Advertisement

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Extra Minutes: Texas 72, Kansas 69

By Ryan Greene

Advertisement

'Horns hook 'Hawks

The KU men's basketball team fell to the Texas Longhorns in Austin on Monday night.

Photo Gallery

KU vs. Texas

Audio clips

2007-08 Feb. 11 KU-Texas Hoops

Some thoughts...from Austin

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

"KU now cannot afford to lose again if the seniors want to win a share of the league title for the fourth straight campaign. Texas was very good the second half, especially the non "stars," though Damion James will probably be a star before it's all said and done. Gary Johnson is gonna be great as well. I think Russell Robinson is right. KU lost the game at the start of the second half."

Ryan Greene, KUSports.com editor

"I felt before the game like Damion James could be one heckuva matchup problem for KU, and he sure proved to be...for 20 minutes. James sat 17 minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls. The other Texas big men, namely Connor Atchley, were a good quick fix in keeping KU from going nuts on the scoreboard while he was gone. James played the full second half, scoring 12 of his 14 points and collecting all 13 of his rebounds in that time frame. He hit two threes in there, had a couple of dunks and was four-of-four from the line. He drove Texas' 23-12 rebounding advantage over KU in the second stanza. Justin Mason was big there, too, grabbing six of his eight caroms after halftime."

Inside the numbers

100: Connor Atchley was a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range in the first half, which helped make up for Damion James' offensive absence for much of the first 20 minutes. Speaking of three-pointers, KU hit just four of 17 attempts, making the Jayhawks just 4-of-26 from deep in the last two games - a mini-funk.

35: KU seems to play its best basketball this season when Darrell Arthur and Darnell Jackson are fed early and often on the offensive end. That happened early, but much after the half. The two were a combined 15-of-26 from the floor with 36 points, but only 11 of those tallies came after the break. Texas' interior defense clamped down after the half, allowing just nine field goal attempts between the two.

1: Texas' leading scorer - D.J. Augustin - was just 1-of-13 from the floor, but still managed 10 points. He was 8-of-10 from the free throw line, and still managed to controlled the pace of the game, turning the ball over just once. A.J. Abrams wasn't great either, going just 5-of-13 from the floor, but both were big at the line in the second half.

3: This win for Texas marked the Longhorns' third win of the season over a Top-10 team (they also beat Tennessee and UCLA). KU on the other hand hasn't defeated a team currently in the Top-25 and is 1-2 against ranked foes this year (the win being at Southern Cal). Texas, at 20-4, may have a better case at this moment for a No. 1 seed than 23-2 Kansas based on strength of schedule. Two of Texas' losses were to Top-25 teams - Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Just in case you missed it...

Bill Self said after the game that his team got 'outmanned' on the boards in the second half, and when he said it he certainly didn't mean by numbers of bodies. The Jayhawks were outrebounded by Damion James himself after the break, 13-12. Self seemed perplexed, considering that he warned his team at the break the 'Horns weren't going away on the glass after halftime.

Hopefully you didn't miss it...

Mario Chalmers' final line won't blow you away. The junior guard scored 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting and had five assists, but he wanted the ball more than anyone else in the crunch time of Monday's game and anyone watching could see it. He hit one tough three from straight away to make it a two-point game with just over 30 seconds to play, then fought to get a last-second glance at the bucket. It missed long, but Chalmers stayed defiant, claiming after the game he still strongly believes KU is the favorite in the Big 12 race. If you didn't believe he's the go-to guy, Monday should have helped make you a believer.

They said it...

Darrell Arthur on Damion James: "He came in the second half hot. He got two quick fouls in the first half, came out extra aggressive in the second half, made some big plays for them."

Darrell Arthur on how Texas cut down on KU's offensive production in the second half: "They chopped the posts a lot. It was hard to score down low in the second half. We still had opportunities to score, good shots. We just didn't knock them down. Second half, nothing was going our way. They played real good the second half."

Mario Chalmers on losing after holding D.J. Augustin to just one made field goal: "I think it's very frustrating. He's the key to their team, and we did a good job on him and A.J. It was just their other players that killed us in the end."

Mario Chalmers on the last play: "I think it was just a mix-up with us. We were trying to run a play at the end and we just didn't execute it to perfection, that was it."

