SB Nation - Mario Little

Friday Afternoon Big12Hoops.com Link Dump - 11.06.2009

big12hoops — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:00:26 -0000

The goal of the Friday Afternoon Big12Hoops.com Link Dump is to help you ease into the weekend by giving you things to occupy your time at work until the clock strikes 5pm.

Big 12 North

Colorado

Boulder Daily Camera - Long way pays off for CU Buffs assistant

Kansas

Lawrence Journal World - Senior Little ponders sitting out this season

Kansas St

Manhattan Mercury - Samuels ready for life on the outside

Iowa St

GoCyclones.com - Hot shooting sparks Cyclones to exhibition win

Missouri

Columbia Daily Tribune - New rule will change block calls

Nebraska

Lincoln Journal Star - Gillispie watches Doc's team practice

The former Texas A&M and Kentucky coach, a good friend of Nebraska coach Doc Sadler, had an NU roster and media guide at his side. Gillispie scribbled many notes on several sheets of a large notepad. Meanwhile, Sadler roamed the court, barking instructions to his players.

Big 12 South

Baylor

Baylor University Lariat - Freshman launches a new era (Lady Bears)

Oklahoma

Norman Transcript - Mason-Griffin and Gallon poised to make impact

Oklahoma St

Stillwater NewsPress - Cowboys teach, learn in first week

Texas

Austin American-Statesman - James impresses Davidson coach in scrimmage

Texas A&M

AggieSports.com - Aggie Roundup

Texas Tech

RedRaiders.com - Knight may redshirt one of Red Raider basketball’s two freshmen

Now though, Knight says Tech has made enough progress since last season that the Red Raiders may save a freshman for the next four years.

Non Big 12 Links

Associated Press - Ex-NBA referee Donaghy released from jail [NBA]

Follow all the World Series wrap up and celebration on SB Nation Yankees blog Pinstripe Alley [MLB]

ESPN.com - Giants ace Lincecum faces marijuana charges [MLB]

CBSSports.com - Week 9 Fantasy Football Rankings [Fantasy Football]

SB Nation - Rangers Looking to Add Forsberg [NHL]

"Awesome Season, Terrible Finish" -- Kansas 62 Michigan State 67

rockchalk — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:17:42 -0000

This isn't about the season. If it was, it wouldn't do the game justice. The season, while naturally up-and-down given the extreme youth, was my favorite season of all time. It was so much fun to watch this team grow, from a team that looked UMKC's equal in its first half to Big 12 Champions. But this isn't about that. Last night in Indianapolis wasn't about that. This game recap is just that: a recap of last night's game, a game we should have won, no questions asked.

It's about blown chances. Blown opportunities. Lack of execution. Mental errors. All of those nasty bugs that come out and bite you in March, costing you months upon months of hard work. It sucks. But, to every team but one, it happens. We weren't going to be that one, special team at the end of it all. We all knew that, at some point, it was going to end.

But why did it have to end like that? With a late 5-point lead quickly turned into a 3-point deficit. I recorded the game, with the mindset to rewatch the game win-or-lose. If we won, it'd get me super-duper pumped for the Louisville game. If we lost, it would give me some closure to my favorite season of all time. As soon as the final buzzer sounded, I immediately deleted it. It was hard enough to take once.

***

When Tyrel Reed nailed that three from the corner, I thought we had won. I was never really nervous, before that, sticking true to my "anything extra is gravy" mantra. But as soon as he hit that three, I believed we were going to win. We had been searching for what had seemed like decades for someone, anyone, to make a big, clutch shot to give us the advantage. When it happened, I thought we were money. But after that, we regressed. We scored 6 points those final 4:58; four by Sherron and those two, late free throws by Tyshawn.

And that was what cost us the game. When it mattered most, the experienced Michigan State team knew what to do late in the game against the 10th youngest team in the country. That's what makes it all so difficult. We had this game won, and we just let it slip away.

That's what makes it frustrating. Not the fact that it ended, but the way it ended.

Player recaps after the jump...

MVP? Fittingly, it was easily our season's MVP: Sherron Collins. And, in an intriguing case of irony, he didn't take over enough. All season long, the hot topic of Kansas basketball was Sherron Collins and his shot selection. And, for much of the season, the media and the fans thought he just shot way too much. I'll be honest, I did too. It's tough to blame him for any single loss, but that UMass game...damn. We started to win when Sherron began to develop a trust with the other 4 players on the floor at any given time, lowering his shot tally into the teens. But in the end, when we needed it most, Sherron was 'on'. 9-13 is ridiculously efficient, particularly when the entire D is keying on you as the key. His first shot of the game went in-and-out three times, before finally rolling out. He continued to dish off to his teammates, though, continued to find the open guy and give them their chance to shine. If his teammates make those shots, we're playing Louisville tomorrow and Sherron is the ultimate hero. Stories are written about Sherron's unselfishness, to pass off the moment to his teammates. For much of the game, Sherron was damn near perfect. Sure, the free throw miss hurts. But our chances to win the game were highly unlikely, at that point. No need to focus on that one little blip. Sherron has carried us all season long. Carried us. He is a true champion. Please, Sherron, please come back. Enter into another realm of Kansas Basketball history.
If there was ever a game that NBA scouts need to watch on Cole Aldrich, Friday night was it. At least, if you want Cole to come back for another year. Cole was severely outplayed by Goran Suton. And yes, I realize that Suton is a senior. But from all indications, he doesn't have nearly the potential of Aldrich, and figures to be sent over to Europe for his pro prospects. Really, it was one of those games where Aldrich should have been able to use his superior athleticism to score some points. It got to the point, though, where I was screaming at the TV to not give it to him on the low post. Every time it was, it ended in a turnover. He scored 17 points, sure, but I would bet that every single point was either scored at the free throw line or on putbacks and offensive rebounds. And don't get me wrong, he's an incredible rebounder. One of the best in the country. He is also quite amazing on D, particularly at blocking shots without committing fouls. But he has a ridiculous amount of work to do with the ball in his hands. Ridiculous. And while he'll get drafted based of of potential, he isn't likely to develop enough to garner a huge second contract, where you make the real money. Wait a year, learn how to pass out of a double-team and add on 1, 2 or 18 post moves to the repetoire and be a Top 5 pick next year.
Besides those two, only one real player played well: Brady Morningstar. His jump shot was off, way off, and he even airballed the first one. It wasn't pretty. But besides that, he was excellent. Awesome. Fantastic. Nearly perfect D on Raymar Morgan. Even had a pair of freakin' dunks, man. Did a fine job of moving the ball late. We could have really used a timely three from him at one point, but he still has time to become a better shooter. That's what he needs to work on this offseason. If he would have nailed just a three or two, we win and he could have been co-MVP with Sherron.
After that, it was all blech. I'll go Tyrel Reed as the next-best, simply because his D was nearly as outstanding as Brady's. He was on the floor diving after loose ball after loose ball, clearly giving it his all. And like I said, I thought Relly Ice had showed up when we needed it the most and drilled a three to send us to victory. Oh, that's what hurts the most. The moment that shot went through, I thought we won. Oh, I thought we won. Still, though, that shot was huge. He wasn't great, and he needs to keep on getting better on D. I bet he sees some minutes next year. He's getting better and better.
Tyshawn Taylor had an extremely freshman-ish performance. Tough to be too hard on the guy, and he did show up when it mattered most and drilled two free throws. He's still too much of a turnover machine, though, and his shot needs to get way better. Still, dude has so much potential it's scary. Positives outweigh the negatives, for sure.
Oh, and I forgot. Markieff Morris? Excellent. Took two of the worst shots of the season, with his two threes, but still. Everything else was awesome. The only player not named Cole Aldrich who showed up on the glass. Played outstanding defense, for the most part. He doesn't have nearly the offensive repertoire of his brother, and that needs to change for him to see major minutes. Plus, when he gets open looks, he misses nearly all of them. That needs to change. But he has turned into an awesome defender and rebounder. Against the best rebounding team in the entire freakin' country, he showed up and picked up 7 boards. That's impressive. He'll keep on gettin' better.
The other two forwards, though, yikes. I still love Marcus Morris to death, but he had a pretty awful NCAA Tournament. He's quite good with the moves, but he couldn't quite get any of them to fall. And he's not as impressive as his twin on D or on the glass. Just like his brother, plenty of room to improve. I'm giddy to see just how much they can improve.
And, finally, Mario Little. Hopefully he's a better wing than low-post player, because he's resorted to just flashes shown. A solid defender, but not as good as he probably needs to be. I still love him, and I bet he could see some plenty of playing time next year at the 3 (maybe?), but he will never be more than a role player. And he will need to be more consistent with his shot to see too many minutes.

