SB Nation - Tyrone Appleton

"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.

"You Can't Give a Good Team Life" -- Kansas 85 Kansas State 74

rockchalk — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:44:09 -0000

There are 8 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first half. The score sits at 30-14, advantage K-State, and Bill Self just used his third timeout.

All of the momentum, all of the flow, all of the confidence was residing with the Powercats. The Blizzarding-out, Purple faithful. They were rocking. They were shaking. They were making a helluva lot of noise. Their boys couldn't miss, particularly the perimeter duo of Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. The blowout was on to a win they badly need for their NCAA portfolio. After losing 24 straight to the Kansas Jayhawks in Manhattan, they were about to start a streak of their own; 2, after winning last season.

But then, something changed. In a time of utter desperation, where Kansas needed somebody, anybody to step up, Sherron Collins picked up his second foul. Cole was virtually nonexistent. The two players we had looked up to all season long to pick us up when were down weren't there, at least for the time being. No, someone else needed to pick up the baton and start running. Someone to give us life.

And who gave us life? Marcus Morris.

Brady sinks a three, McMorris puts in a two-point layup, and Morris dish led to a Cole dunk. Seven quick points. After Clemente and Sherron exchanging threes, Morris went 1-2 from the FT line, then dished off to his brother for another dunk. Then, Morris picked up his second steal, dishing off to Tyshawn for a dunk. Another Morris pokeaway, which leads to another fastbreak bucket. Then, the capper.

Down 35-38, Marcus found himself oh-so-wide-open right at the three-point line.

Swish.

Tie game, which pretty much meant game over. Sure, K-State went on it's fair share of runs the rest of the game, including immediately following Morris' three. But, a Brady Morningstar trey as the first half clock ran down re-gave us all of the momentum. Everything the Powercats had going for them was now gone, and the second half was to be simply a talent-on-talent contest. And while K-State does have plenty of it(particularly Jake "I save my best for the Jayhawks" Pullen and Denis "Dis my house" Clemente), their talent doesn't compare to ours.

When we were given life, mostly by an incredible performance from Marcus Morris, the game was all-but-over.

Player-by-players after the jump...

Game MVP isn't even a question, baby. Marcus Freakin' Morris. He wasn't perfect, especially in the early-going, but that's the best either Morris has played all year long. I thought that their four-or-five game stretch prior to the Missouri game was their breaking-out, but then they both played pretty awful in Columbia. However, Marcus re-emerged Saturday afternoon in Manhattan. He was awesome at just about everything, really, playing really sound D (3 steals, including pick-pocketing Clemente IIRC), moving the ball really well (4 assists) and being active on the boards (7 of 'em, including 3 on the offensive end). Oh, and 15 points, too, including a three. Don't wanna forget about that. He was the most important player in the game, and that isn't just normalizing for past performance and expectations and all of that. The last 8:34, or whatever, of the first half, he was the best player on the floor. The best compliment he received, though, is when he played like 16 minutes in the second half. Besides giving him rest and at the very, very end when we were just shooting the free throws, he was always in there. Always, always, always. Self didn't want any part of a three-man rotation between him, Kieffer and Mario 2.0. Nuh-uh. McMorris all the way.
While he struggled in the early-going, including airballing a 14-footer early on, Cole Aldrich was the best player in the second half. During K-State's most realistic run in the second half, when they cut it all the way to 67-65, we went to Cole three straight trips down the floor. The result? 7 points, a 74-70 score, and the game never got down to 2 again. His D was good, not as dominating as against Mizzou but still really good. This time, though, his offense was the side that really dominated. K-State had no answer coming in, and when we really, really need buckets, there was no question where we were going.
Sherron Collins, despite still not having his shot completely, played quite well, really. He still is turing the ball over a bit too much, and his three-point shot is still struggling, but he gets to the rim almost at will. His fifty-foot alley-oop to Cole was pretty incredible, so that gives him some extra points. It is odd, though, that he can play as well as he did on Saturday and yet I am nitpicking for his 2-5 from three-point range and 5 turnovers. Us, as a fanbase, are awfully hard on him; think, though, where we would be without him. I think an NIT invite would have been our ceiling, really, on a Sherron-less Kansas team.
Brady Morningstar, after not being able to buy a basket against Missouri, had a stellar game. One of his best of the season, offensively, really. All three of his first half threes were incredibly needed; the first two during a time where we really couldn't get much of anything done offensively, and the last one as the clock ran out to give us the momentum heading into the second half. His fourth three didn't occur at such an absolutely crucial time, but still: when his threes are falling, it is awfully hard to beat us. Defensively, he did a fabulous job on Fred Brown. I'd have put him on Denis Clemente, but I suppose Bill was fine with letting Clemente get his as long as that's all they got, which is pretty close to what happened. And Brown was virtually non-existent, so that was good to see.
Going back to Clemente, Tyrel Reed was just absolutely wasted defensively. Clemente did whatever he pleased while Tyrel was out there, and I don't think he should have seen the floor in the second half. He's made progress since the beginning of the year with his feet, but they still aren't nearly quick enough to keep up with such a speedy player like Clemente. Offensively, he didn't do too much at all. He hit all of his throws, which is good, and he did drain that one huge three (shocking, I know) after the Clemente T that grew the lead to 7, which was nice. But that's about it; other than that, he was not very often seen or heard from offensively. And on defense, his name was mentioned over-and-over-and-over: because he was beat, of course.
Mario Little and Markieff Morris both played average games. Neither was terribly efficient offensively, and Kieffer was close to awful, while neither was too hot on defense, with Mario 2.0 being the one who was toasted. Little's behind-the-back pass was pretty sweet, and the box score has him at 3 assists, which is at least a positive. Nothing to write home about, and I'd bet he loses his starting slot back to McMorris, but better overall than Kieffer, whose offensive "highlight" was getting the shit blocked out of a ball he should have dunked. Quintrell Thomas was fine, and his offensive rebound was impressive. That's about it. He still isn't ready to contribute for any significant stretch, but he is a fine 5th big to be used in extreme cases of foul trouble and/or terrible play, and next year he could see a significant spike if Cole jumps to the NBA.
Tyshawn Taylor had an interesting game, to say the least. On one hand, he wasn't half-bad on defense, and did a pretty good job on Clemente. On the other hand, he wasn't too often seen on offense, and he did foul out. All-in-all, an OK performance from T-Squared. However, I do wish that some of his playing time (particularly in the second half) would've gone to...
Tyrone Appleton. Strangely, I was incredibly impressed with Appleton, and thought he played the best defense of anyone on Clemente all afternoon long. He moved his feet, stayed in front of Clemente and, IIRC, Clemente didn't score once in Appleton's five minutes. Appleton didn't do anything on offense, but neither did TyTay, and Appleton was the better defender. If I were NCHCBS, I would've given Tyrone plenty of second half PT, if for nothing else than to reward him for his superior D. If he started to struggle, no-harm-no-foul, and just put back in Relly Ice or T-Squared. Hopefully, if both Tyshawn and Tyrel struggle again in a game, Tyrone sees more PT. He deserves it, from what I saw on Saturday.
Finally, and I do know that there are only so many minutes to go around, I'd really like to see Travis Releford get more minutes, at least against run-and-gun teams. He did only go 2-4 from the free throw line, which can't help, but he looks much more active on offense than either Tyrel or Tyshawn. He is a really good offensive rebounder for his size, and is a damn good slasher without the ball. And, best of all, his D is monumentally better than it was at the beginning of the season. Not a lot of minutes, but I'd like him to get around 10 minutes a pop, more if he is outplaying either Tyrel or Tyshawn.

