SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FORWARD NICOLLETTE SMITH SITS DOWN FOR A CHAT PAGE 8B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
TUESDAY,FEBRUARY 12,2008
TEXAS 72, KANSAS 69
PAGE 1B
Jon Goering/KANSAN
HAWKS' LONE STAR LOSS
The Texas defense swarms junior guard Mario Chalmers as he tries to drive to the basket during Monday night's game. The No. 11 Longhorns defeated the No. 3 Jayhawkss 72-69. The Hawks shot just over 43 percent from the floor for the game and made less than a quarter of their three-point attempts. Texas shot 40 percent from beyond the arc, making 8-of-12 on three.
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
AUSTIN, Texas - All the talk about No. 1 seeds, Final Fours and even Big 12 Championships might need to stop for Kansas, at least for a while.
The Jayhawks need to get a marquee victory before all that chatter can start back up again.
Kansas lost to No. 11 Texas 72-69 Monday night at the Erwin Center when Mario Chalmers' last second shot hit the back of the rim. It's the second loss in the past two weeks for the Jayhawks (23-2, 8-2). They lost to Kansas State in Manhattan Jan. 30 and just like in that game, Kansas was outplayed and outhustled by a team it was favored to beat.
That act is already getting old for Kansas
such Bill Self.
"I think they out-manned us in the second half" he said.
For the first 20 minutes, Kansas' offense was dominant. The Jayhawks found out, again, that they play their best ball when the offense goes through the post. Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur combined to score 25 points in the first half. Sasha Kaum and Cole Aldrich pitched in another four. Kansas' front court was too much for Texas, which saw its best forward, Damion James, exit with foul trouble early on. The Jayhawks put up 42 points and out-rebounded the soft-looking Longhorns by 10.
At halftime. Self told his players they would need to play even harder inside in the second half, and that the Longhorns' poor performance inside was a fluke. But when Texas coach Rick Barnes got wise to the Jayhawks' low post offense and geared his defense toward stopping it, Arthur and Jackson couldn't adjust. Arthur picked up two quick fouls, pouted on defense and showed why his consistency is still a work in progress. He and Jackson scored just 10 points in the second half.
"They trapped the post a lot," Arthur said. "It was hard to score."
While they struggled, James came back with a vengeance. He scored 12 of his 14 points and grabbed all of his 13 rebounds after intermission.
"Damion had a chance to sit on the bench in the first half and let it boil a bit," Self said. "Then he kicked our butts in the second half!"
The post players' worst sins came late in the game. Texas scored two major baskets on putback dunks with less than five minutes to go. The second one gave the Longhorns a 66-61 lead. In the final 1:30 of the game, Kansas gave up two more offensive rebounds. The second came when the ball bounced off Brandon Rush's head.
In the second half, after Self pleaded with his players to dial up the intensity, Texas outrebounded Kansas 23-12.
"They got a lot of second-chance buckets"
Arthur said. "That killed us."
Despite the problems, Kansas still had an opportunity to tie. Trailing by three in the final seconds, Chalmers missed an off-balanced but open three-pointer. Self said his team killed the final play by moving the ball to the wrong side of the court.
The miss sent the Jayhawks back into the locker room hurting and still missing that important victory against a consistent top 25 team. Southern California was ranked when the Jayhawks won against the team in December, but the Trojans have been out of the ranks since. Ditto for Arizona.
The Jayhawks' other big victories have come against Boston College, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma and Baylor. None of those teams were in the top 25 when Kansas played against them, and it's unlikely any of them will compete for a conference title. Baylor might be
In KU's two toughest tests the Jayhawks have come up lame, first in a loss to the Wildcats two weeks ago, and now to Texas.
the only of those schools to make the NCAA Tournament.
Because of their inability to win those games, the Jayhawks dropped from the top of the Big 12 conference. Kansas State is now the only team with one loss, and Texas is just a half game behind Kansas in third. The Jayhawks will probably need to win all of their games down the stretch to get back in line for conference championships and beyond.
Chalmers said the team can do it.
"We're still the favorites" he said. "That's what's in our mind."
—Edited by Sasha Roe
BASEBALL
Casey Larson, senior outfielder, rounds the bases last season. This season, the team has yet to hit the diamond. Cold weather has forced them to practice inside for the second straight week.
Weather keeps practice inside
shroyer@kansan.com
BY SHAWN SHROYER
shroyer@kansan.com
Kansas may have had to wait a month to begin practice this season due to NCAA regulations, but that hasn't made the Kansas weather any more accommodating.
The Jayhawks wrapped up their first full week of practice last week, but have yet to step on the field at Hoglund Ballpark. As the days fall off the calendar until Kansas first game, coach Ritch Price is just trying to keep his players fresh, regardless of where they practice.
Confined to Anschutz Pavilion or the team's indoor hitting facility, Price has been mixing up his practice routines to break up the monotony of being indoors.
"We've been trying to make sure that we don't go backwards." Price said. "If you keep inside every day and practice three to three and a half hours, you can literally get worse. One week becomes two weeks and is our second week we've been inside every single day"
Last week Price eliminated certain drills from some practices. In his sixth season at Kansas, Price has learned that varying and shortening indoor practices can help players remain focused on the task at hand.
Price has grown accustomed to the limitations of playing baseball in February in Kansas. However, incoming freshmen, particularly those from Western states, can take time to adjust to the elements.