OK. That pretty much does it for Michigan State-specific recapping.

We're not done talking about the game, or anything, because we'll have plenty of season recap stuff and stuff coming out over the next week-or-so. And that will involve plenty of talk about this game just the same as others.

But that's it. No more disappointment over this loss, and how it happened, and all of that stuff. No more bitterness. The season was a success.

Let's just focus on that, now, huh?

"Star Power" -- Kansas 60 Dayton 43

rockchalk — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 06:42:52 -0000

All season long, it's been clear who our two best players are. Who our leaders are.

My 7-year old little brother, who is more of a baseball kinda kid anyways (regrettably, he's a Yankees fan, but whatever), could tell you in a moment's notice who they are.

Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins.

Them leading us to victory is nothing new. It's happened dozens of times throughout the season, against good opponents and bad. But it was never quite as painfully obvious as it was on Sunday.

Of the team's 60 points, 38 were courtesy of Cole and Sherron (63.3%)
Of the team's 46 rebounds, 27 were by Cole and Sherron (58.7%)
They took a combined 69% of our shots, shooting a combined 55% (rest of the team shot 27%)

You get the point?

On a day where the nerves of the situation seemed to control everyone, along with Dayton's freakish athleticism and immense length, we needed bigtime performances from our stars. And, we got it. We got all of the Star Power you could ask for, and then some. That alone (along with a pretty good performance from Mario Little, of all people, but that ruins the fun of the post, so wait til after the break...) got us a win in the NCAA Tournament. In the Second Round, mind you.

Of course, that incredible team defense didn't hurt, either, I suppose. Huh?

Player recaps after the jump...

Not to cop out, or nothing, but we're going with the co-MVPs, here. Yes, Cole Aldrich had the first recorded triple-double (or triple-triple, according to Cole's mom) in Kansas history. He didn't allow a single half-court possession for the Flyers to end well inside five feet. Seriously, I don't think they even got a shot off within 5 feet from the bucket, save a couple (but only a couple, due to really solid transition D) fastbreak high-risers. And those 20 rebounds? Incredible. I ain't dogging his performance at all. If he comes back next year, he's an All-American. Book it. You heard it here first. Well, maybe not, but we can pretend, yes? The only thing you can complain about, and it's a biggie, is outlet passing. Just an awful, awful day in that category. Way too many terrible passes, way too many uncertain moves in double teams. If the dude can figure out how to handle a double-team, though, it's just game over.
As incredible as all of that was for Cole, I couldn't leave Sherron Collins hanging. Just couldn't do it. Dude played, just about, a perfect game. It wasn't perfect, in the mistake-free sense, but it was as close as you'll get. He only forced a shot, two at most, but otherwise was incredibly efficient. Most importantly, he continued to trust his teammates. The rest of the team couldn't hit anything, and yet there was Sherron, continuing to drive-and-find, never losing that trust in his teammates. Over the next 4 days, or so, we'll have plenty of time to talk about what's changed since the last matchup between Kansas and Micigan State. Nothing has changed more or had a greater impact than Sherron's trust of his teammates. Don't get me wrong, for us to be successful Sherron has to score. And, to score, you've gotta shoot. Probably not 26 times, but a sizable amount, still, yes. So, keep on firing away Sherron. Just no pull-up 18-footers, please.
Besides the big two, you can really only say that one other player played well. And, after taking a month off from production, Mario Little decided to show up in a big way. When we couldn't hit the ocean falling out of a boat, besides Sherron of course, Smash came in and calmly drilled a 17-footer. A couple of possessions later, from the same spot, just 5 feet farther back, another patented, Little swish that hits the very bottom of the net, making the sweetest sound in the world. He wasn't all that active following that, jumpshot-wise, but he was a fine rebounder and had what was probably his best defensive game of his career against Dayton's front line. We need jumpshots from somebody, anybody to fall against Michigan State. So, Mario, feel free to show up again. It'd be much appreciated.
And, I suppose, I'll give Tyrel Reed a passing grade. He missed two absolutely wide open threes in the first half, just like everyone else, but hit a big, huge, clutch one in the second half. Relly Ice showed up in the way he always seems to, extending what was a 5-point lead to 8 and sparking a 9-0 run that all but put the game away. Also, he continues to pick up ground on Brady on the defensive end. His improvement has been quite incredible.
After that, it gets pretty ugly. Every other player I'm about to mention did not have a good game. There's just no other way to say it. First up, Tyshawn Taylor. He had that one sick and-one that closed out the aforementioned 9-0 run and ended the game. However, he continues to give the ball away like t-shirts out of those stupid cannons, and his shot has not been on.
Brady Morningstar - ouch. The advantage he's had all season long, on the defensive side of the ball, has slowly been diminshed as Tyrel Reed and Tyshawn Taylor and Travis Releford continue to improve. I love him to death, and he's been huge to our success, and will continue to be, but dude's gotta hit his open shots. There just isn't another way to say it.
And, finally, the Morris twins. Youch. I love him to absolute death, but Marcus Morris had his worst game in months. I don't know what it was, and he was fine defensively just like everyone else, but he was non-existent on offense. I mean, at least Markieff Morris got a bucket and rebounded. McMorris had all of zero rebounds, bricked both of his free throws, and ended up only earning 14 minutes. Please, Marcus, please show up Friday night. You too, Kieffer. Michigan State is far too talented on the frontline to hope-and-pray that Cole Aldrich can go all Rambo on them and take him by himself.

And, that wraps up the Dayton coverage. Sweet win, awesome that we're in the Sweet 16. This season is now an unmitigated success, without question.

Now, let's go out and win another one.

Pressure's off.

"HE IS A BALLER!" -- Kansas 84 North Dakota State 74

rockchalk — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:40:50 -0000

To the rest of the country, this was not a good day for us. We barely snuck away with only a 10-point lead, which is only so big because of late fouls, as a 3-seed. Against a 14-seed.

To the rest of the country, I'm sure they were cheering with every three. Every time Ben Woodside drove into the lane, I'm sure there were millions across the United States jumping up-and-down. The big, bad defending National Champions, for much of the game, were playing even against a team from North Dakota who was in their first year of eligibility.

But in all reality, it wasn't anything like that. Not one bit. You see, North Dakota State is probably the best 14-seed of all time (and no, I don't even know what hyperbole is). They hit the three with the best of them, and they had 20,000 fans in the place. It was practically a road game. Oh, and you know that one kid, that 5'10" white boy with a shaved head and ridiculously big ears and high socks? Yeah, that one. Well, that dude has a future in the NBA. You see him on the street, and you guess soccer player, and that's if you're told he's a college athlete at all. Assuming he can act, he would have been a perfect cast for White Men Can't Jump, with no wardrobe necessary to hustle the opponents. In a freakin' basketball jersey, the dude doesn't look like much. I mean, if I had just happened to flip the TV on, without knowing anything about him, I would have been fairly confident I could've taken him.

But damn. He was the best guard we've played all year, bar none. He got into the lane in a moment's notice without any effort whatsoever, and once he got there that little floater of his was, literally, unstoppable. Even for Cole. But you can't Dogus Balbay him, because he shoots 44% from three-point range. An impossible matchup.

So, don't be depressed. Don't get down on the Jayhawks. We played really well, for most of the game. Just because we are a 3-seed and they were a 14-seed doesn't mean a whole helluva lot. It was a bad matchup for us, they are, as we established, history's greatest 14-seed. It was just a surprising result for everyone else.

