THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
BIG 12 CONFERENCE
MENS BASKETBALL | 8A
Big 12 power rankings
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2011
See how The Kansan's rankings panned out after an unusual week in conference play
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SUPER SUR
Johnson takes the spotlight
Jayhawk fans welcome sophomore guard Elijah Johnson as he exits off the court at the conclusion of the Kansas vs. Oklahoma State game. Johnson was a starter for Monday night's game following news of junior guard Tyshawn Taylor's suspension. Johnson led the Jayhawks to a 92-54 victory with 15 total points Monday night.
For the nine hours between the time it was announced that junior guard Tyshawn Taylor was suspended indefinitely and a little while after Elijah Johnson was announced as the replacement starting point guard, Kansas fans were freaking out.
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
twitter.com/UDKbasketball
Johnson, who learned about Taylor's indefinite suspension at practice Sunday but not about his promotion to the starting lineup until just before game time, spent the 40 minutes of game time allaying those fears. He didn't freak out at all as he led Kansas
to a 92-65 victory over Oklahoma State.
"No, I prepare the same way every day," Johnson said. "No matter how many minutes I play, two or 35, I'm ready to play."
Johnson only earned the start Monday, when Josh Selby, who coach Bill Self said "was probably going to start," didn't have an orthotic shoe insert that he needed to play at the team shoot-around. Self decided to go with Johnson.
johnson.
"That was a good decision," Self said, "because I thought Elijah was great."
Johnson finished with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and, more importantly, managed the
game as a point guard. His 3-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio wasn't quite the equal of Taylor's season average (1.7-to-1), but it also fell shy of his own (limited playing time altered) 2.2-to-1 mark.
"I didn't want to force too much." Johnson said. "I let it come to me, and when I did, it came back to back to back."
Taylor's never been the most beloved Jayhawk — his recurring knuckleheaded play has seen to that — but he can play, and he's been the best option at point for Kansas all year. He may not have the opportunity to be so again. Self said the suspension, originally announced as indefinite, still had no time frame.
"I like Tyshawn. I like him and everybody on our team does, but he put himself above everybody else here of late," Self said. "I don't know how long it'll be."
On Monday night, Johnson opened up fans and critics to the idea that it may not matter.
On top of his stellar night from outside, Johnson shut down Oklahoma State's Keiton Page, who threw up dagger after dagger and went 4-of-4 from outside the last time these two teams met.
Page was stifled to the tune of 2-of-11 shooting, 2-of-8 from outside, and finished with eight points.
"That's all I really cared about all game," Johnson said. "I never
really cared about starting or scoring or nothing."
Self said it was the best consistent defense hed got from any of his players "in recent memory," and that it gave Johnson the inside track on the starting job for the rest of the season.
"I'm not going to make any brash statements on who is going to be our starter at point guard for the rest of the year or anything." Self said, "but the ball is certainly in his court."
So it's safe to say that Johnson was everything Self could've hoped for Monday night?
"Yeah. And more."
Edited by Tali David
PAGE 10A
BASEBALL
Jayhawks put freshman pitcher on the mound
BY MIKE VERNON mvernon@kansan.com
The team celebrates during its victory over then-No. 1 TCU on Sunday. The Jayhawks, led by freshman picther Alex Cox, have a much easir challenge today as they face the Creighton Bluejays at Hoglund Ballpark.
The Kansas baseball team will have its home opener today at 3 p.m. against the Creighton Bluejays.
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The Jayhawks, who are 1-2 after their opening series at No. 1 TCU, will take on a team that was picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Jayhawks will send freshman Alex Cox to the mound to start the game. The young pitcher with a towering 6-foot-5 frame does not deny that there will be some pre-game butterflies Tuesday, but he believes that his churning stomach will not have much of an effect on his performance.
After their opening weekend, Creighton finished with a 2-1 record with wins over Toledo and Canisius.
"I think I'm going to do pretty good" Cox said. "There's going to be some pre-game jitters, but that's only because I'm excited to play."
