WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2.2005
Kaun
*RYAN COLAIANNI
rciolaianii@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Thousands of college students visit Las Vegas each summer. Many even spend over $1,000 on the trip. But not many go to Las Vegas to a basketball camp and spend that kind of money.
BASKETBALL PREVIEW
That is exactly what sophomore forward Sasha Kaun did this summer when he attended Pete Newell's Big Man Camp in August.
"It was a lot of fun,
you just go there and
you have never really
heard of anybody and
then you are like, 'Wow,'
there is a lot of good talent out there," Kaun said. "You just realize how much harder you have to work be successful."
Kaun battled against college and NBA talent during the camp, and improved his game, not to mention seeing the sites and the bright lights on the Vegas strik.
"I had a blast, a great experience. If I had a chance to do it again I probably would," Kaun said.
Improving his game; that seems to be a growing theme for Kaun this offseason. Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self said that Kaun and fellow sophomore C.J. Giles improved the most this offseason.
"The Las Vegas Big Man Camp probably helped him some," Self said. "If anything, it gave him confidence to know he can go against other big guys and do well."
Kaun and Giles will be the frontrunners to shoulder the offensive load that was lost when Wayne Simien graduated.
"He's got a lot more awareness where he is," Giles said. "Last year he was just throwing up all these crazy shots but now he knows how to score around the basket."
Self said that Giles and Kaun are probably the two go to players right now when they need a basket.
"They have to know that they can carry a team during stretches of games," Self said of the two sophomores. "My biggest concern is that they have never done that before."
Kaun battled against college and NBA talent during the camp, and improved his game not to mention seeing the sites and the bright lights on the Vegas strip.
Kaun said that the game has slowed down to him since last season.
Through his improvement in the offseason, Kaun has garnered the nickname, "The Machine" from teammates.
"He really has been playing with a lot of confidence all summer and this offseason," senior Christian Moody said. "He knows he can score and he knows he can play defense and he knows he can help us this year."
Kaun, who grew up in Russia before moving to Florida for high school, averaged 2.6 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
"He's just so big, and he worked so hard over the summer," sophomore Darnell Jackson said. "When he's on the court, you can't take the ball from him, so that's why we call him 'The machine.'"
Kaun has upped his weight to 246 pounds at $'61"'$.
Kaun spent the offseason refining his post game and shooting. He also got stronger, in hopes of helping him get re-bounds.
"I spent my summer trying to get ready, trying to get more physical. Hopefully I can help the team and give us some presence inside," Kaun said.
"We beat each others buts in practice. We all go out. Some days we will be mad, all scratched up and bruised or whatever," Giles said. "We just do what we do to make each other better."
Kaun's play with Giles and other big man Darnell Jackson have helped all of them improve this offseason they said.
After practice is a different story for the three big men. Afterward, they are just good friends.
"When we are in the locker room we are arm to arm just talking," Giles said. "We just compete real hard."
— Edited by Patrick Ross
Russell Robinson laughed sheepishly when he heard what his teammate Jeff Hawkins said about him, almost like he knew it was true.
- Miranda Lenning
miening@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Robinson
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 7C
"Russ has a pit bull mentality." Hawkins said. "He is just going to go for what he wants. If he wants to go get a basket he is going to go get a basket."
"I guess that is the city coming out in me," Robinson said.
"That is where I am from and that is how I was taught the game."
That toughness is something Robinson strived to obtain during the offseason. Both physically and mentally stronger, Robinson has transitioned from a skinny freshman, pouting because he wasn't playing enough, to a mature sophomore whose teammates have tagged him as the most difficult guard to defend on the jawhaws roster.
Robinson
"Russ is strong, gotten a lot stronger
The player his teammates nicknamed "Toast" hit the weight room hard in the offseason, adding more than 20 pounds to his 175 pound freshman frame. He also-evaluated his attitude after a tumultuous freshman season.
this year," Hawkins said. "He is just quick and can do a lot of things."
