The Big Blue Lowdown

We had the privilege to attend the Texas-Kansas game Monday night in Austin, Texas, where Kansas looked every bit a number one ranked team in dispatching the rapidly unraveling Longhorns 80-68.

Here are some of our thoughts after watching the two squads that, other than Kentucky, have managed to make it to the top of the rankings at some point:

Kansas is an extremely unselfish team that uses incredibly fluid ball movement to find open looks. They are well coached and were able to execute their offense well against both zone and man defensive formations shown by Texas.

Sheron Collins is a fearless slasher, a good spot up shooter and a leader who loves to step up in the most important moments. When Texas cut the lead down to single digits late in the second half, Collins was able to rip back the momentum by getting into the paint and finding an open man for a wide open layup.

When Cole Aldrich is not on the floor, Kansas is a different team. Aldrich is a rebounding and shot blocking force, and a lot of KU’s set offensive plays run through him. The Jayhawks’ other bigs, the Morris brothers, are actually more the finesse type, so Aldrich provides the only true rugged post presence. His offensive game isn’t very polished, but he’s strong and doesn’t quit. Very tough kid.

The Morris brothers are like twin Ron Mercers, except bigger. They can both shoot the rock, handle and have good athleticism. Marcus is the better of the two, but both of them will have to come up big for Kansas to make a deep run.

Texas has come apart at the seams. A team that only two weeks ago had aspirations of winning it all now seems like they will be fortunate if they can make it past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. The Horns have no offensive leadership outside of Damion James (who was fantastic vs. Kansas, dropping 24 and 10).

Texas has some impressive young freshmen in Avery Bradley, Jordan Hamilton and J’Covan Brown. But collectively, these kids play about as recklessly as you can get. Failure to recognize game situations, defensive breakdowns (except for Bradley who was tremendous while guarding Collins), turnovers, poor shot selection. Makes you thankful to have youngsters like John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, who are savvy well beyond their years.