Last Halloween, I attended a Kansas University basketball practice and attempted to predict who would lead the Jayhawks in scoring.
The guesses of freshman Julian Wright and coach Bill Self also were solicited. Both chose C.J. Giles, whose 6.2 points per game ranked him seventh.
My guess was that by tournament time, either Micah Downs or Brandon Rush would be the team’s leading scorer, a half-bad guess. Downs didn’t even make it through half the season. He quit with a 4.3 scoring average. Rush led the Jayhawks with 13.5 points per game. Fellow freshman Mario Chalmers (11.5) was the only one to join him in double figures.
Since Rush reiterated at Tuesday night’s banquet he would return for his sophomore season, it should be easy to project next season’s leading scorer, right?
Wrong.
Again, it’s a tough call.
Handicapping the field:
¢ Chalmers (3-2): Making the transition to big-time college basketball is all the more difficult coming from Alaska. Over the last 19 games, Chalmers averaged 14.7 points, Rush 13.7. Next to
seldom-used sniper Jeremy Case, Chalmers led the team in points per 40 minutes with 17.6.
¢ Rush (2-1): An improved left hand would make him more assertive, which would make him a better scorer. But can he improve the left hand? His left arm, thanks to a gymnastics accident at age 10, isn’t as strong as his right.
¢ Wright (10-1): At first blush, he’s too unselfish and not a smooth-enough shooter. Yet, he’s so active and so rapidly improving, it’s possible. As did Rush, Wright averaged 17.0 points per 40 minutes. His playing time will increase this season.
¢ Sherron Collins (12-1): Sharing minutes with Russell Robinson and Chalmers hurts his chances, but he’s so aggressive he’s in the mix. Whereas getting Rush to shoot more often forever is one of Self’s goals, those who’ve seen Collins play for Chicago Crane are confident that won’t be a problem with the quick, built guard who plays basketball with a football mentality.
¢ Darrell Arthur (20-1): First, he would have to commit to KU to make the odds shorter. He remains undecided. Should he commit, it’s not outrageous to believe he could lead the team in scoring. For one thing, Arthur is a more skilled scorer than the rest of the big men on the team.
¢ The Field (25-1): Sasha Kaun with an improved free-throw touch? Not likely, but he’s the best of the rest in terms of projecting scoring average. Kaun split time with Giles. If Kaun can find a way not to rush himself and improve his hands (not many can), he could up his minutes to 28 a game.
Looking to next season, some of the best battles could take place at practice, behind closed doors, where battles for playing time are waged.
If the versatile Arthur commits to KU, he could see minutes at anywhere from small forward to center. Let’s suppose Arthur, Wright and incoming freshman Brady Morningstar eat up the back-up small forward minutes.
That leaves 80 minutes to be shared among Robinson, Chalmers and Collins. The best way for guards to gain Self’s favor is to amp up the pressure defensively. To the coach’s delight, every dribble and every pass will be challenged.