Robinson showed signs of brilliance early in his freshman year, backing up senior point guard Aaron Miles, but his success fizzled and his minutes decreased after the New Year. Questions arose about his character after he opted not to check into the line-up in the final minutes of the Baylor game on Jan. 25.
"I was more mad about it than anything because I didn't even get in the Bucknell game so I definitely used that as motivation to get better," Robinson said. "I think I am more mature on and off the court. Everything is about basketball to me right now and I have a real sense of urgency and that is going to take me a long way."
"I don't think I hit the wall. I just think I got comfortable and relaxed and thought things were going to be handed to me, and when they weren't I wasn't prepared for the after effects and I wound up not playing the rest of the season," Robinson said.
Robinson was so unhappy with the way last season ended, he said he contemplated transferring to another school, although he never took any action toward it. He said the combination of his personal struggles and the team's disappointing loss to Bucknell were the catalysts for his hard work in the offseason.
Robinson's growth has not gone unnoticed by Kansas coach Bill Self who said Robinson's offseason work ethic paid off.
"Russell is the most consistent perimeter player we've had so far since school started," Self said. "A lot of it is that he knows what we want and he is not thinking, he is reacting. And another part is that the guy works like a machine. He is the best in the weight room, he works on his game as much as anybody individually and he wants it really bad. He wasn't real happy about how last season ended and he is out to make sure that doesn't happen again."
There is no question that the competition between Robinson, Hawkins and freshman Mario Chalmers for minutes at the point guard position will be one of the most competitive on the team.
Stewart
SEE ROBINSON ON PAGE 12C
Miranda Lenning
mlenning@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Sitting in class, it is hard for Rodrick Stewart to pay attention to what the professor is saying. Visions of himself in a white, No. 5 Kansas jersey throwing down a monster dunk in front of a packed Allen Fieldhouse crowd flash in and out of his mind. These days, it's hard for Stewart to do anything without thinking about playing basketball. For someone in the prime of his
I get to step on the court for the first time."
college career, a year without playing ball is a long time.
"I think about it every day, just sitting in class or in my room," Stewart said. "I just doze off and think about when my time is going to come that
That time will come when the Jayhawks tip off against Pepperdine on Dec. 19. The NCAA's transfer rule requires that athletes like Stewart, who transferred to Kansas from Southern California at the end of the fall semester last year, sit out a full academic year. After sitting out the spring semester of 2005, Stewart can become eligible at the end of the fall semester. The last day of finals is Dec. 16.
Stewart
Just a year ago, Stewart was going through the motions as a member of the Trojans basketball team. After starting 17 of 27 games and averaging four points and two rebounds his freshman season at USC, Stewart said he hit a wall late in that season.
It's not unusual for freshmen to have their ups and downs throughout the season, but Stewart said he got into a slump.
He weighed his options in the off-season. Staying at USC would mean he would get to be close to his twin
brother Lordrick, who also plays for the Trojans. Transferring might give him the chance to start over again.
Stewart announced that he would transfer after the Trojans exhibition season.
Immediately after Stewart announced his decision, the recruiting began. Stewart visited Kansas for its game against St. Joseph on Nov. 23, 2004 and he said he knew immediately that he wanted to be a Iavhawk.
"I went home and talked to my dad and he had watched Kansas and coach Self and we decided it would be the best thing for me," Stewart said.
Although it was difficult for Stewart to leave his brother, he decided that it was best for both of them.
"I thought it would be good for me and my brother to split up and grow into two different people," Stewart. "Plus this is what was best for me. I needed a school that was better fit for me."
HenryT's Bar&Grill
SEE STEWART ON PAGE 12C
3520 WEST 6TH STREET 749-2999 We have every college basketball game!
Don't forget about HALF PRICE appetites every Thursday after 9pm!
Red Lvon Tavern
A touch of Irish in downtown Lawrence
944 Mass. 832-8228
Spaghetti and basketballs
Heaping plates of pasta. Full service bar. 64" big screen.
Voted Top of the Hill 2004 — Best Italian Restaurant.