Event Coverage 03
The University Daily Kansan — Thu., April 4 — Special section
2007 Kansas basketball season in review
By Michael Phillips
At the University of Kansas there are two seasons: basketball season and the offseason. The 2006-07 team offered plenty of excitement, as the Jayhawks won the Big 12 Conference title on its way to a 33-5 final record, the fourth-most victories in school history. But not everything was as smooth as a Brandon Rush dunk. Like any team, this year’s Jayhawks had to grow into their roles.
October 2006
At 4:45 a.m., most students were asleep. Not Russell Robinson.
Robinson’s alarm told him it was time to walk to Allen Fieldhouse for Boot Camp, coach Bill Self’s preseason strength and conditioning program.
After visiting the trainer’s room to tend to some minor injuries, Robinson was ready to begin the hour-long practice. It was not a standard practice, though. There were no breaks, as players moved from station to station to do various activities, none of which involved a basketball.
“I think I’ve been as hard on them this year than I have any time as far as what they’re doing out there,” Self said. “There’s been other years where I’ve been verbally more like a drill sergeant. But these guys have responded pretty well, and they’re in pretty good shape.”
Two weeks later, fans got their first opportunity to see the team at Late Night in the Phog. A rusty scrimmage didn’t seem to bother the capacity crowd, which enjoyed the atmosphere and the dancing. During the 20-minute exhibition, one player gave a hint at what the coaches might see from him later in the season.
“I thought Sherron, without question, was one of the best players out there,” Self said. “He made things happen.”
The month ended on a sour note for the Jayhawks, as junior forward C.J. Giles was dismissed from the team following a variety of personal and academic issues. His absence cleared the way for the team to pick up another player, junior walk-on Brad Witherspoon. Giles transferred to Oregon State, where he will be eligible to play in December of next season.
November
After defeating Washburn, Emporia State and Northern Arizona to start the season, Kansas was caught off guard by a red-hot Oral Roberts team. The Golden Eagles took away the Jayhawks’ No. 3 national ranking, and left them looking for answers just four days before the Las Vegas Invitational.
In Sin City, things weren’t much different. Kansas defeated Ball State 64-46 with some largely uninspired basketball.
That night at the hotel, Russell Robinson and Julian Wright led a players-only meeting to allow the team to voice its frustrations. As the players gathered in the hallway outside their rooms, things began to get heated.
“Everybody was pretty much angry and upset with a lot of things,” Robinson said.
The players talked through a variety of issues, including relations with the coaching staff. Self had said that the players weren’t playing a mature team game. Instead, they were all trying to play their own game, which turned into more frustration.
“They haven’t been real happy with me,” he said. “And I haven’t really been happy with them.”
About 15 minutes later, after everyone had a chance to speak, the meeting ended. The next day, the Jayhawks defeated the No. 1 Florida Gators 82-80 in overtime.
Five players finished with double-digit points, including 21 from Julian Wright and 19 from Darrell Arthur as the Jayhawk big men held their own against Florida’s talented trio inside the paint.
Arthur was in the starting lineup in place of the injured Sasha Kaun. Kaun played 12 minutes of the Florida game as he began to come back from a knee injury and reemerge as a starter. In Las Vegas, the spotlight belonged to Arthur, who captured the attention of NBA scouts in the building with his mature play.
“I think it’s probably the best game I’ve ever played in my life,” he said. “It was just a battle to see who was going to get the last bucket.”
December
This is typically a slow month in college basketball as teams take finals week off and then schedule lightly during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
The Jayhawks gave themselves an early present before breaking for the holidays, defeating Boston College 84-66. The 18-point victory was also the perfect opportunity for Kansas to try something new: a zone defense.
After getting in foul trouble early, Self kept his players away from danger by moving to the zone, a rare sight in Allen Fieldhouse.
“We had been practicing the zone the whole break, and I think we ran it pretty well,” Brandon Rush said.
Even with the 3-2 zone available to the team, Self didn’t use it much the rest of the season, which was not unexpected. Most teams use the style of defense sparingly, if at all.
Kansas was also beginning to see contributions from freshman guard Sherron Collins. After arriving at Kansas more than 15 pounds overweight, the training staff put him on a grueling regimen of diet and exercise. The results began to pay off, as Collins came back from winter break with, as Self put it, “more energy than ever.”
The Jayhawks finished off the non-conference schedule without difficulty, defeating Detroit 63-43 and Rhode Island 80-69 in the type of games that made fans eager for the big games to arrive.
January 2007
At the beginning of the month, Self called Darnell Jackson into his office.
The coach had noticed that Jackson wasn’t playing like himself on the court and asked him what was bothering him. Instead of just one thing, Jackson told him about the string of tragedies that had affected his family.
“Ever since I got here,” he said. “From my uncle getting killed, my grandpa and grandma dying, my mom getting in a wreck, and my cousin being shot and killed in a drive-by. It was just a whole bunch of stuff, and it was eating me up on the inside, because I was holding it all in.”
After opening up, Jackson felt a weight lift off his shoulders and started playing some of his best basketball of the season. He used his body to create a physical presence in the paint, averaging a rebound every three minutes.
Had Sasha Kaun not secured the starting spot earlier in the season, Jackson would have made a serious run at the position.
“You can’t measure him in points,” Self said. “He makes a lot of smart, subtle plays.”
Those plays were especially evident during the stretch late in January where Kansas blew out every team it faced. Following a loss to Texas Tech, Kansas responded by beating Baylor, Colorado and Nebraska by 26, 23 and 20 points, respectively.
