Monday, February 9, 2009
Travis Releford hears the cheers.
Releford, freshman guard and Kansas City, Mo., native, can tell the Allen Fieldhouse crowd gets extra pumped when he enters the game. He also said it’s more than just cheering for the local boy.
Photo Gallery
Kansas Basketball vs. OSU
The Jayhawks defeated the Cowboys 78-67 during Kansas' 37th consecutive home win Saturday.
“A lot of fans like my style of ball,” Releford said. “I see them outside of school and they’ll say, ‘You’re really good’ or ‘You’re my favorite,’ and stuff like that.”
Problem is those cheers mostly rain on Releford once the game is already decided. Before Saturday’s game he hadn’t played significant minutes since Kansas’ last loss, a 75-62 drubbing at Michigan State, and for the first time in his career he didn’t play at all in Monday’s game at Baylor.
Instead, Kansas coach Bill Self left sophomore Brady Morningstar on the court for 40 minutes. The move showed that Self didn’t trust Releford to handle himself in a hostile environment against a quality team.
At home against Oklahoma State, Self decided to let Releford back into the rotation. He responded with five points on two-of-four shooting in seven minutes.
It’s not much, but that’s the type of production Self needs while Morningstar, who played 32 minutes, catches his breath on the bench.
“Travis really made the most out of his minutes,” Self said. “I thought Travis did pretty well.”
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Continue reading about the men's basketball game against Oklahoma State here.
That’s not to say Self was entirely pleased. He pointed out that Releford’s second-half turnover was exactly the type of play that will keep him from significant minutes. Releford drove to the baseline with nowhere to go before coughing it up to Oklahoma State’s Obi Muonelo.
The Cowboys converted the steal into a James Anderson three-pointer.
“How many of our turnovers led to threes on the other end?” Self asked. “I bet you they got 12 points just off of bad turnovers like that, so we’ve got to correct that.”
Besides Releford, Self gave some first-half minutes to little-used guard Tyrone Appleton. Appleton hadn’t played since the game at Colorado on Jan. 17.
The junior’s stat line of two turnovers and one foul in three minutes wasn’t too flattering, but Self said it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.
“It’s kind of a bogus deal,” Self said. “He did okay.”
Releford said on Thursday that he was getting sort of a bogus deal. The first of seven players to sign in Self’s latest class, Releford is bummed about playing just 7.3 minutes per game.
“I thought I was going to get more than I’m getting,” Releford said.
It boils down to a trust issue. Self has called Morningstar the Jayhawks’ anchor and Self needs to know that his replacement is at least a life preserver.
“I just need to stay mentally strong and do everything he wants me to do off the court and during practice,” Releford said.
Obviously he did enough to get another chance on Saturday. Right before his turnover, Releford snuck behind defenders and soared towards the basket.
Sherron Collins’ pass was on-target and Releford finished the alley-oop with an emphatic slam to give the Jayhawks their biggest lead of the game at 64-44.
Allen Fieldhouse erupted while Releford jogged back to the other end with a big grin slapped on his face.
Those are the types of cheers that brought him to Lawrence.
— — Edited by Sam Speer
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