**-A week ago, the headline on this blog was “Florida win will be what KU makes of it.”** And after [Saturday’s 64-57 loss at DePaul,][1] the answer to that is a little clearer. The [51-point thumping of Dartmouth][2] was an anomaly, seeing as the Big Green left most of their talent wounded back east. Whether fans want to believe it or not, Saturday’s game at DePaul was a real test. Forget KU’s distinct talent advantage over the Blue Demons. Forget the crowd which was more than half-filled with Jayhawk faithful. Even forget about DePaul’s rough start to the season, including a trip to Maui.Bill Self is not the one to blame here. The gameplan was in place, and it was what got KU a 14-point second half lead. What went wrong was the same thing that did a few weeks earlier [against Oral Roberts][3] – the lack of a killer instinct on the players’ part.Excuse the tangent here, for a second, but I believe the mentality KU has shown so far this season can best be summed up from a line in a season two episode of the NBC sitcom [“The Office.”][4] (Check that show out, if you haven’t already).Anyways, the show’s premise is s a documentary of a mid-level paper supplies company based out of Scranton, Pa., and the regional manager, Michael Scott, is played by Steve Carell. During this episode, titled [“Halloween,”][5] Michael has to fire one of his employees, but is having a tough time doing it because of his gentle nature. During a monologue in front of the camera, he says this little piece (the producers of the documentary had just asked him if he’d ever been hunting before):**_”Yeah, I went hunting once. I shot the deer in the leg. Had to kill it with a shovel. Took about an hour. Why do you ask?”_**Sound about right? KU had DePaul on the ropes, bloodied and waiting for the knockout jab. But instead of playing to win, playing not to lose set in. That’s not saying the Jayhawks simply handed it away by toning down the game’s pace, but just by making mental mistakes typical for a young team, which is something they no longer can consider themselves. And when someone could have stepped up to pad the stats, no one answered the call.**-So who has that killer instinct, you ask?** We really don’t know, because no one’s shown it yet. There’s certainly guys with potential to show it on this team.Obviously, you look at the likes of [Darrell Arthur,][6] who was silent and solid at the end of [ the Florida game,][7] yet never got too far ahead of himself. That was the closest any of the current KU hoopsters have come to brandishing said mentality. (Speaking of Florida, in case you missed it, [the Gators now have two losses][8] as well)There’s [Mario Chalmers,][9] who can silently take over a game on both ends of the floor. There’s the more outgoing types, such as [Russell Robinson][10] and [Julian Wright,][11] who both showed some emotion in the loss Saturday (namely Robinson on his outstanding open court block from behind in the second half, which was followed with a thunderous fist pump). But Wright has been too wild and inconsistent offensively to fill that role, and while Robinson tries to, he can hit a big shot for you here and there, but is just not the offensive force that, say, Chalmers is. That doesn’t diminish his value to the team, but it helps define his role.The one who needs to have it, though, is [Brandon Rush][12]. He’s probably the most gifted total basketball package KU has, but for the most part Saturday, after hitting an early three, he disappeared. But don’t get your hopes up on Rush discovering such an instinct. It’s not something that can be coached. It’s something that you’re born with. And as far as college basketball is concerned, it’s something that is recruited. Self has recruited potential in that area, the light just hasn’t clicked on yet.You think back to recent years, and guys like Keith Langford, Aaron Miles and Wayne Simien all had that “I want the ball in my hands down by one with the clock melting away” setting programmed in their minds. But honestly analyze this year’s roster, and it’s tough to know if such a mindset exists.If it does, it has to show soon.And if you’re wondering just what that instinct looks like on display, watch the DePaul game again and watch the Blue Demons’ [Sammy Mejia,][13] who scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, including a pair of casual-yet-clutch threes and a fading baseline jumper right over Rush.