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| The Kansas Jayhawks headed to Kansas City focused on securing the Big XII tournament championship after coming up short during the regular season. The table was set for a nice tournament run after: (1) The Jayhawks cruised to a 94-63 victory over K-State in a second round match-up, and (2) Baylor upset Iowa State earlier in the day. The path to the tournament championship was clear and the door was wide open and ready for the Jayhawks to walk on through. That is, of course, until the Oklahoma Sooners came along and abruptly slammed the door.
Yes, the Kansas Jayhawks came up short again and continued what is becoming a frustrating tradition of Jeckyl and Hyde basketball; Putting together a tremendous performance (against K-State) on one day and following it up with a less-than-stellar performance (against OU) the next. After the win over K-State, KU players, coaches and fans were feeling great about the direction the Jayhawks were heading. The momentum was there. The confidence was there. The execution was there. The KU pride was beaming through.
And then came Saturday, when the loss to OU knocked all of us back to reality. What is that reality, you ask? The bottom line is this KU team is not so different than KU teams of recent memory. When push comes to shove, KU gets pushed. It’s really hard to type that, but until the Jayhawks prove otherwise, that’s where things stand. The players change from season to season, but the story pretty much stays the same. One can only hope that this team finds a way to break the string of second round exits from the NCAA tournament. The team that beat K-State has the potential to make a serious run in the NCAA tournament. The team that lost to OU will very likely be watching March Madness on TV with the rest of us. The question we all want to know the answer to is "Which team will show up?"
As you might expect, I took away several "Thoughts and Observations" from this weekend’s action, so let’s get to it, focusing on the KU-KSU game first:
KU 94, KSU 63
- Jeff Boschee was on fire from 3-pt range, nailing 5of 6 from behind the arc on his way to team-high 23 points. I’m not sure what the connection is between Boschee, K-State and Kemper Arena, but when you put those pieces together, it usually means good things for the Jayhawks.
- KU played one of their best defensive games of the year against the Wildcats. K-State was completely flustered offensively, shooting 19-66 (28.8%) from the field, 5 of 13 (38.5%) from 3-point range, and committing 20 turnovers. I was really happy to see KU forcing turnovers and, more importantly, getting points off of those turnovers. I remember thinking how this kind of defensive effort had been a piece of the puzzle that had been missing for much of the season.
- Drew Gooden played another excellent game, scoring 21 points on 9 of 17 shooting. In addition, Drew snagged 8 rebounds and had 2 blocks. Drew was very active on the court and continued to make everyone forget he ever had a wrist injury. His ability to score almost at will against K-State was a welcome site to Jayhawk fans. Not so welcoming, however, was his 4 turnovers. In addition, Drew spent some time at the 3 spot, which I thought was kind of interesting. I know the Jayhawks are thin at the 3 spot, but I found it curious that Coach Williams chose the Big XII tournament to experiment further with this rotation.
- Jeff Carey and Eric Chenowith both had 16 minutes. Carey played a typically consistent game, hustling and working hard, but not doing much statistically. Chenowith was, again, not very impressive offensively. Eric had ZERO field goals (0 for 4) and pretty much got pushed around in the paint. The good news for Eric is that he hit all 6 of his free throws and grabbed 7 rebounds. I was very glad to see Eric and Jeff on the court together and then Drew and Nick on the court together. This rotation just seems to make the most sense to me and it certainly seemed to work in this game. I’m hoping we see more of this in the NCAA tournament because I honestly believe it gives KU the optimum opportunity for production from the big men.
- Numbers you like to see at this point in the season:
- 94 points
- 7 of 13 (53.8%) from 3-point range
- 27 of 32 (84.4%) from the free throw line
- 20 assists to only 12 turnovers
- 8 blocks
- 11 steals
- The win over K-State was one of the most impressive, dominating performances of the season from this Jayhawk team, albeit over a clearly inferior K-State team. KU controlled the game from the outset and never let K-State make a run. This was a convincing, well-rounded, TEAM effort that exemplified the best characteristics of true Jayhawk basketball.
OU 62, KU 57
- Going into the KU-OU game, everyone and anyone knew what Kansas needed to do win: POUND THE BALL INSIDE. Everyone except, it seemed, the KU players themselves. Unfortunately when the Jayhawks did get the ball inside, the players didn’t produce. It’s safe to say this was the worst combined effort from Nick and Drew this season. One only needs to look at some of the numbers from KU’s big men to understand one of the main reasons KU lost this game:
- Gooden: 7 points on 2 of 9 shooting (only the second time all year Drew hasn’t scored in double figures), 6 rebounds, 4 turnovers. No field goals in the second half.
- Collison: 8 points on 2 of 8 shooting, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers. 2 field goals in the second half.
- Chenowith: 6 points, 7 rebounds. Two dunks in the first half. No field goals in the second half.
- Carey: 0 points, 0 rebounds (Jeff only played two minutes after logging 16 minutes against K-State. Not sure what Coach Williams is thinking in his inconsistent use of Jeff.)
