KU: LET THE BB GAMES BBGIN

The Hawks took to the floor Tuesday night in an exhibition game against Fort Hays State. KU was looking to justify their #1 preseason ranking and, for the most part, did so. Naturally, you can’t make too much out of a 107-68 victory – especially since it is their 34th straight exhibition win. Nevertheless, KU looked pretty good and the team didn’t do anything to disappoint the fans.

THE GAME AND THE SEASON

I never like whistle-happy officials. Why they wouldn’t let them play in an exhibition is beyond my ability to comprehend. There were 51 fouls called and five players fouled out. It also meant a lot of free throws. This is probably a good time to remind you that KU shot FTs at a 72.51% clip last season (#4 in KU history). Against Ft. Hays, the club was 36/43 (83.72%). Hopefully, the stripe will be friendly again this year.

Kansas also held FHS to 33.8% shooting from the floor (although it seemed like they shot better than that). The game doesn’t count, but it is a reminder of how good Self defenses are. The team is on an existing (incredible) streak of 74 straight games holding their opponents to under 50%.

The win at AFH also doesn’t mean anything to the home court winning streak – now at 41. Kansas plays most of their non conference games at home and will be 6-0 before they play #15 Michigan and then #13 California just before Christmas. Whether 41 in a row or 47 in a row or whatever it ends up in 2009, the streak won’t catch the longest in KU history – 62 games (1993-98). However, it could become the second longest if they run the table (57). The second longest in team history is 55 from 1984-88.

THE DILEMMA

The number one issue for most fans is the question of who is going to play. The nine man rotation vs FHS seemed about right. I think eight is a better number most of the time, but if you have the right parts, talent and chemistry it’s possible to stretch it to 10. Nevertheless, Self says “nine” and that’s what they did Tuesday. Assuming that…

…it would seem inconceivable that any of the nine vs FHS would not be in the group. However, Little, Morningstar, Withey, Releford and CJ Henry did not play – nor did they suit up. Speculation is swirling around Little and Releford being red-shirted (a great idea). Of course, Withey is not eligible until the second semester and Morningstar is on probation until next semester. That only leaves CJ.

Of course, that doesn’t solve any problems with PT vs one-ball in semester #2, but maybe we’ll be lucky and have some injuries and the problem will take care of itself. Even so, it still requires some red-shirting. Teahan is also a potential red shirt.

I’m not going to worry about it, but it would seem to be a difficult situation for Self. Remember, over the summer Appleton and Thomas transferred due to lack of playing time and they were both 4-star players! I hate to see kids expect to play and then be denied it, but what are you going to do? Asking Self not to over-recruit is like asking a dog not to bark at a rabbit at 6:15 AM.

THE PLAYERS

I am extremely impressed with all three freshmen. There is no doubt in my mind that they are considerably better (per player) than the group the year before. Of course, the group the year before (Taylor, McTwin, MfTwin and Releford) had an average Rivals ranking of 56.3. This group’s average ranking is 21.0! Even if you average in transfer Withey into this year’s new crop, their average ranking is 24.8 – way better. Collins and Aldrich were 21 and 30 (avg 25.5) for comparison.

I bring that up because all three freshmen are going to make the rotation IMO. How can you not love them? I’m not going to spend much time talking about it now. If you watched the game, you know what I mean. Henry had an EFF of 8, Johnson had an 8 and Robinson a 14.

Kieff had a tremendous game despite only being 2-6 from the field. But, that is extremely misleading. He also went 8-9 from the line, had 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals and zero turnovers. His 24 EFF tied Aldrich (13 pts, 13 rebs) for the team high. Taylor had a 21, Collins 18, Cus 17 and Reed 9.

Of course, when you score 107 points, shoot 53% from the field and 84% from the line, you are going to get some good productive totals.

PRESEASON RANKINGS

With Collins and Aldrich being voted as preseason AA’s they become the sixth set of teammates to share that honor – including Pierce and LaFrentz (1997).

The team being ranked as the preseason #1 is the second time in history (2004-05) – although KU was also #1 in the first poll in 1956-57 just before they began preseason polling. They have been #2 six times, #3 zero times, #4 twice and #5 five times.

Shown is a table showing their preseason ranking (or first ranking in three of the cases), their ultimate record and final ranking (pre tournament).

* first poll of the season.

It’s impossible to escape noticing the three times a Ted Owens team was a preseason #5 (or higher). Actually, all three were #5. Two of the three ended unranked and one of them #19.

Obviously, KU hopes to go undefeated (40-0) and win the title. With Memphis being forced to vacate their 38 victories two years ago, Kansas remains tied for the most in history (37 – also in 2008) along with Duke (twice), Illinois and UNLV. The last undefeated team was Indiana (32-0, 1976).

My prediction: NCAA Champions, 38-2.