25 points in 29 minutes. Not bad, huh? Not bad at all and exactly what Head Coach Bill Self is looking for out of junior guard, Sherron Collins. Collins scored driving to the basket, from 3, and hit all three of his free throw attempts while leading the Jayhawks to win Tuesday night against Florida Gulf Coast, 85-45. Confidence seems to be the biggest reason why Collins is scoring so well.
“I’m confident right now because coach has given me the freedom to go out there and get my own shot and do what I want. From time-to-time, I try to get my teammates involved because I know I’ll eventually get going,” said Collins.
Collins went 9-14 for the night, and that still is short of where Coach Self wants to be, as far as number of shots, but Collins isn’t counting.
“Coach says I should take 19-20 shots a game. I don’t really count my shots or pay attention to them I’m just hot right now and they are falling. I got two easy early buckets and that kind of got me going,” said Collins.
Got him going, it did. It also takes the pressure off of his teammates and allows them to work their way into the game. Especially when center Cole Aldrich gets himself in early foul trouble, like he did again Tuesday night. It’s something that Aldrich is aware of and working to prevent.
“They were tough fouls. On one, I was just a second late on a trap. The other one was just kind of unfortunate. I tried to crash the board hard, ans I gave a little elbow to him, and got called for it. I’ve got to be a little smarter and not pick up those fouls,” said Collins about the two early fouls.
While Collins and Aldrich are expected to carry the load for this team, some of the newcomers are starting to figure out, a little bit at least, what their role is and what they should be doing when on the floor. Consistency, while be the hard part for the first few months. With a game against Pac 10 power, Washington, looming on Monday night, consistency will surely be a practice focus over the next few days.
“The are fast, that are real fast, they are fast like we were last year. We have got some time to practice for them. We are getting a little bit better each and every day. Hopefully by the beginning of next week we will look like a little bit better ball club. Although tonight during the first half I thought that we played well,” Coach Self said about Washington.
The game against Washington will be in Kansas City and in apart of the CBE Classic. Florida, Syracuse, Washington, and Kansas will all be at the Sprint Center Monday and Tuesday night. Danny Manning will be inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame during an induction ceremony Sunday.
