THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
▼ DANCING NACHOS
PAGE 1B
No great stars just solid teamwork
AMES, Iowa — What is it with kids these days, anywav?
The Jayhawks rolled over Iowa State 95-85 Saturday, not with a superstar performance, but with five players in double figures.
The team effort stands in contrast to today's generally accepted style of play, which involves one player scoring the points, blocking the shots, running the offense and banging his chest.
Outside of Julian Wright's early dunks, SportsCenter must have had to comb the game tape multiple times to find enough material for the highlight reel.
Don't these guys watch television? Don't they know the surest way to fame is to score 81 points like NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, defy triple-teams and knock down three-pointers that have to cross time zones?
"I don't think so. I can barely see myself scoring 50," freshman guard Brandon Rush ioked.
Rush is the biggest offender of them all. As a late addition to the team, he was supposed to lead the Jayhawks to a title before bolting to the NBA. Analysts guessed that Kansas coach Bill Self would have to restrain him from being trigger happy.
Of course, Rush also recognizes what a powerful duo he has in sophomore guard Russell Robinson and freshman guard Mario Chalmers.
Instead, the coach punishes Rush with time running on the treadmill every time he *doesn't* shoot the ball.
Chalmers scored a whisper-quiet 21 points to lead all Jahawks on Saturday. Neither him nor Rush ran special patterns in the offense or counted on picks set especially for them. Instead, they spread the court, started the ball in the center and passed to the outside whenever a shot became available.
"You want to try to force the issue, but not force the issue, basically." Robinson said. "You want to attack, but not get out of control."
Robinson was as close to an indispensable player as the Jayhawks had. Self faced a decision when Robinson drew his second foul early in the first half. He decided to sit the leading scorer at that point.
"I knew we were rolling the dice a little bit, but it was worth the risk." Self said.
Not many coaches have the luxury of sitting the best player of the day and knowing another will step up, but Self isn't most coaches.
Instead of going with the hot hand or picking two or three players to carry the team, he has allowed 10 players to share the load. When it backfires, it looks clumsy and uncoordinated; when it works, it's a throwback to when games were won with bounce passing and tempo instead of thunder dunks and shoe deals.
The question before the season was if Self could find enough time for three McDonald's All-Americans. Two numbers Saturday provided us with the answer.
The first number is eight: the number of Jayhawks who played double-digit minutes. The second is zero: the number of Jayhawks who whined about their playing time after the game.
That will never fly in the NBA, but for this team it might just be the winning formula.
- Phillips is a Wichita junior in journalism. *
MEN'S BASKETBALL: 95-85
KU guards effective in win
BY RYAN COLAIANNI
rcolaianni@kansan.com
KANSAN SENior, SPORTWRITER
AMES, Iowa — Russell Robinson sat on the bench and watched after he picked up his second foul with 7:58 remaining in the first half of Saturday's game against Iowa State.
Kansas led by 10 at the time. With the sophomore guard on the bench, Iowa State cut the Kansas lead to three by half-time.
Kansas coach Bill Self left Robinson on the bench despite the Cyclones' comeback.
"Do you sub him in with two minutes left in the half and risk him getting a foul with two minutes?" Self said. "I knew we were rolling the dice."
Robinson re-entered the game to start the second half and helped the Jayhawks go on a 17-3 run, which led them to a 95-85 victory. Kansas never trailed in the game.
The gamble paid off.
Robinson scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half,but as he sat on the bench he thought about getting back into the
"The second half, he was great," Self said of Robinson. "He keyed our run in the second half to get us off to a pretty good start."
"I just knew you can't win or lose the game in the first half," Robinson said. "I knew we had to learn from it and come out in the second half with a lot of energy and I think we did that."
rhythm of the game.
"He helps relieve pressure a lot on me and Mario, and he is starting to become a real good scorer." Rush said. "He was just ready to get back out there. He was pretty mad about getting the two fouls and having to sit on the bench."
Freshman guard Brandon Rush said he had been nervous in the first half when Iowa State went on its run. He also knew there was another half to play and that Robinson would be rested to start the second half.
Kansas went on its secondhalf run by forcing turnovers on defense and effectively passing on offense.
On one possession, freshman guard Mario Chalmers stole the ball and took it down the court himself. He leaned into an Iowa State defender to draw the foul and still managed to convert the basket for an opportunity for a three-point play. Chalmers pumped his fist in celebration after he made the layup.
SEE GUARDS ON PAGE 4B
Jared Gab/KANSAN
Senior guard Jeff Hawkins defends the basket against Iowa State guard Curtis Stinson Saturday in Ames, Iowa. Kansas defeated Iowa State 95-85.
