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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Kansas basketball notebook

By Gary Bedore

A handful of Kansas fans get an earful from Missouri fans as the Tigers come back from their deficit.

Photo by Nick Krug

A handful of Kansas fans get an earful from Missouri fans as the Tigers come back from their deficit.

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Mizzou edges past KU, 62-60

Kansas couldn't hold on against Missouri in Columbia.

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KU vs. Missouri

Audio clips

2009 KU-MU Feb. 10

T talk

Kansas University freshman Marcus Morris picked up a technical foul after committing a personal foul, barking at official Scott Thornley just 39 seconds into the second half.

Saddled with four fouls, Morris sat the rest of the game.

“I would say at the time it was a momentum deal,” KU coach Bill Self said, noting MU cut KU’s 14-point lead down to eight just three minutes into the half. “We got it back to 11 twice after that. It didn’t have much to do with it (loss).

“I’m not positive what was said,” Self added. “I know that Scott would not have given him a ‘T’ unless he deserved it. Scott had every right to do it if our guy acted in a way he shouldn’t have. I don’t know what happened. Scott told me he deserved it. That’s good enough for me.”

Collins gassed

KU’s Sherron Collins, who missed two free throws with 1:48 left, might have been a bit tired playing 36 minutes on a night MU pressed the entire game. He played 19 minutes the final half.

“No, I will not use that (as an excuse),” Self said. “The way the game was going, we wanted to do different things to rest guys. We didn’t rest him the second half. I wasn’t going to take him out under eight. He made some careless plays I don’t think because of fatigue.”

Collins, who said he felt fine physically, said it was a tough loss to swallow.

“It will linger because it’s Mizzou,” he said. “But it’s something we’ve got to move on. We look forward to playing them in the fieldhouse (March 1), but we can’t look forward to that now. We have another tough game coming up at K-State Saturday.”

Stats, facts

KU’s 27 turnovers were third most by a KU team since the 1988-89 season when specialty records were kept. KU had 27 against Arizona in 2005. ... MU has won 16 straight at Mizzou Arena. ... DeMarre Carroll led MU with 22 points off 8-of-13 shooting. ... The 122 total points are the second-lowest total in the KU-MU series in the Big 12 era. The previous low was 121 in 2004, a 65-56 KU victory.

KU’s Little honored

Kansas junior forward Mario Little and Missouri junior guard Zaire Taylor on Monday were named co-Big 12 rookies of the week. Carroll was selected as the league’s player of the week.

KU vs. MU

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Comments

mpann1818 (anonymous) says...

The twins need to learn focus. But can that be taught? They have plenty of great examples all around them.

February 10, 2009 at 6:44 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

FlaHawk (anonymous) says...

Even though KU out shoot MU out rebounded them (significantly) KUstill choked. This was a reallyu gly game. More turnovers than points from the field (not jsut baskets but pointsa). KUstarters had 22 utrnovers with Sherron and Tysawh each have 6 a piece. There were 5 tunrovers before anyone scored. HCBS did a poor job of controling the tempo of the game. This is a common probelm for his KUteams. They win on superior talent, strong rebounding and a pressure defense that forces turnovers.This years team has about half the steals of the opponents. KU needs to significantly improve their defense. The Big XIIis way down this year. Teams like nu, isu, mu play intense and ugly basketball. KUcan not let themselves get involved in these "mud' wrestling" contests and the way to do this is to control the tempo with a pressing defense.

February 10, 2009 at 6:55 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawkr (anonymous) says...

Great first half, but who were those guys in blue in the 2nd half ?Overall, no one could be too proud of how they played. Taylor played decent when he wasn't turning the ball over. Collins a no-show for most of the game. The Twins well, once again not much offense or display of brains on the court. They have to learn that if they are calling fouls (i.e. road games) they can't play like thugs.Other then Little's last minute made jumper, did anyone recall but a few made outside jump shots in the 2nd half ? Tyrel went cold (of all nights). Basically our offense or lack of one in the second half consisted of us trying to run down the clock and actually get a shot of 2/3rds of the time. We really only excelled when we ran the ball down their throats. And for Mizzou to press all game, block/alter layup after layup in the paint and only get called for 15 fouls. Pleeeeaaassszzzzz !In the end I felt Self blew it about 4-5 minutes into the second half. The refs were out of control and every little call went Mizzou's way. We needed for Self to get a technical to get the refs attention and our teams attention. He assumes we will find our way through the darkness and all we did was stumble until Mizzou tied us up in the last minute.

