'We did it to ourselves'

KU defeats Georgia Tech in second road win

Just over two weeks ago KU remained perfect after their first road trip to sunny southern California. Tonight, the Jayhawks looked for a repeat performance against Georgia Tech.

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KU vs. GT

Audio clips

2007-08 Dec. 18 KU-GT Hoops

Bill Self speaks with the media following his team's second narrow road escape this season - a 71-66 decision at Georgia Tech
Mario Chalmers talks about what KU has learned from its close calls on the road this year
Russell Robinson talks about his 17-point performance and his teammates picking him up at the end
Russell Robinson talks about the defensive philosophy up three with less than 10 seconds to go
Sherron Collins talks about his final score of the game developed

Atlanta — The Alexander Memorial Coliseum scoreboard Tuesday night showed that it was Kansas University that defeated Georgia Tech, 71-66, but that wasn't the way Yellow Jackets coach Paul Hewitt saw it.

"I'm not taking anything away from Kansas - they played really, really well - but we did it to ourselves again tonight," Hewitt said. "We had a two-on-nothing break and didn't score. You can't blow as many opportunities as we did tonight against a quality opponent. They are a good basketball team, a very well coached team. They executed very well tonight and have great size, but we can't do some of the things tonight and expect to beat a good basketball team. We are a talented team, but not a good basketball team, and there's a difference. That's why I thought we were going to win."

Georgia Tech dropped to 4-5.

Hewitt said he was confident Tech would win because he didn't think the Kansas big men could stop his team's big men from facing the basket driving.

"We tried to beat their bigs off the dribble and get them in foul trouble, and we did that early, but never were quite able to take full advantage of it," Hewitt said.

Georgia Tech point guard Matt Causey had one of the key plays in the comeback. KU guard Sherron Collins, on the verge of falling out of bounds under Tech's basket, tried to throw the ball off of Causey's shins.

"I recognized that, stepped back and kind of just caught it," Causey said. "You have to have possession of the ball to call a timeout, and he was falling out of bounds."

Clinch, guarded most of the night by efficient defender Russell Robinson, scored a game-high 22 points and wasn't bragging afterward.

"It's going to be like that every night in the conference," Clinch said. "The ACC is so tough. That's something I've seen before and I'm going to see more of in the season."

KU Basketball

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JayCeph (anonymous) says...

"We are a talented team, but not a good basketball team, and there's a difference. That's why I thought we were going to win." - GaTech's Head Coach Paul Hewitt

I'm not sure I understand this statement. Because they are not a good basketball team, they expected to beat KU? How does this make any sense?

Also, since his intent was to get KU's bigs in foul trouble and then have his bigs dominate the inside (which he almost succeeded at), isn't it amazing just how deep KU's front court is?

When our guys are fouling at the drop of a whistle and still manage to win the game (and record a ton of blocks to boot), that really says something about the strength of this team.

December 19, 2007 at 6:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Timmay97 (anonymous) says...

JayCeph, I agree. What's even more amazing is he was trying to get our bigs in foul trouble and yet Aldrich only played 2 minutes. It's not like we didn't have anyone available.

I hate to say this, cause I did love him being a Jayhawk, but sometimes I think it's a good thing that Julian Wright is gone. It might be just me, but I see so many less turnovers by our bigs than I remember last year. Wright was so versatile, but he was a turnover machine.

I just love how the team is playing right now. Our only remaining test before conference play should be Boston College. This is the only game I'll be able to see in person, therefore, I hope they have a good showing.

December 19, 2007 at 7:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

patton6 (anonymous) says...

My guess is that he's kind of alluding to what Jimmy Dykes was trying to explain as the way to score on us. Rather than run plays, he wanted to turn it into an NBA type game where there are a bunch of 1-on-1 isolations and guys just make plays...

December 19, 2007 at 7:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

DerekR25 (anonymous) says...

Watch out for Miami(OH) too. They're a really solid team.

As for the game last night, that "foot on the throat" mindset seemed to wear off at about the 10 minute mark of teh second half. It seemed we really started playing the "clock game" and lost momentum. I'm really glad we were able to pull it out, but GT really shouldn't have even had a chance in that game. One other thing I noticed is that there were a lot of bad calls by the refs. At times they seemed WAY too whistle happy, and other times they just looked blind. It didn't really have too much of a direct effect on the game because it was on both sides, but it wasn't the best officiating by a long shot.

Glad to get the win and be able to move on and play better Saturday. Should be a good game, but it could be tougher than we think.

December 19, 2007 at 8:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

FSUJHAWK (anonymous) says...

Just an observation but it seemed as if we got less aggressive around the 10 minute mark (second half)...much like a boxer waiting for the bell to ring in the last rounds versus going for the knockout knowing that he has the lead on the score cards. The message here is that instead of going for the knockout we almost got knocked out. This team has great potential and I have utmost faith in coach but I'm just a bit concerned when we don't go for the throat! Perhaps this is part of coach's grand scheme to get our team battle tested and ready for March...my bad.. APRIL!

December 19, 2007 at 11:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

KU (anonymous) says...

Derek and FSU.......You guys saw the same thing I did. We stopped being the aggressor in the 2nd half and it almost cost us. Passing around the perimeter with no intent to set up an open shooter; bigs posting half-heartedly if at all; guards not willing to slash through the lane with the ball.

They've got to bring it for 40 minutes. We should have beaten GT by 20, easily.

December 19, 2007 at 3:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

kufan1975 (anonymous) says...

to me this was the classic can't wait to get home for christmas game....i would not have been totally surprised if ku had lost....to that end....ku did win by once again not playing their best...yes we had quite a few break downs....but i am happy that the hawks are 11-0....

December 19, 2007 at 3:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

Timmay, I agree. I loved having Julian here, but I think waiting for "beast mode" was a little frustrating. He made some unbelievable plays, but those usually come at a cost.

As far as the game goes. I didn't even think it was our aggression. I thought it was our lack of control that was the problem. Almost everyone on the team had some spells where they looked really bad.

Also, I think our guards did a terrible job of finding the bigs. If they do the treadmill, I have a feeling there's going to be some people running it as a result of some missed entry pass opportunities.

December 20, 2007 at 10:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )