Keegan: Give last shot to Rush

Attention deficit disorder wasn’t around during my inglorious academic career. Otherwise, I would have been diagnosed with it. Somehow, there was one class in which I never had any trouble hearing every word.

The year was 1981, the class was Theory of Coaching, the teacher was Rick Majerus, then an assistant coach at Marquette University. My head didn’t hit the desk once, a first.

Oliver Lee, brother of Vince Carter Sr., was the star of the team. Majerus allowed that O. Lee would be his first choice to take the game-on-the-line shot. He then asked the class to guess his second choice.

We were all surprised to learn it was Artie Green, who evidently was proud of his last name because he wore green double-knit pants on campus every day. Artie, a 6-foot-1 guard out of New York, could jump to the rafters and was the quickest guy on the floor. One thing Green didn’t do very well was shoot. So why did Majerus want him taking the final shot?

“You want the guy whose night isn’t going to be ruined if it doesn’t go in,” Majerus said.

The thinking was the guy to whom it means too much is going to put too much pressure on himself and be less likely to make the shot.

With Majerus’ words in the back of the head that never hit the desk when he talked, I took a look at the Kansas University basketball players as they were stretching in the hall outside Allen Fieldhouse, preparing for practice, and quickly settled on the guy I would want taking the game-winning shot.

If it comes down to that against Idaho State, then the Jayhawks aren’t ready for the season to begin. It won’t. Even so, if it does come down to that, I want Brandon Rush taking the shot. Rush is far from the best shooter on the team, but he’s the guy whose night won’t be ruined if he misses.

He has such a loose, confident demeanor, he appears ideally suited for the task.

“You won’t see me on no bench at the end when it’s a tight game,” Rush said. “I love playing the last minutes of the game. I’ve always loved to be out there. I love having pressure on me. I just go out there and play.”

Rush is a delight to watch play basketball. He embraces the mid-range game so many his age avoid, so enamored they are of the dunk and three-point shot. Rush exudes confidence in a way that suggests he’s a clutch performer. You can tell he loves to take the big shot.

Asked to name a few big ones he’s hit over the years, Rush said: “I don’t even remember.”

Good sign.

Big shots he’s missed?

“Don’t remember,” he said.

Even better sign.

“I don’t think anyone can stop from getting space to take the shot, but it’s up to me to make the shot and not drop the ball,” Rush said.

If he does miss the shot or drop the ball, don’t look for him to drop his head.

If Rush doesn’t get the final shot in a tight game, Mario Chalmers is the next one I’d want taking it, and Micah Downs after that.

Rush’s second choice, behind himself? He looked around the hallway crowded with tall bodies and made up his mind.

“Russell Robinson,” he said.