Which, might not be all that bad. We're still well under-the-radar, yet to make a peep on anyone's national radar. The longer that stays, the better it is for us.

Player-by-players after the jump...

Yes, one player scored 32 points. We'll get to him in a second, though, because he isn't the MVP. That would be Cole Aldrich, who dunked at will throughout the entire game. The Bison, literally, had absolutely no answer for him, despite double-teaming him at times. Whenever we so desired, we could merely toss the ball up and watch him go to work. Why we didn't do it more is beyond me. I'd imagine it was beyond Bill Self, as well, because whenever he had a role in the offense, off of out-of-bounds plays and things, it was clear where we were going. So clear, in fact, that near the end of the game, when the Bison needed a stop, we called for an alley-oop to Cole. The Bison had two players waiting underneath the rim, basically using 40% of their defense to limit that one, alley-oop. Cole jumped over them, anyways, and this time got an and-one for his troubles. Please, please, please, focus on getting Cole the ball more. Please?
One reason why Cole didn't touch it as often was Sherron Collins. More specifically, Sherron's love of the crossover-to-pullup 19-footer. When he is visibly on fire, and ends up making the shot anyways, you can give him a one-time-only pass. When he hasn't made a shot in five tries, and Cole is getting a free dunk every time, and Sherron still comes down and does it, it's not so forgivable. But don't get me wrong, Sherron still had a really good game. In the first half, he was every bit Ben Woodside's equal. But you see, that's the problem. Whenever an opposing guard goes off, it's as if Sherron thinks it's his duty to match them, point-for-point. Luckily, he stopped the mono-a-mono tango in the second half, but still.
After those two, the unheralded hero of the game, to me, was Marcus Morris. He's changed so much since the beginning of the year. With our two stars, we aren't exactly going to run our offense through McMorris. Everyone understands that. So, just don't make mistakes and provide some bonus plays that get everyone excited about the future. Against North Dakota State, he didn't make a mistake, and made countless little plays that were huge. Seriously. He was incredibly efficient (3-3), which is big, because we can't waste possessions with McMorris misses. He was extremely active on the glass (7 rebounds), which is big because Cole can't do anything, and most opponents will make Cole the focal point. That leaves Marcus to pick up the boards and kickstart our break. And, finally, he knows how to run the freaking high-low. I never thought I would say it, at least not this season, but dude's a really good passer. Whenever we got it to him at the free throw line, a Cole dunk was pretty much a certainty. If he can consistently hit that jumper (given his vast improvement from the line, I'd bet on yes) he could start to be incredibly dangerous.
On the other hand, Markieff Morris and Mario Little are quickly being left in the dust by McMorris. Little's height, or lack thereof, is starting to really hurt him, and in hindsight, a redshirt might have done him some good. Next year, I imagine he'll be more comfortable on the wing, but still. Kieffer, on the other hand, has devolved into just a rebounder. It's not bad, and we still have a need for him to steal minutes and pick up rebounds, but he's not a good scorer. Really, at all. And please, don't take threes. Thanks.
Tyshawn Taylor is such a freshman. Not consistent whatsoever, but good for a couple of mind-numbing drives to the bucket. Just keep it up, T2, and you'll be the leader in just a couple of years.
Ah. Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed. I love 'em both, but yikes. Brady came up big yesterday, with his two gigantic threes at gigantic times and his really good D on Winkelman, but Tyrel certainly didn't. Tyrel, at this point, is basically a three-point shooter. Nothing more, nothing less. He's improved on D, yes, but still not enough to hang with Brady and Sherron and even T2. Really, as T2's shooting increases and we don't have to have one-or-the-other in for long range purposes, I'd rather Travis Releford get these minutes. Particularly against athlete-heavy teams, like Dayton.
Finally, Tyrone Appleton. He should have received more minutes than he did yesterday, as he was clearly the best defender on Woodside. In fact, I can't even recall Woodside driving on Appleton, ever. I understand that he's a rough equivalent of Dogus Balbay with a jump shot, but he can drive to the hole and his D, as mentioned, is quite excellent. If Sherron leaves, I'm alling it right now: Tyrone will be our starting PG at the beginning of the year.

That's all. And, now we're officially moving past North Dakota State. Only Dayton matters, now.

Two sets of Q&A's (hopefully) with Dayton bloggers are upcoming later on today, as well as the standard KenPom preview.

Today's going to be a helluva busy day, for me. But I'm going to enjoy it.

It's March, after all, and our Jayhawks are moving on.

Survive and Advance.

"Back on Track" -- Kansas 83 Texas 73

rockchalk — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 08:04:43 -0000

There was 1:39 left in the first half. Texas was on an 18-4 run, and the Field House was slient.

Dogus Balbay had just waltzed right on through absolutely no one on his way to a layup, so open you'd have guessed he was in pregame layup lines. That was a common theme in the first half; uncontested drives to the bucket. Our defense was terrible, and we couldn't do anything wrong. Damion James couldn't miss from the outside, we didn't have anyone who could bully up with Dexter Pittman on the inside, and Dogus Balbay and Justin Mason walked into the lane whenever he wanted to. The one positive was holding A.J. Abrams in check, and even that was only because the Texas offense ran through others, largely ignoring Abrams for large portions.

But then, we settled down. Our stagnant offense came to life, and Sherron dipsy-ducked his way to the hole. On defense, Sherron poked the ball away from Pittman while doubling-him up, then sped down the floor before dishing it off to Releford for an easy two. After a Rick Barnes' timeout, Texas had another good offensive possession. But then, Pittman inexplicably Arthur Johnson'd the dunk, and we got the ball. Shot clock off, Sherron slowly dribbled the ball at the top of the key as always. For some random reason, Balbay ran away from Tyrel Reed, waiting patiently on the right wing, towards Sherron, presumably in an effort to double and force a turnover. Sherron merely dribbled in another step, to further draw in Dogus, then kicked it out to Relly Ice.

Swish.

After a last-second attempt came up long, our bench ran into the half. Despite getting outplayed for 20 minutes, including an 8-minute stretch that was bordering on embarrassing, we had momentum.

Basketball's a funny game, ain't it?

In the second half, we used that momentum to slowly draw closer, then have Texas pull away. The cat-and-mouse lasted for the first 12 minutes of the second half, until a Markieff Morris putback dunk put us on top. The Horns reclaimed the lead once-or-twice after that, but it was clear; it became the Hawks' game to lose.

And lose it we didn't. We used our homecourt advantage, our superior talent, all of it, to race away from the Horns late. Against a good Texas team, that played as well as it has all season in the first half, we were able to reclaim everything we lost on Wednesday. We began to rebuild that swagger, we regained some confidence, we flashed our potential.

Oh, and we clinched the outright Big 12 title. Fifth in five years, 7th in 8 years. Talk about owning a conference.

Further, player-specific previewing after the break...

