Tyshawn Taylor best Jayhawk against Oklahoma State

Posted by Tom Keegan February 28, 2012 at 1:08 a.m.

1. Tyshawn Taylor: Outscored OSU, 10-0, during a 3:03 span to give KU a 70-52 lead. He had two three-pointers, a tear-drop shot and a dunk on the run. He finished with 27 points and had just two turnovers in 37 minutes.

2. Thomas Robinson: Took a couple of questionable shots and made just 6 of 15 shots, but also dominated the boards, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

3. Elijah Johnson: Continues to show excellent passing skills in transition and in the halfcourt.

4. Kevin Young: He committed three fouls. Correction: He was whistled for three fouls, the third was a phantom foul. In 12 energetic minutes, he flushed two dunks, one a reverse on a breakaway that have had just a tad too much mustard on it. A skilled passer, he had two assists to go with two rebounds.

5. Justin Wesley: OSU scored just nine two-point field goals and during his seven minutes, Wesley made sure none of them big men scored. He had four rebounds, blocked two shots and even scored a bucket.

6. Jeff Withey: Shaky performance in which he played just 16 minutes in part because of foul trouble.

7. Travis Releford: Had just two rebounds in 32 minutes.

8. Conner Teahan: Made a big three-pointer, but also was on the receiving end of a couple of tongue-lashings for being out of position.

9. Naadir Tharpe: Played five minutes.

The Keegan Ratings: Season Standings
1. Thomas Robinson (265 points)
2. Tyshawn Taylor (251 points)
3. Jeff Withey (220 points)
4. Elijah Johnson (202 points)
5. Travis Releford (199 points)
6. Conner Teahan (155 points)
7. Kevin Young (135 points)
8. Justin Wesley (105 points)
9. Naadir Tharpe (74 points)
10. Merv Lindsay (11 points)
11. Jordan Juenemann (3 points)

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icthawkfan316 1 year, 2 months ago

Addendum to #9: Played 5 turnover-free minutes. For him that's huge!

tundrahok 1 year, 2 months ago

Exactly. His role this year is simply not to screw up. If he can play a few minutes per game to give our starters a rest, and have all zeros in the box score (especially 0 turnovers, 0 bad shots), that's a success!

Tharpe will be a star in the future. For now, a successful game is where he comes in and you don't notice. That's a big contribution.

actorman 1 year, 2 months ago

Yep, sums it up beautifully.

Alohahawk 1 year, 2 months ago

I mentioned on one of the other posts that TT has now moved himself into position to be drafted in the first round. His perfomances over the last few games have shown his true abilities, as a point guard to be trusted at crunch time. He's not perfect, yet. But he's almost there.

Withey's last two games perfectly illustrate that he needs another year of court time at the college level. Although he's moved up on the draft boards, if he bolts early he'll chance getting shunted to the second round. And thus, not having a guaranteed paycheck where he'll need to prove himself against much stiffer competition. Or even worse, he could go undrafted. He's shown he has ability, but in a lot of ways it's a lot like TT was previously. Potentially he can stand out, but he's not consistent. He's shown the burner can be turned up to high, but at the moment it's reverted back to pilot light. Hopefully, during the coming tournament games, he'll turn it back to high again.

As for KU's bench, they're really starting to gel and have added what HCBS has needed so much this season. Players he can trust, that can hold their own while on the court and, at times, add positive play to the starting five.

tundrahok 1 year, 2 months ago

Spot on regarding Withey. He has shown flashes of greatness, especially the 3-5 games after the Missouri loss, but he's not there yet on a consistent basis. Come back next year and perform consistently, and he could be a lottery pick.

And grow a lower body! Then the little guys can't take your legs out from under you.

drgnslayr 1 year, 2 months ago

"And grow a lower body! Then the little guys can't take your legs out from under you."

You nailed it! His legs need to be viewed by opposition as a weapon against them, not a target. Big men have to build their legs up well because of all that length, leverage works against them until they have the strength to put leverage to work for them.

Pro scouts focus on a big man's legs because without good, strong legs (at 7') the chances of making it through a tough NBA season is slim.

KGphoto 1 year, 2 months ago

Actually of about 15 mock drafts I perused, only 1 had TT in the first round. Several had him going undrafted. (Some of those were updated recently, some of them weren't.) I'm with you though, I think he's worthy, he's just not getting the love from draft gurus right now.

Only one had Withey being drafted in the 2nd round. None of them had Withey in the first round. I looked at 2 mock drafts that didn't even have Withey being drafted in the first 2 rounds of the 2013 draft.

Needless to say, for now he is completely off the radar and there is almost no chance of him sneaking into the first round this year, which means there is almost no chance of him bailing early.

However, I could see a monumental improvement from this year to the next a la TRob via Danny. A few Hudy's on his frame and a honing of his post work from the best in the biz and, IMHO, he could easily be a lottery pick next year. Maybe something like Meyers Leonard of Illinois could be this year.

