Some thoughts…from Atlanta

Gary Bedore, Journal-World KU men’s basketball beat writer

Sherron Collins’ two free throws and late steal saved the day as KU could have suffered a season-changing defeat had the Jayhawks thrown the game away late. KU never put Tech away when it had many chances and nearly paid dearly at the end. Still a win is a win, especially on the road. It would have been a horrific loss late, but it turned out to be a victory. KU will take it and improve to 11-0.”

Tom Keegan, Journal-World sports editor

“The nation’s best backcourt didn’t play like it at the stage of a game teams with the nation’s best backcourt don’t self-destruct. Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson blew free throws late and Sherron Collins tried a playground move under the Georgia Tech hoop, trying to throw the balls off of Matt Causey in hopes it would fall out of bounds. Causey caught it and scored. Kansas didn’t win this one as much as it survived, improving in no way but in the standings, which show an 11-0 record.”

Ryan Greene, KUSports.com editor

“Tom said it best, this one was more of a survival situation than a win. But while Brandon Rush was passive on offense and the Jayhawks had trouble from the line in the stretch, there were positives. A couple worth pointing out were Sasha Kaun’s 5-of-6 showing from the free throw line and KU’s success when having to go to a smaller lineup with both Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur in foul trouble. Also, Sherron Collins’ late personal 4-0 run (two free throws, steal-and-score) could be a big confidence boost, as he’s averaging just 7.7 points per game since coming back, as opposed to the 32 he notched in two games before the foot injury. No coach should ever openly complain about a win on the road. Bill Self didn’t, but there is certainly work to be done before the Jayhawks’ next game Saturday afternoon.”

Inside the numbers

3: Russell Robinson missed three free throws late, which kept his overall game from being great, but it was still pretty good. His 17 points made him the sixth different Jayhawk to lead the team in scoring in a single game this season, while he was pretty clutch the rest of the night. He hit two huge threes in the first half, and an even bigger one from about 30 feet away atop the key with an expiring shot clock midway through the second stanza. His three deep balls tied a career best.

5: KU was forced to go with a smaller lineup a little more tonight than it has all season, and it stemmed from foul trouble. Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur picked up their third fouls within a few seconds of each other, and with the two of them playing a combined 40 minutes (coming into the game, the duo combined on the season to average 48.1 per game). Jackson ultimately fouled out, while Arthur had four personals. With the two of them on the bench more than usual, KU was outrebounded 34-29.

46: KU’s 46 shot attempts were the fewest the Jayhawks have hoisted up this season in a single game (the previous low being 57). Bill Self mentioned in the postgame press conference that Brandon Rush’s offensive performance left something to be desired in terms of aggressiveness. Also, give Georgia Tech credit for forcing 18 turnovers. Mario Chalmers attributed much of that to KU not attacking the rim as much as it should have.

9: The nine shots the Jayhawks swatted away were a new season high. Sasha Kaun for the third straight game was big off the bench, and he was responsible for three of those blocks. Four came off the hand of Rush, who was big in getting in the face of Georgia Tech’s three-point shooters.

13: The bugaboo that will stick with KU, though, until it gets its next shot on the road (Jan. 5 at Boston College) is the slipping away of late leads. KU led by 13 points with 10:23 to play and had trouble stepping on the Yellow Jackets’ collective throat. Bill Self was glad to be leaving the Alexander Memorial Coliseum a winner, but Russell Robinson pointed out that once Self watches the tape, the team expects to hear it from him somewhat.

Just in case you missed it…

KU was outscored in the second half of a game for the first time this year (37-35). That was the final number despite KU shooting a better percentage after halftime (54.5) than it did before the hiatus (50.0). Even more stunning is that Georgia Tech shot worse in the second half (42.4 percent) than it did in the first (47.6). The telling number was that KU put up just 22 field goal attempts in the second half to Georgia Tech’s 33. The Jayhawks aren’t lying when they say they weren’t aggressive enough late in the game on offense.

Hopefully you didn’t miss it…

Don’t let the three missed free throws late sour a performance Russell Robinson will remember for awhile, hanging up 17 points in smooth fashion on the team he almost became a member of out of high school. Robinson wasn’t as solid on the defensive end as he has been of late in stymying the opposing backcourt’s point production, but all three of his deep shots were desperately needed when they fell through and he was integral in helping execute backcourt traps which worked on multiple occasions.

They said it…

Bill Self on deciding to defend rather than foul on GT’s last possession: “We talked about it. I asked the guys what they wanted to do, and they said ‘Coach, lets defend ’em.’ And then, with the small lineup and then missing the free throw and playing small, that was probably the percentage play in that situation. But they did not want to foul, they wanted to defend.”

Bill Self on Brandon Rush: “Defensively he was pretty good, offensively he wasn’t very good tonight. He was very passive, and it started on the first play of the game, loose ball halfway between he and (Jeremis) Smith, and Smith comes away with it. So I just felt like he played on his heels. He wasn’t aggressive at all tonight. Health-wise, he’s close, but emotionally and mentally, he’s got to trust it more.”

Bill Self on whether he got what he expected from Georgia Tech: “I expected it to be a close game. I didn’t expect it to go down to the wire when we were up 13 with about six minutes left, or 10 with five or whatever it was.”

Bill Self on Russell Robinson being the team’s sixth different leading scorer this year: “That’s who we are. We’re not going to have a guy who’s gonna make first team All-American or anything like that because his stats aren’t going to be that. For the most part, we didn’t show it tonight, but for the most part we’re a pretty good passing and unselfish group where different guys lead us in scoring. You can ask our guys, they get more hung up on guys scoring on them than they do on actually scoring points, which is a pretty good sign I think.”

Bill Self on his team executing late in road games: “You don’t coach free throws. You’ve got to step up and make your free throws late in the game, and certainly if we did that, then the other things aren’t magnified. So you don’t make your free throws, so now you throw it in under your basket, and now that’s a real bonehead play or whatever. So we’ve just got to tighten up a few things, because I’m a firm believer that you play well or your play poorly not based on whether the ball goes in the hole. So forget that we missed the free throws. How did we defend behind the free throws? And we made some bad plays with that.

Russell Robinson on his game, despite missing late free throws: “We won the game, so can’t complain. I’ve got to make those free throws, it’s no excuse, no doubt about that. Luckily I had Sherron come back and make up for me.”

Russell Robinson on the second half comeback by GT: “We beat an ACC team on the road, and the crowd got behind them. The main thing is stay aggressive late. The halfcourt press slowed us down, took us out of our rhythm, which left us being less aggressive offensively. We’ve just got to be more aggressive late.”

Russell Robinson on the team’s decision to defend rather than foul late: “I spoke up right away. He actually wanted to play defense, and I said ‘Hey, we need to guard ’em.’ We can grind it out for nine seconds. We’re a good defensive team, we had a good defensive team out there, I just didn’t feel too confident trying to block out free throws and them getting a luck shot.”

Sherron Collins on the game’s final play: “I was just carrying out an assignment guarding him, and the ball came loose. I think him and Smith made a mistake who was going to get the ball. It was just there and I was gonna go get it.”

Mario Chalmers on what the team takes from two close road escapes in two tries this year: “We’ve been in this situation before, so we knew how to handle it. Sherron did a good job, Russ did a good job, we just did a good job of focusing in.”

Mario Chalmers on how to improve on executing late: “I would just say keep attacking the rim even if we got a big lead at the end. I think that’s how they got back in in the end, we started making turnovers because we weren’t’ being as aggressive as we normally are, so I think that’s how they got back in the game.”