LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -When Kansas coach Bill Self addressed his team at the beginning of the season, he told them a fifth straight Big 12 title was within reach.
Didn’t matter that Self wasn’t quite sure if he believed it. With a program like Kansas, the goals never change, even in a supposed rebuilding year.
Turns out he was right.
Surpassing nearly everyone’s expectations for this baby-faced bunch, the ninth-ranked Jayhawks have clinched a share of their fifth consecutive conference title – ninth in the 13-year history of the Big 12 – and can win it outright by beating Texas on Saturday.
A repeat as national champions? Doesn’t seem nearly as farfetched as it did three months ago.
“I think this about this team, and I’m not being remotely negative or positive: We’ve got a good team that can play great,” Self said Friday. “We’ve got good players that can play great.”
So did last year’s team.
opponents from all angles, one player always there to pick up the slack when another failed.
Self has likened this year’s team to that bunch. Not the team that hoisted the trophy, but those same players two years earlier.
Talented, deep and explosive, the 2005-06 team won 25 games, tied for the Big 12 regular-season title, won the conference tournament. Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and the rest of the young Jayhawks ended up stunned by Bradley in the first round of the NCAA tournament, but the foundation for last year’s title had been set.
From a talent aspect, this year’s team isn’t quite on the same level.
They’re good, thanks to one of the nation’s best recruiting classes last year, though probably not five first-round-draft-picks good.
Junior guard Sherron Collins and sophomore center Cole Aldrich are clearly the best two players on the team, among the best in the country at their positions. As the only two returning players with any kind of experience, they’ve taken it upon themselves to carry the team, hitting the big shots, grabbing the key rebounds. The NBA is likely in their future.
The rest of the Jayhawks? Young, talented, sometimes prone to the kinds of mistakes that leave Self shaking his head in disbelief.
Thing is, they’ve gotten better as the season has progressed.
ome a steadying presence at the point. Freshmen twin forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris, once tentative and out of shape, have become more aggressive. And junior college transfer Mario Little, despite the occasional backboard-cracking jump shot, has given the Jayhawks hard-nosed minutes inside.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be just me and Cole to beat one team,” said Collins, who averages a team-best 18.2 points. “Everybody has contributed and me and Cole have done our job. I’m real proud of the way they’ve progressed.”
Depth-wise, Kansas is probably on the same level as three years ago.
Self uses a regular rotation of 10 players and isn’t afraid to switch his lineup around to get a spark.
If he needs someone to hound the opposing teams’ best shooter, Self will unleash sophomore Brady Morningstar, who also happens to be a pretty good spot-up shooter. A 3-pointer to stop the other team’s momentum? Tyrel Reed is often the man.
The Morris twins have become interchangeable parts inside, creating matchup nightmares for opposing coaches. And should the team fall into a rut, unable to summon the energy to keep up, Self can send out Little, Travis Releford or Tyronne Apleton to get the crowd and their teammates into it with a few floor burns.
team had that luxury. We could not be our best, but just on raw athletic ability we could still overpower some ball clubs. This team can’t, which is why we’ve got to be amped up and ready to go.”
When the Jayhawks are into it they can be nearly unbeatable, able to run Tennessee out of the gym or bury rival Missouri with an opening 18-1 run. When all the parts aren’t clicking, it can get ugly, like Wednesday’s humbling 84-65 loss to Texas Tech, which had won two of its previous 14 games.
So far, though, the rough patches haven’t been much more than speed bumps.
At 24-6, Kansas is well behind the 37-3 season last year’s national championship team put together, but within a game of matching the win total from 2005-06. The Jayhawks also can better the conference mark of both teams (13-3) and extend the nation’s longest home winning streak to 41 with a win over Texas.
Rebuilding year? Not quite.
“Everybody thought we weren’t going to do as well as we are,” Collins said. “We took that as a little motivation and got into the gym to get better every day. We’ve had a few slip-ups, which are going to happen, but since we’ve been playing we haven’t let distractions get to us.”
It’s made a believer out of just about everyone, including their coach.
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