4B
KU 91 - NAU 57
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2006
Jared Gab/KANSAL
Julian Wright, sophomore forward, jokes with his teammates on the sideline while celebrating a slam dunk by Mario Chalmers.
Bill Self's squad powers into season
BY TRAVIS ROBINETT
KANSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST
TROBINETT@KANSAN.COM
Bill Self is a great coach. He actually taught Darrell Arthur how to jump, catch and dunk.
"That's coaching." Self said, taking credit for Arthur's one-handed alley-oop from fellow freshman Brady Morningstar during the second half against Northern Arizona. "Throw it up as high as you can and let a really good athlete go get it. That's coaching — or recruiting."
I'd say it's the latter.
Self is a recruiting machine, as proven by this year's roster. For the first time ever, all of the jahwacks
— minus redshirt junior Jeremy Case — are Self's recruits.
The program is officially all yours, Bill. And what a talented program it is.
Arthur and freshman Sherron Collins would start right away at nearly every other school in the country, but not at Kansas. Although Collins started on Saturday in place of Mario Chalmers, who had an injured toe, Self said not to read into it.
"Over time, he's got to beat somebody out," Self said. "He may do it, but he's not quite ready yet."
Collins proved that a permanent role in the starting lineup is a possibility later in the season. With seven minutes left in the first half, he
showed how great he could be. Using a crossover, Collins sent his defender flying toward his right hand while the ball went to his left. This opened the baseline for two easy points, raising the crowd to its feet.
Usually no matter how much talent freshmen have, they still struggle to adjust to the college game.
Fans saw it last year at the Maui Invitational — where Kansas was out of control with inexperience — as well as with many freshmen before that. But Collins and Arthur are already further along than anyone I can remember. It's because of team chemistry. They both fit in perfectly at Kansas.
"That was the loudest I ever heard a gym," Collins said. "I feed off it."
When Collins spoke about sophomores Julian Wright and Brandon Rush, he said, "We do everything together. They've been like brothers to me."
The players support each other. They also know each other's games inside and out. When the Jayhawks play basketball, they play together, no matter who is in the game. Any combination of Kansas top-eight players is as good as the rest.
Collins and Arthur are going to get plenty of well-deserved minutes because of this, but they won't start just because they are freshman.
Oh well, they give Kansas the best bench in the country.
Robinett is an Austin, Texas senior in journalism.
Edited by Catherine Odson
notebook
Junior forward Darnell Jackson earned his first regular season start since Dec. 22, 2004
Freshman guard Sherron Collins started in place of sophomore guard Marlo Chalmers, scoring 14 points and burying two of Kansas' six three-point shots. Chalmers played 16 minutes and posted five points, four rebounds, three steals and a block.
Kansas other star freshman Darrall Arthur came off the bench and scored 12 points, had six rebounds, three blocks, a steal and an assist.
The third member of Kansas' freshman class, Brady Morningstar, saw 14 minutes of action and played well. He posted two points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Every healthy body on the Kansas bench got in the game, which didn't include junior guard Jeremy Case (groin) and junior center Sasha Kaun (knee).
saturday's game was never tied, nor were there any lead changes. Kansas' lead stretched as far as 40 points in the second half.
Shawn Shrown
Turnovers, defense key to blowout
The Jayhawks used defensive pressure against the Lumberjacks to force 11 first-half turnovers that helped turn Saturday's game into a rout. Kansas forced 10 second-half turnovers.
Bill Self came into Saturday night's season opener against Northern Arizona looking for his team to pick up the pressure on defense.
The turnovers led to 28 Kansas points.
They certainly did just that.
BY RYAN SCHNEIDER
Kansas already led by 15 points midway through the first half, after a quick start on offense. Then came the defense. In a three-minute span, the Jayhawks used the quick hands of guards Russell Robinson and Sherron Collins to spark an 13-4 run that blew open the game for good, and all it took was a simple poke at the ball.
"We started picking up on defense and getting easy baskets off of transitions," sophomore guard Brandon Rush said. "Our guards are doing a good job of stealing the ball and creating some easy baskets for us."
That stretch was highlighted by a Julian Wright dunk that almost wound up as a turnover. Collins got a steal and lobbed the ball down
court to Wright. But the sophomore forward seemed to get ahead of himself. He bobbled the ball, then stopped to collect himself and calmly went up for the dunk.
Easy baskets off turnovers were key in Saturday's victory, unlike in Kansas' final exhibition game against Emporia State.
Until the Jayhawks found their rhythm in the second half last week, they struggled to stop the Hornets on the perimeter.
But that wasn't a problem against the Lumberjacks.
Kansan senior sportswriter Ryan Schneider can be contacted at rschneider@kansan.com.
Rush and freshman Brady Morningstar helped hold Northern Arizona's top player, Stephen Sir, to just 3-for-7 shooting from the field and nine points. Sir led the nation last season in three-point goal percentage. While he did shoot 50 percent from behind the arc, Sir's made just three three-point shots.
That strong defense against Sir also forced him into two turnovers.
"That's just strong denial, strong help, not letting our man penetrate," Collins said. "Coach has been stressing that all week. I think we did a pretty good job of it."
- Edited by Kate Shipley
Jared Gab/KANSAN
Sherron Collins, freshman guard, dives to pass a fred ball to Julian Wright, sophomore forward, down the court. Without pressure of defenders, Wright snuck the ball.
Darrell Arthur, freshman forward, tosses a deep shot over a Northern Arizona player. Arthur contributed
Jared Gob/ZANSAN
Sherron Collins, freshman guard, powers toward the basket part Northern Arizona's fley Van Fatten. Collins, who had his first career start in the game, contributed 14 shots to the 34-point victory.
Marie Chalmers, sophomore guard, jumps to throw
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