"At this level, our players understand that it's work, but they also understand that you have to come and prepare every day because the big picture is that in two weeks you're going to be playing for real and you'd better be ready," Price said.
Freshman third baseman Tony Thompson, a Reno, Nev., native said eastern Kansas and western Nevada winters were fairly similar.
"Yeah, it's snowy and in the teens, so it's about the same," Thompson said. "We practice inside a lot at the beginning of the season in Nevada, too."
Even though Kansas' practice conditions are less than ideal, Price was pleased with the effort his assistants were getting out of their position players, particularly pitching coach Ryan Graves.
"Coach Graves has done a really nice job of using some different teaching strategies to help us improve our command," Price said. "Also, it's a much more experienced pitching staff than it was a year ago, so I think they've taken a jump from a development standpoint."
But with time running out before Kansas heads to Hawaii for its season opener against Hawaii-Hilo on Feb. 22, Price is crossing his fingers that his team will practice outside. If it doesn't though, it won't be the first time Kansas didn't touch a diamond until arriving on the Bie Island.
"I really hope that the weather will change sometime this week and maybe we'll get out two or three days before we go to Hawaii," Price said. "But we've been there five times before and three times we hadn't been outside, so it's not unusual for this to happen to us."
MARKS UPDATE
Junior left-hander Andy Marks continues to make progress as he rehabilitates his throwing shoulder. Marks had surgery in the fall to repair his labrum and Price said his ace hasn't had any setbacks in his rehab and is on pace to return to the mound in mid-March.
—Edited by Sasha Roe
COMMENTARY
Jayhawks need to get more aggressive defensively in order to step up their game
Weston White/Kansan File Photo
Senior guard Russell Robinson drives into the lane against a Colorado defender. Focusing on defensive tactics by slowing down the game has been successful for the Jayhawks defense.
But the high-octane affair didn't please Kansas coach Bill Self as much as it did the Allen Fieldhouse fans.
On Saturday night, Baylor and Kansas put on an offensive show. Fast breaks, fadeaway three-pointers and rim-rattling dunks came one after the other. At the end of it all, the crowd offered the Jayhawks a standing ovation as they hit the century mark for the second time this season and won, 100-90.
"Id rather win 80-70 any day of the week."
Self said. "Because it's fool's gold – if you give up 90 points in the tournament, you go home."
Self's indictment of his team's defense against Baylor brings to light a worrying trend: When Kansas' opponents have been able to speed up the pace of play, they haven't had much trouble scoring. Even though the Jayhawks have made a living on offense by pushing the ball down court with lightning-quick guards, they struggle in transition on the defensive end.
College basketball statistics Web site kempom.com compiles team offensive efficiency ratings for each game, with 100 being average. If a team finishes above 100, it had a good offensive outing. A rating below 100 means the team struggled to score.
The average college basketball team uses about 67 possessions per game. The numbers
In Kansas' only loss, Kansas State didn't play at a relentless pace, but freshman guard Jacob Pullen played aggressively on offense, frequently forcing his way to the charity stripe and making all 10 of his free throws.
Most recently the Baylor backcourt adapted to the breakneck speed of the Jayhawk guards. The Bears' top five guards combined to score 79 points and keep the score reasonably close for much of the game.
1
from kenpom.com illustrate when Kansas has used fewer than 67 possessions - playing slower than average - its defense has been phenomenal.
In the seven grind-it-out, half court games they have played this season, the Jayhawks haven't allowed an opponent to top 96 on the offensive efficiency scale. In the team's 17 up-tempo contests, three opponents have registered higher than 100 on the offensive end. Granted, there is a difference in sample size, but it's tough to deny that the Jayhawks' ugliest defensive performances have come in run-and-shoot scenarios.
In the first game of the season. Louisiana-Monroe visited Lawrence and engaged in an up-and-down battle. Louisiana-Monroe shot 51 percent from the field and tallied 78 points. Unfortunately for the Warhawks, Kansas shot 56 percent and scored 107 points.
Sure, fast breaks and alley-oops are fun to watch, but come tournament time, a little patience could pay dividends for Kansas.
Kansas was able to weather offensive miscues against Eastern Washington and Colorado, but could have trouble with North Carolina, Duke or Tennessee in March.
"When you make shots, sometimes you intense on defense goes away." Self said. "In the tournament or in a late-possession game, you've got to grind it out. When you're not making shots is when you have to be the best."
Edited by Mandy Earles
As impressive as Kansas' offense has been, there's no guarantee the Jayhawks will stay hot.
The jayhawks' inability to stop teams in transition hasn't come back to bite them so far this season because of their offensive prowess. When Missouri picked up the pace, cut down its turnovers and scored 71 points, Kansas scored 90 and won comfortably. When Arizona buried 48 percent of its three-pointers and went to the free-throw line 21 times, Kansas shot 50 percent from the field and snuck past the Wildcats for an overtime victory.
opponents' highest field goal percentage
Field Goal Opponent Date Percentage Final Score vs. University of Louisiana-Monroe 11/09 51% 107-78 vs. Missouri 02/04 46% 90-71 vs. Arizona 11/25 44% 76-72 at Georgia Tech 12/18 44% 71-66 at Colorado 02/02 44% 72-59 vs. Baylor 02/09 44% 100-90