John HenryAll work and no play makes for a brutally dull summer vacation.
So Kansas University sophomore center Cole Aldrich, who served as a counselor with other college standouts at the Adidas Nations camp in Dallas and spent countless hours in the gym and weight room, also fit in some down time during June and July.
“I went out on the lake, went swimming once or twice. I kind of shot the breeze one or two days,” Aldrich, KU’s 6-foot-11, 240-pounder from Bloomington, Minn., said Friday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse, before one of the Jayhawks’ practices leading up to their Labor Day weekend trip to Canada. “I was spotted at Clinton Lake once or twice this summer.”
He wasn’t doing anything crazy like risking the waves water skiing.
“I used to do that when I was a kid. Now it’s just basketball,” Aldrich said of how he gets his thrills.
John HenryAldrich – one of the heroes of KU’s NCAA Final Four semifinal victory over North Carolina – said his national-championship offseason started slowly before he picked up the pace the past month or so.
“It was tough going through a seven-month season,” Aldrich said of his freshman campaign. “I just wanted to sit on the couch a little bit. Toward the end of the summer, it was really productive.
“I went to Adidas Nations. It was really fun. We had some great workouts there,” he added of pick-up games involving UCLA’s Darren Collison and Jrue Holiday, Baylor’s Curtis Jerrells and Kevin Rogers, Memphis’ Antonio Anderson, Duke’s Nolan Smith, Louisville’s Terrence Williams, Pitt’s Tyrel Biggs and Dejuan Blair and others.
“I worked out with one of my friends toward the end of the summer and really started to get into the groove of playing basketball.”
Aldrich reported to KU in great shape. He has been singled out as an early bright spot by coach Bill Self.
“He’s doing great,” said Self, who has put his team through three practices with more on the tap this weekend and through next week. “Cole now would lead our team hands-down.”
Aldrich and 6-11 senior walk-on Matt Kleinmann showed strong leadership skills over the summer in assisting KU’s seven newcomers.
“Kleinmann and myself told Quintrell (Thomas, 6-7 forward) and the twins (Marcus Morris, 6-8, and Markieff Morris, 6-10) the different things we do in practice to give them a little edge,” Aldrich said. “We showed them the post moves we work on at practice, a lot of footwork stuff. The main thing is footwork and angles at our level.”
The twins have yet to appear at pre-Canada practices as they await clearance by the NCAA. That leaves KU with a shortage of big bodies, quite a different situation from a year ago when big men were prowling everywhere.
“Yes, definitely,” Aldrich said, asked if he misses Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun, who sometimes made life miserable on him at practice.
“Last year, I was the fourth big guy in the rotation behind the other guys. When I got on the court, I couldn’t believe how fast everything was. Toward the end of the season, things started slowing down. With the help of Darnell and the other big guys, I learned a lot.
“They know so much about the game. I talk to them every once in a while to see how everything is going. It’s exciting to know last year I played against three guys that are in the NBA. If Sasha wasn’t in Russia (to play pro ball) he’d be in the NBA.”
Aldrich said he’ll do everything possible to step up his game in the absence of his big-men buddies.
“Basically, it’s night and day,” he said of his role this year compared to last year. “I’m one of our main guys on our team now. It’s real exciting to go through the transition, progressing over the course of freshman year to sophomore year to junior year. Different expectations come with that.”
Those expectations grew after Aldrich burned North Carolina All-America pivot Tyler Hansbrough for eight points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in KU’s 84-66 NCAA semifinal victory in San Antonio.
“I was doing the same things I was doing every other game, just on a bigger stage,” said Aldrich, who averaged 2.8 points and 3.0 boards a game for the national champs.
He recalls what UNC coach Roy Williams said to him after the game that preceded the Jayhawks’ 75-68 (OT) national title win over Memphis.
“He said, ‘Great job, go win it for us.’ Roy knows what Kansas tradition is. He coached here for numerous years,” Aldrich said, emphasizing the word “numerous.”
Aldrich also understands KU tradition and embraces Self’s comment that he could be one of the best big men to play at KU in many years.
“In high school I was viewed as one of the better guys on the team. One of the things I need to do is lead by example. Leading by playing is even better,” Aldrich said.
Self said he hopes the Morris twins are declared eligible by the NCAA Clearinghouse on Monday. They cannot practice until they are cleared by the Indianapolis organization.
“We have not heard one thing,” Self said Friday. “I was hopeful it’d happen three days ago. Unfortunately for us, it is status quo until the first of next week.”
Of the delay, Self said: “We are not a fall sport. They are busy getting all fall sports people taken care of. I don’t anticipate a problem.”
Oklahoma City ? C.J. Giles hasn’t been spotted around Allen Fieldhouse or the dorm since his indefinite suspension from Kansas University’s men’s basketball team Tuesday.
At least some of his teammates have made contact with the troubled junior center, however.
“I’ve sent him text messages. I said, ‘We are still here to support you. Keep your head up.’ I’ll support him any way I can,” junior Russell Robinson told reporters at Big 12 Media Day on Thursday in Cox Convention Center.