February 10, 2009 at 7:22 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KU (anonymous) says...

FlaHawk......dude, what are you talking about? MU plays "mud wrestling" contests? I hate MU as much as the next guy, but MU has a legit team this year. They are a good post man away from being easily a Top 5 team in the country. Did you not watch the same game I saw? When I think of mud wrestling contests, I think of Nebraska. KU pushed tempo all night, often to their detriment. By the end, Collins and Aldrich were so gassed that they disappeared. Aldrich couldn't get all the way back on defense and they gave up several easy layups in the last 2 or 3 minutes because of it. Collins just needed to sit. He played a horrible game all around. Travis Releford played a much better game than Collins. The Big 12 is way down this year? Huh? NU is much better. MU is much better. ISU and CU are about the same--horrible. KSU is probably a better TEAM than they were a year ago. OU is better. OSU is better. UT is floundering without Augustin. aTm is about the same. BU and TT are non-descript entities as usual. KU is down this year, but that's to be expected. But I'll take a "down" year with an 8-1 conference record any time!I guess you and I don't see the same games.

February 10, 2009 at 7:23 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayhawkLova7 (anonymous) says...

I agree with you, KU. I mean after losing so many players what did we except? But I think that we are a much all around 'better' team than MU. Thats just my opinion. We are a young team, immature, and we are going to lose. 50% of the teams in a game lose. A lot went into that loss though. A huge momentum changer was that foul called on Morris. I jumped out of my seat when that ref called that. I mean, what was he suppossed to do. My opinion, "Ref, watch out where your going!" That was a horrible call, just like the call on Cole down by our basket. The Mizzou player leaned in to it. The charges called in that game were horrendous. There were at least 3-4 charges that could have been points up on the board. The five second call where Brady was dribbling was awful. Then when Brady was throwing it in down at the other end they called a 5 second call! I mean I counted and let's get real people. Not that Kansas didn't lose the game it was just a big thing for the refs to be calling those calls. We did it to ourselves of course. We are young and we will blow leads. I look for this year to be our "rebuilding year". Come next year we will be back destroying MU once again.

February 10, 2009 at 8:40 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUbsee69 (anonymous) says...

Come next year???We'll have one and possible two more chances this year. I expect we'll take full advantage of those chances.

February 10, 2009 at 8:52 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

beebe1 (anonymous) says...

Players have to play with the refs! Bitch all you like, when it is all said and done, the players ultimately have to beat the other team AND the refs. It is a given. Yes, there were some extremely bad calls, especially the two on Brad. Hey all they had to do to win was improve three points. Anyone watching the game could probably figure a dozen easy ways to do three points better! Our guys worked hard; I wish that one of them would have had the success of doing 3 points better. But, ahh, well.

February 10, 2009 at 9:05 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

cklarock (anonymous) says...

Referee decisions aside, we had these guys down by double digits and couldn't keep them there -- it's this year's Achilles Heel. The good news is we can beat a legitimate top 20 team in their own house by 14. The bad news is we can only do it for a half.We're still a work in progress, and so far, the progress has been great. Sucks to lose to Missouri, but we'll still finish higher than they will in the Big 12, and if Oklahoma could just do a Jayhawk a favor and drop a couple games, we might still win this thing!. . . Yeah, yeah, I know.

February 10, 2009 at 9:19 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

not_important (anonymous) says...

