NCDS: Joe Dooley, Asst. Coach - Kansas

By: Joe Dooley, Asst. Coach - Kansas

Big 12 play has begun and there is no doubt we are learning why this conference is the toughest in the nation. I saw the other day the Big 12 was 106-1 at home against non-conference competition. Every year winning a conference road game has been tough and this season seems it will be even tougher. We have a combined 33-15 Big 12 road record since we got here in 2004, which is quite remarkable. Without question, winning on the road has been the key to us having won each of the last five Big 12 regular-season championships.

Everyone hears about our All-Americans in Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich and the other starters with Xavier Henry, Marcus Morris and Tyshawn Taylor... but junior guards Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed have been two players who have been major contributors.

Brady is a redshirt who is actually the oldest player in the Big 12 at 23. He shows great leadership on the floor in keeping the ball moving. He also is a solid defender and a glue guy. Tyrel is a gym rat who is the son of a coach - Stacy. I bring these two up because all they care about is winning. Both starts and stats mean nothing to them, which what Coach Self preaches and our players believe. On our national championship team in 2008, our leading scorer was Brandon Rush with a 13.3 ppg. We had five NBA draft picks that summer and all only cared about winning.

To date, we have learned that our team can be very good at times and can struggle at times. Like most teams, we need to develop more consistency on both ends of the floor. Defensively, you cannot take any possession off and offensively ball movement and getting the ball inside are the keys to our success.

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As a final note, in early January we went to Temple in Philadelphia, home of the legend Wilt Chamberlain who played at Kansas in the 1950s. We have four players from the area with Tyshawn Taylor from Hoboken, N.J., Thomas Robinson from Washington, D.C., and Marcus and Markieff Morris from Philly. Kansas fans rolled out, as they do when we travel, and it was a fun homecoming for the four as we played well and came away with a victory. ESPN had all-access once we arrived in Philadelphia and did a great job in showing how we travel and get ready for games.

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