MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS TIPOFF
AT A GLANCE
PAGE 9
Fresh off a loss to Kentucky in New York City, coach Bill Self and Kansas travel to Hawaii for the 28th annual Maui Invitational. The placid lifestyle of the island is precisely what this team needs following the intensity that goes with showdowns in Madison Square Garden.
The Jayhawks are out to prove that they're not merely an afterthought following the departure of the Morris twins, Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed. The expectations for the season are certainly lowered, especially after Tuesday's loss. However, Self feels confident about his group of unproven talents. With the chance to play Duke in the invitational's championship game, Kansas can quickly erase the worries that swirl around the team as it prepares for Georgetown.
PLAYER TO WATCH
THOMAS ROBINSON
JUNIOR FORWARD
Don't let the numbers fool you; Robinson was severely outmatched in the Kentucky game. He was outplayed by both Terrence
Robinson
Jones and Anthony Davis and missed layups and other shots near the hoop that usually translate into dunks when he plays in the comfort of Allen Fieldhouse. Now Robinson is out to prove that Tuesday was an outlier, not a regular possibility, when he plays away from Lawrence. Georgetown coach John Thompson III has watched Robinson play since he was a high school star in nearby Washington, D.C. If Robinson succeeds against Georgetown, it will be out of dominance, not surprise.
QUESTION MARK
WILL KANSAS REBOUND OR
REMEMBER?
If the Jayhaws dwell on Tuesday's loss, they may fall to Georgetown and find themselves in the losers bracket before they even settle in. Kansas must forget about Kentucky and focus on the invitational, game by game. This is one of Self's youngest and most inexperienced teams since he arrived in Lawrence, so the team's collective mindset is something to pay attention to. When the greatest shooters miss a shot, they completely erase the memory from their minds. They shoot well because their minds aren't clouded with misses, but rather focused on the next make. If the Jayhawks can follow this philosophy, there's not a team in the field, even Duke, that should be considered a heavy favorite above them.
"We're not where we need to be, but that was great teaching tape for us."
HEAR YE, HEAR YE
- Self on the Kentucky loss
Tipoff in the tropics Kansas faces Georgetown in Maui Invitational
KANSAS VS. GEORGETOWN 11 P.M., LAHAINA CIVIC CENTER, MAUI, HAWAII
Taylor
KANSAS STARTERS
Johnson
TYSHAWN TAYLOR, SENIOR GUARD Taylor really needed some help against Kentucky, but no one was there to provide. Like most of his team, Taylor's field goal percentage was poor. He hit just three of his 13 shots from the field. However he reached the free throw line a whipping 17 times in the game and sunk 15 of them. Don't expect Taylor to average that many attempts from the charity stripe throughout the invitational.
ELJIAH JOHNSON, JUNIOR GUARD
Playing out of position has been a moderate success for Johnson. While he occasionally brings the ball up the court like a point guard, he is usually the shooting guard who complements Taylor at the point. Against Kentucky, his hit just three of 11 shot attempts and missed three of four 3-point shots. Johnson is best when his team plays fast and he can expose defenses in transition.
Releford
Robinson
MIKE GUNNOE/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
TRAVIS RELEFORD, JUNIOR FORWARD
Withey
Releford might have been the team's worst player against Kentucky. In 28 minutes played, he had more turnovers (5) than points (4). Against Georgetown, he will likely defend Hollis Thompson to spare his teammate Robinson of foul trouble. Releford needs to establish himself as a rebounder and a force in the paint. Self has said repeatedly that Releford should be one of the team's best rebounders, but the evidence isn't there yet.
THOMAS ROBINSON, JUNIOR FORWARD
JEFF WITHEY, JONNIE CENTER
Withey was the team's best player in the first half against Kentucky, as he proved that he can block shots against the best. However, like the rest of his team, he found himself in early foul trouble and returned to the game only to play catch-up. This tournament may be remembered as Withey's coming out party. If not, it may be another dull and predictable effort from the potentially overhyped center.
If Robinson plans to make a bid as national player of the year, now is the time to get started. In last season's Maui Invitational, Connecticut's Kemba Walker essentially won the tournament by himself. Robinson has the talent to do the same, however he must avoid foul trouble. Robinson would please the coaching staff if he could rebound throughout the game, rather than in short spurts. Walker led the Huskies in the invitational, then won a national title. The stage is set for Robinson. Will he do the same?
JEFF WITHEY, JUNIOR CENTER
Max Rothman
BIG JAY WILL CHEER IF.
The Jayhawks take advantage of their side of the bracket. If Kansas can win its opening game against Georgetown, it would face tournament host Chaminade or a struggling UCLA team. The top side of the tournament bracket is much tough, which includes No. 6 Duke, No. 10 Memphis, and No. 17 Michigan. A pair of convincing wins en route to the championship game would be nice for Jayhawk fans, but even a couple of struggling victories would be masked by a possible tournament championship.