We did seem to quit attacking the basket if we beat their press in the last 5 minutes of the game. At the time I didn't mind it so much because I thought we should have run some time off the clock in the closing minutes with a lead. However, that put pressure on our squad to make the possession work and that ended up meaning trying to score against a defense that had regrouped. In addition to making it more difficult to score, we also ended up shooting the ball with about 20+ seconds on the shot clock during a stretch of maybe 3 or 4 possessions with about 3 minutes left to play. Now, instead of easy buckets or fouls, we're letting them regroup defensively and we're not taking time off the clock. Just lost our poise down the strecth.If we had kept attacking like K-State did to them a couple of weeks ago, maybe things turn out differently. Let's just get ready for them at our house and don't even think about taking our foot off their throats when we have them down.

February 10, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

lahawkfan (anonymous) says...

The officiating was horrible last night!!! From the charges that KU got to the charges that Missouri didn't get to the bogus 5 sec. call on Morningstar to the 3.5 sec inbounding call it was a another collectively botched effort on behalf of our steller Big 12 officiating crew!!! That being said Kansas did everything they could to give that game away and as much as I hate to say this, give Missouri credit, they took advantage of those opportunities that Kansas provided them. please Hawks nail their butt's to the wall in the fieldhouse!!! I HATE Missouri!!!

February 10, 2009 at 9:32 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Timmay97 (anonymous) says...

Here's my opinion and ONLY my opinion. I'm sure most of you will differ. The Morris twins are a SEVERE problem right now. Let me explain.....the next time KU plays, just watch either of the Morris twins (not the ball) move around the court, especially on defense. Neither of them have a clue what they are doing. The only thing they know to do it seems is come out around the three point line and set a pick. After that, it seems their job is done. The twins are the problem on this team, nobody else. If you watched the game last night, neither of them can guard. And when they do try to guard, all the do is foul. Since when do you guard in the post with your hands at their waste. Keep your hands straight up and play "sound" defense. Slapping down at the ball is what you got away with in high school, not college. I don't care if they are freshman or not....they are so easy to single out. I feel totally uncomfortable when they have the ball in their hands. They never seem to be in control. You need more than 10 fingers to count how many airballs those two have thrown up. I said it last week when KU played Baylor.....the only reason why they excelled in that game is because Baylor plays as little defense as they do......they play high school defense. I would rather KU downsize and give Releford more minutes or even let him start and keep the twins on the bench and use them for emergency situations (ala Quintrell). Bringing Little off the bench this year is like bringing Collins off the bench last year. Gives us a spark. I know I'm sounding extremely negative and I truly can take a bad loss, even to a rival. But I can't help but think that the twins hurt the team more than they help it. Drives me up a wall. Again, watch them move around the court.....they seem clueless. I look forward to our revenge in the Fieldhouse.

February 10, 2009 at 10:28 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

mcorti (anonymous) says...

i think the kid in the photo is asking for another donut to fill the large hole in his mouth

February 10, 2009 at 10:29 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

ralster (anonymous) says...

KU by 15+ in AFH. Players are mad; Self is likely beyond mad! But next order of business-->KSU. Im looking for improvement in all the areas we need to.

February 10, 2009 at 10:36 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

lalawguy (anonymous) says...

I agree that the technical on Marcus was bogus. The ref knew what he was doing, because he drove himself right into Marcus. Marcus wasn't even watching where he was walking and the ref was staring right at Marcus the whole time. If anything, it should have been a technical on the ref.

February 10, 2009 at 10:37 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

eddiesuttonschoolofdriving (anonymous) says...

The technical was NOT bogus on Morris - he intentionally threw a shoulder at the ref and stuck his elbow into him. My jaw dropped when i saw the replay, and if you watch it again, watch the expression on the Mizzou player who is trying to inbounds the ball - he was in disbelief too. That was the first time I ever remember being embarrassed at something a KU player did on the floor - b/c it was classless. The twins also should get benched if they EVER attempt another baseline jumper. I really think there have been 6 airballs baseline jumpers from the twins this year- which would be a shockingly high number in junior high girls basketball, yet alone at this level. If Self can't salvage them, they simply might not be salvagable. Note to the twins - if you can't finish, can't play defense, and can't dunk except in layup lines - you're NOT enforcers, quit acting like you are.