Game MVP is a tough one, this time around. But, to diversify the MVP awards, I'll go ahead and give it to Brady Morningstar. I've been really tough on him lately, and for good reason. His defense had declined, and he hasn't had a good offensive game in months, it seems like. However, he played a role in Abram's off-day, and he was (finally) on fire from the perimeter. It was he, and not Relly Ice, who hit the biggest shot of the night with his momentum-garnering trey to bump the lead up to 5. He also picked up 4 rebounds, including skying as high as I've ever seen him jump for one, and dished out 4 assists. Basically, this was the late-December version of Brady; the Brady who was involved in the offense, was hitting the open threes and was playing dominant D. Hopefully, whatever that caused his slump is done with, and he can be this good going forward.
So, yeah, sure, Sherron Collins ended up taking 19 shots. That's bad, in theory, and not exactly a step forward from Wednesday night in ball distribution. But, watching the game, I wouldn't have guessed he actually threw up 19 shots. Maybe I'm just an idiot, or don't pay enough attention, but he didn't seem like he was forcing anything. He got too aggressive on some fast breaks and tried to take it two-on-one, and those failed, but that's just Sherron. You've gotta live with some of those getting turned back around, particularly when playing a team full of athletic freaks like Dogus Balbay and Damion James, if you also want to see those absolutely ludicrous, one-on-three layups he twirls off the corner of the backboard. It's just who he is as a player; fearless. He hit some huge shots, though, and wasn't shy at all about dishing it off, twice, when we had a chance to blow the game open. He found Brady open for the three, he found T2 for the dunk. He is the key to our team, no ifs, ands or buts. Cole is important, too, but we've showed before (like today) that we can live if he is only all right. With Sherron, though, he's gotta bring it. And boy, did he ever.
All year long, we've heard about how Cole Aldrich is the most improved player this year in college basketball. And maybe this is true. I'd argue that it isn't, that he didn't see any PT last year because of who was in front of him, but maybe I'm wrong. However, he still has a bunch of improving yet to do, and he is far from ready to play in the NBA. Two incredibly large flaws were exposed today by the surprisingly talented Dexter Pittman (honestly, if the dude could just finish around the basket, he's an All Big 12 talent...and I have a feeling he'll learn how to make layups). On offense, as Warden says, Cole turns into a racecar driver: "Turn left, repeat". He has no other move. And he never, ever faces up to the basket. And two, on defense, he got exposed today by Pittman. Dexter moved him where he wanted, placing him like a walkon off the end of the bench. It was bad. For the first time all season, I desperately wished we still had Sasha Kaun on this team. But, even amidst all of that poor play and non-readiness, Cole picked up a double-double. Yes, this is where we're already at with Cole. A double-double, and I'm disparaging him, almost to the point of calling him out, and proclaiming he ain't ready for the NBA. Sorry, Cole. But, when you're as important and potentially amazing as you are, people tend to be tough as hell on you. But, seriously, one more year.
If Cole Aldrich is the nation's most improved player from last year, then Marcus Morris is the nation's most improved player from November. I mean, the dude has more post moves than Cole, and ate Damion James up for lunch. James had no hope of defending anything Morris threw at him, and that is incredible, given where he was when we were facing nobodies at the beginning of the year. It's gotten to the point where, when Cole is out there on the perimeter setting screens, I'm actively yelling at the TV for Sherron, or whoever, to get the ball in McMorris' hands. I know that he'll either get a good look or get fouled, and his free throw shooting is instrumentally better.
While Markieff Morris isn't nearly as talented around the basket as his brother, and is a more boneheaded player, I think he's a better defender and rebounder. His putback jam was one of his best plays of the year (he read it from the elbow on the opposite side of the lane, and played it perfectly), and he provided us some monstrous minutes following Marcus' 4th. The three he took was atrocious, and he still has too many stupid turnovers, but he'll get better. Just look at his free throw shooting. Both he and his brother, to start out the year, were absolutely awful at the lane. Embarrassingly bad, really. But now, Kieffer stroked two in like he was a 94% free throw shooter, neither one touching rim.
To close out the analysis of the Law Firm, this was the best game Mario Little's played in weeks. He wasn't perfect, and wasn't necessarily even awesome, but he did very little wrong. He couldn't really contain Damion James in the first half, but no one could, and he did a much better job in the second half. He should, definitely, be the fourth big off the bench, but he's still worth of consistent minutes.
Tyrel Reed, on the other hand, probably should see his decline. He's had some really good games, but most of the time, he just isn't that good. His three to close out the first half was huge and clutch and Relly Ice-ish, but that's the only positive of his entire day, really. He was exposed on D, and otherwise non-existent on offense. When Brady is hitting his threes, he provides nothing new. Instead, I'd rather be playing Travis Releford, who at least provides us with some versatility. 10 minutes, what he received today, seems to be about right for Travis. He still is very rough around the edges in the halfcourt, but his D is lightyears better than it was, and he's probably the third-best player on the team in fastcourt action, after Sherron and T2. Plus, dude's a solid rebounder.
Finally, we get to Tyshawn Taylor. I have no idea why it took so long to get here, really. Dude played fine, for the most part, although it wasn't an awesome performance. It was what the "norm" should be considered for T2; some offensive flashes, and some stupid turnovers. Some instances of awesome D, sometimes where he just lost his man (like when he forgot to box out Justin Mason and Mason had a layup off the glass that tied it up in the second half). As long as he doesn't fall off the deep end for any games, and play terrible, I'm fine. Have some games like this, and then have some blowout, explosion games like down in Norman. That's all we really need, honestly.

That's all for now, as we officially wave good bye to Texas and the entire regular season. 6 losses ain't bad, not for a team losing 6 of their top 7 scorers.

Now, we turn our attention towards the Big 12 Tournament, set to kick off a day early now, on Wednesday.

We clinched our fifth straight regular season title this week, let's clinch our 4th straight Big 12 Tournament title on Saturday, huh?

"The Inevitable Letdown" -- Kansas 65 Texas Tech 84

rockchalk — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:38:05 -0000

We all knew it was going to happen.

Denver's been saying it for ages.

With how young this team it is, and just the inevitability of letdowns, we were bound to lose a game like this. A game where we just don't show up, at all, and the other team does everything right. Even last year's team, one of the better teams of the past decade, dropped a very similar game in Stillwater.

Bam.

There is little, if anything, positive you can point to. We would play fabulous for quick, little three-minute stretches, and then they'd hit a three, and we'd go back to playing like utter crap for another seven minutes. To be honest, we just seemed very uptight and flat. I don't think we necessarily looked over the Red Raiders, just couldn't get up for it. There was so much intensity, so much passion, so much fury displayed on Sunday afternoon, it's tough to expect such a young team to get all pumped up for a game just three days later.

Hell, I'm just a fan, just a follower of the team, and I couldn't get up for it. I just couldn't do it. It wasn't that I was just overlooking them, or was guaranteeing a victory, or anything. It's just, there's only so many games you can really "get up for". And after two consecutive ones that were as big as they've been all year, we were due for a letdown.

We've had some letdowns before, but we've always recovered from them. Well, at least since this team became as good as it is now, and conference play started. The difference, this time, was two-fold.

On one hand, Alan Voskuil was just unconscious. Nothing you can do about that. Take the Nebraska game, for instance. Sure, we played much better late, and worked our way back into the game, but the Cornhuskers' complete inability to hit a shot in the middle of the second half helped us out. Last night, though, Voskuil couldn't miss, even when he went all Sherron on everyone and started firing off thirty-footers.

So, primarily, congrats, Red Raiders. You guys played to win, instead of not-to-lose. Whenever we got close, you came down and nailed a huge, Relly Ice-esque trey. Voskuil was the best, obviously, but Mike Singletary and Nick Okorie were both awesome, as well. If you guys could have played that well throughout conference play, you're an NIT team. And I mean that in the absolute best way possible.

The other reason, which shouldn't be terribly surprising, is after the jump, along with the rest of the player-by-players...

