Advertisement

Monday, January 21, 2008

Big, small, KU wins ‘em all

MU win proves Kansas can win close, too

By Gary Bedore

Advertisement

And then there were two

Yesterday afternoon as the Kansas Jayhawks prepared for their first installment of this year's Border Showdown, Roy Williams and the #1-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels suffered their season's first blemish.

photo

Photo by Nick Krug

KU's Sherron Collins (4) puts in a reverse layin despite the presence of Missouri's Leo Lyons. The Jayhawks beat the Tigers, 76-70, Saturday in Columbia, Mo.

Kansas University's undefeated men's basketball team has proven it can win blowout games, outscoring 18 opponents 83.3 to 59.0 for a nation's-best scoring margin of 24.3.

Saturday night, the Jayhawks showed for the fourth time in 2007-08 they can win nail-biters as well.

The same KU squad that defeated Arizona, 76-72 in overtime at Allen Fieldhouse, and won by five points at Georgia Tech and four at Southern California, survived Missouri, 76-70, Saturday at Mizzou Arena.

"I think we've got a nice team. I really do," KU coach Bill Self said after a grind-it-out game that upped the Jayhawks' record to 18-0 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12. "I've not said it publicly that I think we're a really good team because I think there's a lot of room for improvement, but I do like our team."

Self likes the fact KU was able to hand MU (11-7, 1-2) its first home loss of the season in 11 games on a night shots weren't falling. KU hit 40 percent of its shots, including four of 12 threes and 28 of 45 free throws.

"It's nice to be able to win when you are not at your best offensively," Self said. "Missouri had us sped up to where we didn't execute very well.

"I think our guards are as good as any out there. I think our guards got sped up. We had a size advantage inside, (but) our bigs didn't get as many touches in large part because their pressure on the perimeter was very good."

It's the most pressure KU has faced all season.

"We looked like it's the first time we've seen a team that actually pressed us and got after us. Usually it's the other way around," Self said after KU suffered 15 turnovers to MU's 10. "It was good for us. We needed this."

Self realizes the Jayhawks will need some ugly wins to accomplish a major goal this season. KU is expected to move up from No. 3 to at least No. 2 in the national polls when they're released today, but that's not on Self's mind.

"I know they (players) are focused on trying to put themselves in position to win a fourth straight Big 12 championship," Self said.

"I could care less about the other stuff. We can control what we do. We can't control the other stuff."

Here's a look at some of KU's accomplishments heading into Wednesday's 6 p.m. home game against Iowa State (Big 12 stats are current; national ratings as of Thursday):

¢ The Jayhawks rank first in the Big 12 and 10th nationally in scoring (83.3 ppg) and first nationally in field-goal percentage (51.6).

¢ KU also ranks first in the Big 12 and third nationally in assists (19.44 per game) and first in the league in blocks (6.33 per game), steals (10.72) and assist to turnover ratio (1.50).

¢ KU ranks second in the league in scoring defense (59.0 ppg), field-goal percentage defense (37.8) and third in rebounding (38.6).

¢ On the down side, KU rates 11th in the league overall in free-throw-shooting percentage (65.7). In league-only play, however, KU ranks fourth at 73.4 percent.

Individually ...

¢ Darnell Jackson ranks first in the league and fifth nationally in field-goal percentage (67.2). Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson rank 1-2 in the league in steals (2.94 and 2.33 per game). Chalmers is third (4.71) and Robinson fourth in the league in assists (4.71, 4.67) and Darrell Arthur third in the league in blocks (30).

What's more :

¢ The Jayhawks are 32-1 in their last 33 games and have won 26 straight regular-season contests.

¢ KU has won 11 straight true road games (last 2006-07 and first five of 2007-08) and is 17-1 in games away from Allen Fieldhouse in that span. The lone loss is to UCLA in the Elite Eight.

¢ KU has outshot its opponent in every game this season and has shot 50 percent or better in 14 games.

¢ Through 18 games, KU has had seven different leading scorers. Six players have led the team in rebounding and eight in steals (including ties). KU has had four different leading scorers in the last four games.

More like this

Comments

kushaw (anonymous) says...

I disagree with this assessment. This is the kind of article I've been waiting for to talk about. Of our so-called 4 "Nail-Biter" victories 3 of the 4 were Double digit leads at somepoint during the second half and as a team we relaxed and let the other team back into the game. Missouri game is a rival game and anything can happen in that type of game. As for these "Nail-Biter" type of games; I think of Southern Illinois, UCLA, Bucknell, Richmond, Bradley, Oral Roberts, etc etc. Those are the "Nail-Biter" games I'm talking about from Tip to Horn it's a grind it out game. All those teams I just mentioned controlled the tempo and we played to their tempo resulting in an "L" in the Loss column. Those type of games and those type of teams are going to come and it will be interesting if we can win those type of "Nail-Biter" games where the other team is controlling tempo and dictating the game. I think this is KU's only weakness and we'll see if they can overcome that game that is truly in the 50's and 60's.