He's got that kind of mentality
Patrick Green/TCU ATHLETIC
Coach Ritch Price also has little worry about Cox's composure for Tuesday.
when he walks out there that he expects to compete in the game," Price said. "He controls his emotions big time."
Cox getting a spot in the Jayhawks starting rotation is no small feat for a freshman. Price really believes that the young man from Corona, Calif. could be special.
Hoping to capitalize off of the freshman pitcher will be Creighton outfielder Trever Adams. Adams hit .356 with 12 home runs and 58 RBIs for the Bluejays last year.
"He's as good a freshman as we've had walk on our campus," Price said.
ROBs to the hockey court.
Taking the mound for Creighton will be junior pitcher Brandon Koenigstein. Koenigstein pitched 93.1 innings for the Bluejays last year and had an impressive ERA of 3.95.
The Jayhawks lineup, led by leoadoff hitter Casey Lytle, will look to have more success against Koenigstein than they did against TCU's imposing pitching staff.
"We faced some of the best arms in the country," Lytle said. "Coming back against Creighton hopefully we can get some other guys that didn't do too well to settle down
and see some pitching and help get them off on the right step."
If the Jayhawks hope to come away with their first win of the season at Hoglund Ballpark, it's
going to take an effort from every player.
"If we work together, play as a team, and pick each other up, then that's all it takes," Cox said.
"It's not gonna take one person to win a game, it's never a one-person team."
- Edited by Danielle Packer
COMMENTARY
1.
Tyshawn's immaturity is costly
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
ctbibodeaux@kansan.com
For a brief segment in time Monday, Tyshawn was a worldwide trending topic on Twitter. Most of those tweets expressed joy in his benching, for whatever the reason of his indefinite suspension.
When March comes around, the Jayhawks could be doomed.
The people who made those comments are dead wrong. And this recent ordal has put the Jayhawks in an awful position.
But there's another factor, this off-court persona Kansas has to deal with. That's not something the team can handle.
the jayhawks could be disobed. Taylor is an enigma. He has shown the ability to distribute the ball very well with 4.7 assists per game, which is third in the Big 12. But he can also turn it over in bunches. He is one of the fastest players on the team and that makes him a valuable defensive commodity. Then his lapses in judgment cause unnecessary fouls
Those positives and negatives balance each other out. And over all, the results work out in the lavhawks' favor.
Don't look at the 92-65 Oklahoma State demolition as an example of the team being better without Taylor. Allen Fieldhouse is a meat grinder for weaker teams like the Cowboys.
Wait until Kansas plays a good team in the NCAA tournament. Freshman Josh Selby and sophomore Elijah Johnson – despite his career night – aren't going to lead the point guard position with confidence. Selby is too inexperienced, and you can tell Johnson has trouble controlling himself on the court, let alone an entire offense.
Seniors Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar are solid, but they just don't have that jolt needed to spark fast-breaks and to physically get into defensive position.
get the necessary, but his immaturity is too costly.
The Jayhawks aren't good enough to win a championship on the court, and these off-the-court situations make that trek even more daunting. The immaturity issues on this team aren't getting better.
Taylor should be a leader on this team, but he's a young man who can't learn his lesson. He can't get this many chances to succeed.
It started with last year's dislocated finger from getting into a quarrel with a football player then to the Facebook lyric flasco. And now you have this mysterious removal from the lineup, which the details will most likely be revealed in the upcoming days.
But there is a light, the only thing that could make this pessimism dissipate.
The person closest to this team didn't see Taylor's absence damaging at all. Leave it to coach Bill Self to make everything seem all hunky-dory after last night's game.
game.
"I thought we were as good offensively as any point this year," he said. "I'd like to have all our players here, but I'm not going to worry about who's not here."
He's right. Bill Self's almost always right. For one night without Taylor, the Jayhawks looked pretty darn good.
- Edited by Erin Wilbert
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