Mario Chalmers on the Big 12 race: "It's very wide open. We've got a couple more games and we've got to keep playing our ball and keep focused and keep winning...We're still the favorite. That's what's in our minds, we think we're the favorite, we think we're the best team in the conference still."

Mario Chalmers on what was missing in the game for KU: "I think what was missing was stops down late in the game. We had a couple of rebounds that we missed at the end that could have helped us win the game, but sometimes stuff like that happens and we've just got to do a better job of not letting it happen."

Mario Chalmers on A.J. Abrams' block of Brandon Rush: "He was wide open, I don't know how A.J. got back. But that was a big play for A.J. and a big play for Texas."

Bill Self on Texas' big men Connor Atchley and Damion James: "It surprises anybody when guys go 4-for-4 from three, I mean even guards don't do that all the time. He's a good shooter. And Damion had a chance to sit on that bench the first half and boil a little bit because he wants to be out there and come out and just kicked our butts the second half."

Bill Self on getting outrebounded in the second half: "I think that they just outmanned us the second half. It does surprise me because that was all we talked about at halftime that they would come and really get after the glass, because you know Rick looked at the rebounding stats at halftime and mounded their butt, so that was the focus and we talked about that at halftime and our guys didn't respond to their aggressiveness, and our guards just did a really poor jobs blocking off in the second half. I thought Mason, of all the guys who were their best rebounders in the second half, I thought it was Mason."

Bill Self on A.J. Abrams' block on Brandon Rush: "He was open. We had a good look, we weren't necessarily trying to shoot a three there. We have a couple options off a little play we run, but he was open, Brandon took his time getting it off and A.J. did a nice job of closing. A really nice job."

Bill Self on his team's defense: "I thought (Augustin) got in the paint too much, but he's not gonna go 1-for-13 (a lot). So obviously I can't be upset with our on-the-ball defense with him, but he controls the whole game and the pace of the game, and I thought we did a pretty good job on him. I actually thought we did a good job on A.J. after the game started, after the first 10 minutes, but we just did a real poor job on Atchley, and Damion's a hard matchup, because if he's gonna step out and hit threes and he's gonna put it on the deck and get past you, that's a hard matchup. We did a real poor job on Mason and Damion the second half rebounding the ball."

Bill Self on the final play: "It was a bad possession. We had something we wanted to run, we took the ball to the wrong side of the floor and it killed the play. And those things unfortunately happen. We had enough time to do it, eight seconds is enough time to do it."

KU vs. Texas

More like this

Comments

yates33333 (anonymous) says...

I wonder if KU is tiring out with all the defensive practice they are supposedly having. Something has happened to the guard play. Surely Big 12 guards aren't any better or at least that much better than the guards from major universities' non-conference teams. Supposedly your shot suffers as your legs grow weary.

February 12, 2008 at 6:48 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Timmay97 (anonymous) says...

KU put up a good effort. I'm more concerned about our perimeter shooting than anything else. Rush is always consistant and for the most part Chalmers. But we need more from Collins beyond the arc. That hurt us last night. We got away with it against Baylor.

I'm hardly concerned about this game. It's one loss, regardless who it's to. We didn't play bad. We played in a hostile environment. Most people will say that KU hasn't beaten a REALLY good team. Well, we've played every good team on the road. Playing road conference games on national TV isn't the easiest thing in the world in a hostile environment (ask Texas aganst Iowa State).

All will be forgotten when we blow out K-State in a couple of weeks. Saturday night baby! Vitale and the gang are going to watch how good KU really is.

Great game Hawks! Bounce back on Saturday!

February 12, 2008 at 7:30 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

bobsarobot (anonymous) says...

i was very disappointed by the loss because it seemed to be a game where we could get a tough win when both teams were really fighting it out. texas took full advantage of loose balls and quirky rebounds while KU (in the first half mainly) was sloppy with the ball. yeah, we played pretty well and fought to get the lead at the half but when things were going our way for several minutes in the middle of the first half our guys would be sloppy with ball. texas would turn it over on offense and we forced fast breaks which were not there and let too many opportunities go to waste. it was as if our guys thought they'd be getting more and more chances at fast breaks from steals that a few missed buckets wouldn't matter. they did. they always do in games like that. we could have been up by 8 at the half. let's just bounce back and get in shape for the tournament so these kinds of games do not happen when it is one and done.

