February 11th, 2012

3 PM CST

Who: Kansas Jayhawks vs Oklahoma State Cowboys

Where: Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence Kansas

TV: Big 12 Network

Online: ???

Radio: Jayhawk Radio (Listings across Kansas)

Welcome to Rock Chalk Talk and your open game thread for the Kansas Jayhawks vs the Oklahoma State Cowboys.This is one of those classic take care of business games. Kansas has to hold serve at home from here on out and while the Cowboys haven't been great, they have just enough talent to be dangerous if they put the pieces together on any given day. The return trip to Stillwater is probably more of a concern but this one can't be taken lightly.

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Rock Chalk and Beak em Hawks!

I'm stepping in for the Saturday edition of News and Notes. I'm sure I'll miss some relevant stories, so feel free to add any good links in the comments section.

Kansas Basketball

1952 Champs Return to KU
The Jayhawks will be rocking some throwback unis today as they honor the '52 Championship team.

Oklahoma State - Kansas Preview
Rivals previews today's game

College Basketball

Baylor - Missouri Preview
No one seems to be giving Baylor much of a chance in this one. A Bears victory would certainly help KU's cause, though.

NCAA Denies Connecticut's Waiver Request
Looks like the NCAA is actually showing some backbone on this. UConn will not be in next year's NCAA Tournament

Three NC State Recruits Named to McDonald's All-American Team
Looks like NC State is making a push for in-state relevance. Reminds me of what K-State started doing in their Bob Huggins year.

Random

Jeremy Lin Pours in 38 Points, Leads Knicks Past Lakers
I'm not buying into this kid long-term yet, but he's certainly made a splash in the last four games.

The boss is away today, so we're going to have a pair of open thread type posts today to hopefully pass the time for you at work or school or whatever you may be occupied with on this Friday afternoon.

First up, five predictions that I totally whiffed on. I made quite a few this preseason, between the player predictions and my preseason Top 25 for the 50 in 50 series and the Big 12 preview I did for Rush The Court.

My five are after the jump, and feel free to rip me mercilessly in the comments:

Continue reading this post »

Last week Sports Illustrated's Luke Winn discussed the balance of the respective contending teams in his weekly power rankings. He found, as you can imagine, that Kansas had the least balance of any team in the country when taking into account both the starting five as well as the top six players. That group is obviously dominated by the play of Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor, who might have been the best duo in the country thus far.

But are they the best? Let's take a look at some other duos from other good teams. First, a couple ground rules:

1. I only looked at teams in the top 20 in the KenPom rankings here, under the assumption that if the duo isn't good enough to get a team into the top 20 in KenPom they probably aren't the best duo in the country.

2. With an exception, this mainly looks only at recognizable (or semi-recognizable) duos.

The Duos are:

1. Kansas (Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor)

2. Ohio State (Jared Sullinger and Aaron Craft)

3. Kentucky (MKG, Anthony Davis)

4. North Carolina (Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller)

5. Baylor (Pierre Jackson, PJ3)

The chart: (possessions used, or in layman's terms how involved in the offense a player is, is the x-axis, and offensive rating, basically how effective a player is on offense, is the y-axis):

Continue reading this post »

Kansas Basketball

Slump busted: Kansas’ Conner Teahan regains trey form | KUsports.com
Started in Columbia and carried over to Waco. He doesn't have to shoot a lot but if he's efficient it's a big lift.

Perry Ellis selected as McDonald's All-American | KUsports.com
Congrats to a future Jayhawk.

NCAA College Basketball Power Rankings - NCAA Basketball - ESPN
Up to five after the Baylor win. This tourney seeding race is getting interesting.

Kansas again in control of Big 12 destiny after win over Baylor - NCAA Basketball - SI.com
A day later...Three quick thoughts on Kansas' impressive 68-54 win over Baylor on Wednesday night, which dropped the Bears a game behind both Kansas and Missouri in the Big 12 standings.

Kansas Football

KU football still working on ’12 class | KUsports.com
More on the weekend recruiting activities.

College Basketball

Larry Eustachy making most of his second chance at Southern Miss - Seth Davis - SI.com
Blast from the past, this guy can coach.

2012 McDonald's All-American Game boys' rosters announced - ESPNHS
Full roster breakdown. Not sure how everyone else feels about this but I think it's sort of a nice honor but the game isn't really worthwhile.

Kansas has another McDonalds All American to put toward their count. Perry Ellis was named to the 2012 East squad today this afternoon making him one of 24 seniors across the country to receive the honor.

Ellis joins a pretty elite list of players from Kansas that have made the cut including, Other Kansans named Leavenworth's Wayne Simien (2001), Wichita's Korleone Young (1998, while at Virginia's Hargrave Academy), Lawrence's Danny Manning (1984), Dreiling (1981), Heights' Aubrey Sherrod (1981), Heights' Antoine Carr (1979), South's Ricky Ross (1979) and Heights' Darnell Valentine (1977).

Ellis is the only future Jayhawk on the roster this year. NC State led all college programs with three representatives. Ellis is the 33rd Jayhawk selected all time for the event.

Nice to get back on the board after a year off. The last Jayhawk in this event was Josh Selby, prior to that it was Xavier Henry. It's funny that it's almost hard to remember some of the one and done players as McDonald's AA's. The ones that stick with me a little more are the Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich, Mario Chalmers, Wayne Simien types.

