Volume 125 Issue 77
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
kansan.com
Thursday, February 21, 2013
COMMENTARY Still a title threat despite offense
Before I start this column. I'd like to preface by saying that I think Bill Self will consistently have this offense running smoothly by the time March Madness comes along.
That being said, in the last month, other than the games against Kansas State and Texas, the offense has been teetering between stagnant and moribund. Similar to Jack Dawson at the end of Titanic, there were times when it seemed the Jayhawks' offence was going to make it onto the piece of driftwood, but there were also times when they were so cold that hypothermia seemed all but certain.
I have nothing but confidence that Bill Self will find an effective offensive game plan. It appears that transformation has already started. But even if the offense doesn't continue to improve, the Jayhawks are still a title threat.
Five years ago, when Kansas cut down the nets in San Antonio, 16 teams averaged over 80 points per game. This year, four teams average more than 80, with only one team from a power conference (Indiana). The Jayhawks were 10th in the nation with 81.5 points per game in 2008. That would put them in third this year.
SLOW POKES
Take a look at the games from Tuesday night. There were marquee games between Indiana and Michigan State, Miami (FL) and Virginia, and Missouri and Florida. No team scored more than 72 points, and the team with 72 was the "high-scoring" Indiana Hoosiers. In essence, offenses around the nation have been about as effective as laws prohibiting underage drinking.
Trends from the last ten years would suggest that Kansas is not a title threat. Statistical whiz Ken Pomeroy, creator of kenpom.com, finds trends that help predict who will compete for national championships and who will not. Since he began tracking statistics in 2003, every champion except two (Syracuse in 2003 and Connecticut in 2011) has been ranked in the top four of offensive efficiency. Most are ranked one or two. Kansas is currently ranked 25th. Also, every champion in that time has averaged at least 73 points per game. Kansas sits on the fence at 73.4.
This year could be a year that breaks the trend. The last three national championship games have resulted in the following scores: 61-59, 53-41, and 67-59. These games are exactly the kind of games Bill Self wants to see with this team. If a game is in the 50s or 60s, Kansas is right where it wants to be. In a high scoring affair, Kansas will struggle to keep up offensively. However, if the past three championship games are any indication, the jayhawks should feel comfortable relying on their defense and an offense that simply needs to be adequate.
That's not to say that Kansas will win the national championship. Right now, I wouldn't put my money on it. But they certainly are still a threat, and potential for offensive struggles do not preclude them from contention.
If Bill Self can keep the offense improving, all the better.
Edited by Tyler Conover
NO DOUBT NAADIR
Tharpe's game-winning basket ends the Cowboys' seven-game streak
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
Sometimes, like on Wednesday night, it only takes one shot to win a basketball game.
Sometimes, like in the waning moments of a heart wrenching double-overtime debacle, the only thing that matters is the next shot.
Sometimes, like when Kansas took down Oklahoma State 68-67 in a match that required two extra periods, you find out everything you need to know about your team.
Here's what Kansas learned: after not connecting on a field goal for nearly ten minutes, every shot looks good if it goes in.
And in that case, Naadir Tharpe took the most gorgeous shot of the season.
As Tharpe began rolling towards the paint, the Cowboys moved in to trap him, but Tharpe wouldn't have it. He spun around his defenders, launching himself immediately into the air, contorting his body perfectly and releasing a teardrop shot from just inside the lane.
With the Jayhawks down by two and twenty seconds remaining, Tharpe grabbed control of the ball at the top of key and began rolling to his left.
To that point, Kansas had missed all six of its field goal attempts in both overtimes, but had made up for it by getting to the line.
It wasn't the ideal scenario, but Elijah Johnson fouled out midway through the first overtime and Kansas coach Bill Self had no choice but to hand over his offense to the sophomore backup.
Yet even the layhawks' free shots were struggling to fall as Kansas shot 17-27 from the charity stripe.
Freshman guard Ben McLemore wasn't any help either. He started the game off with a rare 0-8 performance from the field and finished 3-12 with seven points — his lowest total of the season (his previous low was 9 points, which he's stalled at twice this year.)
The only hope Kansas had to stave off the first sweep at the hands of the Cowboys' since 1983 was Travis Releford, who played his most beautiful game of the year going 7-10 from the field with 18 points and six rebounds.
All Kansas could hope for was that with 20 seconds remaining, and down by one, it could get a good look at the basket and let fate or talent take care of the rest.
But life wasn't any easier for Oklahoma State. Its star point guard, Marcus Smart, had fouled out and it was living off its shooting guard Markel Brown's (7-15, 20 points) miracle shots to keep the Cowboys in the game.
Yet when Tharpe released his teardrop, it felt like both factors were working for the Jawhaws.
SEE THARPE PAGE 5B
The shot hung in the air long
kansas guard Naadir Tharpe sends the game winning shot over Oklahoma State guard Phil Forte and guard Le 'Bryan Nash in the second overtime of an NCAA college basketball game in Stillwater, Okla., Kansas won in double overtime 68-67.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Celebrating 115 years of legendary basketball
Graphic by Katie Kutsko
GEOFFREY CALVERT gcalvert@kansan.com
RYAN MCCARTHY
rmccarthy@kansan.com
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
The pregame video board says it all if you don't already know it before stepping into Allen Fieldhouse.
The Glory. The Power. The History. The Legends. The Titles. The Tradition.
Tradition
Tradition might be what separates Allen Fieldhouse and the Kansas men's basketball team from almost every other program in the country.
There is no place like Kansas. No one else has James Naismith. No one else has Phog Allen. No one else has Wilt Chamberlain, Clyde Lovellette, Danny Manning and now Mario Chalmers hanging in their rafters, just to name a few of the greats.
It's hard to narrow down the games to remember, so here are a few that have helped shape the history of Kansas basketball:
face off against TCU at 3 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse. The athletics program will also recognize the 25th anniversary of Kansas' 1988 National Championship team.
This weekend Kansas celebrates its 115th-year celebration on Saturday when the Jayhawks
- Feb. 10, 1899; Kansas 31, Topeka YMCA 6. Kansas records its first victory.
- Jan. 25, 1907: Kansas 54, Kansas State 39. Kansas wins its first game against Kansas State.
- Feb. 4, 1908: Kansas 21, Missouri 20. Kansas wins its first ever game against Missouri and then defeats the Tigers three more times that year.
- March 26, 1952: Kansas 80,
Saint John's 63. Kansas wins its
first NCAA Championship behind senior center Clyde Lovellette, who averages 28.6 points per game.
March 1, 1955. Kansas 77.
Kansas State 67. The Jayhawks win the inaugural game in Allen Fieldhouse.
Dec. 3, 1956: Kansas 87,
Northwestern 69. In his first
varsity start, Wilt Chamberlain
scores 52 points and smares 31
rebounds on his way to averaging
29.6 points per game and
helping Kansas finish as the
national runner-up.
- Feb. 26, 1972: Kansas 93, Missouri 80. In his last game at Allen Fieldhouse, senior Bud Stallworth scores 50 points. Ted Owens, Kansas' coach at the
SEE 115 YEARS PAGE 5B