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The University Daily Kansan — Sun., Nov. 26, 2007
'Heated' team meeting precedes victory
By Michael Phillips
They all crammed into the hallway outside Darrell Arthur’s hotel room for a players-only meeting.
“I just felt a lot of guys had a lot to get off their chest,” junior guard Russell Robinson said. “They just wanted to get it out in the open, and last night was their opportunity to do that.”
After I broke this story in The Kansan, it was picked up by all the other area newspapers, as well as Sports Illustrated, which wrote about it that week.
Sophomore forward Julian Wright kicked off the meeting, with Robinson joining him in addressing the group. For the next 15 minutes, the other teammates voiced their frustrations, something they say helped them focus for Saturday’s game against No. 1 Florida.
“Everybody was pretty much angry and upset with a lot of things,” Robinson said. “But it got everybody’s attention, and got everybody going in the right direction.”
They payoff was evident in the 82-80 overtime victory against Florida. Five players finished the game with double-digit points as the Jayhawks moved the ball effectively and efficiently.
After the game, coach Bill Self said he saw the difference in his players from the first basket through the thrilling finish.
“I really think there were thoughts subconsciously about trying to please other people or play a certain way,” he said. “Tonight there was none of that; it was just about Kansas winning. We showed a lot more maturity tonight than we have in our previous games.”
That maturity started with Wright, who played 42 minutes of basketball and scored a team-high 21 points. He teamed up with freshman guard Darrell Arthur to shut down the Gators’ inside attack, led by last year’s Final Four MVP Joakim Noah.
Wright is the most passionate of the Jayhawk players, wearing as much emotion as he does tube sock. During Friday night’s meeting, he spoke passionately about the need to unite as a team.
“We just tried to fire each other up,” he said. “Once we start feeling like that, that’s what is going to propel us to the next level.”
Self said that the level of intensity displayed Saturday was what he was looking for, and acknowledged there had been some tension on the team.
“They haven’t been real happy with me,” he said. “And I haven’t really been happy with them.”
For 15 minutes Friday night at the Marriott Renaissance, the players addressed that anger and united as a team. Now they will try to duplicate that intensity for the rest of the season.