SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2005
WWW.KANSAN.COM
en"
PAGE 1B
MEN'S BASKETBALL ANALYSIS
Kansas checkup
NCAA Tournament success depends on three critical aspects of Jayhawks' game
BY MIRANDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTSWRIETER
There are just some rituals that come along with the start of the NCAA Tournament. College basketball fans fill out brackets, they listen to countless hours of television analysis and they sit around and gab about when and why their team will get knocked out of the tournament.
Rachel Seymour/KANSAL
Kansas basketball fans should look at several details of the Jayhawks' team before jumping to any conclusions.
Health
Jeff Graves, KU graduate, slams the ball through the hoop as he warms up with his team, the Kansas City Knights, during their game at Johnson County Community College Friday night. Graves played for the University for two years, one year under Roy Williams when the Jayhawks went to the NCAA National Championship, where Graves shelled out 16 points and seized 16 rebounds. He now plays in the American Basketball Association with the Knights.
Kansas coach Bill Self said the Jayhawks could be healthier than they have been when they take the court on Friday. That would certainly be a change from the way the lineups have looked for the latter half of the Jayhawks' season.
After senior All-American candidate Wayne Simien sat out four games in December with an injured thumb, the Jayhawks haven't played many games with all their players healthy.
C. J. Giles injured his right foot in the Kentucky game Jan. 9. After struggling for three games, he was forced to ride the bench for six straight matchups. He missed critical practice time, which Self said has prevented Giles from contributing as much as expected. Freshman forward Alex Galindo also sat out early in the season, with an injured groin, and couldn't get into practice.
"His whole thing is with that staph infection you can't put any pressure on the area where it was infected," Self said. "So he couldn't even put a pad on it because that is to much pressure."
The most recent injury-
plagued Jayhawk has been Keith
Langford — and his injury came
as a double whammy. He
Junior forward Christian Moody missed the Jan. 12 game at Iowa State with an ankle injury. Recently he was kept out of another two games after a floor burn at Texas Tech turned into a staph infection. That injury is still affecting Moody's play, Self said.
Langford's health is the biggest question mark for the Jayhawks going into this weekend's first- and second-round games. He did an individual workout Sunday and practiced with the team Monday and yesterday, but Self said he was still not where he was before the injury.
injured his left ankle after the March 6 game at Missouri and hasn't been able to practice since. While nursing the injured ankle, Langford came down with a severe case of the stomach flu.
"His ankle is just average," Self said. "He kind of tweaked it there at the end of practice, which probably set him back for the rest of the day yesterday, but his ankle moved pretty good but not great. That is a bigger concern to me right now than his health."
The Jayhawks may be able to slip past Friday's game against Bucknell with a less-than-100 percent Langford. But with the delicacy of the team's health right now, Kansas fans should be concerned that any number of awkward falls, flailing bodies or loose elbows could hurt the Jayhawks in the long run.
Health will be the make-orbreak facet of this team.
Roadblocks to redemption
Kansas will need everyone healthy to survive the top-heavy Syracuse bracket as potential match-ups against Connecticut and North Carolina await.
Experience
At this point in the season, all of the top teams in the country have talented players. They all have a coach capable of leading them to the championship.
But there is one thing the Jayhawks have that they believe sets them apart from the rest of the field.
PROFILE
It has been well documented how tournament-tested these four seniors are. With the exception of Oklahoma State, this may be the most experienced group in the country.
SEE CHECKUP ON PAGE 5B
"Experience," senior guard Mike Lee said.
Jayhawk basketball alum Jeff Graves ignores critics' jeers
BY FRANK TANKKAR
fiankard@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Editor's Note: Kansan sportswriter Frank Tankard will profile a former Kansas men's basketball player each day this week, leading up to the Jayhawks' first game on Friday. Each player featured took the court for the Jayhawks sometime during the last four years. This is the third installment of the five-part series. Tomorrow, Tankard will profile former guard Jeff Boschee.
Jeff Graves showed up for the interview 30 minutes late. He apologized as he walked downstairs to the locker room at Johnson County Community College.
A junior college game had just ended, and as players from Labette Community College walked into the locker room fresh off a loss to Johnson County, they gawked at Graves sitting on the ground with his long legs stretched almost completely across the hall.
One player, apparently not remembering the team he just lost to, asked Graves if he played for Johnson County. His teammate gave him a smack on the back as he opened the door to the locker room.
the tool to the toes.
"You fool, that's Jeff Graves," he said,
turning to Graves. "Are you playing these days?"
"Yeah," Graves said.
"Where at?"
"Right here," Graves said. "For the Knights."
"Who?"
