Under normal circumstances, nothing irks a basketball player more than when the horn signals a replacement is on his way in. That wasn’t the case Wednesday night for the Oklahoma State players who headed to the Allen Fieldhouse visitor’s bench.
One player after another took his seat, sighed, threw his head back and called to mind a boxer who had just been spared by the bell. You half expected a trainer with a towel draped over his neck to get under the player’s nostrils with smelling salts.
The only things missing were blood and puffy eyes. No bones were broken, but the same couldn’t be said for the Cowboys’ wills.
Kansas University’s swarming defense on the perimeter and in the post, relentless pressure, often of the full-court variety, and frequent substituting had that dispiriting an effect on a team that arrived in Allen Fieldhouse ranked ninth in the nation and left looking like anything but a contender.
The scoreboard said plenty: Kansas 87, Oklahoma State 57.
The Cowboys’ collective body language said more. It said: “Here, you take the ball. I don’t want it.” And: “Isn’t there anywhere on this hardwood I can go without those quick hands in my face, in my dribbles, in my nightmares. Let me out of here. Now!”
A deeper look at the box score said even more. It said Kansas had 17 steals and nine blocked shots. Julian Wright, such a quick jumper, swatted four shots. Sasha Kaun, who almost always seems to play with more patience and confidence when facing shorter players, blocked three shots.
As usual, Mario Chalmers (six steals) and Russell Robinson (three steals) forced the most turnovers.
Brandon Rush, who can play taller than his 6-foot-6 frame and was able to take Florida’s Joakim Noah out of the game for a
second-half stretch, is such a quick defender he handled a much different assignment Wednesday night with similar success.
Rush opened the game on Marcus Dove, no scoring threat, and later switched onto 6-3 scorer deluxe JamesOn Curry, eight inches shorter than Noah.
“He did a really good job,” Self said of Rush’s work on Curry. “He can really slide his feet. Brandon’s not going to get a lot of steals, but he can really guard his man.”
The quick, efficient feet, long arms and ability to resist the temptation to reach make him one of the nation’s most versatile defenders. A quick show of hands, please. How many would have guessed that would be the case after he came to Kansas having played for a variety of coaches who pretty much let him do as he pleased and didn’t dare demand he play defense because his scoring was so essential to the mission of winning games?
The progress Rush has made is a testament to his commitment to become a better basketball player and to his coach’s relentless demands that make it clear the best way to find a seat on Bill Self’s bench is to pay less attention to defending than pursuing points.
Not all Big 12 foes will cave as easily as Oklahoma State because most teams have better point- guard play than the Cowboys. Still, it already is obvious the toughest place for a road team to claim a victory will be Allen Fieldhouse.