January 21, 2008 at 7:34 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

klineisanazi (anonymous) says...

You make a good point kushaw, but you cast too wide a net in the examples you give. I think valid comparisons would be this year and last year. Same team, minus Julian.
In general, KU is not as comfortable when it is forced to play half-court. Slow it down and KU gets frustrated if the shots don't fall, and KU is vulnerable. This is true of a lot of "elite" teams, by the way.
I'm not so quick to discard the Missouri game as a fluke, at least from one standpoint. Self said they "sped our guards up". The last time I remember that was when he was talking about losing to UCLA last year. Mizzou's guards did the best job on our backcourt of any opponent this year.
Our guards chow down on inferior talent, as they should.
What they don't get enough of is competition against teams with good back courts that can push them. Looking at the remaining conference schedule, the major threats appear to be at KSU, Texas, and A&M. Only Texas has the guards that could give us fits, but they don't appear to want to play defense. KSU's guards are young, and A&M is just awful right now. That doesn't mean KU couldn't lose any of those games, but they are matchups that look good for KU's chances of getting the tempo it wants to play.

January 21, 2008 at 8:39 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

RckChalkJeff (anonymous) says...

"resulting in an "L" in the Loss column."
__________________________

Would suck to get an "L" in the win column..

January 21, 2008 at 9:28 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhwkfan162515 (anonymous) says...

Hey, klineisanazi, I hope there aren't any Longhorns reading your post. You don't want to give them bulletin board material when we pay them a visit...

January 21, 2008 at 10:08 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

arrowheadhawk (anonymous) says...

kushaw - last time I check SIU was a mark in the W column not the L

January 21, 2008 at 10:26 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

andersonalex (anonymous) says...

I don't think Mizzou did as well against KU as people are saying. When it comes down to it, KU had more open shots. They just didn't hit them. Our offense was fine - it was getting people open, and it was finding them. We just had a below average shooting night, especially from Rush. If he makes anything close to his average shooting percentage on those open shots, we win by close to 20. The same can't be said for Mizzou, as more of their shots were legitimately contested.

This is just the luck factor in basketball. They were lucky it was as close as it was.

January 21, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KU (anonymous) says...

I was very frustrated with our offense in the half-court against misery. We have the guards that can get into the lane against virtually ANY guards in the country. If the other team wants to pressure our guards well past the 3 point line, we should pull our Bigs out and give our guards room to go to the hole.

Our guards were getting around their man and then we'd have 2 or 3 of our players in the lane clogging things up so the guards couldn't convert easily.

If we allow the guards room, they draw 2 or 3 first-half fouls from the opposing guards and all of a sudden the opponent can't afford to be as aggressive due to foul trouble.

Matt Lawrence guarding Brandon Rush on the perimeter? Are you kidding me? Pull the bigs out.....4 of our guys along the free throw line extended and let Rush dunk on Lawrence all day long.

January 21, 2008 at 10:37 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

pilot100 (anonymous) says...

Just a observation about the game sat. I always tape the games,so I can use slow motion on certain plays. The refs stunk to high heaven especially the dead head front court ref. Mr macho Hightower is no better. He picked up where he left off during his Big Ten days when he caused controversy there...

January 21, 2008 at 10:39 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

MU's strategy hints at some pretty sound ways to try to beat KU's take-what-they-give-us strategy.

Full court pressure--counter intuitive, because at first you'd think KU's great guards could handle it. Frankly, they can. But what it does is force KU's great guards out of picking and choosing exactly where and how and how fast, or slow they will attack what the opponent gives them. It aso exposes that KU is not trained to play a full court game. KU is a half court team that likes to run on offense when it is faster than the other team, or gets steals; the rest of the time on offense it plays half court sets and plays half court defense, with but few exceptions. It also exposes that KU is not really conditioned to play its ferocious half court defense AND play full court offense, and its occassional full court defensing for disruption. It tires Doing all three tires KU out and when they are tired, they cannot get as many steals and they make more turn overs. This seriously chips away at KUs strengths and advantages it usually enjoys against opponents playing half court games.

Switch and Mask the Half Court Defenses--switching between m2m and 2-3 zone and masking the 2-3 zone as m2m is the oldest zone trick in the book. Again, KU's experienced guards make it counter intuitive that KU would have trouble with this. But I think this exposes an intrinsic weakness of take-what-they-give-us strategy (note: all strategies have intrinsic weaknesses, so this is not getting down on Self) no matter how experienced your guards are. It just does take awhile to figure out what they are giving you with this masking going on constantly. In turn, you have less time on the shot clock to be on the offensive. It also forces your bigs to have to think about what they are caught up in. Our bigs are our least experienced part of our team. Arthur and DBlock are in their first full years of being starters. Combine the preceding with the full court pressure forcing you to set up your offense farther from the basket than you usually do and this again really chips away at KU's guard advantage.