OK, that's all. The Big 12 Roundup, supersized because we missed last week, is upcoming later on tonight.

Breaking Down the Perimeter Rotation

rockchalk — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:26:18 -0000

When this whole story idea first got started up, I was set to make a rough comparison between last season's National Championship squad and this year's unit. Obviously, there would be significant gaps in many of the comparisons, with the incredible youth in this year's team as opposed to last year's largely veteran team. And honestly, even looking at it player-by-player, as I likely would have, there are few similarities. For one, it is entirely too early to begin comparing young freshman who have played all of one regular season game to National Championship-winning, currently-professional athletes. Way too early.

Of course, this doesn't mean there are some early comparisons to be made. For instance, I have taken to calling Quintrell Thomas "Darnell", because their styles of play are eerily similar. Of course, and we'll get into this later, Quintrell can't hit the freebies nearly as well as D-Block did (in fact, Darnell was, at times, the best free throw shooter on the team). I also tend to liken Travis Releford to a poor man's Brandon Rush, although that is more of just a general feeling as opposed to actually closely comparing the two respective styles.

With all of that said, here is a quick breakdown of how the rotation should work itself out. There won't be a whole lot of player analysis and all of that fun jazz, I will do that as we continue to progress through the non-conference season, but merely a general semblance of how our rotation figures to break down.

I hestiate to offer a specific definition of the qualifications required to enter into the rotation, and it is largely a subjective measure. And so, merely accept the definition of being part of the rotation as merely earning enough minutes to have an impact on a game over a consistent basis.

Vague enough for you? OK, then good, let's get down to it, then.

Actual breaking down after the jump...

Much of the fun of this season is all of the unknowns. No one really knows who will step up and emerge as crucial players down the stretch, and who will, instead, merely sit far down the bench, getting to play only in the largest blowouts of all.

Of course, some players are more likely to become a member of the final rotation than others. And so, here are all of the conceivable options at Bill Self's disposal to fill up the rotation of eight-or-nine guys, and their rough likelihood of being a final member.

You have to figure that there will be four or five perimeter players and four bigs. The bigs have pretty much already been decided, really, because of the lack of sheer numbers. Cole Aldrich is an obvious member, and the other three are all-but-guaranteed to be the three freshmen: Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris and Quintrell Thomas. I suppose you could try and include Mario Little as part of the big rotation, and if one of the three freshmen bust out that is our best opportunity to piece together the best players, but I still tend to think, as do most, that he is much more of a wing player.