MVP? I have to pick a MVP? Actually, this wasn't terribly difficult. Marcus Morris played quite well. He was the only one who got open at the beginning of the game, and while he missed both early shots in the first minute, he kept playing. And playing. And playing. 8 rebounds, easily the most on our team (on a night that Cole picked up 3), including six all-important offensive ones. He's still rough around the edges, and needs to control his temper (he probably didn't deserve the technical, but you can't even give the ref an option, there), but he's getting better. A lot better. Still want him to transfer to a D-II school, folks?
Tyrel Reed, I suppose, was next-best. Whenever a three was fired up, I immediately assumed it was out, unless Relly Ice was the one shooting. Then, I gave it some thought. He is still improving, obviously, and his D on Voskuil was just as poor as everyone else's. But, he's a better player than he was just a month-or-so ago, and I'm excited to see how far he can develop the rest of his game. Cause he's got a shot.
OK, it's official, now. I'll make another post about it, but I'm officially starting up the Travis Releford bandwagon. I've been a big fan for awhile, but last night confirmed it for me. Releford can rebound, particularly for his height, skying for rebounds like no one else on our team does. At least, no one not named Cole. And he is as good of a driver, this side of Sherron, we have on our team. His outside shot obviously still needs a lot of work, but is a fine compliment to Tyrel Reed. One three-point shooter, one player completely capable of driving in and getting to the bucket. However, based on how he was used against Tech, what about playing him at the 4? Not entirely, and only in small stretches, at least at first, but I have a hard time believing he would do any worse than Smash does, there. More on this later, though, like I said...
I'll give one more player a passing grade: Tyshawn Taylor. He didn't do anything awesome, but he was as average-at-best on D as everyone else, and he could at least drive. And when the threes ain't falling, taking closer shots is probably a good idea.
Besides those four, everyone else was pretty awful. None moreso than Sherron Collins, though, who went all UMASS on all of us. 3-19 shooting is absolutely terrible, particularly 1-10 from three. I understand he's the leader and all, and he had at least three-or-four that went in-and-out, but come on, bud. Dish the ball off when you can't hit the ocean falling out of a boat. I still love you, and between the trip to Columbia and last night, he might have been the best player in the country (or close to it). But, if we have a performance like that in the NCAA Tournament, we'll be one-and-done all over again. And that, my friends, would suck.
Of course, Cole Aldrich didn't play any better. 3 rebounds is absolutely embarrassing, as is 1-5 shooting. While Sherron shouldn't, ever, be shooting the ball 19 times, it's kind of hard to blame him when no one else could hit a bucket. Especially when our security blanket, dropping the ball into big Cole and letting him do his thing. When that ain't happening, and Sherron ain't on fire, our offense, frankly, sucks for stretches.
Brady Morningstar was absolutely awful, as well. He couldn't stay on Voskuil any better than anyone else, and he isn't the same defensive player he was earlier on in the year. He's shut people down all year long, but recently, I don't know if it's an injury or what, but he just isn't nearly as quick. And when he isn't playing good D, he shouldn't see the floor, because he hasn't had a good shooting day for a long-ass time. Another terrible performance against Tech, 1-6 from three, and we're at the point where I'd bench him. Maybe that's too harsh, but that's what I'd do. Bench him, and start Tyrel. With Brady's defensive drop-off, they're basically the same player, only Relly Ice is a better shooter.
And finally, the two posts who I wish wouldn't see so much playing time. Markieff Morris and Mario LIttle -- blech. Kieffer is up-and-down, and Wednesday night was a down night. Still, he's solid, and he deserves to keep his 12-or-so minutes a night. Little, on the other hand, hasn't had a solid game in weeks. Maybe even longer than that; maybe a month. I mean, shit. I still think he can be a really solid player in the future, but he's got to show it, eventually. We can't live forever on just promise, Smash.

That's all, for now. Tomorrow, it's all about Travis Releford and Texas. Get ready. Oh, well, there's another Championship Week OGT tomorrow. Today's was all right, I suppose. Plenty of solid discussion, and hopefully we can get some more of that tomorrow.

"I'm Falling in Love With This Team" -- Kansas 90 Missouri 65

rockchalk — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:58:24 -0000

Wow.

Coming in, most of us thought we were going to win. At least, I think so.

But few, if any, actually expected such a demolition. Sure, maybe we get off to a fast start, but then a run was inevitable. I mean, they are just way too good to let an entire 20 minutes go by withour a run, right?

Well, they didn't show it Sunday. The entire first half was jam-packed with missed layups and turnovers and mental errors by the Tigers. And, while we didn't play awesome, we certainly were the much, much better team.

In fact, we were so much better, I didn't even get to see the final 8 minutes. Due to my location way out here on the west coast, I wasn't in the local market. And while it was the national game, there was no need for the fine people of America to witness such an ass-whooping. So, they switched it.

Now, obviously, I was initially quite perturbed. I'll never, ever get to see what transpired those final 8 minutes. However, when they switched away, it was just like those Final Four-contender years. It was another Big 12 team simply paying their dues in the Phog, trudging in expecting little besides a demolition, and receiving exactly that. Not saying that Missouri didn't think they could win; they certainly thought they could, and for good reason. And they are a good team (we won't get into any contender/pretender nonsense right now, though) who is talented enough to make some noise in March. Major noise. While the Tigers' certainly played well below average on Sunday, particularly in that torturous first half, the 25-point margin had more to do with us.

We had that look; that look of a Final Four team. Even when things didn't click our way, on those rare occassions, we'd pick up and keep on keepin' on. Nothing fazed us, nothing changed anything we had in mind. We just kept playing. And, we played well. Damn well. Really, really damn well.

Now, whether we really can make the Final Four or not is a topic for a different day. But, at the very least, we gave off that apperance for one glorious Sunday with the hated Tigers in Allen Field House. Considering where we started the year, that's just ridiculous. Final Four-good? Nah.

But, it's true. Believe.

Player reviews after the jump...

Game MVP? Easy. Sherron Collins. If I were to fill in an All-American ballot tomorrow morning, SC would be on there. How could he not? He had that one, elbow-induced slump, highlighted by his big-time struggles in the first Missouri-Kansas game. Since then, the dude's been ridiculous. Just absolutely out-of-this-world. He continued his torrid pace Sunday, scoring another 25 points. However, this is the key to his line; he scored 'em all on 8-14 shooting. 4-6 from three, 5-6 from the free throw line. While he was scoring big early in the season, it was on 20+ shot games. Now, he's doing it on significantly less shots, becoming incredibly more efficient. And, with this new, incredibly efficient Sherron, we really can make the Final Four. He is almost turning into a Stephen Curry-type scorer that can single-handedly carry a team deep. The difference is that he won't have to.
Why? Oh, that one really large white guy down in the post. Cole Aldrich. Sure, opponents seem to think he fouls at least 89 times a game, and he does get away with a call from time-to-time. However, he gets so many rebounds and appears to commit so many fouls because he's so incredibly fundamentally sound. He leans against his guy, ever-so-subtly, not allowing his opponent to jump completely in the air. He, on the other hand, nearly always has the height advantage, and combining that with leverage, he pulls down damn near every rebound on his side of the lane. He was on his game again on Sunday, pulling down board-after-board-after-board. 14 of 'em, in the end. Holy hell. He could have had a bunch more, too, but other Jayhawks almost pulled them away from him. He still hasn't capped out offensively, yet, which is encouraging. Hopefully, he chooses to come back and max out, but I have a nasty little feeling that he's gone after this year. Oh, and finally, he's a really good dunker. Like, incredible.
Again, after the first two dominating performances from the two people you'd most expect, there really wasn't another awesome game played by anyone. But, just like against Oklahoma, I'll give the nod to Tyshawn Taylor. His season has been quite a roller-coaster; he started out the year incredible, then tailed off for a month-or-so. Well, now he's back. And with him emerging as a legitimate third scorer, we are playing our best ball of the season. Most importantly, he had a 3:1 assist:TO ratio, and played solid D all day long. With T2 playing as well as he has, we can go places.
Maybe they don't belong this high up, but I need to give props to Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris. Both played absolutely outstanding D on Demarre Carroll, forcing him to take the outside shots. He can knock down the perimeter J, but that's the shot you want him taking. He's dangerous as hell inside ten-feet, so the key is just keep him on the perimeter. Mission accomplished, as both Morris twins kept Carroll on the perimeter for the entire game. Neither were all that impactful on offense, but both were efficient (2-3 shooting), and limited the stupid plays (3 combined turnovers, 6 combined fouls). Both also were factors on the glass, with Kieffer snatching 7 and McMorris 5. Both still have plenty of room to go, but if we can just get performances like Sunday's the rest of the way out, that's all you can ask for. We'll be fine.
While he still wasn't his Texas A&M self, I started to see flashes of Mario Little breaking out on Sunday. His shot still isn't nearly as consistent as it was at the beginning, but he was more active offensively and was a factor on the boards. And, he's learning how to play more effective post D with the height differential. I can't wait to see him next year, with an offseason of healing in between, but he can still be a useful player for us the rest of the year.
Whenever Tyrel Reed is hitting threes like that, we're tough as hell to beat. We hit threes, we win games. It's sometimes as simple as that. And Relly Ice was smoking on Sunday, nailing everything in sight. He missed the one, where he couldn't get his feet set in time, but he was damn near perfect other than that. He was awesome, basically. I'm souring on Brady Morningstar, though. I still love him to death, and he still has a monstrous role on this team as the defensive stopper and three-point shooter. But his shot is fading, fast, and his minutes are falling with it. Remember just a couple of weeks ago, when he played 40 minutes against Baylor? Since then, T2 has emerged as the third-best player on the team, and Relly Ice is starting to play better. If Tyrel's shooting the three like he was Sunday, I want to see his minutes go up (and they did, as he saw 18 minutes). Bradystar's minutes will be interesting to wtach, though, as they seem to be in decline. And unless he catches fire from the perimeter, it might not stop.