February 10, 2009 at 11:12 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayhawkPhil (anonymous) says...

OK, Mr Glass Have Empty here is going to try and be a little positive for once. Here are some good things I saw in the game.1. I thought Releford played his best game as a Jayhawk. I hope he and Little continue to take minutes away from the twins.2. I thought Taylor did well for a freshman playing in his first game in Columbia. He did have a lot of turnovers but he will have less next time.3. Despite getting beat on all the time, Aldrich still got 15 rebounds.4. Little continued to improve5. Reed did as good of job as I've seen him perform in handling MU's pressure while bringing up the court for most of the game. I'm not going into the bad things. Everybody else has documented those and I can't argue with most of them but I think we still have a very good chance of going at least 12-4 in league and possible as good as 14-2.

February 10, 2009 at 11:46 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUFan90 (anonymous) says...

Morris technical was not for "barking". And was the right call..you can't bump the refs."KU’s 27 turnovers were third most by a KU team since the 1988-89 season when specialty records were kept. KU had 27 against Arizona in 2005.". So what game and how many were the first most? Why not put that in the article?

February 10, 2009 at 12:35 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawkr (anonymous) says...

JayhawkPhil,All good points. Reed and Morningstar seem to be smarter when attacking the press and knowing where to be to receive a pass. Taylor is getting better, but at times seems to dribble like his idol Collins into a crowd. But Taylor is fun to watch when he goes coast to coast.It's hard not to be negative when we blow huge leads or as in the past few games almost blow huge leads. We have to find the finish button and quit having these scoring droughts. Plus better shot selection and avoiding stupid fouls would go a long way. Just ask the Morris twins. One of them got to ride the bench almost the whole 2nd half. Maybe that is where he belonged ............

February 10, 2009 at 12:44 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KanKu (anonymous) says...

Agreed that it's hard to find the positives when you lose a game like that. KU's 2 biggest problems, IMO, are....Tyshawn Taylor cannot shoot 3's, and has trouble handling the ball when Sherron isn't on the court to bail him out. This causes Sherron's minutes to go up, and increases his erratic play.The twins are so inconsistent. It seems like they play better when on the court at the same time, but still lose their cool too often. Also, for 6'8 and 6'9, they sure can't jump very high.Next year these 3 players will gain strength, practice their shots, and most importantly will "get it". It's a young team, this stuff is expected.

February 10, 2009 at 12:46 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

lrahardja (anonymous) says...

It was frustrating to watch the team trying to protect a slim lead by running the same play against the full court defense. Late second half, we forgot to attack the basket against the full court defense. With time running out, it was too predictable to see Collins trying to penetrate into a crowded defense at the middle and lost control. We still played like that even with 2-3 points lead, from a coaching strategy, we didn't adapt to the score board. MU played horrible, but managed to win, this team is capable of beating KU at AFH when they play slightly better.Questionable calls:I have a DVR, and I have replayed a call many times, but it is clear that one particular referee changed the in-bound 5 seconds rule to 4 seconds or less. Learn how to count, the entire two states can watch you blowing the call immaturely.

February 10, 2009 at 1:43 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jasonsgill (anonymous) says...

We should have won this game so don't read this as more complaining. I believe this is what home court advantage is. But:2 charging calls, one in the first where Morris was looking for the and-1 and the refs waited like 5 secs before making the call, and called charge. The other when Sherron was driving, jumped early and the MU kid slid under him and they called the charge. Those calls, esp the sherron one, were simply poor calls by the refs.Again, those calls did not determine the game, but I expect better from BCS refs

February 10, 2009 at 2:16 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

guys, guys, guys...It was a loss on a last second shot to a ranked team that full court presses every game after we had only one day of rest. We played quite well till we ran out of gas. Our outside shooting disappeared with our legs.KU had to learn first hand what full court pressure from a real balls to the walls pressing team like Fizzou was like. Now they know.They had to learn just how good of shape you have to be in in D1 to play on a days rest. Now they know.Both twins let their energy levels slump for this game and so could not keep up with the pace and intensity of the game. Now they know.Tyshawn Taylor got his butt smoked every which way you can on defense, looked like a fraidy cat bringing the ball up the court, and made 6 TOs; this worries me, but again, he had no idea how difficult D1 full court pressure can be. Now he knows.Cole is basically going to be an offensive non-entity until the mask comes off, unless he's playing against runts. He can't see.Self has to rest Sherron in games with full court pressure, even if it costs us the lead. Now he knows for sure.