Kyle Rohde 1 year, 2 months ago

Absolutely right on Withey. He needs to not fall into the trap that so many Jayhawks have the past few years. If you're going to end up in the D-League, maybe another year of college would have been better. I'm looking at you Wright, Selby, Henry and, to a lesser extent, the Morrii.

713KUFAN 1 year, 2 months ago

youre way off on the Morrii. If you are going to be a lottery pick, you go. Period. end of subject. Both were so the decision was good. Markieff is a valuable piece in PHX, they love him, and the only reason Marcus got sent down (trust me, I live in Houston and am a HUGE rockets fan) is because they wanted him to get PT at the 3 and they already have 2 guys ahead of him that they trust. The Rockets love Marcus' potential and he's already been called up b/c he dominated the D-league - he just needed some time at the 3 instead of the 4. I agree on the other guys for sure, but the Morrii made the right decision, no question about it.

lurkerhawk 1 year, 2 months ago

Excellent perspective on the twins. A lot of hate coming their way from the fans lately.

icthawkfan316 1 year, 2 months ago

713 - since you're a Houston guy and a huge Rockets fan maybe you can help me with this: if the team already has 2 guys at the 3 that they like, why did they draft Marcus and then insist that he is a 3? I agree that with his skill set that is probably where he needs to be focusing on, I just don't understand the franchise spending a lottery pick on a guy to be 3rd on the depth chart. Was there trade possibilities for any of their 3-men that fell through? Injury concerns? Contract/resign-ability concerns? Were they expecting him to be better than the guys they have and it just didn't play out that way? Just curious, and since I don't follow the NBA with any regularity I'm pretty out of the loop.

LAJayhawk 1 year, 2 months ago

The Morii????

713KUFAN already summed it up quite well (especially Marcus), but I just wanted to add some stats for Kieff.

He's averaging 20.5 minutes a game, 7.9 points and 5 boards, and he's shooting an excellent 40.3% from 3. The Suns have steadily increased his usage through the season, and he has turned into a solid 25 minute-ish a game guy. I don't have the stats in front of me, but I'd have to guess Kieff is in the top percentages for rookies this year. I don't think he'll probably ever be an all-star, but he's going to have a very good, long career (barring injury, of course).

And 713 is absolutely right, RE: 'Cus. You don't let that kind of talent just sit on the bench when you want him getting experience, and he absolutely dominated the D-League.

Both are going to have long careers, and both are earning high guaranteed contracts for rookies. It simply isn't smart to pass that up.

ParisHawk 1 year, 2 months ago

Adding to others' replies, don't forget that Wright and Henry were lottery picks as well (13th and 12th).

The only guy who is "ending up" in the D-League is Morningstar; are you saying he should have stayed an extra year ;)

jkanderson 1 year, 2 months ago

Don't agree on Releford. He should be ahead of Withey and Wesley.

oxcaljayhawk 1 year, 2 months ago

When you compare minutes played with production, Releford should have been last. He can't hit a lay-up anymore. If he's got a bad leg, that's one thing. But it still does not make up for the free throw shooting.

Table_Rock_Jayhawk 1 year, 2 months ago

Whats strange about Relaford...when coming out of high school, his strength was scoring.

Regarding EJ - I wished he would of red shirted his freshman year. It would be nice having him back as a junior next year instead of a senior. You can see his talent gradually come out as the season wears on...but wonder if only one more year will be enough to get him to the next level.

lurkerhawk 1 year, 2 months ago

Releford was starting to show his full potential and then he had that unfortunate injury last year. He has never been the same ever since.

LAJayhawk 1 year, 2 months ago

He was Big 12 player of the week this season. Don't how accurate it is to say he's "never been the same since." He has his moments.

lurkerhawk 1 year, 2 months ago

What I meant is that he doesn't provide the kind of spark he provided last year before he hurt his achilles tendon. Now, we need him on the defensive side more than anything.

oklahawk58 1 year, 2 months ago

As a huge Thunder fan, I would love to see Tyshawn slip into the lower 1st round so OKC could nab him. Westbrook's backup, Eric Maynor, is out with an ACL, and we all know it takes two full years to recover. TT would be a great backup PG as a rookie, and that would make three Jayhawks on the team!

lurkerhawk 1 year, 2 months ago

KC Thunder. That'd be awesome.

plotku 1 year, 2 months ago

Has anyone heard any additional talk of TT being added to the Cousy award list? I know they said they have the right to evaluate it at the end of the month, so I was just curious if there was any chatter. In Feb. alone he is averaging a little over 18 points & four assists per game.

REHawk 1 year, 2 months ago

I'd certainly love to see Tyshawn playing with the Thunder. His pro career should make for a very intriguing follow-up.

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