That's all, for now. Plenty of others played, but not significant minutes. I'm still on the Travis Releford-for-more-minutes bandwagon, just so y'all know.

Hopefully we don't blow all of this goodwill on Wednesday night; a win in Lubbock, and we're officially Conference Champions.

Again.

Kansas: Know your rival (again)

Bill C. — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:52:26 -0000

UPDATE: Okay, no update, but I'm bumping this back to the top of the page.

Gotta love this blurb from PowerMizzou's MU-KU preview:

Just another game? Not even close. DeMarre Carroll remembers when he first got to Mizzou and his cousin, Michael Anderson, Jr., was telling him about the place.

"He told me, 'You're going to trip out when you see this.' And he showed me the Kansas game, I guess, when the Kansas dude missed the free throws, Moody or whatever. And they went crazy. He was just like, 'Man, they got big time rivalries up here,'" Carroll said. "When I first got here, I was like, 'Why you all hate KU?' I really didn't get why they hate them. As I keep playing, the way they play, the way their fans act towards us, I kind of see why they hate them. I guess I'm falling in that mode of Missouri versus KU, I kind of dislike them just like they dislike us."

Further proof that you don't have to be born a true son, to end up a true son, I guess.

Not too much has changed since last time I analyzed Kansas, but with the magnitude of tomorrow's game, it's worth taking another close look.

vs Big 12
Kansas: 12-1

	KU	Opp
Points Per Minute	1.88	1.58
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.11	0.94
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.43	1.15
2-PT FG%	53.6%	42.1%
3-PT FG%	41.2%	31.6%
FT%	72.6%	71.4%
True Shooting %	60.2%	49.3%

	KU	Opp
Assists	188	153
Steals	83	96
Turnovers	207	170
Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO	1.31	1.46

	KU	Opp
Expected Offensive Rebounds	135	169
Offensive Rebounds	130	121
Difference	-5	-48

What KU's good at: shooting, preventing good shots on defense, defensive rebounding.
What KU's not as good at: ball-handling, offensive rebounding. Now, they're certainly solid in both regards--I think we would all love to have a guy like Cole Aldrich crashing the offensive glass, and a 1.31 BCI is certainly far from terrible. But if you're going to beat them, it's by stealing the ball and, if they do get a shot off, holding them to one. Especially at home, where one offensive rebound and kick-out for 3 creates an insane amount of momentum.

Stats by StatSheet.com

Player	AdjGS*	GmSc/Min	Line
Cole Aldrich (So)	18.66	0.60	14.6 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 2.2 BPG
Sherron Collins (Jr)	16.12	0.45	18.4 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.1 SPG, 3.1 TOPG
Tyshawn Taylor (Fr)	8.50	0.34	10.0 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 2.7 TOPG
Brady Morningstar (So)	7.97	0.24	6.6 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.4 SPG
Marcus Morris (Fr)	6.59	0.38	7.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.2 APG, 2.3 TOPG
Mario Little (Jr)	6.07	0.43	5.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG
Markieff Morris (Fr)	4.75	0.37	4.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.0 BPG
Tyrel Reed (So)	4.58	0.22	5.7 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 1.2 SPG
Travis Releford (Fr)	1.33	0.22	2.3 PPG, 1.1 RPG
Matt Kleinmann (Sr)	1.05	1.05	3 minutes
Jordan Juenemann (Fr)	0.00	0.00	1 minute
Brennan Bechard (Sr)	-0.04	-0.04	3 minutes
Tyrone Appleton (Jr)	-0.22	-0.13	12 minutes
Chase Buford (So)	-0.46	-0.61	3 minutes
Quintrell Thomas (Fr)	-0.46	-0.14	0.1 PPG, 1.4 RPG
Conner Teahan (So)	-0.58	-0.36	8 minutes (and still 1 lifetime of shame)

* AdjGS = a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It does the same thing my previous measure of choice did (it takes points, assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls into account to determine an individual's "score" for a given game), only the formula is more used and accepted. The "adjustment" in Adjusted Game Score is simply matching the total game scores to the total points scored in the game, thereby redistributing the game's points scored to those who had the biggest impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.

When Sherron Collins is on fire, KU's more or less unstoppable. We know that. But when he's not on fire, they're still damn solid because of the underrated presence of Aldrich underneath. As I mentioned (I think) in the Podcast the other day, Aldrich has mastered the art of leaning on his man when the ball's in the air and giving them no leverage or good angle with which to jump and grab the ball.

Is it a foul? Probably so, in a technical sense--I know every single fan of every single KU opponent thinks Aldrich got away with about 17 fouls in their game(s) against KU--but it doesn't really matter because it's subtle enough that he's clearly always going to get away with it, and he's so skilled at the nuances of rebounding (like that) that he's going to grab just about any board that ends up on his side of the rim. When Mizzou caught up in the second half against KU, it was because a) they were merciless in tipping balls and attacking Aldrich with whatever bodies were around, and b) Aldrich was completely gassed. It will be harder to duplicate that at Allen, but Mizzou has to try.
Like everybody who dabbles in basketball stats, I do wish there were better ways to measure defensive ability. Because if there were, Brady Morningstar (and to a lesser extent, Tyrel "Reggie Cleveland All-Stars" Reed) would clearly be averaging well over 0.25 AdjGS/min. Morningstar and Reed are not really offensive threats--they will nail open 3's, and that's a great weapon to have, but they're not going to punish you in a lot of different ways. But on defense, they're one of the main reasons KU's opponents have a true shooting % under 50%.

Granted, you're able to take chances on the perimeter when your interior defense is so good--and the first time around against KU, their interior D was what impressed me the most--but KU fans think of Morningstar the way we think of J.T. Tiller on the defensive end, and that's clearly not just because of interior D.
Mario Little's averages have fallen since last time MU and KU played. He entered that game averaging about 0.55 AdjGS/min--tied for first on the team with Aldrich (and he reaffirmed his importance by confidently hitting the tying jumper with under a minute left). Now that number's tumbled by about 20% (meanwhile, Aldrich's has gone up to 0.60).
Other changes since the first time around: Collins has improved slightly, Reed has regressed (as has, to a lesser extent, Marcus Morris), and Releford has improved a bit with more playing time (give me Kim English if I had to make a choice, of course, but Releford would have done some good things in Mike Anderson's system). But this team still clearly revolves around Aldrich and Collins. If Collins has his "great Chicago-style player" mask on, making fearless shots, playing great defense, and in general refusing to be denied, then KU is a killer team. But if he's in "bad Chicago-style player" mode, taking stupid shots, turning the ball over, and suffering brain farts on D, then KU's imminently beatable.

Keys to the Game

Turnovers. Have you caught on that this will probably always be the #1 key to a Mizzou game? It goes double for KU, whose biggest armor chink comes in the form of ball-handling. They clearly won't turn the ball over 27 times like they did at Mizzou Arena, but if Mizzou doesn't lay a first half egg this time around, they won't have to force 27--17-20 will do. Any less, and Mizzou's probably in trouble.
Wear Cole Aldrich out again. The offense runs through Collins, but the team's success runs through Aldrich, who completely and totally dominates every inch of the paint when he's on. If Mizzou can take other interior weapons (a.k.a. the Morris twins) out of the picture and make Aldrich dominate for a longer period of time, then his "0.60 AdjGS/min" starts to fall precipitously down the stretch.
Hustle & Flow (a.k.a. JT Tiller and Zaire Taylor). They were 3-for-12 from the field the first time around (1-for-10 in the first 39 minutes), but their late-game heroics earned them all sorts of well-deserved love and admiration from Mizzou fans. That's great...but they can't go 3-for-12 this time around. KU is custom built to stop the inside threat of DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons (and I'm thinking the outside shot of Carroll and Lyons is much less likely to be successful in a hostile environment like AFH), and Mizzou is going to have to get great games from Hustle & Flow on both ends of the court to take the pressure off the bigs.

