By Jim Coffman
This week’s observations were going to write themselves. It started with Monday’s featured game on ESPN, where I was sure I would watch, and then describe, another stellar performance by the Chicago guy who has lifted his college basketball team the highest so far this season. Sherron Collins had done everything during inexperienced Kansas’ surprising undefeated run through the first eight games of the conference campaign. He led the team in points (18 per game) and assists (five) going in. Sure enough, Collins led the Jayhawks to a 14-point lead at halftime over Big 12 rival Missouri.
Later on in the column I figured I would dive into what appeared to be obvious angles regarding the Hawks and the Bulls. Everything was all set. Except it wasn’t. Ah, sports.
First of all, Collins, who played for Crane on the West Side after growing up in the Lathrop Homes that spread out on either side of Diversey in between the North Branch and Damen to the south and Clybourn to the north, played his worst 20 minutes of the season after halftime. And not surprisingly, Kansas failed to hold on, falling to 19-5 overall with a 62-60 Big 12 loss to oh-so-fortunate Mizzou, which won despite playing very poorly for a half and a half of a half.
Collins scored only three of his nine points post-intermission. The junior guard who set a Kansas record earlier this season by making 35 straight free throws missed three of four Monday. He committed several big turnovers down the stretch, threw up some late, low-percentage, off-balance bank shots that didn’t go in, and obviously ran out of gas on his way to playing all 20 second-half minutes. Just about all of the Jayhawks struggled in some way during the final 10 minutes, but none as comprehensively the former Crane Cougar.
And now for a bit more back story: Collins was the only prominent contributor to return from a Kansas team that shocked Derrick Rose’s Memphis squad in the national championship final last year. In that one, the Jayhawks rallied from a big deficit late to tie the game in regulation on Mario Chalmers’ ultra-clutch three-pointer (off an assist from Collins) and then won in overtime.
Collins hasn’t just been the team’s statistical leader. Early in Monday’s broadcast, sideline reporter Holly Rowe reported that “Sherron Collins told his young team . . . ” some obvious information about how important it was to play for Kansas against big rival Missouri. But what Collins said wasn’t the point. It was the fact that Rowe observed that this was his team. The first half saw Collins do his best work with his passing. After he had a shot swatted out of bounds with Missouri leading by a couple, he led successive fast breaks that finished with his pass for an alley oop dunk, followed by his pass for a layup. Collins also hit a couple tough lay-ups of his own against far taller players, and in general played with complete poise against Missouri’s full-court pressing defense and in front of a rabid crowd in Columbia. Kansas soon took the lead and added to it consistently leading into the break.
The second half began well enough. A few minutes in, Collins missed his first free throw, but then tracked down the rebound of the second and put in a 16-footer. A few minutes later he grabbed a loose ball and used his raw speed to create a fast break that a teammate finished with a put-back three-point play. At that point there was still no reason to believe the Jayhawks would do anything other than cruise to another convincing win. Kansas still led 58-51 with only 3:49 remaining. And then the roof fell in.
The most important thing is Collins, who is a beefy 5-11, has legitimate pro potential. But he’ll have to get lucky, i.e. he’ll have to sign on with a team where, for whatever reason, decent playing time materializes. He has shown a decent long-range jumper so far this season but he missed a couple early Monday and stopped firing away from beyond the arc. Still, with his strength and speed, he can run an NBA offense and guard opposing guards. But because of his size, teams almost certainly won’t see him running the show for them unless he has a chance to show them he can do it.
Hawk Talk
The Hawks gave up seven goals (in a loss at Vancouver that barely mattered late Saturday)! And Cristobal Huet was the starter between the pipes! It is obviously time to abandon the almost always alternating goalie scheme employed by coach Joel Quenneville for much of this season and name Nikolai Khabibulin the full-time starter (taking only an occasional break) isn’t it? It isn’t in sync with the long-range plan (where the younger and cheaper Huet eventually assumes command). But . . . wait a minute . . . the Hawks probably pulled the goalie after it started getting embarrassing (OK, OK, I admit it, I was otherwise occupied and didn’t see the game – but I’ve seen a bunch of other ones this season, so there). They probably did so after five or six goals, right?
Whoops. It turns out Huet headed for the bench after the first period, during which he stopped six of the nine shots on goal he faced. So Khabibulan actually ended up allowing more goals (four) during the final forty minutes of play. I guess it isn’t quite yet time to anoint The Bulin Wall as this season’s savior.
One other Hawk note: The tricky thing with the Hawks overall is that in order to best position themselves for a successful playoff run this year, they probably need to make a trade or two for veterans, preferably ones with a physical presence. But several of the Hawks’ most valuable assets may have only started to fulfill their potential. They could be stars down the line. And one also have to wonder if it will be tougher for GM Dale Tallon to trade any of these guys because of his personal connection to them. Remember that all of the Blackhawks surprised him by giving up an off day during the first big West Coast trip of the year to travel to Tallon’s home town (in northern Ontario I believe?) and attend his father’s funeral. It will be awfully tough for Tallon to pull the trigger.
That’s Amare
If the Bulls have a chance to get Phoenix’s Amare Stoudamire for Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas and whoever else, of course they have to do it right? This is a no-brainer, a slam dunk, a . . . except Stoudamire doesn’t play a lick of defense, and he had major knee surgery relatively recently, the dreaded micro-fracture procedure that has worked for some guys (enabled them to resume productive NBA careers) and not so much for others. Then again, if anyone knows whether Stoudamire is worth it, its My Coach Vinny. Mr. Del Negro was a member of the Suns’ front office until he took the Bulls job last year, after all. Be it Stoudamire or someone else, the time has long since passed for John “Action” Paxson to prove his general manager worthiness. Sure, there have been very few signs yet that he has the capability. But hope springs eternal on 50-degree February days.
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Jim Coffman brings you the city’s best weekend sports roundup every Monday because he loves you. Except when he brings it to you on the occasional Tuesday. You can write to him personally! Please include a real name if you would like your comments to be considered for publication.
Posted on February 10, 2009