Wheeler: Kansas succeeds without go-to guy
The Jayhawks don’t need a dominant player, which may be why they don’t have one.
By Bryan Wheeler (Contact)
Friday, March 14th, 2008
As Kansas heads into the thick of March Madness, both the media and fans may question who the Jayhawks’ “go-to guy” is. It is often assumed that a team must have a clear-cut person who is the No. 1 player on the team. If a team does not have this clear-cut, go-to guy, there will be a problem.
When the Associated Press voted for who would comprise the Big 12 all-league first team, 17 of the 19 voters chose Kansas players, but none of those players made the team. Sophomore forward Darrell Arthur and junior guards Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers all made the second team.
Upon hearing the news, Kansas’ leading scorer Arthur didn’t worry too much about none of Kansas’ player’s making the first team.
“I think it says that we are balanced. We have eight stars,” said Arthur in Kansas’ press conference Monday. “Anybody can show up on any day. It’s not a big deal at all.”
When the Big 12 coaches voted for their all-league first team, they voted differently. They chose Rush and Arthur for the first team, Chalmers for the second team and senior forward Darnell Jackson for the third team.
Given these postseason accolades, it makes it very unclear as to who Kansas’ go-to guy really is. When you look at statistics, it’s even less clear who this mysterious go-to guy should be. After all, seven players have led the team as the high scorer in games. Jackson, who was Kansas’ high scorer in eight games this season, is Kansas’ fourth-leading scorer, averaging 11.8 points per game.
As of late, some could even question whether sophomore guard Sherron Collins is Kansas’ go-to guy. Over the past three games, Collins is averaging 14.7 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 steals, and he was chosen as the co-Big 12 Player of the Week. Rush and Jackson have also been selected as conference players of the week this season.
Going into the Big 12 Championship and the NCAA tournament, who is Kansas’ go-to guy? Rush? Arthur? Collins? Chalmers? Jackson? Senior guard Russell Robinson?
The answer is no one. Kansas does not need one of these players to be the beacon of light that rescues the team in postseason. Not even reigning two-time national champion Florida had one of these dominant players last season. Like Kansas, Florida had seven different players as the high scorer in games last season. Throughout the NCAA tournament, the Gators had four different players finish as the high scorer.
Still think Kansas needs a go-to guy? There’s a man by the name of Frank Martin in Manhattan, Kan., who can tell you all about the go-to guy. Martin practically wrote the book on the go-to guy this season with his star player, freshman forward Michael Beasley.
Kansas may not have a player on its roster who appears to be a cut above the rest, but what can you expect from a teamwith four McDonald’s High School All-Americans and seven Rivals.com five-star prospects? Kansas has plenty of star power and doesn’t need one particular player to carry the Jayhawks’ weight throughout the postseason.
— Edited by Jared Duncan
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