Advertisement

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Extra Minutes: Kansas 75, Iowa State 64

By Ryan Greene

Advertisement

Jayhawks twist up Cyclones

Winning on the road has been easier said than done lately for the Kansas men's basketball team. KU hit the road on Wednesday night to take on Iowa State.

Useless trivia from Allen Fieldhouse

Useless trivia with Kevin and Andrew.

Statue takes brunt of rivalry

This weekend the rivalry between KU and K-State heats up again when the Wildcats come to town, but one Lawrence man hopes the rivalry won't boil over into his front yard again.

Photo Gallery

KU vs. ISU

Audio clips

2007-08 Feb. 27 KU-ISU Hoops

Some thoughts...from Ames

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

KU fans had to be biting their nails when the Jayhawks' 22-point lead dipped to nine the second half. The lead actually was cut in half in just two minutes which has to be some kind of record. But Mario Chalmers righted the ship with a three to up the lead back to 12. Arthur put up 18 shots which might be about as many as he needs to take. The closer to the hoop the better for him, yet his biggest bucket was a 15-footer that upped a six-point lead to eight. It was not all smooth sailing, but KU will take it. As Bill Self said, many Jayhawk teams have lost in Ames. This KU team won and will take it and move on to Saturday."

Tom Keegan, Journal-World sports editor

"When Darrell Arthur plays a lot, he scores a lot. When he fouls a lot, he sits a lot. He played a lot and scored a lot. It sounds so simple, but Arthur so often makes it look so hard. In the three games he has played at least 30 minutes, he has averaged 20.3 points. Kansas has a go-to scorer, but only when he's on the court."

Ryan Greene, KUSports.com editor

"Bill Self hammered home the point early in the non-conference season that his team needed to work its offense through the big men. That principle needed to be driven home yet again against Iowa State. And eureka, the ball went through Darrell Arthur mostly (who said it was the first time in Big 12 play he'd seen one-on-one coverage) and everything fell into place. Arthur not only bounced back from his worst game of the season with a solid 18-point, 10-rebound showing, but it opened up three-point looks for Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers, who both went 3-of-4 from deep. There's still lots to do to get this team back to where it was on a consistent basis, but this was a good step in the right direction. Now comes the big one - K-State on Saturday."

Inside the numbers

18: Darrell Arthur scored 18 points and took a season-high 18 shots for the Jayhawks, and it looked like that should become the norm for KU establishing its offense. KU worked the ball to Arthur on its first two possessions, which resulted in him scoring one bucket. But after that, things just fell in place offensively for KU, which opened up a 13-point halftime lead. Arthur was again integral in helping KU keep Iowa State from completing a full-circle comeback in the second half.

7: KU helped push the spread in the second half in large part because of the three-point shot. The Jayhawks were 7-of-11 from deep, giving them their best single-game percentage of the season. Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush were each 3-of-4. Chalmers' straight-on three-pointer after Iowa State cut KU's lead to nine late in the second half ultimately sealed up any hopes the 'Clones had of a full-on comeback.

3: Russell Robinson had a great line outside of the scoring column. For the fourth straight game he didn't score in double figures, but the senior guard had a career-high 10 rebounds (nine on the defensive glass) and also had five assists. His two turnovers came in the game's closing minutes with the outcome all but decided.

2: Part of the reason things went so smooth for the Jayhawks' in a quick first half was that the they were whistled for just two personal fouls. The first infraction did not come until the 6:35 mark, and deserving credit is Darrell Arthur. He had four fouls, but was never in serious foul trouble, which allowed him to play the 31 minutes Bill Self desires to be the norm.

18: A promising sign for KU was the 18 minutes played by Sherron Collins. The sophomore spark off the bench played 11 ineffective minutes Saturday in a 61-60 loss to Oklahoma State, but Wednesday took a step towards looking like the Sherron of old - again - in playing solid ball for the most part. He scored seven points and helped KU not skip a beat when the starters needed breathers. Self said he thinks Collins is still a good way away from 100 percent.

Just in case you missed it...

In the absence of Rodrick Stewart, who was in Seattle for his brother's funeral, the thought was that Tyrel Reed or Jeremy Case could see some legitimate minutes. Self even said a couple weeks back that Reed could be moving past Stewart for the fifth backcourt spot in the rotation. Reed and Case both spent the night on the bench and neither entered the game.

