Many happy returns

By Gary Bedore     Dec 28, 2009

Jon Goering
Campers practice shaking defenders off after pulling rebounds during the Winter Clinic on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009, at Allen Fieldhouse.

Chicago is not Marcus Morris’ kind of town.

“Mark my words. I will never do that again in the wintertime — go to Chicago. That’s the worst thing for anybody to do, to go to Chicago in the wintertime. That’s my advice: Never go to Chicago in the wintertime because you might not make it out,” Morris said excitedly Sunday afternoon in Allen Fieldhouse.

The Kansas University sophomore basketball forward and brother Markieff were scheduled to return to Lawrence on Saturday afternoon following a three-day Christmas vacation to Philadelphia. But they didn’t make it back until Sunday morning.

They had an unexpectedly long stay in the Windy City, where they were supposed to merely change planes at 11 a.m. Saturday at O’Hare International Airport.

“Stuck in Chicago for a day,” Marcus said, explaining travel problems on a snowy Saturday — woes that forced the twins to miss Saturday night’s practice and the first hour of Sunday morning’s workout.

“Every flight I was on kept getting delayed or canceled, so I was on a list. I was probably, like, the 58th person or something like that. Every time the list came up, I wouldn’t get picked, and the last flight went out. My brother was the next to get on the plane, but there were no more seats, so we were stuck there for the night.”

The twins initially planned to sleep in the airport in advance of a 5 a.m. flight Sunday.

“They had little cots that me and ‘Kieff couldn’t fit on, so we actually put our money together and got a hotel,” Marcus Morris said of the airport Hilton. “It was expensive, but it was nice.”

The twins met several KU basketball fans during their 10 hours or so in O’Hare.

“We had to sign autographs, take pictures,” Marcus said. “I was kind of upset because the seats were uncomfortable, and I’d been there all day. I just wanted to get back. For one time, I wanted to practice. For a change, I wanted to be at practice. Normally I don’t,” he joked.

Sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor also missed Saturday’s practice. He had a flight from Newark, N.J., to Chicago diverted to Dallas. He missed a possible connection and didn’t arrive in Lawrence until late Saturday night.

Everybody was back on campus in time for Sunday’s holiday clinic for 400 or so youths, which ran from 1 to 3:30 p.m. The Jayhawks held their second practice of the day at the conclusion of the clinic.

Junior Cole Aldrich did not have any travel delays returning from snowy Bloomington, Minn.

“Surprisingly I didn’t, which was nice,” Aldrich said. “We got about a foot of snow over two days.”

On his short trip home, Aldrich was able to visit his grandmother, Ann, who is battling cancer.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to see her because we got so much snow, and the roads were bad. She’s not doing very well, but she is hanging in there,” Aldrich said.

Aldrich, who has been battling bronchitis for several weeks, said he’s feeling rejuvenated.

“We’ve been on campus since August. It’s nice to see some familiar faces, just sleep in your own bed,” Aldrich said.

He was happy to see all his teammates Sunday, especially the twins.

“I can’t imagine,” Aldrich said of visualizing the twins killing so much time Saturday at the airport. “All their little electronics probably died, and they were probably just sitting there talking to themselves. Fortunately, they were able to be safe. That’s the main thing, just to be safe and get back here in one piece.”

The Jayhawks served as camp counselors for two hours at the clinic, then signed autographs and posed for pictures for a half hour.

“It was great. I love playing with the kids. I know how much they look forward to these type of things,” freshman power forward Thomas Robinson said.

The best thing one of the campers said to him?

“That I was their favorite player.”

Up next

The Jayhawks (11-0) will meet Belmont University (7-4) of the Atlantic Sun Conference at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Allen Fieldhouse.

Belmont, which has qualified for the NCAA Tournament three of the past four years, has lost to Washington, Wright State, Saint Louis and Eastern Illinois and beaten Portland State, Alabama State, Eastern Illinois, Tennessee State, Kennesaw State, Mercer and Middle Tennessee State.

A victory would run KU’s homecourt win streak to 50 games. If KU wins out at home, the Jayhawks would enter the 2010-11 season with a 59-game streak. The school record is 62 games (Feb. 26, 1993 to Dec. 8, 1998).

“The goal every year regardless of where you coach is to go undefeated at home,” KU coach Bill Self said. “We need to keep winning. Of course, we’ve got some tough games coming up and obviously through the league. Fifty would be nice. Certainly I’d like to run the table for the year and put us in position where maybe we can break a school record.”

This, that

Self on Sunday celebrated his 47th birthday. … Self said freshman center Jeff Withey could make his season debut Tuesday. “I think he could make a debut and still not be ready, depending on game situations and circumstances. You take anybody out of activity for seven weeks (stress fracture), you are not ready to play in a game, although by that I mean four to five minutes at a time,” Self said. “Hopefully over Christmas break he can get to where he’s confident enough because talent-wise he can definitely help us going into league.”

