Thursday, March 7, 2013
COMMENTARY Bench players cause for concern
On Monday night, the Jayhawks came out and laid a beatdown on Texas Tech, the likes of which hadn't been seen since... well, their beatdown of West Virginia on Saturday.
kansan.com
Jeff Withey scored 22 points and calmly sunk his only 3-point attempt of his career. Elijah Johnson had 12 assists, six of which were on beautifully timed alley-oop passes that caused the crowd to get louder than Russell Westbrook's postgame outfits. Kevin Young, Travis Releford and Ben McLemore all scored in double figures.
You could look for negatives, but they are hard to find.
Unless you look a little deeper And by deeper, of course, I mean Kansas' bench.
Naadir Tharpe, Rio Adams, Andrew White, Perry Ellis and Jamari Trayler played for a combined 53 minutes, or an average of a little more than ten minutes each. They had one combined field goal coming on a Trayler layup in the first half. Their assist-to-turnover ratio was 1-9 and they picked up nine personal fouls. Meanwhile, the starters had a 17-3 assist to turnover ratio and only six fouls.
It's not like the bench was going against Oklahoma State's starting five. This is Texas Tech we are talking about. A perennial doormat, the Red Raiders might as well stitch "Welcome" on the front of their uniforms.
Granted, the bench players are accustomed to being interspersed among the starters during the course of the game. Most notably, Tharpe thrives when surrounded by the starters. However, when surrounded by his beach brethren, Tharpe couldn't even get enough room to attempt a shot.
That's not to say that I expect the bench to see the same kind of success that the starters have. But the drop off was far greater than expected. This might not be a huge concern this year, but looking to the future, the current bench is Kansas' future foundation.
In a three-minute stretch in the second half, Self put all five bench players in at once. Three minutes, two points (on Ellis free throws), and three turnovers later. Self put the starters back in.
Four of these players are freshmen. They will improve; Bill Self's track record speaks for itself. For example, early in their careers, who ever thought that Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar would be assets to a team that was favored to win a national championship?
However, even with prospects for improvement, the five minutes they played together were unsettling. One of those players needs to step up and be a go-to scorer and leader. Kansas may be able to rely on its stellar recruiting class next year, but notwithstanding last year's Kentucky team, freshmen need other players to ease the burden. Tharpe and Ellis are the best bets, but Tharpe is more of a facilitator, and Ellis needs to find a killer instinct.
After the layhawks won in 2008, it was clear that Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich were ready to transition from bench players to leaders.
Hopefully, one or more of Kansas' current bench players are willing to rise to that challenge.
Edited by Tyler Conover
BEAR HUNTING
REPEATING HISTORY 1-02-03-04-05-0
KANSAS
February 11, 2003
79 - 58
KANSAS January 25, 2005 86-66
KANSAS
January 24, 2007
82 - 56
KANSAS
February 2, 2009
75 - 65
KANSAS
February 9,2008
100-90
March 9, 2013
Graphic by Trey Conrad
Jayhawks haven't lost in Waco this decade, don't want to start now
RYAN MCCARTHY
Two teams with talented players and recruits from across the country, but only one team has proven the tests of time with nine consecutive conference championships.
Not to say there have not been a few battles, but for the most part, the Jayhawks continue to dominate the series, losing only
Baylor and Kansas.
once outside of the Big 12 tournament to the Bears from Waco, Texas, since 1996.
Since that game in 2001, Baylor rebuilt its program after the tragedy of Carlton Dotson being murdered by his former teammate Patrick Dennehy.
Kansas' lone loss to Baylor came on Feb. 12, 2001, 85-77 in Waco, but since then, it's been smooth sailing in the town known as the "Heart of Texas."
From that tragedy, the Bears
hired Scott Drew and managed to make three NCAA tournaments with two steps in the Elite Eight.
Both Elite Eight teams featured these three talented players remained important to them excelling to one step from the Final Four.
For the Bears, it's been a long dry spell not making a Final Four
They managed to churn out five NBA players including: Ekpe Udoh, Perry Jones III and Quincy Acy.
since 1950.
Since that time, the Jayhawks mustered up 13 Final Four Appearances and three National Championships.
It's like comparing apples and oranges with the fayhawks long-standing basketball tradition, but Baylor appears to have turned the corner as a perennial contender for the top spots in the league.
However, this year has been a step back for the Bears as they've struggled to an 8-9 big 12 record
and 17-13 overall.
For the moment, it appears Baylor is out of the NCAA Tournament, but a win against Kansas could breath new life into a team desperately in need of a signature victory.
Edited by Tyler Conover
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Big 12 better than records indicate
MAX GOODWIN
mgoodwin@kansan.com
The Kansas women's basketball team entered the season with high expectations, but with the regular season now in the books, the Jayhawks travel to Dallas for the start of the Big 12 tournament on Friday as a seven seed, two seeds
Despite the only ranked team in the conference being the No.1 ranked Baylor Bears, the Big 12 still appears as strong as ever. It's difficult to tell at this point how the NCAA selec-
lower than last year.
season, and 8-10 against the Big 12. Henrickson and her team realize that they could still use at least one more win on their tournament resume.
Kansas will open the first round by facing TCU for the second time this week, and the third time this year. Kansas defeated the Horned Frogs in TCU by one point in
tion committee will consider the conference when deciding who's in and who's out of the tournament.
"I think the fact that we've all beat each other up is what people can't get over; that's what's difficult about it."
"There are just no nights off in this league," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "I think the fact that we've all beat each other up is what people can't get over, that's what's difficult about it. You look at all of these ranked teams, would they finish second in our league? I don't think they would."
BONNIE HENRICKSON
Head coach
The Jayhawks begin the conference tournament at 17-12 on the
February, and on Tuesday night by seven points. Henrickson said she doesn't expect those victories to have any effect on the game in Dallas.
beat them twice, it won't give us an advantage," Henrickson said. "It won't be the reason that we have a chance to be successful. I've said it all year, the players are sick of it, you might be too, but it's not who you play, it's not where you play, it will be how we play. I don't ever look at beating a team twice as a disadvantage or a negative either."
"Because we
Henrickson will re-watch the game tapes of TCU, just as if the two teams had not played on Tuesday, though she will take some things away from the game on Tuesday
Kansas has had slow starts in both games against TCU this season. TCU had a 23-point lead at half in the first matchup. The lead wasn't quite as daunting on Tuesday night, but after the opening minutes TCU was ahead 17-10.
Senior Monica Engelman said that her nerves may have got to her in the first half of Tuesday night's game, as she couldn't help but think of it being her last game at Allen Fieldhouse. She scored just one point in the half. But in the second half, Engelman collected herself and scored 13 points, with three clutch 3-pointers. Engelman wasn't completely satisfied with her performance.
"We have to clean some things up," Henrickson said. "We broke down defensively and we gotta 'be a lot better offensive"
for the team to improve on.
"We're going to play them again, so we should be even more prepared." Engelman said. "We're gonna give a good game, so change the things that we didn't get right, and the things that we did well we need to repeat."
- Edited by Tyler Conover
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Senior guard Angel Goodrich takes the ball down the court during the game against TCU on Tuesday March 5 where the Jayhawks defeated the Horned Frogs 74-67. Tuesday was senior night for Goodrich, forward Carolyn Davis and guard Monica Engelman.