Volume 124 Issue 71
kansan.com
Friday, December 2, 2011
COMMENTARY Cutting back on turnovers
Former Kansas basketball starters Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed weren't flashy. Neither was an offensive juggernaut, and both ranked pretty low on today's much-heralded swag scale.
ZENGER'S SEARCH FOR NEW FOOTBALL COACH CONTINUES
But what the guard duo did best might have been what they didn't do, and their departure has made that glaringly obvious. Player turnover on the Kansas roster has led to the team's biggest on-court problem: turnovers.
The Jayhawks (4-2) have committed more turnovers than their opponents in each of their past four games. And when it comes to guard play, the two players expected to shoulder the void left by Morningstar and Reed have struggled mightily out of the gate. First came the now-infamous 11 turnover game from senior guard Tyshawn Taylor against the Duke Blue Devils on Nov. 23. Taylor's biggest blunder in the 68-61 loss came with 56 seconds left and the Jayhawks down two points. His final turnover led to a dagger 3-pointer that put the game out of reach. The Jayhawks committed 17 turnovers that game, five more than the Blue Devils.
Depth is already a concern for this Kansas squad. The team cannot afford to shoot itself in the foot with careless turnovers, and it can't afford to try the same circus plays that last year's team executed so well. That day may come somewhere down the line, but until then, the team's guards need to play a more conservative and careful style of play.
More recently, junior guard Elijah Johnson joined in on the act by committing seven turnovers against lowly Florida Atlantic on Nov. 30. One errant pass, with just more than seven minutes left in the game, left coach Bill Self red in the face, and he held back no criticism after the game.
"He's still in Hawaii." Self said of Johnson. "He didn't get hungover. He got left there."
The team's other starting guard, junior Travis Releford, has played much more precisely than his peers. But he still has a high turnover game to his name, committing five in 28 minutes during a 75-65 loss to Kentucky on Nov. 15.
After all, you don't play Florida Atlantic every week.
- Edited by Lindsey Deiter
Yes, the Jayhawks out-muscled the Owls to win 77-54, but the underlying problem remained. The Jayhawks again committed 17 turnovers, this time seven more than their opponent.
Taylor and Johnson have both already surpassed the turnover highs posted by Morningstar and Reed last season. Neither starter had more than four turnovers in any single game last season, masterfully orchestrating the high-powered Kansas offense and playing within Self's system.
Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger continues the hunt for Turner Gill's replacement. PAGE 9
CHECK OUT KANSAN.COM FOR A PREVIEW OF THE MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME THIS WEEKEND
BE AGGRESSIVE
STICKING TOGETHER
Junior forward Carolyn Davis receives a game ball from coach Bonnie Hendricksen before the start of Thursday night's game against SMU for becoming the 23rd Jayhawk to score 1,000 points for the women's team. Davis scored another 17 points in the Jayhawks 75-52 victory. Kansas is now 7-0 for the season.
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
KATHLEEN GIER
kgier@kansan.com
Tempers flared when Davis was fighting for a ball on an offensive rebound. Coach Bonnie Henrickson said she had seen Davis getting hit with cheap shots after scores and had talked to officials up to five minutes before the call.
Carolyn Davis has faced foul trouble. She has faced tough opposition in the post. But tonight the game took a turn when she was charged with a technical fowl coming off a double foul.
"After the technical we knew we had to beat these people by as much as we could," senior forward Aishah Sutherland said. "After a technical, it gets emotional."
Sutherland did her part to make sure the Jayhawks won, scoring 14 points and pulling down six rebounds. Sutherland and Davis paced the game for the Jayhawks who struggled to find a rhythm in their 75-52 victory over Southern Methodist University.
"When something like that happens, we need to stay together as a team," junior guard Angel Goodrich said. "We can't spread out and get mad, we need to stay composed and poised."
The team came out after halftime with a 10-2 run and cruised from then on, leading by double digits for the remainder of the game. The Jayhawks opened the gap with a 12-0 surge midway through the second half highlighted by fast break lays.
"To come out of the locker room and throw a punch like that is demoralizing to a team," Davis said.
Davis and Sutherland each
scored five points to spread the lead. Along with junior guard Angel Goodrich, they led Kansas each scoring in double-digits.
"The more people who contribute, the more games we win." Davis said.
"We shoot a lot of easy shots and get the ball inside the paint," Davis said. "That's just our game and that's what works for us."
The Jayhawks scored 50 of their 75 points in the paint. Davis and Sutherland finished with 17 and 14 respectively. This has been one of the consistent factors for the Jayhawks who lead the nation in field goal percentage at 50.9. They shot 56.9 percent against SMU.
SMU coach Rhonda Rompola said her team had trouble scouting and running its defense against the powerful frontcourt duo of Davis and Sutherland.
"I think Kansas has two of the best post players around," Rompola said. "When a team scores 50 points in the pain, that's a really telling stat. That's a huge difference in the game."
Next, Kansas will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama at 2 p.m. on Sunday. This will be the second road game for the undefeated layhawks.
Kansas continues to struggle with turnovers, averaging 19.9 a game so far this season. They had 20 this game, the majority of which were spread between the three leaders.
"We're disappointed, I'm disappointed, they're disappointed and we have got to clean it up in a hurry because we are going to Alabama and they are going to press and trap" Henrickson said.
Goodrich said the team needs to focus on minimizing turnovers and handling ball pressure.
"Alabama is a tough team and they are aggressive," Goodrich said. "They are really quick and they are athletic, so we need to limit our turnovers and take care of the ball and do what we need to do to win."
— Edited by Josh Kantor
MONEY
How else the University could spend $11 million
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway/kansan.com
twitter.com/UDK_b12Fball
CASH OR CREDIT?
The University of Kansas Athletics Department spent $11 million to pay off the contracts of Mark Mangino, Turner Gill and Lew Perkins since December of 2009.
In December of 2009, the University and Mark Mangino agreed to a $3 million buyout of his remaining contract following a controversy regarding how Mangino treated his players.
In September of 2010, Lew Perkins retired and Kansas Athletics picked up the $2 million tab on his retirement deal. No taxpayer or tuition dollars were used in the Perkins deal.
On Nov. 27, Kansas Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger fired Turner Gill and as a result the Athletics Department will have to pay Gill the $6 million remaining on his contract within 90 days of the firing.
Edited by Josh Kantor
Buy one 2011 Sea-Doo GTS 130 for every 15 undergraduate students at Kansas to share.
26,426,426 rolls of Charmin Ultra toilet paper. Students would agree this would be much preferable to the regular one-ply used by students and would last the University around 264 years, assuming that an average of 100,000
rolls are used per year.
273 four-year academic scholarships to the University of Kansas (Based on in-state tuition plus required campus fees and books on affordability.ku.edu)
2,200,000 mosquito nets to help prevent the spread of malaria in Africa. (Based on five dollar per net estimate from nettingings.org)
5,500 Smart Boards to replace old chalk boards/ white boards on campus (Google product search listed each Smart Board at $1,999)
17,460 Dell Inspiron All-in-One Desktop Computers with a 23 inch display for the libraries and computer labs across campus. (Bought from bestbuy. com for $629.99)
Three five-bedroom/
five-bath Malibu Estates
You and 13 of your
friends can visit one of the three Malibu estates for a one-time three-
night visit during your four years at the University of Kansas. However,
the cost of getting to Malibu is on you.
Support 57,291 impoverished orphan children in Kenya for a full year (dundorioripasproject.com)
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