Hopefully you didn't miss it...

The Jayhawks didn't lose poise or focus in the second half when Iowa State worked big Jayhawk leads down to six and nine points at different junctures. In response to the first one, KU came out and busted off an 8-0 run keyed by a 17-foot Darrell Arthur jumper. The second time, Mario Chalmers hit a huge straight-on three to stick the dagger in ISU's comeback hopes. In hindsight, the Jayhawks were never in serious danger of losing this game.

They said it...

Bill Self on whether the ship needed to be righted Wednesday: "I think when you're 24-3, you shouldn't be able to say that the ship needs righting, but our players all know that it did. We felt it did, too. I don't know if we did or not, only time will tell, but we were a better team tonight than we were the last 2-3 weeks...I do think this is big, but I don't think that we're back where we were. I don't think you go from playing poor to playing great consistently. I think it's still a process, and it was a great start."

Bill Self on Darrell Arthur's play and his influence on the game's outcome: "We don't talk about it being a calming force, but certainly the team has more confidence when you have your best players in the game the majority of the minutes...I think we've got really good players, but our players are a lot better if things come to them rather than go force the issue. And playing through Shady on the post is great for our team. Also, running and trying to get easy baskets is great for our team, but also getting the ball to the third side a lot is great for our team. We have been impatient of late because I think individuals are saying 'I need to go make a play' as opposed to thinking 'We need to go have a great possession.'

Bill Self on Sherron Collins: "Oh, he was better than Saturday. He's still a shadow of himself, but that's by far the best he's moved since he's been with us, playing the last three weeks. He's not close to being himself, hopefully that bruise will continue to get better, the doctors say it's just time away, so hopefully that's the case. He says he's feeling better."

Bill Self on getting ready for Saturday's game with K-State: "The thing about it is Saturday night, I think our guys will be as excited to play as they have all year - I hope not too excited. I think K-State guys will be excited to play. I think Gameday adds to the excitement probably for both teams, because it's gonna be a hyped up game and all that stuff. But the bottom line is they handled us the first time. And that, right there, in itself, our players know they handled us, there's no other way to sugarcoat it, that will be great motivation...I would be totally disappointed if - we may not play great, who knows, but I'd be totally disappointed if it wasn't an unbelievable effort game for us...a great effort game for us."

Bill Self on preparing for Kansas State: "If you go back and watch the tape, (Jacob Pullen) made eight free throws in the last two minutes. Even though he got 20, he played well, he was the best guard in the game, without question. He was the best guard in the game. And I think we have better players than that and hopefully we'll do a better job trying to contain him, but it's kind of a unique situation, watching tape for the next two days. Teams have struggled playing them one way, they've had success playing them the same way. Teams have had success guarding them one way, then if you guard Beasley and Walker one-on-one, they can go for 75. But Baylor won. We double-teamed Beasley a lot, they kicked our butt. There's gonna be some thinking going on on how's the best way to defend them."

Sherron Collins on the health of his knee: "It's getting better. I didn't like (the brace) either, but the first couple of times I wore it it was for support and help. But now, that's turned around here a little bit, so I don't have to wear it...I just couldn't open it up and turn it into that second gear. It's coming back, it won't be too long. I won't know how long it will be, but at the rate it's getting better at now, it won't be too long...I think I'm healthy enough to be the spark off the bench. Because of the injury, stuff doesn't go well and I'm not at full speed and I can't really do what I want to do, but I think I'm able to be that spark."

Darrell Arthur on working the offense through the post: "Yeah, we got to the post a lot, we had a lot of mismatches down there. They had Wesley (Johnson) playing the four, so we just attacked him down low. He usually plays the two or the three, so we just saw the opportunity to attack...We were going inside and out, so if they trapped the posts we were going to kick it out, but if we had one-on-one situations, they wanted us to take them, so that's basically what we did the whole game...That was the first time (I've played one-on-one) in awhile. I don't even remember (the last time). They never trapped the posts or anything."