February 12, 2008 at 7:59 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

danimal33 (anonymous) says...

I think the most frustrating thing for me is when our guards go flying through the lane, out of control, not knowing what the hell they are going to do with the ball. Too many times do they do this and either end up getting called for the charge, throwing up a bad shot, or turning it over. If they would just settle down and attack the basket under control, they would be a lot more successful in getting open looks and connecting on more shots. I'm getting tired of watching this team underperform in big game situations. It's like we got exposed against KSUck and we haven't been ourselves since then. Self needs to find a way to rally the troops and get everybody firing on all cylinders before tourney time or we'll be going home early again. You just can't play like we have been the last 4 games and expect to win.

February 12, 2008 at 8:21 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

KU is increasingly a tale of two teams.

There is the deep KU team that can run the butts off of decent opponents. This is a team with four bigs, a three with a swing back up, and four guards.

But there is also the shallow team that wears out trying to play 7 man run against good opponents. It has only 3 bigs. It has only one three. And it has only 3 guards.

Against Texas, Baylor and KSU, the shallow team is 1-2. It beat a Baylor team that tried to run with numbers against it. KU played seven man run and managed to outscore Baylor, but it was too tired to out defend it. Against Texas, seven man run caught with KU. Playing only seven in a high scoring running game vs. Baylor meant the seven would tire out in the second half against a tough, physical, pick happy Texas team.

Interestingly, against the rest of the lesser schedule, the deep team is 22-0. The deep team is exceptional at keeping KU fresh and able to play withering defense, gain a big edge in strips and keep the legs fresh enough that the three point jump shooting percentage stays high most of the time.

In contradistinction, as my old KU professors used to say, the shallow team tries to play the withering defense, but gets tired. Its legs get so rubbery that it can't shoot threes and doesn't even try that many. The shallow team gets worn out by opponents that really make them fight through a lot of picks on defense--like Texas and KSU.

Right now, Coach Self goes to the shallow team against all good opponents. Unfortunately, he keeps them trying to play 7 man run and half court offensive sets that don't wear down an opponent with picks. At the same time, the opponent plays motion offenses full of picks. The shallow opponent also keeps the game at a pace that they are used to playing...with only 7, or sometimes even 8 or 9 players.

All is not lost. There are many ways to go here. KU can go back to the deep team and take its lumps while the lesser players are playing, but keep its legs for a full game.

Or Self can stay with the shallow team, keep playing seven man run, and play a lot more zone to save their legs for transition.

Or Self can stay with the shallow team and play half court basketball the way all the other seven man teams do. He'll have to install a motion offense, though.

But he has to do something.

The magnificient seven are wearing down.

The lesser players that were given experience early are getting rusty and looking less effective in the few minutes we see them.

The season is at the tipping point now. KSU, Baylor and Texas have all revealled the Achilles heel of this KU team: they can't play full tilt boogie for an entire game with only 7 guys.

The question now is can the wily old coach find a way to mask this weakness, too.

Or are we destined to win the next couple against weak opponents and then get beat by top teams the rest of the way?

February 12, 2008 at 9:02 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jackhawk (anonymous) says...

My gawd, we lose a game by one basket on the floor of the number 11 ranked team in the nation and all you guys can write about is how this team and its coach is a complete failure. You all act like we are the only team in the country to ever lose a tough game on the other team's floor. Stop your whining and enjoy watching one of the great teams in the country attempt (usually successfully) to fight off what is always the opponent's best shot of the season. It's great to be a Jayhawk even when we have a very, very rare loss.

February 12, 2008 at 9:23 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jhawkerman (anonymous) says...

I see two big problems with this extremely talented team. We are horrible on blocking out on rebounding, and we are becoming one demential on offense ( get it inside is great but you have to have an outside game to open up the inside also and we seem to lack the ability to adapt to the change in defenses ). I love our team I just dont love our decisions at times ...

February 12, 2008 at 9:29 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

soobawls (anonymous) says...

Jack - One of the greatest teams in the country? hahahahahaha We have beaten NO ONE this year. 0-2 vs the top 25 my dimwitted friend. We have one conference victory over a team with a winning record. ONE. the Jayhawks played like they had never practiced together. Do you even watch the games? Do you follow college basketball? If not, start paying attention. If so, you are an idiot. Get back to me when Self has coached us into half a dozen more first round flameouts to teams that 10 seeds below us.

