Wednesday, January 21, 2009
An alarming trend is taking hold of coach Bonnie Henrickson’s team, and it has nothing to do with Kansas’ shooting problems.
After losing to Texas Tech 57-49 — and shooting just 28 percent, including a few missed layups — Henrickson said the most disappointing and inexplicable part of Saturday’s game was not only the Jayhawks’ lack of offensive rebounds, but also their continued lack of effort in that category.
On a night when they hit just 20 percent of their first-half shots, the Jayhawks didn’t make things any easier by grabbing only two offensive rebounds.
Texas Tech forward Dominic Seals guards the ball after rebounding an unsuccessful Kansas layup attempt during Saturday's game in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks' inability to successfully grab rebounds was a major factor in their 57-49 loss to the Lady Raiders.
“We’ve done that,” Henrickson said. “That’s not the first night it’s happened. We’ve got a lot of confidence in the guy taking the shot... But we’re not getting in — we’re not being tough.”
Toughness is what the Jayhawks will need tonight, though, when they head to Nebraska for a 7 p.m. game.
No player seemed worried after the Texas Tech game about the Jayhawks’ poor shooting night.
Kansas entered the matchup ranked second in the Big 12 in team field-goal percentage but, as junior guard LaChelda Jacobs said, “You’re going to have nights where you don’t shoot the ball well.”
Every player, though, voiced concern about Kansas’ perceived lack of effort on the offensive boards. That Kansas missed 20 first-half shots, yet grabbed only two offensive rebounds, pretty much tells the story.
“It’s heart, it’s a desire, it’s an intensity, it’s a pride factor,” junior guard Kelly Kohn said. “It takes a little bit of skill and athleticism but, at the same time, you have to have the mindset of ‘That’s my ball.’”
Those assets are intangibles — something each player must change and decide to instill on her own. But Kansas does have a more tangible — and physical — approach for working on rebounding.
In practice the Jayhawks place a plastic bubble, or lid, over the rim so every shot is a missed shot. Then, players work on blocking out and, at the same time, attacking the basket in search of an offensive rebound.
“We do a lot of drills with that, but it’s all about effort,” Jacobs said. “When you try to go to get offensive rebounds, it’s all about effort.”
That’s an attitude the Jayhawks must reshape quickly.
Kansas takes on the struggling Cornhuskers tonight, who at 0-3 constitute the bottom of the Big 12.
And Kansas, 1-2 in the conference, can’t afford another loss with consecutive games against ranked teams looming on the schedule.
Still, regardless of how the Jayhawks shoot against the Cornhuskers, they must be able to create other scoring opportunities through offensive rebounds.
“When we are struggling from the field, we just have to have another solution, another answer,” Jacobs said. “We’ve got to offensive rebound or something like that to pick up the slack.”
Struggles outside of rebounding
A lack of offensive rebounding highlighted Kansas’ loss to Texas Tech, but it wasn’t the only problem the Jayhawks had.
Junior forward Danielle McCray struggled for the third consecutive game, making just seven of 24 shots and turning the ball over seven times. In the past three games, McCray is making just 29 percent of her shots and has 14 turnovers.
“She’s in the worst funk of her career,” Henrickson said. “And I can’t tell you she’s practiced any differently. She looks just like that in practice.”
After the loss to Texas Tech, Henrickson also noted Kansas’ lack of an inside presence. For much of the game, the Jayhawks settled for outside jump shots.
Sophomore center Krysten Boogaard had just four field-goal attempts and scored eight points.
“I didn’t think Krysten worked and gave us numbers. I saw her jersey number once and I saw Porscha’s (Weddington’s) jersey number once as far as low-post presences,” Henrickson said. “She kept trying to hide behind and have us lob it over the top.”
— — Edited by Heather Melanson
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