**-And since it’s now official KU will not be heading to a bowl game,** why not talk football one last time. The topic? [Jon Cornish][14].Why was Cornish not the [Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year?][15] One argument could be that he played for one of four conference teams not to make a bowl game. But that shouldn’t be the deciding factor. And if it’s based on who is most important to their team’s success, then it’s probably up in the air, and by no means was [ Nebraska senior quarterback Zac Taylor][16] a slam dunk.Taylor’s numbers (219-of-365, 25 TD, 7 INT, 149.44 rating) are nice and all, but on his team’s biggest stage of the season, Saturday’s Big 12 championship game in Kansas City, he certainly didn’t play up to the title in a [21-7 Husker loss][17]. Then again, in a bit of defense for the award, it was a lean year as far as offensive superstars, and if [Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson][18] hadn’t been hurt, this would be a moot argument.Yes, he completed 23 passes. Yes, he threw for 282 yards. But he was picked off three times, including on each of Nebraska’s final two possessions, and was unable to take advantage of three straight fourth quarter drives when given more-than-favorable field position.Cornish’s team not making the postseason certainly didn’t help his case, even though he had a school-record 1,457 rushing yards on just 250 carres. But heck, then why not [Oklahoma’s Malcolm Kelly?][19] (By the way, Cornish not only led the league in rushing, but also in all-purpose yards with 1,651. Just a sidenote.)The sophomore wideout, through 13 games, has 993 receiving yards on 62 catches and 10 touchdowns. While his yardage total was only the third-best in the league, he stepped up when it counted. Saturday night, he had 10 grabs for 142 yards an a pair of scores.Just another sign that the voting for such awards needs to take place at season’s end.**-Looking forward to next year, though,** there’s already news surrounding one of KU’s non-conference opponents. Actually, it’s Central Michigan, who KU opens its 2007 season with at Memorial Stadium.CMU coach Brian Kelly, who led his team to a [31-10 win over Ohio in last Thursday’s MAC championship game][20] en route to the upcoming Motor City Bowl on Dec. 26 in Detroit, Mich. against Middle Tennessee State,[ has accepted the coaching vacancy at Cincinnati.][21] It hasn’t been confirmed yet whether Kelly will coach the 9-4 Chippewas in their first bowl game since 1994.Kelly or no Kelly, anyone who watched the game last Thursday had to be impressed. [Quarterback Dan LeFevour,][22] who has thrown 25 aerial scores this year, is a freshman. Leading receiver, [the 6-foot-4 Brian Anderson][23] (816 yards, 5 TD), is a also a froshie. And [leading rusher Ontario Sneed][24] (716 yards) is wrapping up his sophomore year.In other words, the Chippewas are talented, and whoever their coach is won’t change that. As a little preview, [here’s an interesting YouTube clip of Sneed’s 96-yard touchdown run against Ohio][25] which put the game on ice. This fan angle is impressive, but doesn’t do the play complete justice. It was something else.See you next week.**_KUSports.com editor Ryan Greene can be reached at rgreene@ljworld.com, or by phone at (785) 832-6357._** [1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2006/dec/03/ku_gets_cold_shoulder/?mens_basketball [2]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2006/nov/29/ku_gets_defensive/?mens_basketball [3]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2006/nov/16/curses_ku_tumbles/ [4]: http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/ [5]: http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/episodes/206_1.shtml#main [6]: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/arthur_darrell00.html [7]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2006/nov/26/later_gators/?mens_basketball [8]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/recap;_ylt=AnJh4BxFsmJmcgYgPVfIarI5nYcB?gid=200612030213&prov=ap [9]: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/chalmers_mario00.html [10]: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/robinson_russell00.html [11]: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/wright_julian00.html [12]: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/rush_brandon00.html [13]: http://www.depaulbluedemons.com/player.asp?CatID=2&ID=162 [14]: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/cornish_jon00.html [15]: http://www.big12sports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112806aac.html [16]: http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4&SPID=22&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=107509&Q_SEASON=2006 [17]: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/dec/03/sooners_rip_nu_crown/?sports [18]: http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&SPID=190&SPORT_TAB_SEL=02&DB_OEM_ID=300&SPSID=2470&ATCLID=67730&Q_SEASON=2006 [19]: http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&SPID=190&SPORT_TAB_SEL=02&DB_OEM_ID=300&SPSID=2470&ATCLID=130980&Q_SEASON=2006 [20]: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=AqajhUiVTOGqKif2VJtlejK_1LYF?slug=ap-ohio-centralmichigan-macchampionship&prov=ap&type=lgns [21]: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2685350 [22]: http://www.cmuchippewas.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=46374&SPID=4199&DB_OEM_ID=10500&ATCLID=344614&Q_SEASON=2006 [23]: http://www.cmuchippewas.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=46374&SPID=4199&DB_OEM_ID=10500&ATCLID=344507&Q_SEASON=2006 [24]: http://www.cmuchippewas.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=46374&SPID=4199&DB_OEM_ID=10500&ATCLID=508313&Q_SEASON=2006 [25]: http://youtube.com/watch?v=H8EF5xTeik0
