Thursday, December 20, 2007

Gary Bedore’s KU Basketball Notebook

Jayhawks headed back to Canada

By Gary Bedore

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Kansas University basketball fans, who love to travel to see their Jayhawks, might want to consider applying for passports in coming months.

The Jayhawks, as they did in September of 2004, will travel to Canada over the Labor Day holiday weekend (Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 2008) to play exhibition games against Canadian college teams.

The Jayhawks likely will be touring either Toronto or Ottawa, rather than Vancouver as they did in '04.

"We're in the process of trying to complete a scenario to take the team to Canada," KU coach Bill Self said. "We can do it every four years (in accordance with NCAA foreign trip rules). We think it's a good year to do it. It will be good for such a young team to be able to practice 10 days before the trip, then go and play good competition."

Self said KU's last trip to Canada was productive, especially for squad newcomers Russell Robinson, Sasha Kaun, Darnell Jackson, Alex Galindo, C.J. Giles and Matt Kleinmann.

"We had such a veteran team I didn't feel the trip was as important for Wayne (Simien), Mike (Lee), Keith (Langford) and Aaron (Miles)," Self said. "Looking at it now, it made for somewhat of a long season for those guys. But we are going to have so many young guys next year. We'll be as young as a team can be. The young guys will benefit the most."

KU has signed five players so far in recruiting: Mario Little, Markieff and Marcus Morris, Quintrell Thomas and Travis Releford with the possibility of additional signees in April.

KU senior associate athletic director Larry Keating said the Jayhawks would play three or four games on the Canadian trip.

"The rules state you can't leave campus until after class on Friday," Keating said. "We could play Saturday, play two games on Sunday and one on Monday as we did last time. It's a short trip which is why we're looking at Toronto and Ottawa."

¢ KU, UMass to tangle: Look for KU to play Massachusetts Dec. 13 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. The contract has not yet arrived in the mail, but the two sides have agreed to play. UMass, coached by Travis Ford, is off to an 8-2 start this year.

¢ Coach wins 80 percent of games: Bill Self's record at KU now stands at 116-29 following Tuesday's 71-66 victory over Georgia Tech.

That's an .800 win mark, second best in KU coaching history behind Roy Williams' .805 mark (418-101). Larry Brown is third at .754.

¢ Collins' son, girlfriend visit: Sherron Collins 8-month old son, Sherr'mari, and Collins' girlfriend, Re'Quiya Aguirre, returned to Chicago on Tuesday after their most recent trip to town.

"After the game, I was like 'Ah, he's going so he won't be home when I get back, but it'll be all right,''' Collins told SI.com. "I go home Saturday to Chicago for Christmas break so I'll see him soon. I got Christmas presents for him."

Sports Illustrated's story on Collins by Bill Trocchi is available at SI.com. The Journal-World's story on Collins and his son can be read here.

¢ Slick floor: KU's basketball players found the floor at Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum slippery during Tuesday's 71-66 victory over the Yellow Jackets.

"The guys said something about it at shootaround. I said, 'Guys you already have (made) a built-in excuse,''' Self said Wednesday on his Hawk Talk radio show. "But it was slick. Somebody cleaned it incorrectly or something. It was a skating rink out there. Guys were sliding everywhere.

"There were times Mario (Chalmers) got beat with the crossover. I'm not saying he wouldn't have got beat, but it was slick. I'm not saying anything bad about Georgia Tech, (but) I'm sure their players would tell you the same thing."

Of KU seeing a 13-point lead dip to one late, Self said: "We played not to lose instead of to win. It was good to win the game even though we didn't perform well. I'm glad we won. It's still a good win. It wasn't the way it needed to go down (at end)."

Comments

mushhawk (anonymous) says...

From the CNNSI article:
"He's playing basketball in Lawrence, Kan.," said Longstreet, Collins' high school coach. "If there's something better than that, you let me know."

Awesome quote! :)

December 20, 2007 at 5:17 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says...

I agree, mushhawk. I got all choked up on that one.

December 20, 2007 at 7:12 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

nicka (anonymous) says...

U.S. citizens need passports to go to Canada now?

December 20, 2007 at 7:59 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jpstrayer (anonymous) says...

Yes thanks to Homeland Security...

December 20, 2007 at 8:35 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

DrJHawk (anonymous) says...

U.S. citizens need a passport to go anywhere outside of the the United States since the first of January 2007. This past year, because of a backlog getting passports out to citizens traveling abroad, anyone visiting Canada, Mexico, or a Carribean nation could get away with showing proof of application. But the backlog has been cleared up and even if you just want to make a beer run to Juarez, you have to show a passport.

December 20, 2007 at 8:38 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

speedy (anonymous) says...

you are almost right!!! the latest from a trip down to mexico two days ago. as of jan. 31st,2008 you need a passport. however you can reenter the u.s. with a birth certif. and a drivers lic. until june. so said the border patrol at san luis and algadones, mex.
the thing is you can leave the u.s.a. by simply walking or driving out. mexico does not require passport or visa unless going for a longer trip.
canada does not require a passport to enter canada. you will need the passport to reenter the u.s.
last summers trip to canada required only a drivers lic. to enter. so unless they change the rules again thats the latest.

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

kc_wildfire (anonymous) says...

The Vancouver trip was a blast....what a beautiful city. Toronto and Ottawa don't get me excited though.