Mario Chalmers on the three-point shooting: "I think it was just having the confidence to take the open shot when you have it. I think a lot of people have been hesitating a little bit lately, and today the coaches were just like 'let it fly,' so we did that."

KU vs. ISU

More like this

Comments

jross1972 (Joe Ross) says...

Noah warned of danger and it fell on deaf ears.

Listen to the words now of a dedicated, long-time (as in longer than some of you have been alive) fan: KU is in danger.

It is now March and this team is not playing together. The time to get this figured out was two or three games ago. Good enough to make it to the Elite 8, perhaps...but I think Coach Self will once again stall out by that point.

And its really tragic too, because we were playing together prior to the KSU loss and looking like a team that couldnt threaten to win a title. Im just disappointed as all get-out. Where is the passion on the court?

Will somebody tell me WHERE?

February 28, 2008 at 3:45 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Timmay97 (anonymous) says...

jross.....you will see the passion on Saturday night. This game will be a wakeup call for KU. Call me crazy.....I don't think KU is going to beat K-State, I think they are going to trounce them! These kids will play with a chip on their shoulder. They have played on College Gameday's (ESPN) before......they know who's watching and more importantly, they are pissed!

i expect a BIG game from Chalmers, Rush and Arthur. Just typing this is getting me pumped up! I'll be screaming at the TV come Saturday night!

go jayhawks!

February 28, 2008 at 7:23 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Kirk (anonymous) says...

Jeez, KU had BETTER play on fire against KState, who guaranteed a win before beating Kansas (handily) in Manhattan.

I'm worried about AFTER Saturday. Do we revert to playing "without energy"?

I'm hopeful but doubtful. We'll see. This is a team that in December everybody on this site thought was one of the best Jayhawk teams of all time. Anybody think that now?

Great teams have poise and mental toughness. We'll see.

February 28, 2008 at 7:31 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

SDSurferFan (anonymous) says...

I just started reading this chat room stuff this season and I can tell you it is a little depressing. I would hate to see what this site had said when the team was losing more games. For Phogs sake- they are 25-3. Two of the losses by a total of 3 points. 3 of them- all on the road in conference. 2 against very good opponents who plan their seasons around the JayHawks.

They are fine. Jross back away from falling on your sword.

Last night's win could have been easily by 20, would that have been better?

I think KU totally dominated. Yeah, it wasn't a 30 pt win on the road in conference, but who does that anyway? Memphis..I guess. If it wasn't for a couple of runs by ISU (shooting 23 3's) then it would have been a blow out.
They rebounded with intensity as well. RR had a career high, we had 11 Off reebs, and 41 overall. I saw guys diving on the floor, scraping, the ESPN announcer commented on the paint being no place for the weak in this game, etc.

KU is not in danger. Has there been some tough losses....yes. Are they fatal....no. The team will be just fine!!

Now, with that said, here are my concerns.

1. Collins needs to be a factor. Please heal quickly.
2. Brandon needs to take it to the rim more. I agree with a lot of people on this site talking about him waiting for his three.
3. Keep giving it to Shady.

Other than that, come Tourney time, they will be tough to beat.

February 28, 2008 at 7:58 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

patton6 (anonymous) says...

jross - I'm pretty sure it's still February.

And if you didn't think they played together last night, I'm not sure what you're looking for - 14 assists on 27 field goals.

Was it the best game the've ever played and national title worthy? Highly doubtful. But they took smart shots, generally played good defense and always kept them at arm's length in a tough environment.

If they hadn't loss and prompted us all to over-scrutinize this game, you would have thought nothing of it. That said, I do agree with you that we will need to see more overall energy and poise to cut the nets in San Antonio.

February 28, 2008 at 7:59 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

truehawkfan (anonymous) says...

Sorry guys, I am with jross on this. Yes, they played better last night. However, our perimeter defense let us down in the 2nd half. Our intensity, passion, emotion, is gone. It showed signs last night, but during the game, you look at our players faces, and Brandon is smiling, laughing about a miss or something, and no one has that look in their eye that want to kill someone. RR showed heart and hustle, but there was no one to cheer him on and say, yeah baby, great hustle, lets go!!! You can't just expect a team to all of a sudden say, OK, its time. You have to play like that with some consistency in order for that to be effective. I cannot handle this mediocrity from a team that has shown the ability to be the best KU team in a long while. I always had pride in KU's hustle, and nastiness. I can't say that anymore. In order to win championships, you must have a little nastiness, and have those players who don't care if they get hurt. Until those players magically appear, I feel this team will exit the tournament fairly early. Sorry, just my opinion.

