On Sherron Collins:

Offense:

On offense, KU will have a more potent and bigger group on the floor than it did last season, as the stronger and more versatile Xavier Henry will no doubt consume most of Morningstar’s minutes from last year and the Morris twins are a year older and wiser.  In any case, they definitely look stronger and more aggressive around the rim.  This can only be a good thing for Sherron, allowing him more freedom to set teammates up for good shots and resulting in fewer instances where he has to generate tougher shots late in the shot clock.

Sherron will no doubt be fine on offense.  The key for him is how he adjusts from being the man last year and throwing up 14-18 shots per game to deferring to the talented weapons around him this year while still getting his 15-20 points per game off of 10-12 shots.  I also hope that Sherron will improve in taking care of the ball.  His A/T ratio last season wasn’t bad (1.51) but if he can make some better decisions with the ball and push that ratio up to around a Ty Lawson-esque 2.0 or better, KU becomes an even more dangerous team.  

Defense:

On the other end of the court, Sherron seemed to be less aggressive during his junior year than in years past.  Most of this, no doubt, can be attributed to needing to conserve more energy after seeing a huge increase in minutes from his sophomore to junior years (23.8 to 35.3 per game).  This year, Sherron should be able to not hold anything back.  I would not be surprised to see Sherron’s minutes decrease by just a bit, as Taylor and Johnson can spell him at the point with no decrease in the team’s tempo.

On Tyshawn Taylor

Offense:

Look for Tyshawn to improve tremendously from his first season to his second.  Specifically, he’ll need to be smarter with the ball in his hands and demonstrate more consistency with his outside shot.  He showed flashes of being unstoppable on the dribble-drive last year but also had horrible body control at times, which led to a lot of charging fouls and ill-advised turnovers.  He shot a decent percentage from 3 (36.4%) but seemed hesitant to take the outside shot at times and never commanded absolute respect from opposing defenders behind the arc.  He shot very well playing for Team USA this summer, so I hope that is a sign that his shooting has improved.

Overall, Tyshawn is already an effective third scoring option, but he has unlimited potential on the offensive end, as evidenced by his scoring outbursts against Syracuse, Kansas State, and Oklahoma last season. In terms of raw athleticism, he is not far behind Elijah Johnson.  He is very explosive and if he plays under control, few guards in the nation will be able to contain him.    

Defense:

Tyshawn needs to become a more consistent defender. He has a terrific wingspan for a combo guard and needs to use that physical tool to disrupt passing lanes and generate more steals.  He’ll need to do a better job of communicating and being a leader on the floor on the defensive end.  Against teams last season with physical guards such as Michigan State, he had trouble fighting through screens and doubling down in the post. While Tyshawn’s starting spot is de facto secured Kansas has more depth this year on the perimeter, so he knows that the heat is on for him to be smart and effective on defense at all times lest he spend more time getting an earful from Coach Self while sitting on the bench.

On Brady Morningstar

Offense:

Note that Brady’s minutes per game didn’t drop at all as his shooting percentage fell precipitously during the last third of the season. Self’s confidence in Brady actually seemed to grow, which is a testament to how much Brady improved on defense (despite being a non-factor on offense in the MSU tournament game his defense of 6’7” Raymar Morgan was masterful) and to a lesser extent how KU really lacked a big wing who could play consistent and effective minutes.

Defense:

Bill Self did not hesitate to label Brady as KU's best on-ball defender, and Brady did not disappoint.  His defense was solid all year and he drew the toughest defensive assignment game-in and game-out except at the 1 and 5 positions.  Throughout the year, Brady frustrated and limited the following professional-caliber players - Syracuse's Paul Harris, Temple's Dionte Christmas, Arizona's Chase Budinger, Tennessee's Tyler Smith, Kansas State's Denis Clemente, Michigan State's Raymar Morgan, Oklahoma State's James Anderson, Baylor's LaceDarius Dunn (first game), Colorado's Cory Higgins, Oklahoma's Willie Warren, Texas' A.J. Abrams, and Dayton's Chris Wright.   Brady, perhaps more than any player, compensates for a lack of speed and strength with superb vision, anticipation, and an understanding of spacing on the court.  He also sticks to his man like glue and is a great help defender on the ball.  His defense may be missed in non-conference season tests this season - Memphis, Cal, Michigan, UCLA, etc.