GEORGETOWN STARTERS
MARKEL STARKS, SOPHOMORE GUARD
One of two underclassmen in the starting lineup for Georgetown, Starks appeared in 30 games last season as a true freshman. He averaged 1.5 points in 9.7 minutes per game. He got the start against UNC-Greensboro and played 18 minutes, going 4-for-6 from the field and finishing with 11 points.
Starks
IASON CLARK,
SENIOR GUARD
He joins Sims as the only seniors in the starting lineup for the Hoyas. He started all 32 games last season as a junior and is the most experienced player in the Georgetown starting five. He averaged 12.0 points and 4.1 rebounds last season. He had 17 points and three assists in the win over UNC-Greensboro.
Clark
HOLLIS THOMPSON, JUNIOR FORWARD
Thompson
Thompson led all Hoya scorers with 19 points in the 86-45 win over UNC-Greensboro on Nov. 14. He connected on five 3-pointers in 18 minutes and shot 7-for-10 from inside the 3-point line. Last season as a junior, he starting 22 games for the Hoyas and finished fourth on the team with 8.6 points a game. He's averaging 16 points per game on the season.
Lubick returns for his sophomore campaign after starting the final 13 games as a freshman a season ago. He appeared in all 32 Georgetown games and averaged 4.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He shot an impressive 53.8 percent from the field last season. He's started the first two games this season and is averaging seven points.
NATE LUBICK, SOPHOMORE FORWARD
★★☆☆☆
Lubick
HENRY SIMS. SENIOR CENTER
A senior with three years of experience in the Georgetown system, Sims played in all 32 games last season but only started one. He averaged 3.6 points and 3.2 rebounds last season. He began the season with a near-perfect offensive performance against Savannah State when he shot 9-for-11 and had 19 points in the 83-54 win.
Sims
Kory Carpenter
BABY JAY WILL WEEP IF...
The Jayhawks lose their second game in a row. Losing to No. 2 Kentucky on a neutral court is hardly a reason to panic, but dropping another game to a largely unproven Georgetown squad would raise a few flags for fans. With No. 3 Ohio State still on the non-conference schedule, things don't necessarily get easier in the coming weeks for Kansas. Back-to-back losses and a 1-2 start to the season would be a cause for concern.
Prediction Kansas 69, Georgetown 64
GEORGE TOWN TIPOFF
ATA GLANCE
Georgetown has played a soft schedule through two games this season, with easy wins over Savannah State and UNC-Greensboro. The opening round game of the Maul Invitational against Kansas will be the Hoyas' first trip away from home this year. They were picked to finish 10th in the annual pre-season Big East coaches poll. Last season they fell to Virginia Commonwealth in the second round of the NCAA tournament, 74-56. Coach John Thompson III is entering his eighth season at Georgetown where he's compiled a record of 160-71. He was named the 2007 Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches after winning the Big East Tournament and advancing to the Final Four that season. He runs the Princeton offense at Georgetown, which Thompson learned while coaching under Princeton head coach Pete Carrill in the mid-to-late 1990's. The offensive scheme consists of controlling the ball for much of the shot clock, a myriad of passes and back-door cuts, and often results in low-scoring games.
PLAYER TO WATCH HOLLIS THOMPSON, JUNIOR FORWARD
Thompson is one of the most proficient returning scorers for coach John Thompson III. He averaged 8.6 points per game last season as a sophomore. He's entering
Thompson
WILL THE HOYAS BE ABLE TO SCORE CONSISTENTLY AGAINST THE JAYHAWKS?
QUESTION MARK
his third season with the Hoyas and has played significant minutes through two seasons with the team. He graduated a semester early from Loyola High School in Los Angeles and began practicing with the Hoyas a semester early. He chose to attend Georgetown over UCLA, Arizona, and Duke, among others, after averaging 18.6 points and 9.0 rebounds as a junior at Loyola. Thompson isn't the most experienced starter for the Hoyas, but he's certainly the most versatile and looks to have the NBA in his near future. At 6-foot-8 and 212 pounds, he's still able to step away from the basket and create matchup problems for defenders.
In coach John Thompson III's Princeton offense, possessions are at a premium and games are often low-scoring. Forward Hollis Thompson and Jason Clark are able to score with regularity, but the rest of the Georgetown roster is filled with underclassmen and unproven veterans. The Hoyas averaged 70.6 points per game last season but lost their top two scorers in Austin Freeman and Chris Wright, who averaged 17.6 and 12.2 points, respectively. Getting consistent production from the underclassmen, including freshman and former Kansas recruit Otto Porter, will be the key to knocking off Kansas in tonight's matchup in Maui. Thompson and Clark are the known commodities on offense, but until two or three other Hoyas show they are capable, trusting Georgetown to put up impressive offensive numbers is a bad idea.
HEAR YE, HEAR YE
"We're in a beautiful setting and with great teams,"but we have to remember that this is very much a business trip."
Coach John Thompson III