THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2007
SPORTS
7B
SHOOTING FOR A STRONG START Women open season against Pittsburg State Gorillas
Has five months off cooled them off? The Jayhawks' greatest success came at the end of the year when they won five of their final nine games, including a Big 12 tournament upset over Oklahoma State. The team looked solid on the Australia trip this summer, but will they be able to re-capture that fire from last season and turn it into another winning streak?
QUESTION MARKS
KANSASVS. PITTSBURG STATE 4:00 p.m. Sunday, Allen Fieldhouse
Freshman Krysten Boogaard. Boogaard could be the difference for this team down the stretch. Henrickson's preferred offense runs through a dominant low-post player, something she didn't have last year. It will be interesting to see how the 6'5" Boogaard fits into Henrickson's system, and that will depend heavily on her play at both ends of the court.
PLAYER TO WATCH
OFFENSE
If the end of the 2006-07 season is any indicator, the Kansas offense should hit the ground running. Sophomore Danielle McCray and senior Taylor Mcintosh were heating up down the stretch, and they'll have plenty of help. Sophomores Porscha Weddington and Sade Morris each impressed coaches with their performances on the team's August trip to Australia. Also, sophomore Kelly Kohn and junior Ivana Catic provide some pop from the point guard position. Freshmen Nicolelle Smith, Krysten Boogaard and Chakeitha Weldon will each get some playing time and have a chance to see how they fit into the offensive scheme
DEFENSE
This was a problem area last year, as the several freshmen who saw playing time struggled to keep up on the defensive end. Coach Bonnie Henrickson stressed better defensive position in the offseason, but her players need to transfer that work onto the court. Low post players, especially, need to improve from last year because that position isn't deep enough to handle any serious foul trouble. This team has too many other concerns to worry about bad fouls down low. They won't face a real test on Sunday, but it's important to do well now so they have confidence come time for the real thing.
COACHING
Henrickson had to cut her playbook in half last year because of inexperience and the lack of an inside post presence. Now she has her pieces in place, depending on the play of junior Marija Zinic and Boogaard. If her post players perform well, Henrickson's offense is 10 times better. If not, this team looks a lot like last year's squad. Unless Henrickson is willing to change up her offensive style of play, which she did with mixed results last season, then one of these two players will have to step up and perform to Henrickson's expectations.
OFFENSE
Despite losing last season's leading score, forward Candice Gilbert, the Gorillas welcome in a fresh infusion of offensive talent. Junior college transfers Deprice Taylor and Brianna Buchanan bring stability and veteran savvy to the Pittsburgh State backcourt. Taylor is an athletic point guard from Detroit, Mich., that averaged 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season at Barton County Community College. The Gorillas also added University of Idaho transfer Liz Witte, the second leading three-point shooter in the Western Athletic Conference for the Vandals as a junior. Witte help Pittsburgh State improve its three-point shooting after the team made only 3.3 three pointers per game a year ago, the 239th lowest total in Division II
DEFENSE
For the most part the Gorillas were an average defensive team during 2006-2007. A revamped lineup characterized by a drastic increase in athleticism should help put more pressure on opposing teams. The loss of Gilbert's inside presence leaves a gap in Pittsburgh State's interior defense. Her rebounding and shot blocking will be difficult to replace
but the Gorillas will push the pace in an effort to create turnovers. One of the lone positives last season was the team's ability to defend without committing fouls. The Gorillas averaged 15.8 fouls per game, 40th in the nation.
Danielle McCray
COACHING
Pittsburg State hired new coach Lane Lord on April 5 to make wholesale changes to a stagnant program that finished 11-16 last season. Lord did just that by bringing 14 new players into the Gorilla program. The haul included seven
transfers and seven incoming freshman, many of whom followed him from his last coaching job at Barton County Community College. The Gorillas hope that Lord's success at his previous stops — at Wichita Heights High School, where his teams won two 6A state championships, and Barton, where the Cougars were 27-3 last year under Lord — translates into success in the highly competitive
PSU TIP-OFF
PLAYER TO WATCH
— Andrew Wiebe
— Taylor Bern
QUESTION MARKS
Deprice Taylor. The 5-9 Taylor is the kind of floor leader that can affect every aspect of the game. She is a long, athletic guard that can shoot, rebound and pass without committing untimely turnovers. Taylor started 29 of 30 games for Barton County, quarterbacking the Cougars to a share of the Jayhawk Conference West regular season title and a twelve game winning streak. Kansas will have to stop Taylor's dribble penetration and force her to exert energy defensively on Sunday to minimize her impact on the game.
How quickly can the Gorillas 14 new faces learn coach Lane Lord's system? Lord was smart to bring a few key players from last seasons Barton team to Pittsburgh that should ease the transition to a new system and coach. The Gorillas play Kansas and Missouri on back-to-back days, and if the players haven't absorbed it by now, the results will be obvious against two Big 12 schools. Taylor should have no problem adjusting to the competition but it remains to be seen how the rest of the team will cope.
FOOTBALL
Defensive backups contribute to starters' fresh legs late in games
Reserves holding their own
BY ASHER FUSCO afusco@kansan.com
Near the start of the fourth quarter of last Saturday's game, the Texas A&M Aggies looked asleep on their feet. Quarterback Stephen McGee struggled to control the ball after a poor snap and made a half-hearted attempt to hand it off to running back Mike Goodson. But Goodson and McGee were not in sync, and the ball fell to the turf.
Kansas junior defensive end John Larson was alert enough to sneak between the Aggies and corral the football, short-circuiting a Texas A&M drive and putting the Jayhawk offense in position to score a touchdown four plays later.
It's no wonder Larson was feeling fresh enough to beat his opponents to the fumble: Because of improved depth on defense, the fayhawks have been able to play at a high level deep into the second half of games.
"We're using a lot of kids," Mangino said. "Some of those guys that are quote-unquote twos are playing a lot of repetitions, and actually becoming one-minuses, maybe. Those kids are getting a lot of playing time and playing well."
On the defensive line, the lajhyawk "one-minuses" include freshman defensive end Jake Laptad and sophomore defensive end Jeff Wheeler. Laptad occasionally slides into one of the defensive end spots to give either Larson or junior Russell Brorsen a breath. Wheeler is the team's pass-rushing specialist, a quarterback's worst nightmare at 6-foot-7, 260-pounds. Wheeler has recorded just eight tackles this season, but three of those resulted in a loss of yardage and two were sacks.
The Kansas defensive backfield is also overflowing with serviceable players. In the team's third-down package, senior safety Sadiq Muhammed and freshman defensive backs Justin Thornton and Chris Harris enter the game to supplement the pass defense. Harris, a true freshman, proved himself by holding his own as a starter for seven games before becoming a "one-minus" last weekend. Thornton,
a safety who ran into hard times as a true freshman starter last season, has improved measurably and is currently tied for the team lead in interceptions with three.
The Jayhawk reserves have contributed something more than tackles and interceptions this season. Their success has allowed Mangino flexibility in his personnel decisions. The coach feels comfortable putting freshmen such as Laptad and Harris in to keep his starters' legs feeling fresh late in games.
"Our team has a lot of depth this year," Wheeler said. "I think a lot of our guys have contributed a lot to this team and what we've done over the past eight games. Definitely the first and second teams have both put in their work to make our team what it is."
Mangino's'one-minuses'
Jake Laptad freshman defensive end, 15 tackles, three sacks
Edited by Tara Smith
Key players who add depth:
Jeff Wheeler, sophomore defensive end, eight tackles, two sacks
» Chris Harris, freshman cornerback, 33 tackles, one interception
Justin Thornton, sophomore safety, 20 tackles, three interceptions
Sadiq Muhammed,
senior safety, 13 tackles, one
interception
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