This year, Brady looks to be the odd man out in the backcourt rotation.  He really shot himself in the foot with the DUI conviction and subsequent suspension, as it’s going to be difficult for him to crack Coach Self’s nine man rotation in January.  Barring an injury and/or extremely poor play from the guys ahead of him in the 2-3 spots at this point – Taylor, X. Henry, Reed, Johnson, C.J. Henry, Marcus, and one of the Little/Releford redshirt candidate duo - Brady will spend more time on the bench this year than last.

On Tyrel Reed:

Offense:

Tyrel’s offensive game is limited but valuable.  Essentially, he shoots open, spot-up threes and shoots them well.  He can’t really create his own shot on the dribble and is not able to elevate over taller defenders to get his shot off.  Despite the one dimensional nature to his game, Tyrel thrives at hitting big shots in high-value possessions.  I do not think I can count the times that Tyrel hit a three at the end of a half or right before the shot clock was to expire.  That takes mettle and mental toughness, and by all reports Tyrel possesses both.

Defense:

This is Tyrel’s bugaboo.  His playing time would increase tremendously if he were even an average defender.  Tyrel is very strong, but not as strong as Xavier or Sherron.  He does not possess the lateral quickness of Tyshawn or Elijah, and he does not have an intuitive knack for spacing and being glued to his man like Brady does. 

Overall, Tyrel is still going to see lot of time as long as those shots are going down.  He’s a great leader and a good zone-buster, which KU will probably see a lot of this year.   

As we traverse through the annual September Royals' equivalent of the "surge" in Iraq that leads the front office to undue optimism for 2010, let's take a reflective but proactive lens back in time through the Dayton Moore era (June 2006-present) and take part in a fun exercise.

You are a more humble, self-aware GMDM.  You wake up in the morning and realize that you've created a mess and your franchise is in shambles at the MLB level.  Miraculously, the baseball gods, as gritty and dirt-stained as ever, take mercy on you and allow you to travel back in time to undo one of your decisions for each year of your tenure, assuming that you know all that you do about the franchise now.  What do you decide to do to strengthen the long-term health of the franchise? 

I'll go first to get this started:

2006: I do not trade J.P. Howell for Joey Gathright. 

Rationale:  Really a no brainer.  This is the move GMDM made in 2006 that significantly hurt the team.  Gathright didn't do much of anything well during his time in KC, including stealing bases.  Howell would look awfully nice in the Royals bullpen right now and would just be coming up on arbitration eligibility. 

2007: I do not name Alex Gordon my opening day starting 3B and stash him in Omaha for 200-300 PA's (roughly until the MLB All-Star break). 

Rationale: Anointing Gordon the starting 3B before a single PA in AAA was a mistake in retrospect.  He looked lost at the plate for the first half of the season and has not lived up to his potential since.  Keep in mind that he was the unanimous #1 prospect in baseball at the time, and as the Royals had Mark Teahen to play third there was really no reason to rush him.  It's a tough call - maybe Gordon would neither fix the holes in his swing that were so apparent at the time nor give any sign in AAA that he would initially struggle at the MLB level, but you have to wonder 'what if' here given the aggressive approach and the pressure of initial expectations.   

The Guillen signing and hiring of Trey Hillman are tied for a close second here, and as flawed as those moves have played out over the past two years I truly believe that the lack of devleopment from Gordon has had a more signifcant long-term negative effect on the franchise.

2008:  I darft Buster Posey with the third pick instead of Eric Hosmer.

Rationale: Picking Hosmer wasn't exactly a popular move at the time given his excessive bonus demands and the fact that there were numerous cheaper, polished, close to MLB-ready college-power bats available for the taking with the third-pick in the draft, including Posey, a catcher out of Florida State, Justin Smoak a first-baseman out of South Carolina, and Yonder Alonso, a first-baseman out of Miami. 

