Extra Minutes: Kansas 93, Fort Hays State 56

By Ryan Greene     Nov 6, 2007

Some thoughts…from Allen Fieldhouse

Gary Bedore, Journal-World KU men’s basketball beat writer

“It was a great game for Darrell Arthur, who looked relaxed in becoming a go-to guy for the Jayhawks. The players seemed to think they played a lot better than in the opener. It’s hard to judge what’s up in exhibition games, so I guess we’ll find out on Friday. Cole Aldrich seemed quite active in blocking a few shots. I’d rate it a solid effort for KU.”

Tom Keegan, Journal-World sports editor

“Back in the non-conference football season, when Kansas was beating up on Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp, many wondered what conclusions could be drawn from the routs. One could: The football team was fast and that speed has translated to better competition. Well, the same conclusion can be drawn about the basketball team. Bill Self clearly wants his team to sprint from start to finish. It’s a smart approach. KU has the speed and depth to wear out much more talented teams than Fort Hays State.”

Ryan Greene, KUSports.com editor

“I think the most promising single statistic to take out of the exhibition season was Mario Chalmers’ three-point shooting. When this team did well a year ago, his shooting was a major factor in that. Over the course of two preseason warmups, he was not only 7-of-9 form beyond the arc, but he was assertive. He never passed up an open deep look. Last year, it took him awhile to get that going.”

Inside the numbers

10: Russell Robinson’s 10 assists were symbolic of just how effective the three-guard lineup featuring Robinson, Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins has been through two warmup contests considering the absence of Brandon Rush. The Jayhawks ran the floor relentlessly, and Robinson did what he does best in the process – setting up teammates for easy looks.

47: KU was outrebounded by Pittsburg State last Thursday, and while some may have seen it as a meaningless statistic given the fact that KU won in easy fashion, the Jayhawks were much more aggressive and sound under the glass Tuesday, ripping down 47 boards compared to Fort Hays State’s 31.

32: Maybe the area where KU’s big men were most overlooked Tuesday night was on the defensive end. Taking full advantage of a distinct difference in height, the Jayhawks gave up no looks inside, forcing Fort Hays State to jack up 32 three-point attempts. The Tigers hit just nine of them, mostly in the second half.

20: It’d be hard to not talk about Darrell Arthur’s 20 points in a well-rounded effort. Sure, he threw down some highlight-worthy dunks on lob passes, but he also showed a nice repertoire of moves in the paint – something he said Danny Manning has been working with him on in practice. Arthur started slow from the field, but went 5-of-6 in the few second half minutes he played. He also had eight rebounds.

Just in case you missed it…

…Sherron Collins has been a spark plug offensively in each of KU’s exhibition tilts. Tonight, he helped KU atone for a slow offensive start with a couple of aggressive offensive plays, finishing with 12 points and three steals.

Hopefully you didn’t miss it…

…A big part of the reason KU could get out and run the way it did was because the guard trio of Robinson, Chalmers and Collins treated this nothing like an exhibition game. On the stat sheet, Mario Chalmers only had two floor burns credited to him, but he seemingly had five or six. The trio attacked FHSU’s overmatched backcourt and got the offense going early and often.

They said it…

Russell Robinson on the play of KU’s guard trio: “So far, so good. We’re doing a great job of sharing the ball, defensive pressure’s been great. Just gotta keep it up…It brings a lot more speed, transitions and I would imagine that’s a team’s worst nightmare because we’ve got guys like Shady, Darnell and Sasha that can run, then got guards that can push it as well. Just got to use it to our advantage.”

Russell Robinson on the extensive use of the lob pass: “We had a size advantage, and they basically had to pick their poison. They took away one thing and left the lob open, so we just did a good job of running our offense and being efficient.”

Darrell Arthur on the lob: “The lob was open this game, so I just told them to throw it up every time and I’d go get it.”

Bill Self on the play of his big men: “Our big guys, I thought, played pretty good the first half. They just missed some easy shots. But they went after the ball hard, it was primarily Darnell, Sasha and Darrell. We’ve just got to get them making those close-in shots.”

Bill Self on what his team took away from the exhibition season: “One good thing is we were able to play a lot of guys, that I thought was good. We’re not going to be able to do that from this point forward very often at all, if any, so it was good that we were able to play some guys. I do think there are certainly some areas of improvement. When we go to our bench, we’ve got to get better defensively. We’re playing young guys in that role, and they’ve got to come in and at least be as good of defenders as the guys ahead of them. They don’t have to steal the ball, but they have to make sure that they just defend actions and be sound, and we can do a better job with that. But I think it was great to get out there, do some things well and maybe get exposed in some areas, and we did, so we certainly have plenty of things to work on.”

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