Senior post Chelsea Gardner is a Naismith Trophy Top 50 Watch-List player. See how she is leading for the Jayhawks this season. Photo cred – Kansas Athletic Department
Season Overview
Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Hendrickson
Kansas is no stranger to success on the basketball court. The Jayhawks play within the birthplace of basketball and as a result the fan base is always hungry for a winner. Coach Bonnie Hendrickson enters her 10th season at the helm in Lawrence and has lived up to those expectations in those years. She brought the program back to national prominence by leading the Jayhawks to back to back Sweet 16 appearances in 2012 and 2013. Lately Hendrickson and her staff have been active on the recruiting trail as they brought in three 4-star recruits in the class of 2014, as rated by the JumpOffPlus.com. Those freshman are paying big dividends this year as they all are average over 17 minutes. One of those freshman, Lauren Aldridge, has started all 18 games and is averaging 7.4 points and 4.2 assists per game. The future is even brighter for the Jayhawks as Hendrickson inked four 4-star prospects in the class of 2015, which is currently the No. 22 ranked class in the nation as ranked by ProspectsNation.com. Guard Jayde Christopher of Federal Way, Wash., the No. 59 ranked player in the ProspectsNation.com ELITE 150 headlines the class. Christopher is also an example of how Hendrickson can bring players from out of the region to play in Allen Fieldhouse.
Game Recap
As to be expected with so many freshman playing a Power Conference schedule, there have been growing pains this season. However, the Jayhawks have had their high moments as well which includes a home victory over California, who was ranked No. 10 at the time. Coach Hendrickson’s team jumped out to an early lead, controlled the tempo and finished with an early December double digit win over a nationally ranked team. The real story in this game was the Jayhawks’ defense as they held an up-tempo team in California to 39 points and 24% shooting on the night. They did it with solid man to man defense. They controlled the driving lanes and provided help on the post effectively.
Read Brandon Clay’s JumpOffPlus.com College Tour Game Blog Here
The Jayhawks played with a purpose on the offensive end. Senior post player Chelsea Gardner is the focal point of this offense as she currently averages 15.7 points while hauling down 7.1 rebounds per game. Hendrickson’s team uses a variety of looks on the offensive end to make sure they can feed Gardner, who is on the Naismith Trophy Top 50 Watch List this season. However, what makes Gardner such a dynamic scorer is that she can score on the interior, but can also step out and hit the jumper while facing the basket. Her percentages reflect that efficiency as she converts 54% of her shots from the field and 79% from the line. On this night, the Jayhawks took a 62-39 victory while Gardner led the way with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 block shots on the night. We break down a baseline out of bounds play from the Jayhawks, which illustrates how effective of an offensive player Gardner can be.
Sophomore Forward Jada Brown
Kansas Baseline Out of Bounds Takeaways
-This is a great example of how you must teach your players ‘how to play vs. running plays.’
-This play broke down from the beginning. However, the Kansas players did not panic instead made the next right read.
-From there, they stuck to script and still ran the action that they planned on running.
–Aldridge penetrating into the lane and drawing the defense is a lesson that cannot be taught enough.
–Over-penetration can lead to turnovers or bad shots. But if you can teach your players to draw the defender and then find the open player, this allows your players to be ‘play-makers’ and not just a player who ‘runs the play.’
-Finally having a versatile post player that can score inside and out opens up the entire floor for your team to attack.
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- This play starts with a screen the screener action. Aldridge the point guard screens for the guard then receives an elevator screen to come to the ball.
- In this particular possession, Aldridge is covered on the cut forcing Boyd to pop to the corner as a release. Boyd reverses the ball back to the top of the key to Aldridge.
- This sets up a double screen action along the baseline for the inbounder, who receives the pass and attacks the lane.
- She then kicks to Aldridge once again who then attacks the lane, draws a defender then finds Gardner popping out for an open jumper
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Jonathan Hemingway is the owner of Coach Hemingway Basketball, Inc. Hemingway is on the Board of Selectors for the Naismith Trophy. He has worked within the basketball community since 1995 as a coach, camp director and journalist. He works as the assistant director of scouting for the JumpOffPlus.com and the OTRHoopsReport.com, which are scouting reports that service over 200 college and universities nationwide. Reach him via email at JonathanHemingway@PeachStateBasketball.com.
