Kansas' remarkable season just keeps comin'
Posted: Sunday, March 01, 2009 8:36 PM
Filed Under:
Big 12
This is getting ridiculous.
Kansas lost six key players, including every starter -- more than 80 percent of its scoring and rebounding – from last season’s national title team. Yet after Sunday’s 90-65 throttling of No. 10 Missouri, here the Jayhawks stand, on the cusp of their fifth straight regular-season Big 12 title.
They’ve done it with five freshmen, three sophomores and two juniors, one of whom was a JUCO transfer. Only Sherron Collins saw any serious playing time during last year’s 37-3 run. Cole Aldrich, the sophomore rebounding machine, saw spot time here and there.
Orlin Wagner/AP |
Sherron Collins
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Who’da thunk it? Not even the players knew they were headed for a 24-5 overall record and 13-1 in league play.
"Bull$%^&," sophomore guard Brady Morningstar told FOXSports.com. "I don't think anyone on the team would have believed you.”
Collins had high hopes, but that was because of the high expectations surrounding the program.
"I'm a little bit surprised, but it's what we're supposed to do. It's Kansas," Collins said a couple of weeks ago.
True enough. The Hawks won last year because of their offensive balance and defensive efficiency.
This season, the offense is skewed toward Collins (18.3 ppg) and Aldrich (15.0), who both average more points per game than any player since Wayne Simien’s 20.3 ppg in 2004-05. (Collins has been especially good the last four games, while Aldrich is earning acclaim as a dominant big man.)
But the depth has come developed nicely. Freshmen Tyshawn Taylor and Marcus Morris are capable of big nights. Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar are excellent perimeter shooters. Markieff Morris, Mario Little and Travis Releford all contribute key buckets.
And they’re all starting to thrive on defense.
Losses to Syracuse, Arizona and Michigan State showcased a young team prone to defensive lapses. (That 61-60 stunner to UMass still seems like a typo.) But as Big 12 play began, the Hawks settled into their defensive roles, helped along by a relatively soft January conference schedule. When big hitters like Oklahoma, Missouri and Baylor came along this month, KU was ready.
They’ve only allowed more than 70 points three times in 14 conference games, and teams have topped 100 in defensive efficiency just five times (meaning that per 100 possessions, an opponent would’ve hit 100 points five times). Their conference efficiency margin is +0.17, best in the Big 12 and only behind Pitt among BCS schools.
It’s been an impressive season for Bill Self’s squad, which could nab a No. 2 seed come NCAA tournament time. For a team that lost so many players, that notion still seems slightly absurd. But it’s just one reason why Self is garnering coach of the year talk.
“I’m falling in love with this team,” Self said. “They try hard and they’re getting more and more aggressive all the time.”
That doesn’t bode well for the other Big Dance contenders.