While not wanting to discuss fellow junior Giles’ skipping practice Monday morning, academic issues and/or a pending child-support case, team leader Robinson was more than willing to talk about the impact Giles’ loss would have on the team if he’s given the permanent boot by coach Bill Self.
“There’s a lot of pressure on us. It’s such a big defensive role to fill,” Robinson said. “Careless fouls (by remaining big men Sasha Kaun, Darnell Jackson, Darrell Arthur and Julian Wright) must be cut to a minimum.
“Losing anybody on our team is a big loss. C.J. brings so much to the locker room – excitement, jokes. He’s a great teammate. It’s a tough situation. I wish I could do more.”
Junior center Kaun, whose minutes figure to increase if Giles is out of the lineup, said he was hoping his buddy returns.
“If he is out, I will not be happy about that,” said Kaun, who also hasn’t seen Giles since the suspension. “It will hurt us. He is a good player. Hopefully it’ll turn out. If the worst is to happen, it’s something we’ll have to deal with, play through it.”
Kaun, who is one of KU’s five returning starters, hopes to pick up his play, especially on the offensive end. He averaged 8.2 points a game a year ago with 5.3 rebounds.
“It’s not a secret. We need more consistent low scoring. A consistent low-post presence offensively may be the biggest weakness we had last year,” Self said. “A consistent low-post presence defensively may have been the biggest strength we had. Sasha needs to be the guy who can draw double teams, demand attention and be a double-figure scorer.”
Self said he’d like to see the Kaun who scored 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in last year’s opener against Idaho State.
“I’ll try to score, bring a little more impact on the game,” Kaun said. “I need to get more aggressive, get more rebounds, block shots. Offensively, I maybe need to get a little more patient, play with poise, make fewer mistakes.”
Self said Kaun’s extended trip home to Russia over the summer – he was gone two months instead of four to six weeks to renew his passport – “hasn’t set him back.”
Yet Kaun admits when he returned to Lawrence on Aug. 7, “I was not in as good shape. I was out of rhythm. I ran some back home on the treadmill, lifted weights, but not much playing. I did some things with the basketball, but not much. It’s hard to find people to play basketball there.”
Self, meanwhile, indicated there remained no timetable if and when Giles might rejoin the big-man rotation.
“I’m not going to put a definite deadline on it,” Self said. “This isn’t something that’s hanging over our players’ heads at all. It hasn’t been a distraction yet. I’m hopeful it can be resolved.
“I don’t think I will need to sit down and talk with him that much. I’ll wait to see what the proof is, how he handles things, see if he does them. If he does them, then we’ll talk. If he doesn’t, there’s no reason to talk.”
As he told the Journal-World on Wednesday night, Self said recent revelations that Giles is headed to court to make sure he pays child support, “adds to the list of things we expect him to take care of. It will not affect the final decision. Now is it embarrassing? Is it wrong? No one is shying away from that.”
At any rate, it does not sound as if Giles will be back anytime soon, which means Jackson and newcomer Arthur – who earlier this week was slowed by tonsillitis, but practiced well on Wednesday – will have to step up as well as Wright, who will play inside and out.
“Darnell is a banger, athletic guy. He’s a phenomenal player, hard and tough,” Kaun said. “Darrell had one of his best practices yesterday. He’s coming along well.”
¢Here’s Self’s official assessment of KU’s inside game. “Darrell will be one of the better new guys in the league, no question, and he is a talent. He doesn’t understand what we are trying to get accomplished consistently but certainly he picks up things fast and hopefully will be a guy by the time league rolls around will be comfortable.
“We have good depth inside. We can throw size at you. We can throw some length at you. Barring injuries or whatever, I do think we have at least four guys that can certainly be an impact player and give us pivotal minutes. A lot of teams don’t have four guys they can rely on, I think, like we can.”
¢On a lighter note, Giles’ roommate is Rodrick Stewart, not Robinson, who in his first two years lost Alex Galindo and Micah Downs to transfer.
“I live with Brandon (Rush). I might lose him at the end of the year (to the NBA),” Robinson quipped.
¢Self on the play of his guards: “To be honest, I’d say Sherron (Collins) is keeping heat on Russell and Mario (Chalmers) from a performance standpoint, not that he will unseat them. They know he’s there. He’s had a good first week of practice.
“Sherron is a very talented guy and has picked things up remarkably quick, but we return three pretty good perimeter players and I think all four of those guys, if you add Sherron to that mix, will certainly get ample minutes. It will take him time like it takes most freshmen to get acclimated and comfortable.”
¢Self on KU being picked to win the league: “I didn’t pick us so it is not unanimous. I picked Gillispie (Texas A&M, coached by his buddy Billy Gillispie). I love Billy’s team. I think they are tough and have some young players that can shoot and stretch the defense around Joseph (Jones).”
He went on to mention several other teams in the league, including Texas, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Texas Tech.
