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Posted
by Tom Keegan
January 24, 2012 at 12:01 a.m.
Red-hot Tyshawn Taylor once again is top Jayhawk
1. Tyshawn Taylor: The guy could blow by a hurricane to get to the hoop and the way he’s shooting lately could make a three-pointer standing in the middle of a tornado. He had 17 points and three steals. In the past three games he has made 10 of 18 three-pointers and has averaged 24.3 points.
2. Jeff Withey: His eight blocked shots were huge and he mixed in a couple of nice sweeping hook shots on his way to 10 points.
3. Thomas Robinson: He at times faced triple-coverage and had trouble getting shots off and had five turnovers. He shot too many jumpers, but compensated by having a perfect night at the line (10 for 10).
4. Travis Releford: Had eight points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal.
5. Conner Teahan: Made just 1 of 5 three-pointers and finished with five points and three rebounds.
6. Kevin Young: Had two points and a rebound in four minutes.
7. Elijah Johnson: He kept A&M in the game in the first half, chucking up ill-advised shots and misfiring on all five three-pointers in the first half, all six for the game. Had trouble guarding Elston Turner (24 points).
8. Justin Wesley: If basketball had an onside kickoff rule, Wesley wouldn’t be on the hands team.
9. Naadir Tharpe: Played less than a minute and had a turnover.
The Keegan Ratings: Season Standings
1. Thomas Robinson (180 points)
2. Tyshawn Taylor (166 points)
3. Jeff Withey (140 points)
4. Travis Releford (135 points)
5. Elijah Johnson (132 points)
6. Conner Teahan (106 points)
7. Kevin Young (86 points)
8. Justin Wesley (75 points)
9. Naadir Tharpe (51 points)
10. Merv Lindsay (9 points)
Comments
icthawkfan316 1 year, 3 months ago
In fairness to TRob, one of his turnovers was on a lob play where the pass was awful and really had no business being thrown. He managed to corral the ball, but as he was about to go out of bounds threw it back in and it was intercepted by an aTm player.
SchollJayhawk 1 year, 3 months ago
Stop jacking up ill advised three pointers at the very beginning of possessions Elijah! You're better than that. 0 for 6. eeek
Bangkok_Jayhawk 1 year, 3 months ago
I LOVE rebuilding years!
mikendal 1 year, 3 months ago
Not good for the heart!
Jeeveshawk 1 year, 3 months ago
8 blocks! That guy is going to manhandle Missouri!
drgnslayr 1 year, 3 months ago
+1
He should be the difference-maker. Just needs to watch his fouls. Missouri is playing crafty ball and they will be looking to get Withey into foul trouble.
Jeff is improving every game, including getting more blocks with less fouls.
What he needs to watch out for against Missouri is his step out on ball screens at the top of the key. Bob Knight mentioned how well we d on the ball screens... we just have to not allow Withey to foul 25-feet from the basket. He has to jump out on the ball screen while maintaining control; get out there and stop reaching for the ball or shuffling his feet too close to the ball handler because they will drive the ball into him and draw the foul every time. 7-footers don't get charging calls going their way 25-feet from the basket.
All it takes is one or two of those calls to change the complexion of the game. With Withey on the bench Missouri stands a better chance.
Beyond that it sure is exciting to see Jeff improving almost by the second! His strength is coming around, too!
kbean63 1 year, 3 months ago
Okay, no more whining against Ty or Jeff for the rest of the season. They've both been really stepping it up and I'm dang glad they're Jayhawks. p.s. Good call, Self, on Jeff's haircut. I've been noticing for the past month that his hair was down in his eyes and he was constantly having to push it back. I think he should get a mohawk to really scare opponents.
kbean63 1 year, 3 months ago
Okay, no more whining against Ty or Jeff for the rest of the season. They've both been really stepping it up and I'm dang glad they're Jayhawks. p.s. Good call, Self, on Jeff's haircut. I've been noticing for the past month that his hair was down in his eyes and he was constantly having to push it back. I think he should get a mohawk to really scare opponents.
kbean63 1 year, 3 months ago
Okay, no more whining against Ty or Jeff for the rest of the season. They've both been really stepping it up and I'm dang glad they're Jayhawks. p.s. Good call, Self, on Jeff's haircut. I've been noticing for the past month that his hair was down in his eyes and he was constantly having to push it back. I think he should get a mohawk to really scare opponents.