Technically it doesn't have to be Tiller and Taylor--basically Mizzou needs a backcourt threat on offense, be it Tiller, Mr. Coffee, Goose, Denmon, English, whoever. But Mizzou's probably not going to win if Mike Anderson has to severely dip into the bench, so the best case scenario is that Tiller & Taylor both play big minutes, and one of them is hitting some shots.

Prediction

Back when The Beef and I did Tigerboard Radio, I would always base my predictions with this disclaimer: "If Mizzou wins, I want to say I called it. So if they win, it will be something like..."

So with that in mind, if Mizzou wins at AFH for the first time since 1999, it's going to be in the "74-70 dogfight" range. As I said on the Podcast the other night, Ken Pomeroy's odds (38% chance of Mizzou winning) are more or less dead on. If MU and KU play this game three times, you'll probably see two dogfights (and at this point, I like Mizzou's chances of winning a dogfight against anybody--I'm a convert) and one easy KU win. Clearly I'm hoping for the former. So with that said...hell yeah I'm picking Mizzou to win! 74-70 Mizzou (unless it's 82-66 Kansas, ahem). Bring home the Big 12 lead, boys.

And because it needs to be done...

"Step Your Game Up" -- Kansas 87 Oklahoma 78

rockchalk — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:33:37 -0000

There was a little less than 9 minutes left in the first half, and Kansas was down, 22-10. After a quick initial start, we were desperate for somebody, anybody to step up and take control. Unsurprisingly, they were focusing most of their attention on Cole and Sherron, making them unlikely candidates. However, this also opened the door.

Two straight Tyshawn Taylor threes later, the score was 22-16. About 2 minutes later, a third trey put the Jayhawks up, 24-23, a lead they would never relinquish again.

However, the game got close again. Oh boy, did it close. After a barrage of threes by Cade Davis, who had the game of his life for Oklahoma, and Omar Leary, a little-used reserve guard off of the bench, the Sooners had cut the once-20-point lead to only 3, 71-68. Sherron Collins received the ball, dribbled some, dished off to T2, went off a screen and once a defensive switch had Cade Davis guarding him, he simply dribbled up, dribbled between his legs and pulled up from 22 feet.

Swish.

However, after an even deeper three from Willie Warren, to cut the lead back to 3, it was up to Sherron again to step up.

This time, there was no switches, no passes, no screens. Once we beat the press and got the ball past halfcourt, Tyrel handed the ball to Sherron. There was about 28 seconds left on the shot clock. 20 seconds of pure dribbling later, Sherron took a pair of dribbles, again crossovered through his legs and, again, pulled up. This time, though, he was shooting from what had to be 30 feet away.

Swish.

And yet, we weren't done yet. Only seconds after Sherron's incredible three-pointer, Willie Warren came charging down. He saw a crease, and took it. Markieff Morris, who had bolted down the court in excitement (watching the final 5 minutes for the fourth time today, this became really evident) after Sherron's thirty-footer and was, thus, in awesome defensive possession underneath the basket, stepped up.

Charge.

End of momentum for the Sooners, and it simply turned into a glorified free throw shooting contest from there.

The game was all about stepping up, you see. And not just in fabulous box score lines, but in clutch moments where the game was on the line. The game seemed to be over countless times, and each time the opponent came charging back, or somehow mustered enough to hold off the surging opposition. But, Kansas stepped up more, elevated their game more substantially, despite having the home crowd work against them. Of course, Blake Griffin wasn't there, and that played a role. But Oklahoma still had a shot to win, to earn oh-so-much respect, to show they aren't just the Blake Griffins, and had the backing of 11,528 whiteout-wearing Boomer Sooner fans. And sure, they made some huge plays, and had some fringe players show up in big ways.

They just didn't have enough to overcome Kansas' incredible supply of it.

Player-by-players after the jump...

For the first time all season, there were three absolutely incredible performances in a single game. And while this made it quite difficult to select an MVP, the final selection shouldn't really be debated. When it mattered most, when there were 11,528 Sooner fans screaming at us and some white boy was hitting running 25-footers, or so it seemed, one guy stepped up. Sherron Collins. Three straight possessions, excluding the fastbreak T2 had that was swatted by Taylor Griffin, equalled three straight treys from SC, each one deeper than the one before it. It was absolutely incredible to watch. Plus, each subsequent three had a more vigorous reaction. He started off with just the fist pump across the chest, then the hop-around-kinda-thing, then my personal favorite, the sliding-backwards-while-yelling-really-effing-loud-semi-leaning-back one. Yeah, I love that one. And I'm telling you, not only did his threes motivate us simply by going in, but the way he reacted helped everyone out, as well. Markieff, especially. The Morris twins seem to be particularly moody, almost, where they can go through stretches played with incredible intensity, then other times play quite lacksadasical. Sherron's yelling, I'm telling you, got Kieffer to sprint down floor into position, which led him to draw the charge.
As absolutely incredible as Sherron's second half was, you could certainly make the argument that Tyshawn Taylor's first half was more needed, and even more impressive. The dude's not known for the long ball, but his three triples in the first half were some of the biggest baskets of his career. Maybe the biggest. A career-high 26, in such a setting, is unreal. And, this is coming off of quite a cold stretch for T2 that had lasted quite awhile; a couple of weeks, at least. No matter, I'll just show up in Norman, knock down a couple of threes (including banking one in; plus, the third one was from like 25-feet and barely even grazed the net), hit my throws and have a positive assist:turnover ratio. No bigs. Talk about stepping up. Plus, he was actually really solid on D, too, struggling when he switched on to Warren during those rare occasions, but playing excellent against Crocker.
While T2 had the first half, and SC the second, Cole Aldrich was the dependable second fiddle throughout the entire game. Obviously, he benefitted the most from Blake Griffin watching on the sidelines in a cowgirl shirt, as he could do whatever he wanted on both sides of the glass. You can talk all you want about the loss of Blake's scoring, but the thing that absolutely killed the Sooners was rebounding. All year long, with one of the 5 best rebounders in the country, they've dominated the glass. However, without Blake, we outrebounded them by 6, including a career-high 20 by Cole. He was fine offensively, missing some relatively easy shots but hitting most, and was money from the FT line after an uncharacteristically bad game against Iowa State. Basically, he was the steadying presence we so desperately needed for 40 minutes, while T2 and Sherron went on their own streaks. Also, he absolutely destroyed the Sooner big men.
In all actuality, the fourth best player for the Jayhawks Monday night was likely Markieff Morris. In an attempt to prove that the Morris twins are the inconsistent basketball players of all time, Marcus had a two-week stretch where he was the one emerging, only to regress back to non-con-McMorris, while Kieffer has emerged as our second best big. The biggest play of the game, IMO, was Kieffer's charge, and he was also working it on offense, picking up 7 much-needed points. He also played much better D than the other two members of the Law Firm (McMorris and Smash), containing Pattillo and Lesser Griffin much more efficiently. Marcus Morris, on the other hand, while not playing terribly, did little to stand out positively. He took an ill-advised three, was in foul trouble throughout the game, turned it over twice. Kieffer did a lot of the same stuff, but Kieffer made up for it with much better D.
Brady Morningstar had his worst game of the year. Without a doubt. Coming in, I was bragging on good ol' Bradystar, telling everyone how he was going to destroy Warren. Yeah, that didn't happen. At all. Warren did just about whatever he wanted when Brady was guarding him, and Brady never really recovered, staying in foul trouble the rest of the game. Plus, on offense, he missed two wide-open three-point attempts. I still love him to death, but too many more games like that and his standing as the third minute-earner on the team will quickly fall.
But who will those minutes go to? Honestly, probably Travis Releford. In an incredibly important time in the game, where the game was in balance, at a time where Brady's played all year, Releford was in the game in his place. Releford was playing comparable D, shockingly, and his offense is way better. On three straight offensive possessions, Releford played a role (two offensive rebounds himself, and another time he poked the ball straight to Cole) in picking up an offensive board, which led to, IIRC, 5 points. And before his charge, he was playing nearly flawless basketball. He is still plenty raw, and has plenty of room for plenty of improvement, but he should see more meaningful minutes after Monday night. For how terrible his line looks, he actually played really well. Of course, that very well may be the bias showing through.
As opposed to Brady's zero good plays, not to be harsh, Tyrel Reed can boast one solid play. A fadeaway, clock-running-down three-pointer to close out the half was quite the shot, but that's about all Relly Ice contributed on offense all night. However, like Releford, he was playing surprisingly good D, so he got more PT than usual. He played fine with those minutes, I suppose, but his lack of success on offense hampers my evaluation.
Finally, the two remaining members of the Law Firm (I'm adding Thomas, sorry KGRTC). Mario Little and Quintrell Thomas both had little flashes of usefulness, but for the most part were just average. After his first couple of games after deciding not to redshirt, where he looked absolutely fabulous, Smash has really declined. He hit a crazy trick shot Monday night, but also got in really quick foul trouble and never really saw the floor in the second half. Trell had a couple of good boards, and played pretty solid D, but he's for sure still a work in progress. The good thing is that he's a freshman, so that's all well-and-good. I just hope that Smash can figure out his problems before the end of the season, or he might not see much PT in the important games in March. I don't think that happens, though.

