Team discusses flaws over lunch

Seniors ask for increased energy at games, practices

By Mark Dent

Friday, March 7, 2008

Darrell Arthur devoured a basket of hot wings, Russell Robinson nibbled on shrimp and Sherron Collins plowed through a turkey club. Sasha Kaun didn’t eat anything — he wasn’t hungry.

Welcome to the season’s first basketball luncheon.

A day after the Jayhawks lost to Oklahoma State two weeks ago, the team called for a players-only meeting over some lunch. All 17 met at Henry T’s to discuss energy problems that they hoped to fix in time to make a run at their fourth consecutive Big 12 title, which they’ll play for on Saturday at Texas A&M.

“We figured we had to do something,” Robinson said, “and we wanted to be in the best environment as possible.”

In between bites, the players opened their mouths to talk. Well, except for Arthur. The hot wings kept his vocal cords from working.

photo

Matt Slocum

Kansas' Mario Chalmers celebrates the Jayhawks 80-68 win over Texas in the Big 12 Men's Championship basketball game, Sunday, March 12, 2006, in Dallas. Chalmers was named MVP of the game.

“My mouth was spicy,” Arthur said. “I was spraying a little bit.”

With that in mind, Arthur made just a couple of comments. The seniors did most of the speaking. Robinson, Jeremy Case, Darnell Jackson, Kaun and Rodrick Stewart all talked about how this was their last season, and they wanted everything to be perfect. Kaun noticed how they lacked intensity at practice. He called for his teammates to focus as much during practice as they do during games so the energy would carry over.

Collins admitted during the meeting that not all of the players had brought enough energy to practice or games during the weeks leading up to loss to the Cowboys.

“I wouldn’t say we’re taking teams for granted,” Collins said, “but we just weren’t going into the game how we should have been, aggressive and all that.”

The meeting’s worked so far. Kansas showed toughness in winning at Iowa State, then played with what Bill Self called high energy levels in blowouts against K-State and Texas Tech.

This is the second season in a row the Jayhawks participated in a players-only meeting. Last year, the Jayhawks met in the hallway outside their hotel rooms before they played against Florida.

“It’s better when it’s a players’ meeting because the coaches can be a little intimidating,” Robinson said. “But when it’s just us, we can say what we want to say and say it freely.”

Kansas beat the Gators after that discussion and later won the Big 12 title. The Jayhawks have the same goal this season, and they can do it on Saturday at Texas A&M. A victory would give Kansas at least a share of the conference title. If Texas loses to Oklahoma State on Sunday, the Jayhawks would win it outright.

Kansas’ large amount of conference titles — four in a row, eight of the 12 since the Big 12’s inception and 50 all time — just makes the team care more. Robinson said the team makes it an emphasis every year and that Self plans his practices and even his level of strictness so the team can peak when a conference title is on the line. Self doesn’t think fans understand how important conference championships are.

“That’s always a goal of ours,” Self said. “Not the ultimate goal, but each season you set goals to win and league championships are great goals.”

To win this one, the Jayhawks will have to get fired up for the third straight game in a row. They’ll have to match the energy of the Aggies, who can likely clinch an NCAA Tournament berth with a win. But energy shouldn’t be a problem. It hasn’t been since that day at Henry T’s.

“Our locker room will be pretty juiced going out,” Self said. “This should be the most competitive we’ve felt all year long.”

Note: Seniors Kaun, Case and Robinson were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Team. Kaun and Case made the first team, while Robinson made the second team. They were among 20 players honored. Case graduated in communications last year. Robinson is scheduled to graduate with a communications degree this spring, along with Kaun, who is a computer science major. Rodrick Stewart and Darnell Jackson, the team’s other seniors, are on pace to graduate with degrees in African studies.

— Edited by Samuel Lamb

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