And while the four low-post players are all but figured out, the competition for the perimeter slots are still up in arms. Here is a brief rundown of the candidates:

Sherron Collins -- I promise that he will be one of the key members of the rotation throughout the entire season, and more-than-likely will lead the team in minutes when all is said and done. He is the starting point guard from start to finish assuming there are no injuries, and he is likely the early favorite for Team MVP.
Tyrel Reed -- He was a top recruit coming out of high school, but he never found a niche on a team that was ridiculously stacked and simply resorted to garbage minutes. This led many members of the fan base to expect less from him, which is unfair considering he would have had to outplay an incredibly talented perimeter player (Robinson, Chalmers, Rush and Collins) just to sniff some playing time. But with three of those four departing, he was presented a tremendous opportunity to claim some playing time and he hasn't disappointed. His hot start has at least bought him the beginning of the season in the starting lineup, and he figures to remain a member of the rotation throughout the season.
Travis Releford -- A local recruit out of Bishop Miege, his regular season career got off to a poor start as he sat out almost the entire first half. For whatever reason, in a half where Bill Self was clicking all of the buttons at his disposal trying to find something that worked, Releford never saw much court action at all. But then, in the second half, Travis entered into the lineup and never looked back. He played the majority of the second 20 minutes and looked really good doing it. That performance alone will get him into the picture for the next couple of weeks, and the continued display of the all-around package he showcased on Sunday night will get him into the starting lineup, much less the general rotation.
Tyshawn Taylor -- The other sure-to-be-impact freshman, Taylor reminds me a lot of, well, Sherron Collins. He isn't quite as quick, but he plays similarly; balls-to-the-wall and a hundred miles an hour. His progress will be interesting throughout the season, as he likely won't start too often but, instead, will be, well, this year's version of Sherron Collins coming off the bench. A bundle of energy that will be called upon when we are struggling offensively, I am quickly falling in love with the kid. A surefire member of the rotation, from where I'm standing.
Mario Little -- The wildcard of the rotation, if for no other reason than he hasn't been healthy yet. He figures to be a key member of the rotation once he comes back, but it will be interesting to see whether his return merely reduces minutes or causes someone to effectively be dropped from the rotation. Can't comment too much on LIttle, so we'll just live it at that. He'll be a member of the rotation, I promise, it is just how big of a role he will receive that is up in the air. And I tell you what, that answer can be provided by Tyshawn's and Travis' play as much as Little's potential.
Brady Morningstar -- He played very well in the first exhibition game against Washburn, and then had merely an average game against Emporia State. He played pretty awful against UMKC, looking too much for his shot and not playing good D, but he bounced back against Florida Gulf Coast to have a halfway decent game, again. He looks to be on the outside looking in, but he still stands a decent chance to finagle his way into some minutes, at least early on while the freshmen are learning the ropes.
Conner Teahan -- Ah, Conner Teahan. Conner Teahan is a crowd favorite for his hot-shooting last season, and he is a Rockhurst boy (just like my uncles and my father), meaning he is well-loved in my house. But Connor really only has one above average 'tool', to use a baseball scouting term, and that is his shot. Sure, he can shoot the hell out of the ball, but he can't do much else on a basketball court. His defensive mindset is "hey, I'm gonna punch this guy in the arm as he runs across the lane instead of running with him, hope the ref doesn't see". And, as they tend to do, the refs saw it too often in his limited action Sunday night. His chances to actually scratch the rotation are not looking too hot right now, although he will likely still get another chance-or-two in low-pressure games the next couple of weeks, and if he plays better he could still stand a chance.
Tyrone Appleton -- A JUCO transfer, Appleton looked merely average in his limited time Sunday night. He figures to be used merely for depth purposes throughout the season, an emergency point guard in case of injury to Sherron or Tyshawn.

While there are an abundance of options for Bill Self to choose from, there seems to be a fairly obvious cut line squarely between Mario Little and Brady Morningstar. That would mean that once Little heals up, we would have a nine-man rotation, which is fine for much of the year. Eventually, there would likely be one-or-two members who fade off, giving us a more concise rotation to cycle through in the waning moments of close games. Essentially, the difference between last year's 7-man rotation and the 9-man rotation (7-man plus Cole Aldrich and Rodrick Stewart).

If I were to rank the eight perimeter players in likelihood of being a member of the rotation in, let's say the end of February, here is what I would say

Sherron Collins
Tyrel Reed
Mario Little
Tyshawn Taylor
Tyrone Releford
Brady Morningstar
Travis Appleton
Conner Teahan

Again, there is a rather large gap between numbers 5 and 6.

Other discussions regarding the whole team in general upcoming in the next couple of days. Plus, we'll try and get some Washington and Florida/Syracue preview materail up for the upcoming CBE Classic Final Four in Kansas City.