February 12, 2008 at 10:02 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

beebe1 (anonymous) says...

You guys are very technical and analyze the situation well. But as a spectator, the thing that bothered me was poor judgment. A couple (?) of guards would charge the rim, headed for a group of three defenders, and have them take the ball away from him. Don't want to pick a guy out, but Collins did that last year against UCLA; others may have done it too. Collins got his act together when he charged the rim and defenders, but stopped soon enough to pass out for a better shot! Nobody did it last night, and that one little detail cost us the game.

February 12, 2008 at 11:35 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KWufan (anonymous) says...

Soobawls. Please don't call anyone else an idiot because they have an opinion that's different than yours. You can't argue with the fact we don't have a win over a top team or winning BIG 12 team, but as you said, watch some college basketball. TEXAS is playing very well right now, just got Gary Johnson back from semester. K-STATE is playing as well as they can possible play and Frank Martin is pretty slick, I think he may be a fairly smart coach. Also, look at NC, yes I said it. Not only do they lose at HOME, but they struggled to not lose at HOME 2 times in a row. Now as for our problems. Pure laziness. Mario, next time you see a shot go up, turn your head and find someone to block out, same for you RussRob. No biggie, sometimes you forget and good teams will make you pay. Yes, the guards are over-penetrating but, hey that's the way we play, aggressive. Will it help us win it all to play that way, only time will tell. But we have lost to 2 top teams that have gotten better in the last few months, give them some credit for winning some big time games like when we beat Texas in the big 12 during the boys' freshman year. And if anyone thinks Bill is the problem, I'm sorry, he's not. You get taught fundamentals from day one and these are growing young men, maybe they should take the blame for not winning the game they just played poorly in.

February 12, 2008 at 11:59 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

bhann (anonymous) says...

KU played a soft schedule early and they are paying for it. They have not beat a a top 25 team. Maybe it is time for some of these so "pro" players to play on both ends of the court?? Big players, ones who are going pro, show up game after game. Not Ku players, they are so up and down. What made the past KU teams great? One, they stayed for 4 years and got an eduecation. 2. They didn't have big egos as so many of these players have today. 3. They played as a team. KU has a few players that are worried about the "box score" and not the final result!! I love KU basketball, but I am sick and tired of all the "talent" and no NCAA Championships!!

February 12, 2008 at 12:56 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Timmay97 (anonymous) says...

bhann, did you really just say that KU doesn't play as a team? You're right, we don't have almost 5 guys averaging double figures. We don't have anyone in the top 5 in scoring in the Big 12, or rebounding. KU is probably the best T E A M in the country.

Take a look around the country and see how tough a time these teams are having playing on the road in conference. Did anyone see that UCLA lost to Washington on the road? KU lost to a good team on the road. Yes, it would be nice to win the game, but are they in any kind of trouble. Hell no!

Remember, the NCAA tourney is played on neutral courts. And if anyone is going to have an advantage, it's going to be KU, being they will be a high seed. Relax! Games like last night don't mean anything in the big picture. It's all about a 6 game winning streak in the NCAA tourney. And I think we have the talent to do it.

There are always what ifs throughout a basketball game. What if Atchley didn't go 4-4 from three. What if KU hit more outside jumpers. You win some, you lose some. It's not like we got blown out. Plus, I did see one great thing! we officially have our goto guy at the end of games.....Mr. Chalmers! I don't know about you, but I don't mind him having the ball at the end of a game.

February 12, 2008 at 1:47 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

mesapache (anonymous) says...

I don't understand why everyone is up in arms over the 2nd loss of the season. That means KU has only lost 2 games. Why panick? They will be in the dance, that is when it really counts, right?
Relax, get off their backs. The guys are playing hard and trying to win, sometimes it just doesn't work out.

February 12, 2008 at 1:58 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bigman (anonymous) says...

The glue man or the unglue man russell robinson..cannot make a bucket cannot finsih when driving to the whole and terrible passing every game.....enough said

February 12, 2008 at 2:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bhann (anonymous) says...

Timmay97-Chambers? A go to guy?? r u nuts!! Go do guys don't wait until 5 minutes left in the game to start taking the ball to the hoop. He has gotten beat many times on defense also. As a team, we DIDN'T box out. We have 3 guys that are so much better shooting % than Chambers.

