Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Four years ago senior guard Sherron Collins arrived in Lawrence as a highly touted prospect with a reputation for scoring. His ability to score, undoubtedly, was the reason Collins was so sought after by many schools.
Defensively? Well, that rarely crossed his thought process.
“I wasn’t asked to guard really,” Collins said. “I was just asked to score a lot.”
Sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor pressures a Fort Hays State guard during the first half in a 107-68 win. Taylor had four steals Tuesday night in the Jayhawks first win of the 2009-2010 season.
Collins, then, can relate to Kansas’ freshman corps — a group that showed highlight-worthy flashes on offense but sometimes failed to match those performances on the defensive end.
The ability to defend — and the ability to do so consistently throughout the game — is usually one of the biggest challenges college newcomers face.
It was a lesson freshman Elijah Johnson quickly learned from coach Bill Self during his first series of collegiate practices.
“It was hard at first,” Johnson said. “Coach would yell at me every day at practice, and I wouldn’t understand why. I was confused like, ‘This has always worked.’ But now I see what he means. They’ll get you easily in college.”
In the moments after Kansas’ 107-68 exhibition victory against Fort Hays State, Collins easily — and quickly — pinpointed Kansas’ most glaring flaw in the otherwise lopsided game: a lack of consistent defense.
Sure, Fort Hays State committed 21 turnovers and made just 34 percent of its shots. But the seasoned Collins insisted that the defensive performance was generally less than acceptable.
The Jayhawks simply need to improve, he said.
“Defensively, we’ve got to get better,” Collins said. “As a whole and with some individuals, we have to learn how to guard the ball better.”
At halftime, despite Fort Hays State connecting on 30 percent of its attempts, Self entered Kansas’ locker room and told his players that their defensive effort simply wasn’t good enough.
Johnson said Self told the Jayhawks to “turn up the intensity.” Collins said he wouldn’t repeat the entire version of Self’s statements. Instead, he offered a paraphrased and most likely edited version of the coach’s message.
“We weren’t guarding, point blank. Period,” Collins said. “We have to take pride in defending our home court. I think they scored too many points in the Fieldhouse in the first half, and coach didn’t like it.”
Indeed, Self wasn’t thoroughly pleased with Kansas’ defense. But it’s early and there is certainly no reason for concern.
“Obviously, we don’t guard yet,” Self said. “But we can improve on that.”
Much of the postgame attention centered on Johnson and fellow freshmen Xavier Henry and Thomas Robinson. And the trio certainly created a stir inside Allen Fieldhouse with three-point shots and highlight-worthy dunks.
But Collins said that Kansas’ offensive potential only offers more reason for the Jayhawks to improve defensively.
“The biggest challenge is hunkering down and playing defense,” Collins said. “We’ve got to play defense because we’re so talented from inside and outside that points are going to come from everywhere as you can see.”
“Your head can spin until you get it. And the freshmen just don’t get it yet.”
— Edited by Anna Kathagnarath
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