February 10, 2009 at 4:20 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jaybate (anonymous) says...

Brady has to look in the mirror and say, "I didn't get the ten coach asked me to, because I focused just a little too much on not making mistakes against the press and not quite enough on getting my ten coach has said I have to get." He will.Tyrel has to look in the mirro and say, "Even when I play my best floor game, even when I seem to be making great plays every where on the floor, even when I hit a shooting slump for stretch, I need to be at my best when I need my best all the way to the buzzer, not to within 10 seconds of the buzzer." You can mark this done already. This is the fiercest competitor on this team outside Sherron, and at times he's even more intense. Tyrel made a believer out of me this game. He can now be said to be able to guard athletic D1 opponents, take supreme heat that guys like Tyshawn cannot yet, and make plays that influence the game, even when he's not hitting. Tyrel is the gold nugget that surfaced in this game. Look for his minutes to go up. He's going to be subbing now not only for Taylor, but for Sherron, too. Releford? Great in the open floor, significant improvement in half court defense on ball, still an error in judgement waiting to happen with help defense. Still not in the flow of half court offense and unfortunate choices there abound. But so what? He's a freaking freshman; sometimes that's how it is. He improved again and showed what's in store when he gets it finally. Potentially mouth watering. Maybe the true 2 we've been missing by next year. But still no evidence of a trey shot. He can't be the true 2 without it. But for this year, certainly moving toward a ten minute man against speed ballers.Mike Anderson knew all he had to do was accelerate the pace, keep pressing and there was a good chance KU would crack on one day's rest. He was right.But Anderson knows something else, too. On three or more days rest, KU is the better team.

February 10, 2009 at 4:20 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

milehighhawk (anonymous) says...

Yeah, Marcus didn't get the T for "barking."It was for the hockey-style body check he put on the ref. It was intentional. It was disgraceful.

February 10, 2009 at 4:37 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jasonsgill (anonymous) says...

"Tyrel made a believer out of me this game. He can now be said to be able to guard athletic D1 opponents, take supreme heat that guys like Tyshawn cannot yet, and make plays that influence the game, even when he's not hitting."I thought Tyrel played a decent game, but he got burned on that last play. He knows it. Not a big deal b/c so many other guys got burned on so many other plays, but otherwise I am on the same page w/ you Jaybate: we just learned what 40 minutes of hell is, on the road, and we almost pulled it off anyway.Another thing, everyone was talking about MU's depth, which is impressive, but did you notice how they shortened their rotation to 8 from the "10 or 11" everyone was talking about? This game WAS their NC.

February 10, 2009 at 6:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

lhohman3 (anonymous) says...

That kid with the bad haircut who's yelling at our nice-looking KU fan, looks exactly like a retarded otter...Speaking of which....1) This game should aptly be titled, "Emmit Otter's Jugband Retarded Christmas of Misery."2) Mizzou Arena should be renamed, "Frogtown Hollow". 3) The Morris twins should be renamed, "Riverbottom Nightmare Band".

February 10, 2009 at 7:12 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

lhohman3 (anonymous) says...

"Oops"... #2 I meant to say, "Phogtown Hollow"...

February 10, 2009 at 9:01 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rcaltrider (anonymous) says...

eddiesuttonschoolofdriving, milehighhawk:Obviously you must be watching some other replay than what I have because that was not an intentional bump. He wasn't even looking in the direction of the ref. It is a case of a ref with an attitude that thinks he can't be touched. It was as much the refs fault for running into Morris as it was Morris' fault. It was an accident and the ref should have had a little bit less of an ego and seen it as such and let it go. It was a horrible and ridiculous call and the fact that you were embarrassed is laughable.