The BEST team in the county WINS, no excuses!! ku is full of excuses, from our spoiled fans to coaches. We have talent, but do we win the NCAA Championship?

Chambers, along with others, need to look at FILM from PAST KU greats. They HUSTLE on the floor, they knew how to WIN, and thet won on the ROAD.

We have national Championship ability, but we have little "HEART" to win with defense, and rebounding!!

February 12, 2008 at 2:43 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jacobpaul81 (anonymous) says...

Russell has had two off nights all season. Guess which two games we lost.

I sadly, did not get to watch this game, or i'd have comments to make about the game directly.

One thing I've noticed, our guards are a little slower than they've been previous years. There are a lot of very young, very quick guards in the Big 12, and they are making things hard on on our older guards. In the Baylor game, the guards ran circles around us (except for Senior Aaron Bruce).

I remember Vaughn having similar issues his Senior season. He was this amazing defender for 2-3 years, then all the sudden, he was struggling to stop the dribble drive. The young guards on other teams had a step on him. Russell and Mario aren't struggling against Senior players. It's against freshman and sophomores. They just need to work out some kinks, figure out how to out smart the slightly quicker young guys, and things will be just fine.

Of course, if anyone, and i mean ANYONE, could hit a few outside shots, that'd help.

February 12, 2008 at 2:51 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bobsarobot (anonymous) says...

bhann and soobawls sound like k-state/mizzou fans posting on the LJW. bhann called mario "Chambers" about five times in his incoherent rant. let's just enjoy the season, we lost to a very hot texas team due mostly to a 5+ minute stretch in the latter half of the second half where we didn't make a bucket or free throw. tough loss, we will bounce back, we will beat bhann's wildcats in lawrence and all will be fine again. don't let these jackballs get you all worked up over their posts, they will be silenced (or change their screen names) before too long.

February 12, 2008 at 3:26 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bhann (anonymous) says...

bobsarobo--U R sooooo wrong, I am a big KU fan, who has the desire for KU to win a national championship. Look at some facts!

1. KU sos-strenght of schedule is 31st and they are 5-2 in teams ranked 51-100, 0-2 in the teams that are in the top 25.

2. KU has NOT won the NCAA Championship since 1988. Do the math on how many years that has been.

3. How many true pro players, ones that are playing and not sitting the pine or got cut, have been on KU's team since 1988, but yet no ncaa champioship!

4. "To much is given, much is expected!!" KU has been given MUCH talent and it it time to win and quit making excuses!!!

5.. Big Time players show up game after game. They WANT the ball and they produse at the end. How many Big time/Pro-players we have that truley want the ball and deliver with a great shot, steal, rebound block, etcc??

February 12, 2008 at 4:02 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

"KU now cannot afford to lose again if the seniors want to win a share of the league title for the fourth straight campaign."--Gary Bedore

go out on a limb, gary.

"i felt before the game like Damion James could be one heckuva matchup problem for KU, and he sure proved to be..."--Ryan Greene

write these bull bisquits before the game, ryan, if you can foresee the future!

"They chopped the posts a lot. It was hard to score down low in the second half. "--Darrell Arthur

how 'bout you chop their posts, if it works so well, darrell? and what the heck is "chopping a post?"

"...and Damion's a hard matchup, because if he's gonna step out and hit threes and he's gonna put it on the deck and get past you, that's a hard matchup."--Bill Self

since when is guarding a guy where ever he shoots from a hard match-up, bill?

i've never read so much stupid FECES from KU people after a loss in my life.

Get a grip people, we've got a conference title and conference tourney title to win.

Stop babbling like Bambi caught in headlights.

Lebowski, where are you? Bring some of your good sense to this discussion. I don't care if its to ream me a new one. I can't bear knowledgeable KU people talking about the game this way.

Help me, help me, help me, I think I'm goin' insane!!!!

February 12, 2008 at 9:30 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Gillispie soon to join John Brady and Maury John?

UK got beat by Vandy by 40 some. Pitiful.

February 12, 2008 at 11:36 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Sampson Gives Good Phone...Too Good...Again...Like at OU.

Soon to be out at IU?

Will he replace Pat Knight at TTECH?

Is Bobby going back to clean up IU?

Kelvin Sampson...iPhone coach of the year.

February 12, 2008 at 11:41 p.m. ( | suggest removal )