Just then a player ran out of the locker room with his cell phone and snapped a picture of Graves. He was followed by a large group of players and the team's coach.
"Everybody says this guy's built just like you, so we wanted to see if he's as big as you," the coach said, pointing to a player who was standing sheepishly in the back of the group and grinning. Graves stood up and approached the player, standing a couple of inches taller than him at 6-foot-9.
"Yeah, we're about the same." Graves said.
Graves is used to the attention. For a man who played only two years at Kansas and averaged only 6.2 points per game, he has gotten a lot of it.
Under fire
Want to write a story on Jeff Graves? The standard method is simple and easy to follow.
Step one: Find someone, a coach or a player, doubting Graves' work ethic — it's not hard.
Step two: Apply these doubts to whatever Graves is doing now.
Everywhere Graves plays there are serious doubts about how hard he tries. Last year he earned the dubious honor of being
the first player Kansas coach Bill Self suspended in 11 years of coaching. The year before, he received attention when former Kansas coach Roy Williams refused to officially recognize him as a member of the team until he got in shape.
Despite all the criticism, Graves hasn't changed. He doesn't think he needs to.
Community College, where Graves played before he came to Kansas.
Even his high school coach at Lee's Summit, Mike Spiegel, has been quoted questioning Graves' work ethic. So has Jim Morris, the coach at Iowa Western
"Once people find out who I am and what I stand for,people really change their minds when talking about the 'laziness' and all this stuff," he said.
SEE ROADBLOCKS ON PAGE 8B
David Morse, Wichita senior, takes a charge from Brian Regan, Chicago senior, last night during the intramural championship game in Allen Fieldhouse. Morse and his team, the Johnny Kiltroys, could not hold off Regan and the Seminoles. The Seminoles won, 45-36.
INTRAMURAL BASKETBALL
Exhausted teams battle in title game
Rylan Howe/KANSAN
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
mphillips@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Both the Johnny Kilroys and the Seminoles played four intramural basketball games on Sunday and Monday, then played the championship game in Allen Fieldhouse last night.
In baseball it would be called a quadruple-header. In any sport, it would be called exhausting.
The Seminoles didn't win the game as much as they survived it, defeating the defending champion Johnny Kilroys, 45-36.
pion Johnny Stolzenberg. The Seminoles will receive a free entry into the Rock Chalk Classic, the tournament that qualifies Midwest teams for the National Intramural Basketball Tournament in Georgia.
On Monday night, two players each fouled out in both teems' games.
SEE BATTLE ON PAGE 4B
ON THE FLIP SIDE
Jayhawks' Big Dance trip potentially Oscar-worthy
Spielberg couldn't write a script this good.
When the selection committee released the brackets on Sunday, it sure looked like those who made it were looking to enhance the dramatic elements of the NCAA Tournament with a number of meaningful match-ups. Any Kansas fan that has filled out an tournament bracket knows the potential.
PAT SHEHAN pshehan@hansan.com
In an opportunity to take on returning champ Connecticut, you want to be the best and you have to defeat the best.
Depending on the outcome of
North Carolina? Jayhawk seniors have been foaming at the mouth for this opportunity since April 2003.
In Syracuse and Kansas make it to the Final Four, the rematch will ignite viewer's interest. To say this year could be dramatic for the Jayhawks is an understatement. This year has the potential to be the greatest basketball story ever told.
March Madness, the Jayhawks' path to the Final Four could easily be adapted into a screenplay.
In order to make a screenplay successful, a writer needs several elements:
The protagonist
Wayne Simien. Simien is a strong candidate for Player of the Year and possibly the most polished player in the nation. Unlike candidates like J.J. Redick and Chris Paul, it's hard not to like Simien, no matter what school you cheer for. There's a Spanish term, "caudillo," for individuals like Simien. He's magnetic and personable. People flock to him. Simien is this team's hero.
The supporting cast
Aaron Miles, Keith Langford and Christian Moody. Any gang movie has the scene where the hero gets in over his head. Everything looks hopeless. Then the troops roll in. They either save the day or go down swinging. Miles' composure on the court gives the fans faith. Langford is the support that the protagonist cannot do without. His game-tying shots at Texas Tech and Iowa State make him the go-to-guy when the Jayhawks are in a bind. As far as underdogs, the Jayhawks have Christian Moody. When Rudy Ruettiger gets the opportunity to play for the Fighting Irish in the final scene of "Rudy," it's impossible not to get goosebumps. Moody could have felt the same when he got the opportunity to start this season after moving from walk-on to starter. The fans relate to him. They "moo" for him.
SEE SHEHAN ON PAGE 5B