Alohahawk 1 year, 3 months ago
I know. I know. By posting in triplicates, you're hoping it will carry over to the Jayhawks hitting their 3's. :-)
REHawk 1 year, 3 months ago
Gotta be highly frustrating to Bill Self, having no reliable bench player to step up dependably to relieve EJ when he he undergoes such a mental meltdown. Tharpe looks like a kid floundering in a man's game.
actorman 1 year, 3 months ago
But how's that possible that Self has no reliable bench player? Weren't you listening to the brilliant Bobby Knight when he referred to KU having "great depth?"
oklahawk58 1 year, 3 months ago
I wondered if anyone else caught that.
dek9219 1 year, 3 months ago
I caught that too. What a putrid set of announcers those two are. Can't even keep track of the score let alone a known lack of KU depth that's been talked about all year long. I can't stand either one of them.
AsadZ 1 year, 3 months ago
It is so pleasing to see constant improvement in Withey's game. He has been the most pleasant surprise and probbaly most improved player in the country. It was great to see how Knight and Bob kept on praising his SMOOTH free throws. And how about his blocking? Rock Chalk Jeff Withey
rwhawk 1 year, 3 months ago
I think Withey deserved #1 for this game. TT was great, but foul trouble sat him some and in the second half he got to take it fairly easy on the defensive end of the court guarding Dash, who really just stood around and directed traffic bc of the injury. Withey, eight blocks!
icthawkfan316 1 year, 3 months ago
8 blocks is great, but Tyshawn was just about our only offense for long stretches. Also would like to see Withey getting more than 4 boards in 33 minutes. Not good for a 7 footer
Brock 1 year, 3 months ago
I hope that Self decides to install an offense soon. Whatever that crud was last night will not pass. A&M is awful and they made us look absolutely dreadful.
enewell3 1 year, 3 months ago
Dear Elijah, please, oh please pump fake, drive down the lane, and dunk on some of these poor souls. When Dash Harris was hobbles last night and could hardly walk straight why couldn't Johnson take him off the dribble??? In Self I trust, but I think Elijah is witholding so much from us...and himself.
hawkinNE 1 year, 3 months ago
Also if teahan could try the same but instead of dunking take a dribble or two and spot up.
rwhawk 1 year, 3 months ago
He actually starts that process quite a bit when he's in the corner, but he ends up dribbling down the baseline and because he's not athletic enough to get out of it or shoot a jump shot over long arms, he ends up having to pass.
KGphoto 1 year, 3 months ago
They looked like they drank all the 30-point-win kool aid and abandoned their game. Luckily they got away with it, and Bill has som what-not-to-do film to use as motivation going forward.
This is KUs achilles heel under Self. Self is responsible for motivating these guys every night, and I'm guessing he's doing his best to make sure they don't look past or underestimate an opponent, but sometimes I think they just don't listen. Or they listen, but deep down they are thinking "showtime", or "next".
Whether the players read the posts and predictions on boards like this or not, when I see the predictions of 30-40 point wins, I get nervous, because I know deep down they are thinking the same thing and are going to be prone to underperforming. I think it's why they have lost so many tourney games to cinderella teams. Hopefully Bill can figure out a way to get a little deeper into their souls to bring out the monster for these types of games.
Self's resume is incredible, but I cannot imagine what it would look like if he had figured this out 6 or 7 years ago, or what it will look like in the future if he gets it dialed in.
konkeyDong 1 year, 3 months ago
The only thing that kept A&M in this game was Elijah Johnson. I don't know what his deal is, but he did everything in his power to keep KU's offense from being run. I know he's lost his stroke and would desperately love to find it, but it's not gonna happen by jacking a 3 on the perimeter every time you get a touch.
Some people seem to think that if your shot isn't falling, the thing to do is to keep taking it until you work your way out of the slump. Those people are fools though, and the only thing you're doing by taking that tact is wasting possessions for your team. Going 0 - 6 on bad shots may as well be 6 TOs. EJ would be smarter and better served to, instead of looking to find his long range game, figure out how else he can contribute to the offense and do those things. He's fast enough to beat most guards off the dribble. His mid-range game is excellent and his pull up jumper IS dropping. Beyond that, he's one of the most athletic combo guards I've ever seen. What other team runs an alley oop screen for their PG to finish off a pass from the PF?
