New take on drills aids Tutt - TW (3-15-2006)

[ORUTerry]

New take on drills aids Tutt

By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

3/15/2006

With his foot broken, the ORU star practiced shooting from a chair.

Ken Tutt didn't just sit around idly for the six weeks he was sidelined from the Oral Roberts basketball team.

But he did sit around.

While his broken right foot was in a boot, he couldn't run and jump. But he could still practice shooting. He did a lot of it seated in a chair.

"I was working on my form. I had never tried it before," Tutt said. "I was basically using all arms and no legs to shoot free throws and little 15-footers, and it helped my upper body. It made things easier when I started jumping again."

For whatever reason, Tutt looks like a two-time all-conference guard all over again, averaging 19.6 points and shooting 56 percent in his last five games.

He matched a season high with 29 points in ORU's first-round win over Western Illinois in the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament, and was named tournament MVP after scoring 25 on Chicago State in the championship game.

ORU coach Scott Sutton said Tutt is "playing like the Ken Tutt who scored (25 or more) points in eight straight games his freshman year."

Up until Tutt's injury against Western Illinois Jan. 7, his junior year had been a struggle. He labored to make the baseline jump shots and runners from the lane that defined his ORU career almost as much as his 3-point shooting.

Through 15 games, he was shooting 35 percent -- 9 percent lower than his first two years combined.

A few more baskets would have come in handy during ORU's treacherous December nonconference stretch, but Tutt did heat up to score 29 in a narrow loss at Utah State, hitting six second-half treys.

Sutton said the best shooters go through slumps.

"Even as good as (Duke All-American) J.J. Redick is, he had a few games where he didn't shoot the ball very well. Maybe when Ken got hurt, he relaxed, got in the gym and found his stroke. When he came back, it was almost like it was a new season for him. He probably wasn't pressing as much."

Tutt may have just needed time away from the game.

"Sometimes you need a break, and everything happens for a reason," Tutt said. "It helped my game and it helped my teammates, because guys that didn't used to get to play a lot (primarily Yemi Ogunoye and Chris Riouse) got to play more minutes and it built up their confidence. When I came back, they still had their confidence and it made us a better team."

ORU's coaches were pleasantly surprised by how quickly Tutt returned to form. Eight days after being cleared to practice on Feb. 15, Tutt scored 16 in a blowout win at Centenary. Two nights later, he scored 18 on Valparaiso in the final regular-season game.

"It's a credit to Ken's personality and how tough he is that he was able to step away and come back in," said assistant Conley Phipps. "He hit a couple of shots at Montana after missing some early ones, and then -- boom -- he's back and racing and making shots and it's kind of snowballed from there."