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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009
KU 72, ISU 55
5B
BALL REWIND
Lack of energy plaques Jayhawks' shoot-around, game play and even the crowd in Allen Fieldhouse
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
Coach Bill Self screams to be heard over the Allen Fieldhouse crowd during a timeout in Wednesday night's game against Iowa State. The Jayhawks defeated the Cyclones 72-55.
Self said his team was making sloppy passes, wasn't hustling after loose balls and simply didn't look ready to play a game in a matter of hours.
When Kansas showed up to Allen Fieldhouse for its shoot-around before Wednesday night's game against Iowa State, coach Bill Self wasn't impressed.
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"No energy," Self said. "You can tell at shoot-around if guys are juiced because on game days, you always jump a lot higher than you do non-game days because adrenaline is flowing. There was nobody flying around today."
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So, Self decided to teach his team a lesson. He turned one of the most relaxed basketball traditions into a conditioning session, running his team up and down the court.
Junior guard Sherron Collins, who
didn't look any more winded than usual at the end of the layhawks' 72-55 victory, said the team wasn't focused when it stepped on the court Wednesday afternoon.
"We didn't come ready to shoot-around," Collins said. "Shoot-around is not a day to waste — it's a day where we've still got to get better. Today we weren't bettering ourselves, so I think we deserved it."
A lack of energy before playing the second-worst team in the Big 12 isn't too surprising. However, this was Kansas' first home game since a Feb. 7 victory over Oklahoma State. Eleven days apart generally makes a team long for its first game back in a familiar setting. Still, the Jayhawks came out flat Wednesday afternoon, causing Self to work the Jayhawks harder during their shoot-around.
"We've got a great environment and the crowd will just get you energized for when the game starts," freshman forward Marcus Morris said.
Self said he rarely puts his team to work hours before a game day. Collins echoed that, saying he couldn't remember it ever happening.
"Sometimes it creates room for error, so we start to turn the ball over a little more or shoot some contested shots." Morris said. "We've just got to play through that."
Brady Morningstar's three-pointer midway through the first half extended the lead to 17.
After that, Kansas seemed content with its lead and lost some of the juice from the opening minutes. Morris said that was the problem with attaining such a big lead so early.
As loud as the Fieldhouse seemed at tipoff, Self said the electricity wasn't there for much of the game.
The unorthodox pregame prep worked wonders in the first seven minutes of the game as Kansas stormed out to a 16-2 advantage.
"There wasn't a lot of energy in the
That was directed at Self's bench as much as the crowd. He saw no energy in the afternoon and witnessed only spurts throughout the game.
Kansas got by on talent against Iowa State, but on Saturday Nebraska comes to Allen Fieldhouse. The Cornhuskers took the Jayhawks to the wire on Jan. 28, and Self said he expected more of the same this weekend.
building," Self said.
That could mean another shootaround turned into sprints. More than likely, though, Self will try to re-energize his team through conditioning or some other physical means long before Kansas steps on the court Saturday morning.
"Our guys weren't as focused tonight," Self said. "I think we'll be able to get on them hard enough where they'll be more excited to play Saturday."
Edited by Susan Melgren
Sophomore guard Brady Morningsting and Iowa State's Bryan Petersen watch the ball go lose after the two collided at midnight in the second half of the game. Morningstar scored six points and contributed three rebounds and three assists.
Rvan McGeenev/KANSAN
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Collins clearly did not go hungry against the Cyclones either Coach Bill Self said he thought the game belonged to the junior guard. Collins may have scored a number of his points late, including two three-pointers in the last 90 seconds — one to send the fans home, the other to bring in the subs — but Self was pleased with those developments.
Contributing To Student Success
"Tonight I think it was very good from a conditioning standpoint that he shot the ball better late than he did early," Self said.
Saturday's game at Nebraska is all that stands between arguably the year's biggest challenge — Feb. 23's trip to Norman to face Oklahoma in what will do much to decide the Big 12 regular season champion. Add to that a possibility, which looks quite possible after tonight, that Aldrich could stuff a Player of the Year candidate in Blake Griffin.
We should hope Aldrich and Collins are on campus one year from now. There are no obvious candidates for successors and without the two we are left with an immensely green team yet to find itself.
An early jump to the pros by either will be a huge life decision. It will be made after counsel from one of the nation's best coaching staffs and with the knowledge that the player will earn a multimillion-dollar contract in a piss-poor economy.
For all intents and purposes, nothing makes more sense than that, and such a move would be worthy of support. But for Kansas fans, those prospects should be scary. There's little time to waste in rallying the base for our selfish campaign.
Edited by Chris Horn
VIEW FROM PRESS ROW
IT WAS OVER WHEN...
