayhawks' early season
ZAC ELGIE Senior third baseman
success was reliant on strong starting pitching, but the bats have finally started to come around. Kansas is averaging about five runs in its
past four games.
Price said that Kansas lacked energy over the weekend in San Antonio, but the opening-day crowd of 1,072 gave the Jayhawks new life, and the improved energy level paid dividends on the box score.
"As hard as you preach to play against the ball. I think you still like to play when there's people and energy in the stands." Price said.
Kansas scored six runs through three innings, and
freshman left fielder Michael Suiter's first career home run in the third inning gave freshman pitcher Robert Kahana a 6-0 cushion to work with. Kahana pitched a perfect four innings en route to his first victory as a Jayhawk.
Redshirt junior first baseman Jake Marasco tied a career high with four hits. Marasco is gradually breaking out of a slump, recording his second multi-hit game in his last four outings. Marasco, the Kansas captain, led the team last year with 16 multi-hit efforts, and his batting average climbed from .167 to .325 after Tuesday's game.
The key to Marasco's turnaround has been his patient approach to every at bat.
"For the past week or so, I have been putting great swings on balls and just not getting good results." Marasco said. "I just stuck with that approach and was able find holes today."
The Jayhawks look to complete the sweep of North Dakota Wednesday afternoon at 3. Freshman Drew Morovick is due to start for Kansas against North Dakota pitcher Ben Clark. Morovick is 1-0 with 5.40 ERA in two appearances.
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Junior first baseman Jake Marasco gets to the base in time to his opponent out in game one against North Dakota Tuesday afternoon. The Jahayhaws won, 7-4.
Edited by Taylor Lewis
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Kansas struggles in windy Louisiana
MEN'S GOLF
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Senior Doug Quinones takes a chip shot just off the green during the Kansas Invitational in September 2011. Quinones tied for 61st place with two of his teammates at the Louisiana Classics on Wednesday, after scoring 226 in wind conditions.
TREVOR VON GRAFF
tvongraff@kansan.com
The Kansas men's golf team finished in a tie for 13th place, with a total team score of 23 over par in the Louisiana Classics Tuesday.
Freshman Dylan McClure led the Jayhawks. He tied for 17th with a three-round total score of 217. Junior Chris Gilbert shot a team-low score of 69 in the second round, followed by a 77 during the second round.
The team slid from 11th at the end of the first day at the Oakbourne Country Club golf course in Lafayette, La.
Kansas coach Kit Grove said there were great
scoring conditions on the first day, with temperatures in the low 70s and calm winds. The traditional course featured small, elevated greens, making approach shots difficult.
At the end of Monday's play, the wind created difficult playing conditions on the course.
Grove said the team did well on Tuesday, but it was Monday's wind that made play difficult for the Jayhawks.
"They just have to put the time in and build that confidence back up by seeing the ball go in."
"We should have an advantage," Grove said. "We should be used to playing in the wind and understand that you have to play well on par-5s on a tough day like today."
McClure handled the windy conditions well, scoring 71. He also scored 73 during the first and the third rounds to finish with the team's lowest score of the tournament.
"He's been consistent at home throughout qualifying." Grove said of McClure. "Seventy three was a pretty solid round of golf today with the wind and conditions."
KIT GROVE Kansas men's golf coach
Junior Paul Harris struggled in the final round, shooting 82. He had a 5-under-par after the first 15 holes on Tuesday, but then bogeyed on the last three. Harris had scored a 70 during Monday's windy second-round.
"Paul was up and down all week," Grove said. "Today, he just got off to a bad start and played poorly all day. Eighty-two isn't very good, but he's better than that."
Though McClure started the
"I'm definitely going to focus on the positives from my ball
striking" McClure said. "I struggled with putting, so I need to go back and work on all my putts inside 10 to 15 feet. I just missed a lot of those week."
tournament with five-straight bogeys, he fought back and finished consistently throughout all three rounds.
Grove said that the team's weakness at putting became obvious during the tournament.
"We're not the best putting team in the country by any stretch of the imagination," Grove said. "And for me, as a coach, that's frustrating because you can always work on your putting. They just have to put the time in and build that confidence back up by seeing the ball go in."
Doug Quinones, Alex Gutesha and Chris Gilbert all tied for 61st with three-round totals of 226. Harris tied for 70th with a total of 229.
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The Jayhawks travel to Laredo Country Club in Laredo, Texas, to continue their spring season in the Border Olympics on March 16 and 17.
Edited by Corinne Westeman
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