Tuesday, March 6, 2007
It wasn’t an outstanding practice, an inspirational meeting or even a great game that coach Bonnie Henrickson points out as the moment she knew Taylor McIntosh was ready to become an offensive weapon.
No, Henrickson remembers a text message after a 78-58 loss to Nebraska from the junior guard.
“It was a text message I got from her after I told her she did a great job,” she said. “It said ‘Coach, I’m trying to be the offensive post player you’ve been begging for in practice.’ ”
Despite the 20-point loss, it was a turning point for the Jayhawks’ season. McIntosh scored a then career-high 16 points against the Cornhuskers. But more importantly it opened the gates for McIntosh to continue improving offensively for the rest of the season.
Entering the game, she averaged just over four points per game. Since the loss at Nebraska, McIntosh is averaging over nine points per game entering the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
“The guards used to get stuck and just throw up a three or try to get it to Shaq,” McIntosh said, “But now with more pressure on her, I’m making myself more available to help on offense.”
McIntosh has scored in double figures in five of Kansas’ last nine games and has been a key component to its improbable four late season conference wins.
“I think she took it to heart when we were struggling so much to score inside.” Henrickson said.
By being a solid fixture defensively in the paint, McIntosh is one of only two Jayhawks that have started every game this season. But she seldom showed much scoring ability early in the season, which often led to lopsided points in the paint margins.
However, Henrickson never doubted that McIntosh could become an efficient scorer and continued to challenge her. Henrickson noticed trends in McIntosh’s shot that led to her optimism.
“When Taylor struggles offensively, it’s when she is shooting not to miss it,” Henrickson said, “When she shoots it to make it, she makes tough shots.”
This was best evidenced by Thursday’s win at Missouri. McIntosh scored a career-high 17 points on 80 percent shooting from the field, connecting from many different spots on the court. The win was extra special considering when the Tigers came to Lawrence, McIntosh had one of the worst games of her season.
pullquote
The guards used to get stuck and just throw up a three or try to get it to Shaq.
-Taylor McIntosh
“Against Missouri at our place, she played without an ounce of confidence in the paint, shorted everything, and got rejected,” Henrickson said, “I told her you are so much better than that and you owe yourself and your teammates a lot more than that.”
McIntosh responded in Columbia and didn’t let her flurry of points stop her from playing a complete game. She pulled down five rebounds, had two assists and two steals to make it quite possibly the best game of her career.
“When the freshmen came in, they put a lot of pressure on them to score,” McIntosh said, “I felt like we’ve been here and we can’t throw all the load on them.”
When Kansas faces Oklahoma State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament today, the freshmen won’t feel that pressure. Instead, they’ll be able to trust that McIntosh will help them score points.
Kansan sportswriter Case Keefer can be contacted at ckeefer@kansan.com.
— Edited by Sharla Shivers
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