Sophomore center Cole Aldrich made a hook shot with 12:15 remaining in the game. It only made the score 45-38, but it foreshadowed Aldrich's personal 8-0 run against the Cyclones. By the time Aldrich finished his three-minute assault on Iowa State the score was 51-38 and Kansas was comfortable. For good measure, Aldrich scored six more points before the end of the game.
GAMETOREMEMBER ...
Sophomore center Cole Aldrich
Aldrich
This is getting repetitive, but no one else stood out for the Jayhawks against the Cyclones. Aldrich rescued Kansas from a sluggish performance with his 22 points and 1.1 rebounds. He also managed to out-play Iowa State's stud big man, Craig Brackins, who finished with 20 points, but went 7-for-11 from the field. The Jayhawks defended Brackins, who scored 42 against Kansas in January, more effectively this time around and Aldrich was part of it. Aldrich guarded him for part of the game, including the end when Brackins recorded his fourth foul.
Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor
GAMETOFORGET...
There was no lack of candidates in this section. Sophomore guard Tyrel Reed shot 1-for-5 from the field and played poor defense. Junior guard Mario Little went 0-for-5 from the field. But Taylor might have put on the most disappointing performance. He committed two turnovers and four fouls and never got involved in the offense with only three points. When Kansas is at its best, Taylor is providing a spark on offense and defense. He didn't do that against Iowa State.
Taylor
STAT OF THE NIGHT...
32 percent. That's Iowa State's field-goal percentage. Although Kansas didn't play its best offensive game, it guarded the Cyclones well. They rarely had open looks.
FIRST HALF
PRIME PLAYS
CaseKeefer
18:10 — Sherron Collins stole the ball at the top of the key and shuffled down court for an easy layup. It put the Jayhawks up 8-0 and set a dominating tone that carried for much of the first half.
1:33 — The Cyclones were starting to crawl back into the game, and Jamie Vanderbeeken's second three of the game pulled them within nine.
9:16 After Iowa State tried and failed to save the ball, Collins cruised into the lane and kicked out to Brady Morningstar on the wing. Morningstar hit his second three to put Kansas up 17, its largest lead of the game.
0:01 — Collins' missed jumper looked like it would end Kansas buzzer-beating prowess, but there was Cole Aldrich to clean it up and preserve the Jayhawks' claim as the nation's best team at the end of the first half.
SECONDHALF
18:07 - Iowa State's Craig Brackins hung in mid-air to avoid Tyshawn traynor and dropped in a nothing-but-net layup. Brackins' bucket brought the deficit to 36-30 and forced a Kansas timeout.
12:34 — With Markieff Morris in his face, Brackins nailed a turnaround jumper pull within 43-38. However, the Cyclones would fail to draw any closer.
10:49 — The highlight of the game. Tyshawn Taylor dribbled to the right side of the lane, then tossed it back to Aldrich, who was crashing to the rim. Aldrich took the pass and posterized Iowa States' Diante Garrett with a one-handed slam.
0:31 — Collins really extended his range in the final three minutes. During that time, Collins knocked down three treys.
— Taylor Bern
STARTING LINEUP BACK TO NORMAL
GAME NOTES
Both freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor and freshman forward Marcus Morris started against the Cyclones after being benched in the Kansas State game.
Taylor and Marcus replaced sophomore guard Tyrell Reed and junior guard Mario Little, who started in front of them in the last game.
It was the 14th time this season Kansas coach Bill Self has used a starting lineup of Taylor, Marcus Morris, junior guard Sherron Collins and sophomore center Cole Aldrich. It was also the eighth time in the last nine games.
MCDONALD'S LACKS
FUTURE JAYHAWKS
For the second straight year, no Kansas commits will play in the McDonald's All-American Game, an annual showcase of the nation's best high school players.
Neither of the recruits signed to play for Kansas next season — Las Vegas guard Elijah Johnson and Washington D.C. forward
Thomas Robinson — were among the 24 selected to play in the game Wednesday.
Rivals.com ranks Robinson as the 18th best player in the nation and Johnson came in at No.28. The All-American game will be held on April11 in Miami and aired by ESPN.
RECRUITING UPDATE
One player who will be appearing in the McDonald's All-American Game is Lance Stephenson, a 6-foot-6 swingman from New York.
Stephenson, whom Rivals.com ranks as the ninth best player in the nation, still hasn't decided where he will attend college next year. And he's still considering Kansas.
In fact, Stephenson will make his official visit to Lawrence Saturday when the Jayhawks play Nebraska.
According to Rivals.com, Stephenson is choosing between Kansas, Sainth John's, Maryland, UCLA and Wake Forest.
Case Keefer