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Goble: Freshmen hold keys to Kansas’ season

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By Clark Goble

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Sherron Collins still backpedals and claps after hitting pull-up three pointers. Cole Aldrich’s lengthy free throw routine still causes lane violations. Tyshawn Taylor’s hands? Lightning quick as always.

But there were a moderate amount of changes in Kansas’ 107-68 exhibition victory against Fort Hays State on Tuesday, from the decisively less epic music in the pregame video to the new-school-but-still-awesomely-old-school layout of Allen Fieldhouse.

But the only thing that truly matters is the changes on the court.

It was our first true look at freshmen Xavier Henry, Elijah Johnson and Thomas Robinson. It’s obvious that they still have a lot to work on, namely not fouling out like Henry and Robinson did, but their skill sets meshed well with the upperclassmen in their first real game in the Fieldhouse.

“I think they handled it great,” Collins said.

Xavier Henry’s first basket as a Jayhawk was a three-pointer, and his shooting touch from the wing will keep defenders from doubling down on Aldrich. Coach Bill Self said he thought Henry’s NBA-ready body is even a bigger asset.

It’ll take a while to adjust to Taylor wearing number 10 and similarly sized Elijah Johnson wearing the number 15 Taylor sported last season. Their games are similar too. Johnson skied for an alley-oop from Taylor and the crowd went nuts.

“I think I could have got higher though,” Johnson said.

Thomas Robinson plays a lot like former Kansas big man Darnell Jackson. In Robinson’s first second on the floor, he grabbed a rebound on a missed free throw and converted the put-back. Just 20 seconds later, he picked up his second foul.

Like we all saw with the Morris twins last year, there are going to be ups with freshmen, and there are going to be downs. Robinson experienced them both Tuesday.

Freshman C.J. Henry sat out with a bum knee, but he will provide more depth at guard. Is he better than Collins like his father Carl Henry claimed this summer? That remains to be seen.

There are two major reasons why Kansas is ranked No. 1 in most preseason polls: the return of two preseason All-Americans and the talent of the incoming class.

Collins and Aldrich have been around the block. Kansas Athletics might as well hand out box scores with 20 points for Collins and a double-double for Aldrich already written in.

But the newcomers hold the key to this season. Two good players can take a team a long way, but if one or both have off nights, there need to be other guys ready to step up.

Don’t get discouraged by the newcomers’ shaky play early in the season. In the end, they’ll determine if Kansas will play in April.

— Edited by Tim Burgess

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