January 21, 2008 at 11:32 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Foul KU Constantly--KU is a good three point shooting team that doesn't like to shoot more than 15-20 treys a game, because it likes the high percentage scoring of its bigs and the tendency of bigs scoring to generate uncontested trey attempts. So: anytime you foul and create a two point attempt that prevents a three point possibility against KU, you're coming out ahead, statistically speaking, especially if you, the opponent, has a hot trey hand.

But MU's strategy still requires KU to have an off night and MU to have a good night in order to beat KU. And playing at the edge of endurance makes MU prone to shoot poorly, especially against a great half court defensive team like KU. Remember, KU's steals may go down, because of fatigue, but they're still on you like five gloves. And the fouling inevitably leads MU into foul trouble.

Of course, few teams play the way MU does, so its an infrequent risk that KU faces in any case.

But if I'm a half court team, i'm sure going to look at switching defenses, fouling and half court pressure to achieve about 75% of what MU did without the problems playing full court on offense and defense causes.

January 21, 2008 at 11:34 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

beebe1 (anonymous) says...

Two things about the Mizzou game worry me. Our almost only problem was that the shots didn't fall. Hate to see us winning at 40%. Rather than sit on things, hoping it would change, maybe we should have a 'sharpshooter' at the 3 point line. Where was our sharpshooter? The guy (Teahan), who made 9 of 11 threes, was sitting on the bench! Why wasn't he in? He couldn't play defense as well as Rush. Last year it was reported we had a couple of 'scorers', Case and Stewart. Why weren't they in last year? Inadequate defense. This year they got sort of up to speed on D, but they seem to have lost their 'scoring ability'. They were both in the game against Mizzou (and maybe others), so did they lose their scoring ability going for defense?

Last week we beat OK by 30 pts. In the last minute and a half Case, Reed, Teahan, Aldrich and Kaun were on the floor together. (I think Teahan got a layup). Frankly they looked good together, but they weren't in the game long enough to display their wares! Personally, I'd have settled for a 20 pt win, or maybe even 10 or 12, To get more experience on the newcomers, and in particular Teahan should have gotten minutes with four of our starters. Then you could see whether you could put him in when you need a 'sharpshooter', not the dire emergency that Mizzou stuck us with. If Rush, Mario, and Collins see Teahan swishing the bucket a couple of times, they'd be swishing it too, and we're looking at another 20pt + win. Why would you wait for Teahan to be an expert on D? It would make a lot more sense to cut back the D and let him score! Many of us would trade a 3 pt bucket for a two any time. Worst to worst, you trade even! We might have done a little better last year if Case and Stewart were carefully used to make the shots when needed.

So, it's good to see NC and UCLA fall from the unbeaten group. There are some other really good teams out there, like Clemson, USC and Maryland. Believe me, they're all out there, waiting for you in the Tournament! And if we have another 'won't fall' shooting night, they'll send us home!

The other worry is free throws. We hit 17 of 18 against OK; why did we fall back? Maybe concern over the lead points, or something, got the guys upset enough they couldn't 'resign themselves to the free throw moment'. Free throws are mostly muscle memory. A musician, playing by heart, can't blow a note if they are not 'resigned to the moment of playing' and using muscle memory. About the only time they can do two things at once is when they are marching, and that takes special training. So we need to reinforce the 'muscle memory' they used in the OK game.

This team seems to me the best KU team (BB) I've ever seen, and there are 63 of them. Man, I'd hate it too see them come home from the Tournament with a loss! Let's get these two little problems solved and bring them home in victory!

January 21, 2008 at 11:42 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jpstrayer (anonymous) says...

"I could care less about the other stuff. We can control what we do. We can't control the other stuff."

So....Coach Self does care some what about the "other stuff"....otherwise he "couldn't" care less about the other stuff....

Just one of my pet peeves...sorry Coach.

January 21, 2008 at 12:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

klineisanazi (anonymous) says...

jhwkfan1625...don't get me wrong. UT will give KU all they want, and might well win. And they will probably shoot very well on their home court. My point was that from what I've seen so far, Texas won't harass our guards the way MU did.
KU needs to be challenged. Winning by 30 against over-matched teams doesn't help get ready for March.

January 21, 2008 at 1:21 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ChiJayhawk21 (anonymous) says...

The Mizzou game was just another game to prepare this team to win when it counts! We are going to have tight games in March.... they are going to remember this game and how they had to fight to win.

