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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Collins shoulders blame for loss

By Jesse Newell

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KU vs. Syracuse

KU vs. Syracuse

Kansas City, Mo. — Sherron Collins wasn’t blaming anyone but himself after KU’s 89-81 overtime loss to Syracuse in the CBE Classic Championship.

“I got a little mad, a little frustrated, and the whole team fell with me,” Collins said. “That starts with me. I think I kind of let them down a little bit out there.”

Syracuse battled back with help from a key 61-second stretch in the second half.

KU led 53-43 with 13:59 left before things fell apart. Collins turned it over once, and SU’s Jonny Flynn finished on the other end with a dunk.

Just 19 seconds later, Collins tried to drive through the defense by himself again, and this time Andy Rautins came away with the basketball.

Flynn followed with a layup, and the KU lead was down to six.

“The turnovers — I kind of lost my poise there at the end of the game,” Collins said. “I had two key turnovers that shouldn’t have happened.”

Though Flynn was smack-talking a bit, Collins said that wasn’t what threw him off his game.

“Flynn didn’t get in my head. Wasn’t nothing much he was doing to get into my head,” Collins said. “We all talk out there. That’s the game.”

Following a KU timeout, Flynn stole the ball from Marcus Morris, leading to another transition bucket.

In 1 minute and 1 second, Syracuse had a 6-0 run.

“We’ve got to do a better job on the perimeter, keeping guards out of the lanes,” Collins said. “That was getting our big men in foul trouble. We didn’t do a good job of that.”

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Comments

jhawk23 (anonymous) says...

Yes, Sherron, you did let your teammates down. No leadership whatsoever down the stretch. You can and should do much better.

November 26, 2008 at 6:35 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

DrRoach (anonymous) says...

DrRoach (anonymous) says...as he should........ The problem with most of you people (KU people) is your completely uninformed? Seemingly low basketball IQ? Bi-polar? Ignorant?We didn't lose due to being out coached. We didn't because the Orangmen are a better team (there not), and not due to most other reasons i have read on here. We mainly due to playing 3 freshmen this early in the season. With all there greatness, (they will be awesome come tourney time; with a capitol A baby), come untimely freshmen mistakes, poor second half foul shooting, pissing down there leg when 'Cuse made there run etc. Still, this game we could of overcame that. Mr. Collins, your a different story and you need to keep your head on the team instead of personal showdowns; which you lost tonite. Your lack of mental toughness cost us as Im sure by now you have gotten an in your face ass-chewing.That said, everyone's allowed mistakes, Sherron will right his ship, the freshmen will continue to improve, and the Jayhawks will be a monster in March. I look forward to one hell-of an exciting season.

November 26, 2008 at 7:09 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkintexas (anonymous) says...

Sherron shouldn't blame himself, it's a team game. Other players turned the ball over also by bad passes and charging fouls. Sherron wasn't the only one missing free throws. They're young and they are going to make mistakes. I thought it strange that Aldrich was the one guarding Flynn at the end of the second half instead of Taylor or Collins. If they will cut down on the turnovers and improve their free throw shooting, they're going to have a great season.

November 26, 2008 at 9:01 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUbsee69 (anonymous) says...

DrRoach calls others ignorant. Maybe ... but wait, most of us know the difference between "there" and "their". Oh, yeah ... it's Orangemen, not Orangmen.

November 26, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

klineisanazi (anonymous) says...

I was disappointed, but not discouraged. Besides the newcomers, Collins also needs to learn his new role. Leading the team does not mean taking everything on your shoulders. Most nights, the opponent will not have a guard capable of shutting down Collins, but when it happens, there is enough talent on this team to step up. They need to step up and Collins will need to look for them. This is part of the learning process. Again, disappointed but not discouraged..not at all.

November 26, 2008 at 9:06 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUFan90 (anonymous) says...

I definitely thought Flynn got in Collins head. Hopefully he'll see the result here and realize he can't let that happen again.

November 26, 2008 at 9:35 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Keckadek (anonymous) says...

Shake it off Collins, your still the man but don't try to do too much. We need you to be as fresh as possible all season long. Sure we lost but this team is better than i thought.

November 26, 2008 at 9:46 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

emphawker (anonymous) says...

He (sherron) didn't let us down a little bit, he let us down a lot. I expect the freshmen to have some ups & downs, but sherron is an upperclassmen. He showed little composure down the stretch. He is supposed to be the new team leader, but made many of the bad mistakes down the stretch. When he got beat by Flynn, he lost it. A real team leader would have slowed the team down. I think it's time for coach Self to remind Sherron that he doesn't play for the And 1 mixtape tour. Normally I would want an upperclassmen to bring the ball up late in a tight game, not last night. Every time Sherron touched the ball, I had a feeling something bad was about to happen. One big positive from the game was Taylor. I'm sure he'll have some games in the future that aren't very good, but that young man can hoop! I would have rather seen the ball in his hands down the stretch. He seemed to get more of the guys involved than Sherron did. I'm curious if Self went home and re-opened his recruitment of big men. I heard that he was done recruiting bigs for next year, but the guys just aren't getting it done on the boards. I think another true big behind Cole would a good idea. You can't teach size, we need more of it. For a team full of freshmen, I think we competed very well. These youngsters are going to be good, I hope that Sherron realizes that. Shake it off Sherron, we need you to be a good leader for the team. Lead by example. When things get tough, you must play as a team to win.