Midway through the first half I was planning on writing one of the more scathing rants of all time. I had expected the team to come out a bit flat after a deflating loss on Saturday, but I didn't expect them to be down ten early. But in true Bill Self fashion Kansas came back to take a slim lead at the half, and then went on a 21-1 run to start the second half. It doesn't always work out that well obviously, but I can't remember the last time Kansas came out worse in the second half than in the first. I'm not sure how Bill Self keeps pulling off halftime speeches like that, but I'm sure glad he does.

To provide the starkest of contrasts, I'm not terribly sure about the strategy Baylor drew up. They played a lot of zone, which I understand is their bread and butter, but I would take my chances against a zone where the defense isn't packed into the paint any day of the week. Secondly, Baylor took just eight threes all game, 11.1% of the field goals they attempted. They only made 2 of them, one each from Pierre Jackson and Quincy Miller. I certainly understand establishing an inside presence and working inside out, but Jackson shoots 47%, Miller shoots 42%, and Brady Heslip, who only shot one three, shoots 44%. I can't say I know what the thought behind that was. If it was to establish the inside game, they didn't do that very well either as Baylor made only 39% of their twos. As a result the third best offense in the conference scored only .84 points per trip.

Offensively Kansas shot the ball as well as they have all year, with a 57.8% eFG. They shot 55% from two, but Baylor's two point defense has been surprisingly poor in Big 12 play, allowing opponents to shoot almost 50% from two, so perhaps the good feelings from this one should be tempered a bit.

Despite how well they played, there are a couple negatives to highlight: for one, they turned it over on about 30% of their possessions. Baylor forces their fair share of turnovers, but that is far too often to turn it over. And, while Baylor is 8th in the league and 226th in the country in turning it over, Kansas wasn't able to take advantage, forcing turnovers on just 18.8% of the Bears' possessions. Lastly, the rebounding wasn't there yet again, as Kansas had a 29.2% offensive rebounding rate against a poor defensive rebounding team (though they did a decent job at limiting Baylor on the offensive glass).

Lastly, while it was disappointing to see Baylor make a late charge, I don't think it's anything to worry about: it's human nature to let up a bit late when the game is out of hand, and with all of the minutes everyone has had to play all year, it's probably better in the long run they took a bit of a rest out there.

For the record, when lopping off the final three minutes when Kansas let their foot off the gas a bit Kansas had a PPP of 1.12 points per possession and Baylor's was just .81. Every minute counts obviously, but let's not let a couple minutes tarnish the domination that took place last night in Waco.

Continue reading this post »

Kansas Basketball

Jeff Withey bears down | KUsports.com
“Coach definitely got in my head. He told me I can’t go games where I don’t score. I have to be part of this team and help out,” - Jeff Withey

Coach Self's response is the best

Bill Self: KU rebounds nicely from loss to MU | KUsports.com
“I didn’t think our energy level was very good today (at shootaround). I didn’t think it was great yesterday. I thought we might pout up and feel sorry for ourselves. “We showed some toughness."

Defense polarizes programs | KUsports.com
Kansas is a boot-camp basketball program, Baylor a summer-camp team, replete with a no-cussing policy implemented by coach Scott Drew, a magnificent recruiter and likable face for the once-disgraced program.

Rapid Reaction: Kansas 68, Baylor 54 - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
The Jayhawks have had a stranglehold on the Big 12 for most of the past decade. It doesn't appear as if they are ready to loosen their grip. The win over the Bears put Kansas back into a tie for first with Missouri. The victory also means that KU's chances at grabbing a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament are still alive.

FINAL: Withey's career-high 25 points lead KU to 68-54 comeback victory over No. 6 Baylor | KUsports.com
WITHEY !!!

Withey plays big as KU schools Baylor | CJOnline.com
More Withey props

Jayhawks ice Jones in win | CJOnline.com
Kansas has now done this twice. He shrinks in the big game. I wouldn't touch him if I was an NBA guy, but then again they get caught up in potential.

Kansas pounds Baylor, moves into tie with MU - KansasCity.com
Big win for the league race but a long way to go.

Women's Basketball

KU women crush Texas, 85-61 | KUsports.com
Big win for the women at home.

Kansas Football

Big 12 talents headed for the NFL combine - Big 12 Blog - ESPN
One more than K-State!!! HA! Ok just kidding they were 10-2 and return almost everyone.

College Basketball

With Duke looming, North Carolina can show it’s still elite | Beyond the Arc
I thought this was odd from yesterday. I mean did we really write off UNC to the point where they weren't elite just because they haven't been knocking it out of the park all year? Expectations are a bitch.

Kentucky can be ‘impossible’ to beat — just ask Florida | Beyond the Arc
Not going to lie, I wouldn't mind playing these guys again in the least. You might lose, but who the hell is going to give you a chance anyway so you're playing with nothing to lose. That's always a fun spot to be in and I wouldn't mind seeing Robinson and Tyshawn have another go just to see.

All hope not lost for UConn on road to NCAA tournament - Andy Glockner - SI.com
Another bubble watch. Pac 12 is in trouble.

Tom Brady and Gisele v Brandon Jacobs

New York Giants' Brandon Jacobs says Gisele Bundchen needs to shut up - ESPN New York
Tom Brady still wins.