Self wants more toughness,Rebounding

[Mr. Laz]

Posted on Mon, Jan. 29, 2007

Kansas coach bemoans his big men’s lack of toughness, especially on the boards.

By JASON KING
The Kansas City Star

LINCOLN, Neb. | Since the beginning of Big 12 play, Kansas sophomore Brandon Rush is averaging a team-high 7.3 rebounds.

“That,” coach Bill Self said, “is sad.”

Not that Self isn’t ecstatic about Rush’s effort on the boards. He is. But it doesn’t say much about a team’s post players when a guard is outworking them on the glass.

It’s a trend that had Self fuming after Saturday’s 97-74 victory over Colorado, when KU was outrebounded 36-30 by the league’s worst team. Self questioned the toughness of his big men and went as far as to call them “soft.”

It’d be safe to expect even harsher words if the Jayhawks don’t show some moxie in the paint during tonight’s game against Nebraska in Lincoln. Tipoff is at 8 at the Devaney Center.

“I’m disappointed in our big guys collectively as far as how tough they play,” Self said. “It’s very evident that our big guys don’t play as tough and as strong as they should.”

It wasn’t just Saturday.

Kansas was outrebounded in back-to-back Big 12 games against Missouri and Texas Tech. Even Baylor, with one of the worst frontcourts in the league, came within a rebound of equaling the Jayhawks’ rebounding total.

Watching from the perimeter, KU guard Russell Robinson can see his teammates getting outworked down low.

“I think guys are more focused on hitting someone and getting a body on someone instead of actually going for the ball,” Robinson said.

Self said forward Darnell Jackson is the one Jayhawk playing aggressively in the paint. But even Jackson admitted to performing at a subpar level.

“From my standpoint, I was playing soft,” Jackson said after the Colorado loss. “We just have to help each other out. When the ball goes up, we have to get after it.”

Especially against Nebraska, a team that features one of the league’s top centers in 6-foot-11 standout Aleks Maric. A junior, Maric leads the Cornhuskers with a 17.6-point scoring average and is shooting 61.9 percent from the field.

“He’s one of the best,” KU forward Sasha Kaun said. “Obviously (Texas’) LaMarcus Aldridge was a load to guard, but Maric is just so strong in the lower body. He knows how to get angles and create space for himself. That’s something I need to work on.”

Right along with rebounding and, as Self said, playing “tougher.”

“The last two weeks we haven’t been tough at all,” Self said. “Darnell has been our best big guy as far as going after balls, no question. But that’s been Shady’s (Darrell Arthur) biggest weakness, it’s been Sasha’s biggest weakness, and it’s obviously Julian’s (Wright) biggest weakness.

“It’s not a technique thing. Guys just have to want the ball.”


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Kansas at Nebraska

8 tonight in Lincoln, Neb. (ESPN)


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To reach Jason King, Kansas reporter for The Star, call (816) 234-4386 or send e-mail to jking@kcstar.com