February 28, 2008 at 9:12 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

okjhok (anonymous) says...

I think you guys are right in that KU doesn't have a killer instinct in them, but this group has never had it, so I don't know why you expect them to show it now. It takes a run of six solid games, mixed in with some luck, to take a title. You can get upset and depressed that this team doesn't have any "heart" or "passion" or "nastiness" or you can enjoy watching a team play some pretty damn good ball and hope for the best come tourney time, 'cause I don't think there's another team out there right now that has a better chance than KU (equal, but not better).

February 28, 2008 at 9:47 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

63Jayhawk (anonymous) says...

I hate it when the team loses the second half. We lost it by 2 points last night. We should ALWAYS win the second half!

February 28, 2008 at 9:56 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

dagger108 (anonymous) says...

ISU is a bottom dweller in the Big XII, and .500 overall. They have a 2/3 playing the 4 (per DA) and mediocre PG. We exploited those two deficiencies in particular - sounds a lot like the pre-season. The officials also let the teams play a lot (per the announcers and watching) resulting in just 2 fouls in the first half and Shady remaining in the game.

It seems to me that the reason KU fans are concerned is because the same deficiencies have been a downfall in the 3 losses. A decent PG breaks down our defense, the frontline helps and either collects fouls (exit stage left) or gives up easy baskets. Also, a 4/5 that can step outside and hit a 3 results in 75%.

IMO tho, the bigger issue is the attitude that has come out in a couple quotes after the losses. RR's delusional "We can turn it on any time, and "Mario's, "We're still the champs." Well Hello. This is a new season and there have been no championships given out in advance. Not only do you have to earn championships by doing more than putting on a uni, but we have also completely played our way out of this championship. Maybe they can get a cup of Joe (a nice big celebration by UT when they receive their BigXII championship trophy) and wake up completely before the BigXII & National tourney.

Talent and effort will take you past lesser opponents, but the effort has to be taken to a much greater level as the competition increases. Pre-season championship are just hype.

February 28, 2008 at 10:01 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jhawkerman (anonymous) says...

Can we get these refs for the KU vs ksu game? I love to see the team play without the refs getting involved every 20 seconds ...

February 28, 2008 at 10:09 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

truehawkfan (anonymous) says...

Very well said dagger108. You have hit the nail on the head. So many people have said to just accept this team for what it is and hope for the best, face the fact they are not a team that plays with emotion and enjoy some good basketball. We have the talent, and have shown we CAN play with effort, but you just can't flip a switch and expect it to turn on. We have the ability to go very deep, but we have to add the effort to our talent in order to do this.

February 28, 2008 at 10:10 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

klineisanazi (anonymous) says...

Hey Noah, you need a calendar.

February 28, 2008 at 10:36 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

smitty33 (anonymous) says...

Great call Kline, March is this Saturday. In like a lamb, out like a lion in early April with the championship.

We start our run this Saturday. Coach Self needs to lead the vocal way for this team without a 'voice'. I'm on the bandwagon, U?

Jross and all you pessimists, the Downer Debbie wagon awaits. Just kiddin.

Rock Chalk, believe, get fired up.

PS - Is Manning gonna make the top 8 of the Best College players of all time? Probably not giving that Chamberlain was #10.

February 28, 2008 at 11:50 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JQSteel (anonymous) says...

Part 1 - I don't see anyone talking about our strength of schedule, it's in the 60's. Teams in the top 10 have much better strength of schedules than ours. We lost to 2 Ranked teams(Texas and K-State) beat a weak Boston College team and a streaky USC team (at the time we played them). I'm not sure this team has enough quality wins to make it to the final four. After watching the past 10 years this may be the most talented team but something is missing, a great quality win against a real team. Hopefully they get payback at Wildcats and Longhorns.

Part 2 - What I think we need to win it all!

