Kansas freshman point guard Aaron Miles has had some dandy games this season.
Six assists vs. no turnovers at Oklahoma State, plus assist to turnover ratios of 5-to-1 at Arizona, 7-1 at Colorado; 8-1 vs. Valparaiso at Allen Fieldhouse and 7-2 vs Houston in Hawaii.
Yet Miles, KU’s 6-foot-1 floor general from Portland, Ore., also has had four games in which he’s registered more turnovers than assists.
He’s had three games when he’s had exactly as many turnovers as assists.
On Saturday, Miles had two assists, five turnovers and no points on 0-for-5 shooting in KU’s 74-67 victory over Oklahoma at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I have been inconsistent,” Miles said after his 23-minute stint against the Sooners. “I want to be more consistent. I think it’s going to come. I’m going to get around to it. We are all going through some growing pains.”
Miles paid for his growing pains early in the second half when he was yanked from the lineup a minute into the half. Veteran Kirk Hinrich took over at point guard.
Quite vocal, KU coach Roy Williams said at that point he challenged Miles “probably harder than he’s ever been challenged.”
“No, I don’t get shaken,” Miles said of his reaction to Williams’ spirited sideline instruction and motivation, “because I know he wants the best for me. If he isn’t talking to me, yelling at me, he doesn’t want the best for me. I don’t worry when he yells. Man … coach just wants the best out of me, the best out of all the players. I just try to get the message he wants to send.”
The message is simple.
“He wants me to compete and be more aggressive,” Miles said. “I have no excuses, no more freshmen excuses. We’ve played 17 games. There’s no reason for me to be inconsistent. I won’t call ’em freshmen mistakes. I just had a bad game.”
For the year, Miles is averaging 6.5 points a game on 39.8 percent shooting. He’s made seven of 16 threes for 43.8 percent; 29 of 38 free throws for 74.4 percent and has 100 assists against 60 turnovers.
He’s started every game for the 15-2 Jayhawks, who travel to Iowa State on Wednesday for an 8:05 p.m. tipoff.
“Aaron had a bad game,” KU senior Jeff Boschee said, “but Kirk is always able to step in and play the one spot. Aaron sometimes makes freshman mistakes, but he comes to play every day and will get better. He’s doing a good job, especially for a freshman.”
A good sign is Miles did no brooding as he watched Hinrich shift to the point and Keith Langford move to the small forward slot during a second-half sizz that helped KU build a 22-point lead against OU.
Langford finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with seven rebounds.
Hinrich won’t let Miles ever get down.
“I don’t talk to just him. I talk to everybody,” Hinrich said. “You’ve got to bounce back and he will. I just tell him to relax and go play.”
Miles appreciates the tutoring.
“Like I said, our upperclassmen are cool,” Miles said. “Kirk helps. Boschee helps. Lewis (Harrison) helps me at practice, all the upperclassmen show us (freshmen) the ropes. They push us in practice and it makes us better. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy coming here. What I want most of all is to improve and help us win a national championship.”
And a Big 12 Conference championship.
“This win (Saturday) was great. It put us a step ahead of everybody in our conference. It helps us reach our goal of winning the conference,” Miles said. ” It’s good to get ahead. I’m really happy for Keith. I’m happy for the win.”