December 20, 2007 at 11:15 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

alexwishart (anonymous) says...

i had no idea that Sherron had such an incredible story. i think both KU and Sherron benefitted from him playing in Lawrence.

December 20, 2007 at 12:29 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

speedy (anonymous) says...

just a note too. you can go to the virgin isl. puerto rica, am samoa, midway, hawaii, or any of the terr. controlled by the usa if you do not disembark along the way,w/o a passport or doc. spring break? where are you going?

December 20, 2007 at 1:08 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

For those of you are as bored as I am!! Starting with the Arizona game (our 1st real opponent).. here are some things I've found, per 30 minutes... out of our top 8 guys in Min per Game) This is a 7 game sample which includes all of our toughest opponents so far:

Fewest Trips to the FT line - Brandon Rush (2.1) - I know he's been hurt and all, but our highest % FT shooter is on the line the least. Not good. --- Runner up? Darrell Arthur (2.7) - Regardless of whether he hits them, someone his size and athleticism needs to be drawing more fouls... get their bigs in trouble. We've been having to leave that up to Kaun, who leads the team with (5.3). For most of the opposing post players in foul trouble, we've had Sasha to thank.

Fewest Turnovers - Rush (1.5) - A good thing for Brandon, but further evidence he needs to prove that knee is better and start being more aggressive driving to the basket. --- Runner up? Kaun (1.6). His hands must not be all that terrible, huh? You can say he doesn't pass or dribble much, but neither does Arthur, who in more minutes, has fewer assists and commits (3.4) to's per 30min.

AST/TO Ratio - Robinson (2.4 to 1) - Big shocker there... to be expected. But the worst four?

Jackson (1 to 1.7)
Kaun (1 to 1.8)
Collins (1 to 1.8)
Arthur (1 to 6.3)

If this doesn't make your stomach churn, I don't know what will. First of all, what is Collins doing on this list? Foot injury or not, I hope this trend is being noticed and gets turned around soon. It's acceptable that the rest of the list is big men, but DA?? That is obsenely worse than the other bigs.

Blocked shots - (Also keeping in mind that there is assuredly a correlation between blocks and "altered" shots) --- Kaun (3.0), Arthur (1.8), all other 6 guys combined (2.8) - To say Sasha is (or "may be") our best shotblocker is the understatement of the century. Aldrich is actually the only one up there with him.

Rebounds - Jackson (8.4) This is what all 3 of our starting big men should be averaging per 30 minutes. So I still think this is KU's biggest weakness. --- Runner up - Kaun (6.7) I concede this should be more like 8.7 or 9.7, but a difference of 1.7 from the leader isn't extremely significant, either.

Foul Trouble - Arthur (4.1) I think we were all too quick to dismiss his fouling problems last year as a thing of the past. --- Runner up? Jackson (3.8) And everyone was so quick to string up Sasha for fouling too much and missing free throws... which btw, back to the zona game... Arthur (60%), Jackson (61%) and Kaun (65%).

December 20, 2007 at 2:28 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

Lebowski, I could kiss your statistical summary right on the mouth! Nice work...

December 20, 2007 at 4:52 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

scootja32 (anonymous) says...

here's my favorite stat

11-0

December 20, 2007 at 5:02 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ku98 (anonymous) says...

speedy, thanks for informing us that we don't need a passport to go to hawaii. it is one of the 50 states. do you need a passport to go to missouri?

December 20, 2007 at 7:37 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JNgohawks (anonymous) says...

Who in their right mind would want to go to Missouri?

December 20, 2007 at 8:55 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ku98 (anonymous) says...

Those who went to root for the Jayhawks at Arrowhead Stadium vs. MU...

December 20, 2007 at 9:23 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

eastTXjayhawk (anonymous) says...

we require a passport to let you enter texas, but we'll let anyone out ;-)

i'll probably have to leave town over new years, the MU stench is going to be too much to handle....

December 20, 2007 at 10:54 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

Thanks Jayceph.

That's my favorite, too Scootja32.. but it's not the most indicative of how KU is playing. Even if we are 30-somthing and 0 going into the NCAA tournament... we'll get that one loss if we don't clean some of these problems... especially rebounding, free throws, and taking care of the basketball.

December 21, 2007 at 8:55 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

speedy (anonymous) says...

ku98 i only included hawaii because it was listed on yahoo as a place people thought they might need one!!! of course i do not know where you would stop off on the way.

December 21, 2007 at 5:09 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

speedy (anonymous) says...

ku98 why would anyone want to BE in texas. the rudest people anywhere.

December 21, 2007 at 5:14 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ku98 (anonymous) says...

speedy, your last post makes no sense. I did not say anything about Texas.

December 21, 2007 at 9:44 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

lee3022 (anonymous) says...

Nice work Lebrowski. I have been watching these also but am hoping, as in most years, they improve significantly after the 4-week semester break when Coach Self installs the remainder of the offense and defense. There are game situations which expose issues and this is the perfect time to clear them up.

Sasha is getting reduced minutes this year as Jackson's increase. Jackson is the better rebounder and the better scorer. I also wonder if the fouls are less concerning because the bigs can play hard knowing there are four of them who can contribute. I also believe Cole will be getting many more minutes by tournament time.

December 23, 2007 at 1:55 a.m. ( | suggest removal )