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KU vs. Washington

University of Washington senior forward Jon Brockman, the nation’s leading rebounder and the Pac-10’s No. 1 active career scorer, made some preseason All-America lists for good reason.

A wide body blessed with good feet, hands and jumping ability and a great feel for the game of basketball, Brockman plays much taller than 6-foot-7 and knows how to stop shoving people around just in time to avoid the foul call. He looks and plays like a senior. He deserves all the recognition he receives.

All that notwithstanding, I’ll make you an offer: You take Brockman and build a college basketball team around him. I’ll take Cole Aldrich, Kansas University’s 6-11 sophomore center. Any takers? Didn’t think so.

The best statistical indicator of Aldrich’s influence on a 73-54 Kansas victory Monday night against Washington in the Sprint Center was not on his stat line that showed 16 points, nine rebounds and a career-best six blocked shots.

Even more telling was the fact Washington could turn 21 offensive rebounds into just eight second-chance points. Sure, some of that could be attributed to poor shooting by the Huskies, but it would be naive to think Aldrich didn’t alter a number of shots.

Shot-blockers change games because they make shooters wonder where they lurk. They make shooters hurry, even if it’s subconsciously. Few things seem to bother most basketball players as much as getting their shots blocked. It’s kind of like a slap in the face.

Bob Knight, doing the color commentary for ESPN, raved about Aldrich’s potential. Washington coach Lorenzo Romar and KU coach Bill Self piled on the praise.

Yet, no words of respect carry quite the punch of those from a competitor who comes up short, especially one about whom that can’t be said very often.

Brockman said Aldrich reminded him of Spencer Hawes, Brockman’s former AAU and UW teammate who now plays for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

“They’re very similar,” said Brockman, who had 18 rebounds. “He’s a lot stronger than Spencer was in college. He’s a good big man, keeps working, long arms. It was a pleasure to play against him tonight.”

Aldrich’s rapid development from the raw, gangly kid who looked so overmatched on Late Night a year ago came through so loudly that it was easy to overlook just how impressive it was that a team so young as Kansas could play a 2-3 zone so early in the season and run its offense with so little sloppiness, other than the recurrence of offensive fouls on drives.

Brady Morningstar, playing 36 minutes, most from the back of the zone, contributed to the sound play at both ends. He had five assists and two steals and did not turn the ball over.

Self said the move to the zone was inspired largely by Sherron Collins’ picking up two quick fouls. The Jayhawks had so much depth a year ago that having any one player go to the bench didn’t mean an appreciable talent dropoff. Not so this year. Collins and Aldrich need to stay on the floor, so look to see more zone to protect the two stars from foul trouble. True, zone is a four-letter word in more ways than one in the estimation of some, but as with all four-letter words, it pays to know how to use it.