The month marked the start of Big 12 play, which began with a marquee match-up between Kansas and Oklahoma State. The contest quickly soured when Cowboys turned in the first of what would be many pitiful road performances, losing in the fieldhouse 87-57.
A week later, fans were treated to a spirited Border War game at the fieldhouse, as the Jayhawks defeated the Missouri Tigers 80-77. Sherron Collins had a breakout game, scoring 23 points. Most of those points came as Missouri abandoned its traditional pressure defense to play a zone, keeping the players fresh but also allowing Collins open looks from the three-point line all night.
The Tigers compensated on offense, and the game came down to the final shots, where Collins delivered for the Jayhawks once again in the final seconds.
“The rivalry is pretty intense, and I can’t say enough about Missouri,” Self said. “It was a heck of a basketball game.”
February
Things were different in February. Texas A&M’s Acie Law was still Mr. Clutch, and nobody was sure who was the best team in the Big 12. Both those things came into play as ESPN’s College GameDay visited Lawrence for the Kansas vs. Texas A&M game on Feb. 3.
Law emerged as the star of a close game, making a three-pointer with a hand in his face in the game’s final seconds to lead the Aggies to a 69-66 victory. The Jayhawks fell a game back in the Big 12 race, meaning they would likely have to win out to be conference champions.
After the loss to the Aggies, the Jayhawks didn’t lose again for the rest of the month. They went to Columbia and beat Missouri by 18 and defeated Kansas State both in Lawrence and Manhattan.
Add a victory at the Big 12 Tournament against Kansas State, and the Jayhawks went 5-0 against their rivals in 2007. The second game against the Wildcats came at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, where a sellout crowd was waiting to see if new coach Bob Huggins would deliver on his guaranteed victory.
He couldn’t — the Jayhawks are now 24-0 in Manhattan the past 24 seasons — but the Wildcats did come close. The game was kept tight until the final minutes, when Huggins was whistled for a technical and the Wildcats began to tire inside the paint, losing their rebounding edge.
“We gave them too many second chances,” Huggins said. “They’re good, and we didn’t do enough to win.”
Kansas also got the help it needed, returning to the conference chase after Texas A&M lost to Texas Tech.
The players watched the game on their cell phones, watching the score refresh as they rode a bus to their hotel in Boulder, Colo. When the Red Raiders squeaked out a two-point victory, even Self joined the players in a scream of excitement. One of the team’s goals at the beginning of the season was to win the Big 12 title, and the Jayhawks again could do that.
“It’s a good feeling,” Sasha Kaun said, “But we have a lot of games left.”
The Jayhawks were almost snagged in Oklahoma, as the Sooners applied stronger defensive pressure than the team had previously seen. The pressure rattled Sherron Collins, but the freshman survived, staying in the game and playing in most of the 67-65 victory.
Leaving Oklahoma, the team’s big story was Brandon Rush. Self called him out after the game, saying he’d have to be more aggressive if the Jayhawks were going to have a shot in March.
“Brandon has got to step up,” Self said. “He can’t just score eight points or five points. He’s better than that.”
March
The biggest month of the basketball season came roaring in, as Kansas defeated Texas 90-86 to become the undisputed Big 12 Champions.
From there, it was off to Oklahoma City for the Big 12 Tournament, where Kansas opened with ho-hum victories against Oklahoma and Kansas State.
“They’re just ready to get back to their rooms and play PlayStation,” Self joked.
The team worked hard to keep their same focus amid the distractions of March. Coaches urged the players to turn their cell phones off, so they wouldn’t be distracted by friends calling to wish them well or family members looking for tickets.
“If our guys aren’t focused, then we won’t have a chance to go very far,” Self said. “So many things could throw your focus off. It could be agents, runners, media requests, friends, girlfriends, family members, tickets, cell phones. All of a sudden you start trying to be something to a lot of people, and you’ve lost it.”
That wasn’t the case at the Big 12 Tournament. Kansas defeated Texas 88-84 in an overtime game that was every bit as thrilling as the first one. The Jayhawks rallied from 22 points down to defeat the Longhorns, the largest come-from-behind victory in school history.
They didn’t have much time to savor the victory, as the NCAA tournament pairings were announced just minutes later. Kansas started its road to the title in Chicago, where it faced Niagara and Kentucky in the first two rounds. National pundits were already beginning to pronounce Kansas the hottest team in America. A 40-point victory against Niagara, followed by a 12-point victory against Kentucky, brought even more national fans to the bandwagon.
Being the best isn’t good enough in March Madness, however. A team also has to play six consecutive flawless games. Headed into the second weekend in San Jose, it looked like the Jayhawks might be able to make that happen.
Southern Illinois was able to rattle Kansas with its pressure defense, but Brandon Rush arrived right on time. He led the Jayhawks to a 61-58 victory by taking charge down the stretch, just the way Self had been urging him to do all season.
Two days later, the season ended with a 68-55 loss to UCLA, a game where Kansas missed 19 layups and tip-ins. After the game, but before the draft speculation began, Self looked back at the season that was.
“The thing I’ll take away from it is that we had a bunch of talented kids that sacrificed for the good of the program,” Self said. “We liked sharing the ball.”
Unlike college football, the college basketball season ends with a loss for almost every team, whether it be in a conference tournament or the NCAA tournament. The Jayhawks prepared for an offseason of more practices and conditioning, reminded of just how close they had come.
“It hurts,” Self said. “I really felt like this was our year.”