- Eric, Drew and Nick are 7’1", 6’10" and 6’9". OU’s post players are 6’8", 6’6" and 6’4". The Sooners outrebounded KU 37-35. Unacceptable. Anyone watching the game cannot deny that the OU players simply worked harder and wanted it more. Period.
- Horrible second half: The Jayhawks had just 27 second-half points and shot a season-low 37.7% from the field and 33% (5 of 15) from 3-point range. Visions of past NCAA tournament losses bounce through my head when I look at those numbers.
- KU only had 13 turnovers, which is excellent considering the pressure defense OU was applying the entire game.
- KU held OU to 32.7% from the field, 8-of-28 (28.6%) from 3-point range. On most nights, that’s good enough to win.
- Give credit to Oklahoma. They played hard, never gave up and totally dictated the game in the second half. They were more aggressive and more confident than KU down the stretch. In addition, they came through in the clutch, hitting 20 of 24 (83%) from the free throw line.
- Jeff Boschee gave a valiant effort in this loss, scoring 11 points (3 of 5 from 3-point range) while playing a whopping 37 minutes. All three of Jeff’s 3-pointers were in the first half. Jeff didn’t even attempt a 3-pointer in the second half. While one must certainly give credit to OU’s defense, one must also certainly ask why the Jayhawks did not work harder to get Jeff a few good looks in the second half.
- I’m not going to go into this too much, but there was a point in the second half where the officials called fouls on the Jayhawks on about 8 consecutive defensive possessions. Not surprisingly, this contributed greatly to OU cutting the Jayhawk lead and then eventually taking the lead. The overall foul count was pretty even (KU’s 20 to OU’s 18), but I can’t help question the officiating when Kenny Gregory fouled out with 5 minutes to go. This is the only time, high school or college, that Kenny has ever fouled out of a game. Did Kenny all of a sudden start committing fouls that he has avoided committing his entire career or did the officiating play a big part in sending Kenny to the bench? You be the judge.
- Kirk Hinrich, statistically, had a solid game (12 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists to only 2 turnovers, 2 steals, in 38 minutes), however he was not hitting his shots with the consistency we have come to expect. Overall, Kirk was 3 of 11 from the field and 2 of 7 from 3-point range (of course 2 of those 3-point attempts were desperation 3’s to end the game). I still am extremely confident with Kirk at the point. That being said, I want to see him put this team on his back in the closing minutes of a tight game and impose his will to win on the rest of this Jayhawk team.
Other Thoughts and Observations
- After the game, Kenny Gregory was quoted as saying that some of the players were being selfish and were not playing as a team. Kirk Hinrich pretty much echoed those comments as well. I’m not saying that these guys shouldn’t be calling each other out and making people own up to their responsibilities to the team, but they shouldn’t be doing it in the media. I, for one, have some serious concerns about talk of selfishness at this point in the season. My hunch is that the seniors are having a hard time dealing with the fact that they are not the leaders of this team. Kirk, Drew and Nick are the leaders of this team. All I know is that Coach Williams must step in and right the ship immediately or this team could be on its way home after the FIRST round of the NCAA tournament.
- The Jayhawks will greatly increase their chances in the NCAA tournament if they play the kind of intense defense they showed in the Big XII tournament. The defense in these two tournament games were probably two of the best defensive efforts this season.
- Walk-on Brett Ballard provided some solid minutes in both games and continues to prove that he can give quality minutes while the starters catch their breath. Brett didn’t do much offensively in either game, but he played solid defense and did hit a driving layup with a little over a minute to go in the OU game. His bucket cut OU's lead to 57-56 and showed the coaches, players and fans that he can be counted on in the clutch.
- Nick Collison came off the bench after starting nine straight games. Coach Williams had this to say, "When we got all of them (big men) back, we said probably we'd start rotating them again." One question: WHY? Collison and Gooden should be starting and Eric and Carey should rotate in. I couldn’t feel more strongly about anything at this point in the season. Who were on the All-Conference teams anyway? Oh yeah, Nick and Drew were. So remind me again why Eric deserves to start?
- Goal #1: Win the Big XII regular season conference title. Nope. Goal #2: Win the Big XII conference tournament. Nope. Goal #3: Win the National Championship. Not looking good.
- With Iowa State’s loss to Baylor, KU fans can feel better about the Jayhawk loss in Waco. Ok, not really. Nothing, short of a National Championship, will take away the sting from that embarrassing loss.
- KU was clearly more talented than the Sooners and should have won the game by 10 or 15. Well, if "shoulda" and "coulda" really mattered, KU would probably have a few more National Championship banners hanging in the Allen Fieldhouse rafters.
- Kenny Gregory: "We lost our poise in the last 10 minutes. That's not something you want to see this time of year." I couldn’t agree more, Kenny. I couldn’t agree more.
- The "good" thing about KU losing is that they get an extra day of rest heading into the NCAA tournament. I know Boschee and Kirk need it. In addition, the team will get more time to think about why they lost to OU, what they can do to correct it, and what they need to do in practice to make sure they are prepared for the NCAA tournament.
Ok Jayhawks, it’s gut-check time. What are you going to do in the NCAA tournament when push comes to shove?
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