BASEBALL
Two players vie for catcher position
BY ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
The catcher's position is up for grabs on the Kansas baseball team again.
After being practically the sole domain of Sean
ly the sole domain of Sean Richardson, who gradu-
hardson, who graduated last year, coach Ritch Price and the Jayhawks
the catcher's position. "We lost a player that's basically played every inning of every game and was an impact player for us."
Of the Jayhawks' 64 games last season, Richardson started 61 of them. His 19 doubles led the team and the 45 runs he drove in tied for the second most of any Kansas batter. Given 463 chances, Richardson tallied just 10 errors.
Losing the two-year starter leaves a rather sizable hole, but Price has a plan.
Two of them, actually.
Plan one: freshman Buck Afenir
Plan two: junior Dylan Parzyk.
Almost identical in height and weight, Afenir and Parzyk bring a lot to the table in terms of providing a solid backstop.
"It's a huge thought," Afenir said of taking over at catcher. "I've heard a lot about Sean Richardson. He's from where I'm from, so I know a lot about him."
Senior pitcher Kodiak Quick, likely the No. 1 or No. 2 starter, knows the difficulty of replacing Richardson but thinks the Jayhawks are on their way to doing so.
"I've thrown to both these guys and I think they're both doing really well," Quaid said. "They
don't have quite the experience Sean had, but he was a senior."
Parzyk has a bruised thigh, which, although minor, has slowed his early-season practices. While a sophomore at Palomar, Parzyk hit 328 and led his team with 37 RBI. He was voted team MVP and was named to the All-
Pacific Coast Conference first team.
Lisa Linovac/KANSAN
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: 90-40
Rod Avdelotte/AP Photo
KU's Crystal Kemp, left, and Baylor's Jessica Morrow fight for possession of a loose ball during the second half of the game Saturday in Waco, Texas. Baylor won that game 90-40.
Loss to Baylor sets record defeat
Y MICHAEL PHILIPS
mphillips@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
On the plus side, things can't get any worse.
The Kansas women's basketball team lost to Baylor 90-40 on Saturday afternoon in Waco, Texas. The loss was the worst in the 37-year history of the program.
"They're good. They're very, very good," Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "It's just disappointing we didn't compete."
The Baylor Bears improved their record to 15-3, good enough for No. 9 in the nation.
Henrickson said that Baylor's status as defending NCAA tournament champion wasn't an excuse for the lopsided defeat.
"If you show up like that, it doesn't matter who it is or where it is, you're going to get beat in
The usually reliable duo of seniors, Erica Hallman and Kaylee Brown also struggled. Hallman missed all four of her three-point attempts, and Brown had just seven points and four turnovers in 18 minutes of play.
After helping keep the score close for the first 12 minutes, senior forward Crystal Kemp drew her second foul. Without her inside presence, Baylor went on a 21-2 run.
Kemp finished as the leading scorer for the Jayhawks
this league," Henrickson said. "We've got to point the finger at ourselves and get some things right."
Kansas' 40 points will enter the record books as the fourth fewest points scored in a game.
"We don't have the wiggle room for Kaylee to be so bad and Crystal to get in foul trouble." Henrickson said.
"She gave us what we wanted — what we've been asking of her." Henrickson said.
The Lady Bears dominated almost every statistical category. They were able to turn 25 Jayhawks turnovers into 37 points, and brought in 45 rebounds to the Jayhawks' 25.
Senior center Sophia Young led Baylor in scoring with 17 points. Six Baylor players reached double-digits, including three bench players.
Henrickson found a bright spot in sophomore forward Taylor McIntosh. After sharing minutes with freshman Marija Zinic over the past few weeks, McIntosh played for 29 minutes, collecting five rebounds and turning the ball over only twice.
with only 10 points in just 23 minutes. That ties as her lowest scoring output of the season and her fewest points since Dec. 5.
The Jayhawks will try to avenge an earlier road loss on Wednesday night when the Colorado Buffaloes visit Allen Fieldhouse. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
Kansas drops to 1-5 on the season, and is just 2-5 in the Big 12.
Notes:
- Junior guard Shaquina Mosley started the game in place of freshman Ivana Catic. Mosley went 2-8 shooting, but was able to grab five rebounds.
- Attendancewasannounced at 7,672, the 11th largest crowd in Baylor history and the largest crowd Kansas has had all season.
- The game was televised nationally by CSTV, one of three appearances Kansas will make on the network this season.
— Edited by Lindsey Gold
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