Whether he throws the ball inside or flips it to a wing, Russell Robinson figures he can’t go wrong directing traffic on Kansas University’s 2006-07 men’s basketball team.
“We have so many weapons. Every possession it could be somebody different. You just try to hit the open man,” the junior point guard said.
Led by Brandon Rush, who scored 21 points, the Jayhawks finished with five double-digit scorers in a 91-57 season-opening rout of Northern Arizona on Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. That followed a pair of exhibition contests in which six Jayhawks averaged double-digit point production.
“It’s what we want to do – get people easy baskets, keep everybody’s confidence up, keep everybody happy. We have to keep doing that,” said Robinson, who scored nine points with four assists against the Lumberjacks.
Julian Wright scored 16 points, Sherron Collins 14 and Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur 12 apiece in the opener.
“It makes my job a lot easier. At the same time, Brandon had four assists. It makes everybody’s job easier,” Robinson said of having a bunch of scoring threats available.
Only Rush and Mario Chalmers averaged double-digit scoring for the 25-8 Jayhawks last season, though Robinson averaged 10.7 points in Big 12 games.
“We’re unselfish. I think it is our strength,” Robinson said. “We want to share the ball, get easy buckets and get flowing.”
Of course, offense many times starts with defense – something that will continue to be stressed entering Wednesday’s 7 p.m. home game against Oral Roberts.
“Lately in practice, we’ve not been doing a good job on defense. That was the main focus of the game,” Robinson said. “Come out and pressure them, not let them get comfortable.”
Coach Bill Self, who hopes the Jayhawks will be able to push the ball even faster than in the opener, has been stressing defense and rebounding at daily workouts.
“Defense sets up the offense and creates runs,” Robinson said. “That gets the crowd into it. We try to feed off that.”
Robinson can envision the Jayhawks continuing to run and score at a rapid pace this season.
“We have the bodies to do it and it’s to our advantage,” he said. “We like to wear teams down. Getting easy buckets helps the morale of the team. Everybody starts to feed off that and bring energy to the game.”
Ten players played at least nine minutes in the opener, so fatigue is not a problem.
“Coach talks about mental conditioning as well as physical conditioning, playing when you are not fresh,” sophomore forward Wright said. “You have to make the right plays and right decisions.
“Games are different than practice. Coach stops play at practice sometimes and says things. In a game, it’s sped up, you breathe a little harder because of the intensity of the game. We have to get in better shape. (But) it’s still early in the season.”
Watching Rhodes: KU assistant Kurtis Townsend traveled to Durham, N.C., on Friday to watch a practice of Bennie Rhodes, a 6-foot-6 senior from Mt. Zion Academy.
Mt. Zion coach Antonio Fozard told rivals.com no campus visit had yet been set up for Rhodes, who also is considering UCLA, Oklahoma State and others.
“I think the coaching staff wants to watch some of our games this year before any visit is planned. All I really know right now is that Kansas is interested in Bennie,” Fozard said, adding, “Bennie is a great athlete, a great person and a great student. Schools just want to get a look a Bennie during the season before they make any decisions about him.”
