4B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
BASKETBALL REVIEW
TUESDAY, APRIL 11. 2006
And now your 2006-07 Starting Lineup
Editor's note: Ryan Colaianni, men's basketball writer, predicts the starting five players for next season's team. The listed year in school is for next season. Projected reserves are also listed. Player predictions are listed in order of pictures to the side.
JULIAN WRIGHT, sophomore forward, eighty-three.
Chicago Heights, Ill.
Averaged 8.5 points per game.
Averaged 4.6 rebounds per game.
Totaled 60 assists.
Wright was the big man that performed on the floor last season. Whether he was throwing down highlight-reel dunks or finding an open teammate near the basket. Wright was the most
Mike hearl the basket, Wright was the most exciting player on the floor. He will need to use the off-season to bulk up so that he will be better prepared to face stronger post players in the Big 12.
MARIO CHALMERS,
Was second on the team in assists with 127 and led the team in steals with 89.
Named to the all-defensive team as a freshman. Averaged 11.5 points per game, good for second most on the team.
Chalmers was rattled early in the season, turning the ball over often. He moved to the shooting guard position, which helped Chalmers ease his turnover woes. Chalmers shouldered a larger portion of the offensive load once Big 12 Conference play began. He was the Big 12 Tournament's most outstanding player.
BRANDON RUSH.
sophomore guard, Kansas City, Mo.
Leader in points per game with 13.5.
Started all 33 games
- Shot 47.2 percent from three-point range
Led the team in rebounds per game.
After the Bradley loss, Rush said he would return to Lawrence for his sophomore season. He will be expected to lead the team in scoring again. Rush struggled to score as the season progressed. As a result, his scoring average dropped from above 15 points per game to 13.5.
RUSSELL ROBINSON,
Junior guard
New York, N.Y.
Dished out a team-high 152 assists last season.
Moved to the point guard position from the shooting guard position halfway through the season.
Averaged 9.3 points per game.
Robinson was the player that drove the Jayhawks last season. He did it with his stellar defensive ability, being named to the all-defensive team, and played unselfishly, leading the team in assists. Robinson will likely be challenged by incoming freshman Sherron Collins for the point guard position.
SASHA KAUN junior center. Melbourne, Fla.
Started 29 of the team's 33 games.
Averaged 9.3 points per game.
Started 29 of the team's 33 games.
■ Averaged 8.2 points per game.
■ Averaged 5.3 rebounds per game.
**Kaun saw his offensive production improve last season.** He split time with fellow center CJ Giles. Kaun will need another strong off-season of workouts to continue to improve his game. Kaun and Giles had problems with foul trouble throughout the season.
Projected reserves:
Sherron Collins, freshman guard, Chicago Brady Morningstar, freshman guard, Lawrence Jeremy Case, junior guard, Oklahoma City CJ Giles, junior center, Seattle Darnell Jackson, junior forward, Oklahoma City Rodrick Stewart, junior guard, Seattle Matt Kleinmann, sophomore center, Overland Park
Texas guard Daniel Gibson is stopped by Kansas center C.J. Giles in the first half in the Big 12 Men's Championship basketball game on March 12 in Dallas. Kansas won three straight games in the Big 12 Tournament, including the Big 12 Championship over Texas.
Review
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3B
Fans began questioning coaches and players and message boards were filled with doomsday talk. They wondered if this would be the year that Kansas would fail to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1989.
Kansas coach Bill Self said Kansas would be a more experienced team at the end of January, and a different team than it uses in December.
Fans didn't listen, though.
They wanted answers quickly.
"We really hadn't played anyone that good, so it was a real test," sophomore center CJ Giles
Self said he was not concerned as much with the team's confidence as with that of the fans. "Because that's when you start to sense how players react and everything is determined on how other people are perceiving them," Self said, after his team's two-game losing skid. "We perceive ourselves as a good team."
Kansas dropped that game against Texas by 25 points, but found itself back in first place four days later after Texas lost to Texas A&M.
Those answers came in the form of a victory against Kentucky, a 10-game winning streak and a share of first place for the Big 12 Conference regular season title.
"From the get-go I thought we were going to be real good," freshman guard Brandon Rush said, in the midst of the 10-game winning streak. "Everything would start to come along and it has, so we are proving people wrong. They said we were going to get killed in Big 12 play."
Freshman guard Mario Chalmers drives past Bradley's defense during the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 17.
"I think we are better now, we just had a couple disappointing losses early, but they have certainly grown up and gotten tougher as time has passed," Self said before the Feb. 25 road match-up with Texas. "We've shot the ball better because we are taking better shots, and we are certainly a confident team in the attack mode a lot more than we were back in November and December."
Kansas earned its 49th conference title to add to Lawrence's rich basketball history.
"We are not taking it as a down game, we are just taking it as a learning experience."
CJ Giles Sophomore center
said after the Texas loss.
"We are not taking it as a down game, we are just taking it as another learning experience for us to build on to get to that next level."
Kansas responded well, winning nine straight games after Downs transferred. The Feb. 5 game against Oklahoma might have been the most important victory of the regular season.
The Jayhawks were down 16 points with less than 10 minutes to play against the Sooners. Kansas undertook a furious rally to win by one point in Allen Field-
house. A last-minute three-point attempt by Oklahoma guard Michael Neal bounced off the rim. It would have won the game.
Even though it was a narrow victory,it was vital — Kansas had lost five close games earlier in the season.
"It's a real big win, to finally get a close one, to prove some people wrong that we can get a win in a close game," Rush said.
Kansas must now look to the future. Following the NCAA tournament loss, Rush said that he planned to return for his sophomore season.
If he does, Kansas would return its top seven scorers and also bring in McDonald's AllAmerican guard Sherron Collins. Early indications are that Kansas will be a Top 5 team when the preseason polls are released in November.
Edited by Gabriella Souza
.