It's hard to judge Hosmer after only a year, but his first season of professional baseball was particularly unimpressive (.241/.334/.361 combined between low A and high A).  Posey, meanwhile, wasted no time in tearing up both AA and AAA (.325/.416/.531) and rigthfully earned a September call-up to the Giants.  Hosmer could still end up being the superior player but it's unlikely for him to even sniff the Majors until 2011 at the earliest.  Posey's position of catcher, meanwhile, is one position where the Royals farm-system is incredibly thin, and Olivo, Buck, and Brayan Pena are not even close to long-term solutions for the position.

2009: Incomplete, mission unaccomplished.

Rationale: We'll have to wait to see how the offseason plays out, but not trading MLB-level talent for prospects at the trade deadline is inexcusable to me.  Even worse, there was no indication from the front office that they were really trying all that hard to shop their MLB players. Oh, I will admit their hands were tied to a certain extent as they have few viable trading chips other than DeJesus, Teahen, Soria and Bannister.  But really, whose fault is it that Yasuhiko Yabuta, Ron Mahay, Kyle Farnsworth, and Jose Guillen have such toxic contracts as to be untradeable in the first place?  Oh my goodness, duh...I need to look deeper into my soul and judge this franchise on something bigger than wins and losses!  How silly of me.  Well, how about judging the franchise on how well it jettisons sunk costs to prepare for a brighter future? 

The bottom line is:  I refuse to believe that a Mark Shapiro or Billy Beane would not have figured out some way to cut ties with the present big-league pieces, regardless of present value, for players of potential value to the franchise in the future.   Dayton took the opposite approach and traded prospects for Yuniesky Betancourt, and the #10 prospect in the organization in Danny Gutierrez for two fringe prospects.  Neither trade  sense at the time and although more information has come to light with Gutierrrez regarding attitude and lifestyle problems, the timing and execution still seem sloppy.  

The sad thing is, there is still plenty of time left in 2009 for Dayton to screw this one up even more.

I am extremely disappointed in the Royals’ response to Rany Jazayerli’s blog post of June 24, 2009. Blacklisting Rany Jazayerli from Kauffman Stadium is fundamentally upsetting to me. This shows a lack of class and lack of respect for the basic right of free speech, and the Royals’ response should be protested.

I would have been able to tolerate, even understand, a response of blacklisting someone if Rany Jazayerli were employed or associated with the Royals in any professional capacity. But he’s not. Rany identifies himself on his blog as a dermatologist, blogger, and Royals fan. For years he’s been extremely articulate, incisive, and at times, critical of the Kansas City Royals organization from an outsider’s perspective, and my personal fandom of the Royals has been made all the better by his independent contributions to discussions of my most beloved sports franchise. It is very sad to hear that as a result of his love for the Royals (admittedly, sometimes a "tough love" as in his 6/24/2009), the powers that be have deemed him a pariah.

I’ve been a Royals fan all my life, but this lack of acceptance of freedom of speech by the Royals offends me as a person and citizen of this country. It’s not about whether Nick Swartz should be fired or not. At this point, I could care less, because freedom of speech comes first for me, before fandom. In result, it pains me to say this but I am no longer a fan of the Royals until they issue Rany a public apology. As such, I will no longer provide any support to the Royals – whether that be be monetary, emotionally, and sadly, contributing to this website.

The Royals’ front office response to Rany fundamentally offended my sense of right and wrong, and I will not sacrifice that for anyone, even the franchise that I have loved for so long. It’s time to move on. I wish the Royals all the best, and I extend a warm thank you to all of the contributors to Royals Review. This is an excellent online community – the Royals have such a wealth of intelligent and thougtful fans, it amazes me that so many bright people have been able to tolerate so many years of managerial and company executive ineptitude. But alas, that’s part of being a fan, and I have such a deep respect for you all. It really saddens me to leave this behind. Hopefully, this will not be a permanent self-imposed exile.

All the best,

Jonah Gillespie
Washington, DC