Many happy returns

By Gary Bedore     Jan 18, 2009

KU vs. Colorado

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Sherron Collins whips a pass along the baseline around Colorado guard Dwight Thorne II during the second half Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009 at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colorado.

Buffs bemoan their mistakes

Marcus’ model: Darnell

Kansas basketball notebook

KU vs. CU box score

2008 KU Schedule

2008 KU Roster

2008 KU Stats

? About 6,000 die-hard Kansas University basketball fans danced in the aisles during the final minutes of the Jayhawks’ 73-56 victory over Colorado on Saturday at crimson-and-blue-splattered Coors Events Center.

“This is our house! This is our house!” the spectators bellowed in unison after a loud rendition of the “Rock Chalk Chant.”

It did indeed seem like Allen Fieldhouse West, with more than half the crowd of 10,212 rooting for the Jayhawks on a beautiful, unseasonably warm 60-degree day.

“It counts in the Big 12 as a road win, but to us it’s more a ‘home road’ win,” KU junior Sherron Collins said, cracking a smile.

His 15-point first-half explosion helped the Jayhawks to a 34-27 lead; Tyrel Reed’s 11-point second half sparked the eventual run-away victory.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had as many fans here. It’s pretty remarkable,” said sixth-year KU coach Bill Self, whose Jayhawks improved to 13-4 overall and 2-0 in the league. CU dropped to 8-8, 0-2.

One KU fan stood out above all the rest.

Former KU power forward Darnell Jackson, a rookie with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, boarded an early-morning flight from Cleveland, got stuck in Chicago for a couple of hours because of a mechanical problem with the plane’s engine, but made it to Boulder in time to watch some of the game while standing in the south tunnel.

KU’s Collins (18 points, seven assists) and Cole Aldrich (15 points off 6-of-6 shooting, 10 rebounds) raced through the tunnel and bear-hugged Jackson as all the Jayhawks exited for the locker room after the game.

“It was good to see him. I was so happy to see him,” Collins said of Jackson, who made a special trip just for the one game. He was to fly back to Cleveland on Saturday night, practice today, then travel to Los Angeles with the team for a Monday game against the Lakers.

“I talk to Darnell a lot. He’ll tell you I probably bug him way too much,” Aldrich said. “I love talking to him. He’s been through so much. He knows how to fight through tough times. Anybody playing with and learning from LeBron (James of the Cavs) … I’m wide-eyed.”

Self gave Jackson a big hug, then said, “D.J., come with me,” in escorting Jackson into the winner’s locker room.

“I listened to coach Self. His speeches haven’t changed,” Jackson said of the winner’s locker-room scene. “He told me to just tell the guys what he told me when I first got to KU, when I was going through all my freshmen stuff and all the tragedy I was going through. He told me if I just stay strong and listen to the coaches and listen to him, everything would be fine.”

Jackson challenged KU’s freshmen to take similar words to heart. Saturday, freshmen Tyshawn Taylor and Marcus Morris had 14 and 10 points respectively.

“Darnell talked about listening to coach. He said if you listen to coach, good things will happen. He said coach told him if he kept working and listening he could be an NBA player. He’s a testament to that,” sophomore guard Reed said after hitting four of six shots, including three of five three-pointers.

Self acknowledged “it was great seeing him” and as an added bonus loved the fact he visited with the players before they boarded the team bus.

“The big thing with Darnell … what we said could occur for him all came true. He bought into it,” Self said. “If these guys buy into it, they will have bright futures, too. Right now, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel and not have it be a train.”

So what did the NBA player think of KU’s performance Saturday?

“Real good,” Jackson said, quickly adding, “I heard they turned the ball over 18 times. That’s not good. That’s when coach gets upset, when they turn the ball over.”

Both teams actually suffered 18 turnovers. KU at times struggled against the Buffs’ 1-3-1 and 2-3 zone defenses.

Yet a couple of significant runs helped KU overcome the bobbles.

Collins scored 10 points in a 17-5 run to close the first half and give KU the lead at the break.

An 18-4 run, in which Reed and Morris had five points apiece, busted open a 34-32 score early in the second half.

“It was bad,” Self said of KU committing five quick turnovers to open the second half. “My talks at halftime aren’t that good, obviously, because we come out and go the other way. We actually scored pretty easily when we didn’t turn it over. It wasn’t pressure, but careless plays. We weren’t great defensively. We put Higgins (Cory, 20 points, 12 of 12 free throwing) at the line too much.

“We didn’t play great, obviously. (But) last year’s team was tied here at halftime. We’ve had a lot of teams struggle out here. If you told me before the game we’d win by 17, I’d say we’d had to played really well.”

KU won its sixth straight and 17th of 18 games at the Coors Center, in part because of the KU fans.

“We appreciate them being here. I wanted to make sure they knew I knew they were here,” said Collins, who waved to the fans, imploring them to make noise in the second half.

“I’m just thanking them for coming out. It was great for our team.”

KU will meet Texas A&M at 8 p.m. Monday in Allen Fieldhouse.

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