February 10, 2009 at 9:07 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

awstar22 (anonymous) says...

rcaltrider:Obviously you are blinded by extreme bias or something because it was intentional. I watched it several times too and Morris knew exactly what he was doing. If it was an accident (like many of you claim) then why did Morris not turn and apologize? That seems like the logical thing to do if you "accidentally" bump someone. It's classless and it has no part in KU basketball. I wanted to beat Memphis last year...not become thugs like they were.

February 10, 2009 at 9:38 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

crimsoninracine (anonymous) says...

Short memories are a strange phenomenon. I remain surprised that Taylor sat on the bench at the end of this game. He's had his struggles early in games all year. And, Coach Self has stuck with him. And, he's come through late in game after game. He seemed to last night, along with Releford. They single-handedly built the lead back to 10; then, back to the pine for both. I found that strange. The Morris twins have been much like Taylor all year. I find myself yelling and screaming for them to be put on the next bus to Philly; then, they make plays down the stretch. They're all young...but improving all the time. Who really thought we'd be sitting at 8-1 at any point this season? They have been as big a part of that as anyone. Last night, if Collins and Aldrich take care of the ball, we win. If Reed hits a couple of those open threes he missed, like he normally does, we win. I'm not sure we lost because of anything our freshmen did or did not do. I guess we'll all have to disagree. I watched the replay of that technical. Morris was looking up, probably at the scoreboard. Thornley is looking at the inbounds. They bumped. Thornley immediately assumed it was intentional. Morris didn't appear bent on bumping the official...he looked like a player who just picked up his 3rd foul and knows he is going to the bench. I agree 100% with those who feel we did NOT lose as a result of officiating. However, two calls stand out for some sort of reprimand (as if that would ever happen). Morningstar was whistled for a 5-second closely-guarded violation. And, I think Reed was whistled for a 5-second violation on the inbounds. If you watch the replays (as Fran did on TV on the inbounds play), neither time does the official even get to FOUR! I'm sorry, but these officials are VERY well-paid. Players, coaches, and fans SHOULD expect more. At the very least, the officials should be able to count!!!In the grand scheme of things, we'll be fine. Who isn't having a blast watching the 2008-09 Jayhawks play?! Rock Chalk forever.

February 10, 2009 at 10:21 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

OKJAYHAWK5 (anonymous) says...

This is a very important stretch for the Hawks. I dont know if anyone else agrees, but I really think the K-State game is a must win. I still think this team has a shot to win the Big 12 regular season crown, as well as the Big 12 Tourney crown. Losing to the Cats in Manhattan two years in a row will be a tough pill to swallow for any Jayhawk fan.

February 10, 2009 at 11:04 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

lrahardja (anonymous) says...

K-State won't be easy, they normally play better at home than MU. I hope we keep attacking the hoop and not sit on marginal leads.Quality referee shall reduce the number of our turn over as well... hope we will never get the same ref who keeps missing his own count, dugh!

February 11, 2009 at 2:19 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

rcaltrider (anonymous) says...

awstar22,No, I am not blinded by anything. Perhaps you are blinded by your dislike of the Morris twins. It was not "obviously intentional". I'm glad you believe you can read a kids mind but I'm sure you can't. Keep watching and seeing what you want to see.

February 11, 2009 at 10:34 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

rcaltrider (anonymous) says...

awstar22, And it looks today like Coach Self has the same assessment that I had. Maybe you think he too is blinded by something. Anything else to say?

February 11, 2009 at 10:43 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KansaKid (anonymous) says...

Okay , yes we should and could have won but we did not. I loved the way Tyrel got the ball down the court. Yes if he would have went three for 7 on his 3 pointers we win. He made up for it in other areas. He has the the capability of more steals. I like others here expect more minutes from him this year. Annika

February 11, 2009 at 4:01 p.m. ( | suggest removal )