January 21, 2008 at 1:22 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KU (anonymous) says...

beebe1.......I am going to disagree with you about getting a shooter into the MU game. A pressing/pressure defensive team like MU isn't the kind of game where you can get a spot up shooter like Teahan in the flow. He wouldn't have been able to get more than 1 or 2 open looks because he can't create off the bounce. PLUS, he would have been a terrible liability on the defensive end.

No, the problem wasn't shooting. As I said, it was settling for the shots we took--a lot of long contested jumpers and 8 foot pull-ups where the guard couldn't get all the way to the rim because of congestion in the lane. If we had spread out our bigs and let the guards go all the way to the hole we would have won by 15-20.

January 21, 2008 at 2:04 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KU (anonymous) says...

Pilot.......I agree about Hightower. I used to respect his officiating, but MAN did he come in from nowhere on a few calls (all of which went against KU) that should have been another official's whistle. I think he's a school administrator in St. Louis. Maybe he's tired of seeing KU school MU.

January 21, 2008 at 2:16 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kickazzkurtz (anonymous) says...

Just a reminder to anyone attednding the KU MU game in Lawrence. Where your orange.

January 21, 2008 at 2:59 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

klong (anonymous) says...

They will be fine. It is league play! Especially when it is your rival game. I am not worried.

January 21, 2008 at 4:26 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhwkfan162515 (anonymous) says...

We're No. 2 in the polls. Barring a loss later in the year, I don't think we'll be moving up as long as Memphis plays in C-USA.

And kurtz, it's "wear", not "where".

January 21, 2008 at 5:06 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

bigjay83 (anonymous) says...

jaybate--

I just noticed some hypocrisy in your comments from yesterday to today. Yesterday you said "but for a fluke of horrendous MU shooting, that MU would have upset KU!" Then several people argued with you for a bit and you said "tell me you don't think KU's defense is so great that it alone is responsible for making MU shoot seventeen percent from treyville."

Today you said, "And playing at the edge of endurance makes MU prone to shoot poorly, especially against a great half court defensive team like KU."

Uh, it looks to me like you have changed stances, yet no recognition to the five or six people who argued with you. It looks like they changed your mind. I think this is why those ADP's and nicka's call you names. You are long winded, and more two-faced than Mitt Romney.

January 21, 2008 at 6:26 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rockingthechalk (anonymous) says...

come on, everybody, it's MU! I was at that game in 96-97 when we lost to MU in Columbia in overtime. That team (mizzou) wasn't that good, but it's a rivalry game, it's gonna be close.

January 21, 2008 at 6:42 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

LAJayhawk (anonymous) says...

kushaw, I understand most of what you're saying, but don't you think the mizzou game was a "nail-biter"? We were behind almost the whole first half, and we never led by more than eight. Plus, someone posted yesterday that the spread was 6 (I just checked, and it closed at 7). Isn't a rivalry game on the road a good example of a "nail-bitter" (especially considering MU was fired up from the whole BCS situation)? Or are you suggesting that MU is not a tournament quality team? Just curious about what you exactly meant.

January 21, 2008 at 6:51 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Toto_the_great (anonymous) says...

I just heard CJ was booted off of OR St. Univ

January 21, 2008 at 8:54 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

tis4tim (anonymous) says...

Toto,

You are correct.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?sl...

January 21, 2008 at 9:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

Sad. Very, very sad. What a waste.

January 21, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

"Last year it was reported we had a couple of 'scorers', Case and Stewart."

Stewart was supposed to be a scorer???

"... it's good to see NC and UCLA fall from the unbeaten group."

UCLA already had a loss. Now they have two.

"This team seems to me the best KU team (BB) I've ever seen, and there are 63 of them."

Where's an English teacher when you need one?

January 22, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

beebe1 (anonymous) says...

Hey actorman, it isn't an English teacher, it's a remberer helper!

January 22, 2008 at 10:08 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

Fair enough. Good line.

January 22, 2008 at 3:54 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

lee3022 (anonymous) says...

Using raw scoring numbers is pretty meaningless. The adjusted numbers account for defense and tempo. You can find these at kenpom.com.

The reasons a team shoots poorly are:

1. Talent. Without talent everything else is wasted.

2. Fatigue. A team rarely is fatigued as a whole unless their plane was delayed on the runway for 10 hours the night before. Conditioning also can cause a poor team shooting but then it will show up in most games in the 2nd half.

3. Tightness. In rivalry games and games with high expectations this is the factor that keeps players from relaxing and just feeling it in the flow.

Of those three (and maybe you have more) the talent is here at KU, as we have had excellent shooting games and fatigue was a bigger factor for other teams because we have as deep a bench as anyone in the country and Coach uses that bench effectively. So tightness seems to be the obvious call. Coach alludes to this when he said our guards got sped up. Tightness is something players need to experience and fight through and these guys have done that several times this year. It will get better as they play more teams that can challenge them.

January 22, 2008 at 10:18 p.m. ( | suggest removal )