Recap: Kansas at Oklahoma

February 27, 2007

Kansas 67 - Oklahoma 65

My Observations

First things first ... this was a conference road victory on Senior Night against a team desperate for a victory.  After so many comfortable victories, KU was bound to struggle somewhat, so you have to be happy overall that the team pulled out a close one.  And remember, Sagarin's "predictor" rates OU at 84.43, which means that home court advantage made them a 88.52 team last night.  KU won by two, making their performance that of a 90.52 rated team.  That's only 3 points worse than our season rating.  This wasn't a bad game for KU, but it felt bad because they let the Sooners back from 17 points down.

After the impressive passing in the first half, I was surprised to see so much dribbling the second half.  We seemed to have trouble against the fullcourt and halfcourt presses, so Self will need to work on that with the boys.  Also, it seemed we were constantly bailing OU out by sending them to the freethrow line.  We should make teams with poor shooting beat us with the tough shot, not the wide open 15-foot shot with the clock stopped.  Just something I hope we improve by the Big Dance.

And one more thing, KU attempted a nice round number of 3FG's the second half ... zero.  With as many shooters as we have, that is akin to rushing on every single play in football.  You think maybe the defense will have less to worry about?  In today's college basketball game, if you don't use the 3-pointer, you're bound to struggle.  No surprise that we weren't able to distance ourselves from OU in the second half with such an offense.

Four Factor Analysis

• eFG% - KU by 46-38%
• TURNOVERS - Slightly in favor of OU, 22-19%
• OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING - OU slight edge - 28-27%
• FREETHROW RATE (FTM/FGA) - Advantage for KU of 45-32% ... late second half KU surge here.

CONCLUSION - Oklahoma's inability to shoot well was the biggest factor.  KU held OU to about what they've been holding most opposition in eFG%, but the big difference this game was KU's own struggles there.  Still, the eFG% disparity resulted in about 8 more points for the Jayhawks.  Combined with a significant number of second-half freethrow attempts, it was too much for OU to overcome even though they fought admirably on the boards and forced a few more TO's.

Player Performance Analysis

I've seen people's comments saying, "Where would be without Sherron Collins?"  This game was a pretty good indicator of that.  Only problem is, it wasn't that Collins didn't play, it's that he played the worst game he's probably capable of playing.  That won't happen very often, so KU fans shouldn't worry too much.  SC went scoreless, shooting 0-5 with 2 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL and 2 TO in 33 minutes.  Unfortunately, Robinson's injury kept Collins out there a bit more than Self would probably have liked.  The next couple of games will help determine if Collins can now be scouted against effectively or whether he just had one bad game.

Darrell Arthur didn't have as much of a negative impact as Collins, but if you're talking about efficiency, it was by far the worst.  In just 6 foul-plagued minutes, Arthur shot 0-2 and finished with 1 TO and 1 BLK.  I'm not sure he was mentally focused for this game.  It's a good thing Kaun and Jackson had better games.

Top player honors go to Mario Chalmers this night.  He may only have shot 4-10 from the field, but he was a nerves-of-steel 10-12 from the FT line.  He finished with 18 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK but also 4 TO.  Chalmers may need a little work on recognizing when he's surrounded by the opposition and needs to stop the dribble.  Otherwise, without Chalmers, this would have been a loss.

A close second was Sasha Kaun.  Playing more minutes than usual (due to Arthur's foul trouble), Kaun contributed 11 PTS, 9 REB (3 OR) and 2 BLK while shooting 4-6 FG and a surprising 3-4 FT.  What's more, he didn't turn it over once.  Really an excellent game when KU needed it most from him.

Overall, Julian had the third highest rating, but his first half was sensational.  It's unfortunate he couldn't carry that momentum into the second half, but don't forget his impressive spin move to the basket in the waning minutes.  Julian had 18 PTS, 8 REB, 4 AST on 8-12 FG but also a few silly TO's (4 total).  His decision making still comes and goes, but you have to feel that it's better now than it was a month or two ago.

For some reason, Darnell Jackson only played 12 minutes, but he was very efficient as usual.  He shot 2-3 FG but missed both his freethrows on his way to 4 PTS, 3 REB and one play-of-the-game steal that resulted in a fastbreak dunk.

Both Brandon Rush and Russell Robinson had somewhat neutral games.  Rush struggled from the field for the second straight game but managed 9 PTS, while Robinson played only 19 minutes due to his injury.  Robinson scored 7 PTS but struggled at the line, making only 3-of-6.  Lacking his usual aggressive defensive posture, he made no steals but still contributed 2 AST.

For Oklahoma, their best player had the best game.  Nate Carter seemed to spend more time at the line than he did anywhere else.  Carter finished 12-13 from the freethrow line but only 4-15 FG to contribute 20 PTS and 9 REB.  Taylor Griffin came back from what looked like a back injury to hurt the Jayhawks mostly from the FT line.  He had 12 PTS, 7 REB, 3 BLK but also 4 TO's.

Austin Johnson probably had the worst game for the Sooners, as he went scoreless in 11 minutes on 0-2 from 3FG, 2 REB, 1 STL and 1 TO.

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