Speedy Collins in no hurry

By Tom Keegan     Mar 18, 2010

More first round content

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Sherron Collins stretches prior to tipoff against Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.

Check out these stories for more insight before KU’s game against Lehigh:

Out of the blocks

Gary Bedore’s KU hoops notebook

Lehigh basketball notebook

Lehigh not backing down

? The moment Sherron Collins slipped into a Kansas University uniform as a freshman, he was the quickest cat on the floor. That wasn’t always a good thing.

He slammed into stationary defenders so often it was as if when he touched the basketball it triggered a timing mechanism that would cause the referee to put his hand behind his head and then point emphatically in the other direction.

Courtside spectators really felt like a part of the action because at times they were when Collins was in the game. They would duck from his errant passes.

He was so quick he was nearly impossible to guard. He’s lost some of his explosiveness since then as a result of wear and tear on his knees, but what he has lost physically he has more than compensated for with added basketball savvy.

That’s what birthdays will do for you. Each one comes with more wisdom. Collins’ plans for celebrating his 23rd birthday today leave no doubt about where his head is as he kicks off his fourth and final NCAA Tournament.

Will there be a birthday cake waiting for him after the game?

“No,” he said. “I’ll get off my feet and get some rest after the game. I’m not worried about birthday cake. I can celebrate later.”

Collins still plays the game at a fast pace, but he seldom looks as if he’s in a hurry these days. He averages 2.3 turnovers, compared to 3.3 a year ago. No statistic reveals what a subtle, masterful job he has done protecting leads late in games. It’s subtle because he never looks like he’s killing clock, never looks passive, but the seconds dwindle off the game clock and shot clock, making the lead more insurmountable. How does he do it?

“It’s just a sense of running the clock out and still being aggressive,” he said. “The thing is you don’t want to actually play to the shot clock where you’ve always got to hoist a bad shot up with 10 seconds left. Be aggressive, and if there’s a layup or something open, take it. If not, then run the clock. We’ve been aggressive and have been able to make plays at the end of the clock.”

Sophomore Marcus Morris expressed how much more efficiently Collins has become this season at managing a game to the finish line.

“I feel he’s understanding the time and score a lot better,” Marcus said. “That’s why we have a senior guard, to hold the team down, and when it’s clutch time he always has the ball in his hands. I think he does a great job of managing the time and managing the score.”

He said Collins also has become a more skilled leader.

“He wasn’t as emotional last year as this year,” Morris said. “When he gets emotional on the bench, the game just changes. That’s something we have that other teams don’t, a senior guard who’s been through this before and knows what to expect, knows how to be down and come back.”

Collins has broken from his midseason shooting slump and has hit 43 percent of his three-point attempts in the past eight games. Even more significant than that, he trusts teammates more now than at any time in his career.

“I feel just as comfortable with Tyshawn (Taylor) having the ball in his hands,” Collins said. “He’s a little, slinky player. He does a lot of different things, especially with his speed. It’s hard to stop him at times.”

Taylor’s stock fell in mid-winter, but it’s been on the rise of late.

“Right now, his head’s as right as it’s been all season,” Collins said. “He’s been practicing great, and his energy level’s been there. We’re all on the same page. Everybody wants to win.”

The leader of the 32-2 and top-ranked Jayhawks was asked what it would be like to meet the leader of the free world, a perk of winning it all.

“He’s the first black president,” Collins said of Barack Obama, who picked KU to win it all. “That alone would make it special.”

Collins, who met President George W. Bush during the 2008 team’s White House visit, knows of the lefty president’s passion for playing basketball.

“Of course I’d like to run with Obama,” Collins said. “I’d like to have him on my team. I heard he’s a pretty good passer.”

In pickup games, Collins is like everybody else. He likes to shoot. In games that count, he shares better than he once did. He’s a much smarter player and is a big reason Kansas has a better shot than any other school of winning it all.

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