All in all, a couple of A's (SC, T2, Cole) are enough to overcome a host of B-minus' and C's. The formula to win, though, is usually having CoSh show up big-time, then having at least one role player step their game up. Monday night was Tyshawn's turn. Against K-State, it was McMorris. In Waco, Kieffer. It was the missing element in our trip to Columbia (along with a whole mess of other junk; honestly, looking back, I can't believe we were as close as we were), and it will be again if we lose soon.

Oh, and just one more quick note. Since when do you have to apologize for winning on the road against the #3 team in the country? I understand, it doesn't have the same feel because of Blake's injury, but still. It isn't like the team is just one-player. Even without Blake, I think they are definitely a NCAA-caliber team. Willie Warren is ridiculous, and the rest of the supporting cast (other than Austin Johnson, who I've never, ever been impressed with) is solid enough to back him up.

So, dissenters, we hear you. And, a lot of what you're saying makes sense. But we're not going to say sorry just cause we're in fabulous shape to win the conference, and we "got lucky" in that we didn't have to face Blake. It's basketball, junk happens, get over it. Simple as that.

Oh, and I desperately want to face off with Oklahoma, now, in the Big 12 Tournament. I wouldn't mind a third matchup with Missouri, either (as, assuming we can hold down the fort on Sunday, would serve as the neutral court tiebreaker), but I really want to play Blake. And, while I don't think we would've won (it isn't a sure thing, but I bet we lose) Monday night if Blake were to play, in that hostile environment, I bet we'll be ready in another three-or-so weeks to take them on and beat them.

Mark my words.

"Bring on Oklahoma" -- Kansas 70 Nebraska 53

rockchalk — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:08:38 -0000

Coming into this week, following our hard-fought win in Manhattan, we were merely assigned the task of not blowing the place up.

That's it.

Just feed the cat, walk the dog, pick up the mail and newspaper. Simple tasks, sure, but ones that can have terrible results if things go awry.

That, pretty much, is what this week was like. Iowa State and Nebraska, while not equal teams, aren't particularly dangerous on the road. It wasn't going to take a whole lot to win the games, but it still had to be accomplished.

And, that's exactly what we did. A 17-point victory Wednesday night, 72-55, followed up by Saturday's 17-point victory, 70-53. Besides the eerily similar scores, a lot else was the same between the two games. In both games, two men led us to victory.

It isn't a tricky question, it's as obvious as one might expect: Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins. Really, no one else played well. Like, at all.

And yet, we still won. That's all that matters. But, on Monday night in Norman, we won't be able to get by with only two good performances, no matter how dominant. We need more of a team effort.

Player-by-players after the jump...

Without a doubt, the MVP is Sherron Collins. Dude was dominant, really, for the first time in weeks. Ever since he had the elbow problem, and had to put the sleeve on, he's struggled from the perimeter. His D and his driving ability has kept him being a really good player, but he wasn't playing like the superstar he's shown to be before, like in the beginning of the season. While he looked as if he was beginning to make a comeback against Iowa State, Saturday proved he is 100% back. He was unreal, posting one of the better lines of the season by anybody on the team. 22 points on an incredibly efficient 8-12 shooting, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and zippo turnovers. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous.
The other deserving MVP candidate was Cole Aldrich, who had a much better time of it against Nebraska than up in Lincoln. He struggled, big-time, from the free throw line, only going 4-9, but that was really the only negative. He still scored 18 points, picked up 12 rebounds and, most importantly, didn't pick up a foul. If he makes his free throws like usual, and he would've gotten 20, at least. Still, a tremendous performance, one he likely needs to repeat Monday night for us to have a chance.
After those two, it takes a considerable turn for the worse. However, Markieff Morris really came to play. He wasn't awesome on offense, and his three-point attempt was ill-conceived at best, but he was a monster on the boards, picking up 9. Plus, he picked up 3 blocks, and most importantly only had 1 foul. That's a nice little line from Kieffer, and a fine performance. Marcus Morris, on the other hand, had a terrible outing. He hit a three, which was nice, and picked up 3 rebounds, which is all right. But, besides that, he was atrocious; 5 turnovers and 4 fouls. It looked like he was breaking out, for good, but he just didn't show up yesterday.
Brady Morningstar had a pretty good game for himself, as well. Knocked down a pair of treys, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, you know, a very typical Brady line. Nothing that absolutely freaks you out, but solid performances in every facet of the game. He's going to have his work cut out for him guarding Willie Warren on Monday, so hopefully he's ready. Warren had a coming out party of sorts down in Austin Saturday night, and he looked ridiculous. So, yeah, I'm officially nervous.
Everyone else, really, played pretty crappy. Tyrel Reed might've been the worst of the bunch, going kaput on offense and turning it over twice. Mario Little still rebounded, but he picked up the second straight goose egg in the points line. Tyshawn Taylor can't hit the outside three to save his life, and Nebraska figured this out, leaving him open in the corner. He only hit 1-5, not to mention his 3 turnovers.
However, despite not playing terribly well, I wanted to give props to Travis Releford and Quintrell Thomas. Both actually played pretty decent, in their limited PT, and showed me some things. Travis got 11 minutes, the most he's gotten in awhile IIRC, and responded pretty well. Not a terribly active line, and he didn't blow me away, but a fine performance. And Trell, he is a solid rebounder. He is still incredibly raw offensively, but he isn't bad as the emergency big guy to come up in and steal minutes. Not bad at all.

That's all, and now we're entirely done with that Nebraska game. From now on, we're setting our sights on Oklahoma, and Oklahoma alone.

You ready?

SB Nation - Mario Little

Friday Afternoon Big12Hoops.com Link Dump - 11.06.2009

Big 12 North

Big 12 South

Non Big 12 Links

"Awesome Season, Terrible Finish" -- Kansas 62 Michigan State 67

"Star Power" -- Kansas 60 Dayton 43

"HE IS A BALLER!" -- Kansas 84 North Dakota State 74

"Back on Track" -- Kansas 83 Texas 73

"The Inevitable Letdown" -- Kansas 65 Texas Tech 84

"I'm Falling in Love With This Team" -- Kansas 90 Missouri 65

Kansas: Know your rival (again)

vs Big 12Kansas: 12-1

Keys to the Game

Prediction

"Step Your Game Up" -- Kansas 87 Oklahoma 78

"Bring on Oklahoma" -- Kansas 70 Nebraska 53

vs Big 12
Kansas: 12-1