Deep Jayhawks just blew their cover
Shortly after watching his Boston College team suffer its worst home loss in nearly five years, athletic director Gene DeFillipo took the walk down to the Kansas locker room and couldn't contain his emotion.
"I think this is the best team that's come in here in my 11 years," DeFillipo told Jayhawks coach Bill Self.
The scariest part is that Self's club isn't even at full strength yet.
The guards are swarming, they shoot the ball well and are able to make their teammates better. The big men finish, rebound and can run the floor. The Jayhawks play relentless, yet disciplined, team defense, averaging more than 11 steals per contest.
Kansas is ranked No. 3 in the country and is one of a half-dozen unbeatens remaining in the Division I ranks, but most of the talk has centered around top-ranked North Carolina, the possibility of an undefeated run by No. 2 Memphis or even the Pac-10 powers out west, UCLA and Washington State.
"I don't think everyone's giving us a lot of credit, but it's cool," said Kansas' talented sophomore forward, Darrell Arthur. "We're not worried about that."
The Jayhawks may be the most talented team in the country from one to seven. North Carolina's depth took a hit when Bobby Frasor was lost for the season. UCLA is without its top perimeter shooter, Michael Roll. Memphis has similar depth with the boys from Lawrence, but the Jayhawks are more skilled and talented.
"Overall, they're the best team I've ever played against," Boston College junior guard Tyrese Rice said. "The way they play together. They are so unselfish and it doesn't matter who is scoring it."
Rice has played two years in the ACC. He's gone up against North Carolina four times. He's played Duke on three separate occasions. He faced a Georgetown squad in the second round of the NCAA tournament that wound up going to the Final Four. Rice also played a Villanova team two years ago in the Big Dance that had as formidable guards as anyone in recent memory.
"You watch Kansas on television and they look beatable," Rice added. "But once you're out on the court and you see how well they execute, how unselfish they play and how hard they get after it, it's completely different."
And Brandon Rush and Sherron Collins don't look even close to 100 percent.
Rush is still working his way back from a torn ACL in his right knee and appears tentative. Collins, who scored just two points in 22 minutes against BC, still doesn't have his explosiveness back after missing six games earlier in the season due to a stress fracture in his foot.
Self estimates that Brandon Rush, who is averaging 10.8 points (down from 13.8 from a year ago), is 98 percent physically — but just 80 percent mentally. Self shook his head when recalling one layup that Collins would have dunked a year ago.
"I'm fine physically," said Rush, who is wearing a balky brace on his right knee. "It's just going to take some more time."
At first glance, the stat sheet looks awfully similar to that of the two-time defending national champion Florida Gators — five players in double figures.
"We've never talked about Florida," Self said. "We've had good balance over the past two or three years."
Several guys can hurt you. Darnell Jackson continued his strong play of late with 25 points and nine boards. He has led the team in scoring each of the last three games, and had arguably the best game of his career Saturday afternoon.
Seven different players have led the team in scoring already this season in Kansas' 14-0 start.
"We're a pretty unselfish team," Self said.
"You could say that some people played with their own agendas last year," junior guard Mario Chalmers added. "This year our chemistry is much better."
Self's record (105-29) in his first four years at Kansas is more impressive than that of Roy Williams, Larry Brown and Phog Allen.
However, he hasn't taken the Jayhawks to a Final Four yet. There have been a pair of Elite Eight appearances sandwiched around two terrible first-round losses.
Self realizes that this rout over Boston College still needs to be put into perspective, but this could be the year that Kansas cuts down the nets. The Jayhawks' big men dismantled an Eagles team that had absolutely nothing down low. There's no Craig Smith, Jared Dudley — or even a Danya Abrams.
There's a reason why Kansas scored 54 points in the paint and its big men — Jackson, Arthur, Sasha Kaun and Cole Aldrich — looked ready for the 4x400 relay when it came to running the court and getting easy buckets.
Aldrich, who barely gets a sniff at Kansas, would play virtually the entire game if he were at BC.
But the Jayhawks dominated without much of anything from Brandon Rush, with virtually nothing from Collins, and a combined 12 points from the starting backcourt of Russell Robinson and Chalmers.
Self's concern remains whether his team can grind it out in the half court, but he was certainly pleased with his team's play against the Eagles, who have been one of the toughest teams in the ACC the past couple of years.
You won't get much of an argument from the best player on the other side of the floor.
"It's like you have to pick your poison," Rice said. "They are really tough."
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