The team is balanced but without someone stepping up in the tournament, we are doomed. There is no way they can beat a UCONN or a DUKE team without 2 players having great games! i'll say this now, if rush wants his stock to go up and see the hawks win it all, he has to have a 18-20 game ncaa tournament averagel. He can drive, he can shoot, and he was big 12 player at defense not too long ago. Rush, stop passing the ball when your open and take charge. I think he forgot his potential but it just may come down to that he's scared he'll hurt his knee and ruin his NBA chances.

February 28, 2008 at 3:17 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawkdan42 (anonymous) says...

My biggest concern at this point is our total inability to guard the three. If we don't fix this glaring weakness anybody that's hot can beat this team.

February 28, 2008 at 3:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

cobweb (anonymous) says...

If Brandon Rush is a lottery pick, I'm Bill Gates. Rush needs to get half as excited to score in an important ballgame as he gets hustling sorority girls. We could win it all.

February 28, 2008 at 3:46 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

jhawkdan... what's it going to be? Guard the three? Or take away the dribble drive? It's not so easy to do both.

Sometimes people hit their 3's, guarded or not. It's not glaring. Stopping the guards from dribble-penetration is the biggest defensive weakness KU has shown, in my opinion... and the effort to do that has led to a few open treys.

Jross... noah's warning was passed down to him from God... I hope you're not saying you've got the same source!

Probably all of us are not liking the way KU is playing atm... but honestly, I really don't care if we're inconsistent and struggling right up to the opening round. There's only 6 games that matter. It doesn't matter how good or bad you feel about yourself going into those 6 games.

It's the bullpen phenomenon. As a starting pitcher, I'd throw in the bullpen for a few minutes. How I looked in the bullpen had almost an opposite bearing on how I'd pitch in the game. If I arm felt especially live, my curve was snapping and my velocity was up, it was anybody's guess how I'd throw. But if my mechanics were all jacked to hell and every curve was in the dirt... I felt like I had a real good chance to shut them down.

If I had to pick, I'd rather KU be struggling going into the tourney over them having a false sense of security.

February 28, 2008 at 3:57 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawkdan42 (anonymous) says...

Lebowski-agreed stopping the dribble drive is also lacking but if our guards get beat at least their is a chance one of our bigs will help out. Giving up a three does 2 things( one is obvious, 1 extra point) the second thing is the huge lift it gives that team, especially on the road. If I can only stop 1, stop the trey and I'll take my chances trading 2's ! GO Hawks! Spank the puddy cats

February 28, 2008 at 4:07 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Godisajayhawk (anonymous) says...

Really insightful comment cobweb

February 28, 2008 at 4:07 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

cobweb (anonymous) says...

Sorry. The guy drives me crazy.

February 28, 2008 at 4:16 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

txrockchalk (anonymous) says...

Love the handle, Godisajayhawk. Welcome to the board.

February 28, 2008 at 4:20 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

mtjayhawk (anonymous) says...

Did anybody else notice the improvement on Rush's dribble penetration for the short jumpers instead of just standing in the corner waiting for something to happen?

Even though he missed a few of the short jumpers, I was at least impressed that he was active in the game for a change.

That's been the biggest problem with this team this year...we get a couple of guys who are simply disengaged from the game. And why coaches (not just Self) can't see it, is beyond me. I've told numerous people I'm surprised basketball doesn't have a "coach in the box" like football. The perspective is completely different than on the floor and would really help. Hell, I'm willing to donate the cost of a couple of FRS radios to the cause if they'd like to try it!

February 28, 2008 at 5:07 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

smitty33 (anonymous) says...

mtjayhawk,
Yes I remember Rush driving about 10 times in the past 3 games. I remember 6 of his 'running jumpers' bouncing off the rim. I also remember about 2 turnovers. 2 for 10 were made baskets, not so good. He needs to drive like crazy in the next few weeks to see once and for all if he's any good at it. Now's the time to find out what we got, not the 2nd or 3rd round in the tourney.
Right now, I'd love to see DBlock with the ball in his hands every other time down the court in half court offense. He is consistent, smart, a stud, a good passer, and has not reached his full potential. He's twice the player of Rush and Arthur.

February 29, 2008 at 8:59 a.m. ( | suggest removal )