KU needs a little help
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The sky has been falling this week for Kansas basketball fans.
With a week to mope because of finals and the fact that it’s a slow sports week, many of the KU fans I know are in major freakout mode after the loss to Massachusetts on Saturday. NIT has even entered the KU vernacular.
Then on Tuesday, junior college transfer Mario Little broke his hand. Little, who was ranked as the No. 1 juco recruit last year, has yet to play a game this season because of a leg injury and was close to making his debut for the Jayhawks. Now he’ll be out another two to four weeks.
Little was thought to be the savior, a lot of pressure to put on a guy who has yet to play a game for the Jayhawks. While I doubt Little will be the second coming of Brandon Rush when he returns, he could provide the Jayhawks exactly what they need.
Earlier this year when I watched Kansas blow out Emporia State, it was evident that this just isn’t a very good-shooting team. That was an odd observation to make that day, as KU shot 63.1 percent from the field. But more than half of KU’s points came in the paint and Emporia State’s guards went under screens and allowed Sherron Collins to bury open 17-footers all night.
But it was obvious that day that other than Collins and Tyrel Reed, Kansas does not have good outside shooters.
The Minutemen knew this on Saturday and they decided to pack the paint and let KU’s guards shoot open jumpers. This disabled Kansas from getting the ball to Cole Aldrich in the post and tempted the Jayhawks to fire 23 3-pointers. They made five.
Collins missed six of his seven 3-point attempts and made only 6-of-21 shots, including a left-handed forceup in traffic on the final possession. Everyone I’ve talked to this week is pointing the finger at Collins for the loss. I’m not.
Collins is the only KU guard who remains confident in his shot when it’s not falling. He can miss six in a row and then make six in a row. KU freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor is the opposite. If Taylor misses his first couple of shots, he loses all confidence. He took a wide open 3-pointer in the second half against UMass, and he knew he was going to miss it before he even shot it — evidenced by the fact that he started to head to the basket as soon as the ball left his hand.
The encouraging sign early in the season for the Jayhawks has been the fact that they take good shots, which was surprising considering their youth. That has been the staple for KU teams over the past few years. They run good offense and take good shots and that’s the reason they shoot a high percentage.
But UMass took them out of their offense by packing the lane and they were second-guessing themselves, and Collins saw this and he came to the realization that he had to take over.
I’ve yet to see Little play, but he has a reputation as a scorer, and that’s exactly what the Jayhawks need right now.
The reason Collins is doing his best Allen Iverson impersonation is the fact that coach Bill Self knows Collins is his only consistent scoring threat from the perimeter. Little would provide a second option, and if he has an outside shot, he would help open things up for Aldrich.
Little could also provide some help on the offensive glass. Last season, Rush was able to steal KU a lot of extra possessions by hitting the offensive glass. With the Jayhawks playing a three-guard lineup, they are relying solely on their big men to rebound.
Little’s injury comes at a bad time, because KU’s schedule is about to get brutal. The Jayhawks play Temple, Arizona, Tennessee and Michigan State in the next four weeks. They also play Sienna, a tournament team from a year ago. They could easily lose all of these games if they shoot the ball poorly. They are also capable of winning all of those games.
The fact is this team is going to look like world-beaters some days, and they’ll look like an NIT team the next. But Self is going to find a way to turn this team into one of the best defensive teams in the country, and Self will make sure that they start taking good shots again. His teams always improve over Christmas break, and in two months he will have them competing for a Big 12 title. And KU will be in the tournament with a six seed or better.
Whether the Jayhawks advance in the tournament could come down to Little.
If the Jayhawks struggle the next few weeks, remember one of their best players might be sitting on the sidelines. And also remember KU won the 2008 National Championship. The sky is not falling.
batbatly (anonymous) says...
The real awakening will come when ku actually mans up and leaves Lawrence and/or the Sprint Center.
December 17, 2008 at 2:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
averagejoe (anonymous) says...
batbatly (aka k-stater) — Playing games on the road/neutral sites just to lose them is not smart scheduling. Lets see, who could be an example of this? Ummm...oh, how about K-State?
at Cleveland State, W
vs. Kentucky in Las Vegas, L
vs. Iowa in Las Vegas, L
at Oregon, L
I thought you woud have learned something from Bill Snyder: playing tough early season games do you no good if you can;t win them.
December 17, 2008 at 5:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
batbatly (anonymous) says...
averagejo (aka ku grad) -- First off, Cleveland State beat Syracuse, which beat ku.
And K-State didn't schedule those games against Kentucky, Iowa an Oregon to "lose them," just like ku didn't schedule those games against Syracuse and UMASS to lose them either. In fact, K-State was less than 15 combined points from beating Kentucky, Iowa and Oregon, and just didn't do it, so it wasn't like K-State was overscheduling.
You can't have it both ways. You can't criticize both tactics. KU fans blasted Snyder for his nonconference schedules (but conveniently forgot he played Iowa, Southern Cal, California among others), and then praised Mangino when he played one of the weakest noncons in the nation last year.
December 17, 2008 at 6:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
KU needs a good juice bar but i guess the same could be said for K state.
December 17, 2008 at 6:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
Cause losing practically eveyone from last year means nothing? Give KU a few years and they will be right back in the top 5. There is a reason they in the top 5 all time winningest programs of all time. Its not like they just won a championship or anything....oh wait.....
December 18, 2008 at 10:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )