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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
图
MONDAY MARCH 28.2005
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Texas Tech game sent Kansas swirling
BY KELLIE ROBINETT
krobinett@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
When Texas Tech sophomore forward Darryl Dora hit a fade away three-pointer to defeat Kansas 80-79, on Feb. 14. 14 realized the Jayhawks' season was about to spiral out of control.
After all, Kansas was 20-1
going into that game. The team
was ranked No. 2 in national
polls, and sole possession of
the Big 12 Conference regular
season title seemed to be a
lock.
Kansas played well at Texas Tech and Dora's game winner came only after senior guard Aaron Miles was questionably called for traveling, while Texas Tech players frantically tried to foul him.
Kansas coach Bill Self said the game ended in the worst way possible. Because the Jayhawks played well enough to win, none of the players put stock in the loss and instead chose to blame the loss on officials.
If the officials had called a foul on the Red Raiders, or if Dora had missed his shot from the top of the key, the season could have ended differently. But as Self said, that was the difference between winning and losing.
The setback in Lubbock.
Texas, was followed by a home loss to Iowa State, which Self later said his team had not come fired up for. The losing streak hit three games when the team traveled to Oklahoma. Kansas rebounded with a win against Oklahoma State, but finished the year losing six of nine.
After Kansas fell to Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Self said he had tried his best to glue things together down the stretch, but everything seemed to change after losing to Texas Tech.
"I thought it fit together pretty well until we had the three-game losing streak in February." Self said. "We were 20-1, I didn't think it didn't fit, but we didn't finish the season on a note that we were capable of finishing the season on."
Before that game, the Jayhawks battled past injuries and adversity. They found a way to win every close game, and even when senior forward Wayne Simien missed action, the team defeated Georgia Tech and Kentucky.
After the Texas Tech game, things changed. Kansas sustained new injuries, and failed to respond in the same way it did earlier in the year.
"We had our frustrating moments," senior guard Mike Lee said. "We lost some games
down the stretch, and even when we were winning we weren't playing well."
Junior forward Christian Moody missed a few games after he suffered a floor burn at Lubbock, which turned into a staph infection.
Senior guard Keith Langford sat out two games after he severely sprained his ankle, and then came down with the stomach flu. He played against Bucknell, but Self said he was nowhere near full strength.
Self refused to use those injuries as excuses, but did call them bad luck.
"We've dealt with a lot of crap," he said. "We've dealt with some injuries and stuff that a lot of other teams didn't have to deal with. Late in the season it was seriously spliced together."
Hard to imagine that a team's fortunes could change so drastically on a single play, but if you ask any' of the players they'll tell you that's what happened.
Langford was asked why Kansas fell apart after losing to Texas Tech and all he could do was shake his head and shrug.
"You can go back and make up a lot of things, but nobody really knows," Langford said. "There's just no explanation for why teams lose."
Edited by Lori Bettes
seconds of the game
Heartbreak
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Sound familiar?
In Kansas' final four regular season losses, the Jayhawks fell by a combined 15 points. In three of those games, the Jayhawks trailed at halftime. They turned the ball over at least 12 times in each of those games, which led to lengthy scoring droughts.
On paper, this Kansas team had all of the ingredients of a capable tournament team: the All-American candidate that was good for a double-double each game, the leadership, the experience, the depth. Momentum and energy don't show up on paper though.
Finishing the season 2-4 and losing senior guard Keith Langford, the team's second leading scorer, hurt the jayhawks' momentum.
Self was asked if he thought the lavhawk suffered from fatigue.
"I don't buy that," Self said. "But I think we played like that, and I think injuries make you look tired."
The Jayhawks finished the season 23-7, won the Big 12 title and earned a No. 3 seed in the Syracuse region.
NC State finished 7-9 in the ACC and were a No.10 seed in Syracuse. But when the Wolfpack look back on the 2004-05 season, they will consider it a success. They reached the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1989.
Self said he was proud of the Jayhawks' season. But he knows why this year will not be ranked
"I don't think you can have a great year unless you play well in March," Self said.
among Kansas' best.
"Sorry coach Flannery"
Some of the Kansas players were so stunned after their firstround loss to Bucknell, they forgot to shake the hands of the Bucknell players.
Self was unaware of the slight until after the game, addressed the team and placed a personal phone call to Bucknell coach Pat Flannery.
"I called Pat Flannery and said 'I haven't even talked to players about this.' I don't know exactly how it played out," Self said. "Pat told me 'don't sweat this because our players were on the court celebrating like they won a championship, so don't worry about waiting for us to stop running around."
What did he say?
In the locker room after the Jayhawks' loss to Bucknell, Langford said something that raised a few eyebrows. Granted, the senior guard has said many of those things in his career, but this comment's timing earned some extra attention: "Now I can sit down and express myself and say what I really want to, let people know how I really feel, get a lot of things off my chest." Langford said.
Self said he didn't find out about the comment until a couple of days after the game. When he heard it, he wanted to know what Langford meant by the comment.
"I called him and I called his mother, because I was unable to run him down, and asked him
to clue me in on what this meant," Self said. "It would lead me to believe he was going to say something about his unhappiness the last couple of years.
"He told me, and he was emphatic about this, he said, 'No, that's not what I meant at all. I don't have any problems with anything with the basketball program. There are some things I wish people knew."
Self said Langford could have been talking about a number of issues, but he suspected it was health problems, which have plagued Langford during the last two NCAA Tournaments.
Time to beef up
Add this year's recruiting class
Add this year's recruiting class -- Mario Chalmers, Julian Wright and Micah Downs — to the Jayhawks' five freshmen this season and the Jayhawks will have eight young players next season.
Self said the team will begin working out immediately after spring break to add some mass to those young bodies. Somebody is going to have to fill in for senior forward Wayne Simien's 20 points and 10 rebounds.
"We need to get in the weight room and get bigger and stronger." Self said.
Self said the current freshmen along with the incoming freshmen are going to have to work hard to develop into replacements for the graduating seniors.
"We have to have one or two develop into all-league type performers," Self said. "If you do that, all of the sudden, you have yourself quite a team."
Edited by Laura Francoviglia
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