November 26, 2008 at 9:51 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

rockchalkin54 (anonymous) says...

klineisanazi (anonymous) says...I was disappointed, but not discouraged. Besides the newcomers, Collins also needs to learn his new role. Leading the team does not mean taking everything on your shoulders. Most nights, the opponent will not have a guard capable of shutting down Collins, but when it happens, there is enough talent on this team to step up. They need to step up and Collins will need to look for them. This is part of the learning process. Again, disappointed but not discouraged..not at all.----------------------------------------------------I agree. Everybody on this team has a new role. Sherron and Cole both have to learn to be the team leaders. Marcus, Markieff, Tyshawn, Travis, and Quintrell have to learn how to be consistent in the college level. Tyrel and Brady have to learn to step up to their bigger role right now. Tyrone and Mario (when he gets back) have to learn the Div 1 level. Conner, Brennan, Jordan, Chase, and Matt all need to learn what they need to do to make the whole team better. They also needed to learn what it's like to lose and come back from a loss. I think that Bill Self needs a couple of losses like this to whip these boys into shape and get them ready for the Big 12 and postseason.

November 26, 2008 at 10:12 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

diegoJayhawk (anonymous) says...

Collins stepped up to recognize he needed to have more poise and leadership at the end of the game. It would not be fair to Collins to let him off the hook and say "don't worry about it", but we are not being fair or honest if we as fans don't acknowledge that accountability as the right kind of leadership the team needs. Collins does need to deliver, for himself as well as the team, but he doesn't have to go it alone. Bill Self and Danny Manning particularly are the men that need to be there for Collins to go to for guidance on how to execute the higher level of leadership he now feels he has to deliver on. Helping young men lead themselves to greatness is what the coaching staff should be about and what the great legacy of basketball coaching at KU IS about. The success of this team this year will depend on how Collins and Aldrich gel as teammates that can rely on each other and look to each other for help to turn the momentum and recover from the mistakes the young guys are going to make. If they can run the high low post game in their sleep, we can be very, very good.

November 26, 2008 at 10:29 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

DrRoach (anonymous) says...

KUbsee69 (anonymous) says...DrRoach calls others ignorant. Maybe ... but wait, most of us know the difference between "there" and "their". Oh, yeah ... it's Orangemen, not Orangmen.If you read the post you would realize the first part was sarcasm the rest was keeping it real. Maybe a spelling site would be a more appropriate place for you to post as i see nothing about b-ball in the above.

November 26, 2008 at 10:49 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

oldtimerskid (anonymous) says...

Missed opportunities lost this game. Free throws down the stretch. Collins not showing enough poise. Youth being youth translating to indecision on the court. If Aldrich hits both his opportunities at the end its all but over. With 6 seconds left why not take the risk of fouling rather than allowing a 3 pointer to tie at the end of regulation.

November 26, 2008 at 10:57 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUGreenMachine (anonymous) says...

...am i missing something, or does the coach not like releford? in the few times he's played he's done well and provided a spark for the team...also, i think we have a smaller chance to win, the longer we have brady morningstar in the game. his offensive skills are lacking, and his defense just blows...yes, i saw him block that shot, but damn, i could have blocked that...the guy was falling backwards. i found myself screaming at the tv "get brady out of the game", pretty much the entire game, and will continue to do so as the season goes on....i can only assume coach is treating him as he did moody his senior year. he's using him to show the freshman that they need to step up if they want to play...it's early, i'm probably just mad to see them lose...yes i know they're young, but that hurt seeing us blow the lead...it's been a few years since we lost in that fashion. also, yes, i hope sherron realizes that he HAS to be the leader of this team, whether he realizes it or not, his team can't win without his guidance/example/leadership.

November 26, 2008 at 11:21 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

bayareajhawk (anonymous) says...

I'm glad that Collins realizes he screwed up, but he isn't telling the truth if he says that Flynn's woofing didn't affect his play. We've seen this from Sherron many, many times now. He seems to take an awful lot of pride in outplaying the man he's matched up with. In the past, it has been primarily a good thing, as he has gotten really fired up and provided a spark after watching his man make a big play. Now that he is our team leader, however, this trait is very dangerous. Sherron didn't run the team down the stretch last night because he was too busy trying to take Flynn to school. Yes, if we hit our free throws, we win anyway. But that was a completely unacceptable loss of composure from Sherron. He'd better get that all out of his system before the Big XII starts or we will lose more games we shouldn't. I also echo the sentiments about Releford (is Bill trying to teach him a lesson or something?) and Morningstar (Moody v 2.0).

November 26, 2008 at 11:45 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

mbmerriman (anonymous) says...

were not alking about this at all if aldrich makes the second free throw, and did anyone notice how crappy the picks set by aldrich were, yes he can black shots and rebound but there are other aspect great one excel at.

November 26, 2008 at 12:20 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

yates33333 (anonymous) says...

Without Collins and Aldrich KU would be toast this early in the season. They aren't the problem, inexperience is the problem. Wait and be thankful for having Collins and Aldrich on this team, which would be sunk without them. You both are outstanding players, and KU should be and is proud to have you.

November 26, 2008 at 3:03 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

NickMontana (anonymous) says...

Dr Roach are you an ass doctor or what?

November 26, 2008 at 7:15 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JHawkinGA (anonymous) says...

The equation is very simple: Big Macks in the Summer + Sherron = Loss. Mr. Collins must get in shape - he was out "enduranced" by Flynn and Sherron's guts were on the floor come the 2nd half. Let's see if Sherron is running the steps of Allen on Friday.

November 26, 2008 at 10:13 p.m. ( | suggest removal )