EJ, you've got all of these great assets. Why not use them instead of trying to be the next Jimmer? You're not a Jimmer. We don't need a Jimmer. We don't want a Jimmer. It's just not the team we are. If any one should be trying to be Jimmer, that would be Teahan, more because that's really all he has to contribute rather than him being that good a shooter. Even Teahan started making shot fakes and dribble moves when it was obvious his stroke wasn't there. EJ, here's a challenge: Once you've missed more 3s than you've made on a night, call it quits. Do the other things you do so well. If you'd taken 2s in each of those situations you took 3s, we'd probably have won by 20 last night.
bad_dog 1 year, 3 months ago
I blame Holly Rowe.
ralster 1 year, 3 months ago
Holly Rowe has no one to blame but herself. Sorry, not a fan.
bad_dog 1 year, 3 months ago
Sorry, forgot the sarcasm font. I can't stand her either; that's why I blamed her.
EJ probably saw her and cringed, thinking "Wow, if I make a bunch of these three point shots, there's a chance she'll want to do a post-game interview with me. Yikes!". Clank, brick, doink...
VaJay 1 year, 3 months ago
Not only did Withey block all those shots, he made so many Aggie players alter their shots or just not shoot at all. For a few brief moments in the second half I was reminded of the semifinal NC game a few years back on our way to winning the National Championship when the Carolina players were terrified of getting their shots blocked & were just happy to shoot any shot that wasn't going to be swatted away.
If we can bring that kind of defensive impact consistently - who knows how far this team can go!
jgkojak 1 year, 3 months ago
Tyshawn has proved himself.
Withey is a beast and seems to be getting better every single game. I know Robinson is declaring, but Withey may end up a lottery pick as well and have some options.
Releford is the player we knew he could be if he got minutes and built up his confidence- he will be a great Senior assett to a young team next year.
Elijah seems to have his head up his ass most of the time. Maybe things will click suddenly for him next year?
Teahan has proved he is what he is -- a walk-on with a decent 3pt shot. No more, sometimes less. If he's playing a lot of minutes in the NCAA Tourney, we're not going to get far.
Wesley I can't figure out. He has his moments, then makes stupid mistakes. Reminds me a little of what I thought of Withey last year.
Young is the guy I'd target to be our true 6th man. There's no reason he shouldn't be playing 15-20 min. a game talent-wise and he would add a lot to our depth by giving Robinson/Withey a breather.
Naadir- we need him, and its clear he's on a very short leash. Not sure what his problem is, but his confidence seems shot.
This team is reminding of me of the 08-09 - w/ Cole and Sherron as the focal pts. Sweet 16?
hawkinNE 1 year, 3 months ago
Withey a lottery? I think someone needs pinched! I can see maybe overseas so good thing he has another year.
JayCeph 1 year, 3 months ago
Anyone see this about Teahan? http://beyondthearc.nbcsports.com/2012/01/24/conner-teahan-is-living-his-dream-but-would-trade-it-all-back-why/related/
konkeyDong 1 year, 3 months ago
In the grand tradition of bucking the "down year" trend, it would be incumbent on fans to check out the latest espn class rankings.
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/school?id=2305&;slug=kansas-jayhawks
KU has moved up to the top ten as each of our recruits has increased his stature a bit. Perry Ellis is now rightly ranked higher than Willy Cauley. I've said for a while Zach Peters would move up, though he has only slightly. The biggest, and perhaps most delightful surprise is that Landen Lucas has made a significant jump and is now a 4 - star who is, presumably, just outside the top 100.
I wasn't thrilled when he signed because of what I saw int he games he played for Findlay Prep, I think he's too slow to keep up with our pace, but apparently he's tearing it up this season and is the number #1 recruit out of Oregon. This article
http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/oregon/post/_/id/414/kansas-recruit-landen-lucas-is-oregons-top-player
lists him at 6'10" and he looks as though he's trimmed a bit, so maybe the floor speed won't be an issue after all. So to all the haters and doubters out there, I told you so. Rankings are mostly AAU related. Coaches know talent when they see it. Our haul for next year looks stronger every day. RCJH!
icthawkfan316 1 year, 3 months ago
Good post.
I was saying just a couple days ago, after having seen Cauley play in person for the first time, that I couldn't believe anyone would rank him higher than Perry (it should be noted that rivals always has had Perry higher). Cauley played extremely soft and uninspired ball in a tournament I watched over the weekend. He's obviously tall and athletic, and may turn out to be a good college player, but I was unimpressed.
As for Lucas, I've been right there with you...skeptical/less-than-thrilled about his signing. I still think he may be better off red-shirting next year, but that's as much about how many post players we'll have as anything. Regardless, it's good to see these future 'hawks working hard already.
AsadZ 1 year, 3 months ago
That was a nice article to read on Conner.
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