2005
3B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2005
SPORTS
mpion
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Critics
He has tried to keep a positive. He has found other ways than just shooting to contribute. Self has complimented him for improving his defense. Against Missouri, Giddens had a career-high four steals.
After 26 games, Giddens is shooting 35 percent from behind the arc compared to 40 percent last year. He averaged 11.3 points per game last year and he is putting up 10.3 this season.
"Last year, it was like if I didn't hit shots, I had a bad game." Giddens said. "This year, I want to come out and guard the other team's best player and do the little things that help my team."
Giddens will be the first one to say that he hasn't played his best basketball this year. But statistically, his numbers aren't that much different from last season.
His teammates said he had been missing something that doesn't appear on a stat sheet: confidence.
"for him, I think it's all mental." senior guard Aaron Miles
said. "It's up to him to get his confidence up and bring the game that he expects himself to bring."
"I don't fault his trying, but I do sometimes fault his aggressiveness." Self said. "I think he could really, really try, but when you are not confident you are not very aggressive."
In the Jayhawks' last two games, though, Giddens looked like a player who was regaining his confidence. Self said his performance was one of the few positives to come out of a dismal second half at Missouri.
"I thought he was very aggressive and that it was evident getting four steals," Self said. "He went coast-to-coast one time with his left hand; that was a great play. He made a couple of big shots and I thought he was much better."
ers.
Self said the Jayhawks needed Giddens to step up this weekend in the Big 12 Tournament. With senior guard Keith Langford out with an ankle injury, the Jayhawks will need Giddens' offense to make up for Langford's 15 points a game and his defense to guard opponents' top perimeter play-
"He is going to have to be huge," Self said. "It is time for J.R. to start playing the way that he is capable of playing, which I believe he will. I think
Giddens
J. R. is an excellent ball player and with Keith being out, we are going to look to him more and more to deliver. And certainly I think he is capable of doing so."
Keith Update
Keith Langford walked into basketball practice yesterday crutch-free. He was still sporting the orthopedic boot on the left ankle. He said the athletic trainer took him off crutches because he wanted him to get used to walking with some discomfort.
"That is the way I am going to have to play." Lagport said.
Kansas coach Bill Self said it was unlikely that Langford would play in Friday's Big 12 Tournament game.
"I don't think there is any
reason to play him unless he is close to being 100 percent," Self said. "Structurally he is fine, but it is more of a pain tolerance issue and knowing that if he would tweak it again, he would have to go through the process again and it would be very painful."
"If he is not 85 to 90 percent, we will not play him."
Langford said he received four treatments Monday and was planning on going four times yesterday. During treatments he said the trainer used ice, massage and some anti-inflammatories.
He said his goal was to play this weekend, but he agreed with Self that if he was not at least 80 percent, he wouldn't play.
He said the injury already felt better than it did Sunday, but there was still some discomfort.
"I don't want to be out there and just look terrible and then use it as an excuse," he said. "If I play, I want to be able to play to the point where there are not excuses. I want it to be me out there playing."
- Edited by Ross Fitch
The two were the only form of offense for the Jayhawks. The rest of the team had only five field goals. Henrickson admitted that she has high hopes for next year.
"Everyone will be a year older and have a year in the system," Henrickson said. "We want to put them on the back for this season but also be able
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to kick them in the tail to get better for next year."
Season
Even with the success Kemp and Hallman had this season, they still need to improve for next season, she said.
This season, The Associated Press picked Kansas to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the Big 12. Most writers didn't even think women's team would win a game. It showed the skeptics finishing 5-11 in the Big 12
"As much as this loss hurts, we can't let it overshadow the growth that we made this season," Henrickson said. "This year wasn't enough, obviously, because we had a losing record and didn't make the postseason. But if we can make the same amount of growth next season that we did this season, good things can happen."
Conference, good enough for eighth place.
BOX SCORE
Junior forward Crystal Kemp notched a career high in points to go with double-digit rebounds, but it wasn't quite enough to lift Kansas over Missouri. Each Tiger starter scored eight or more points. The starting five combined for all of Missouri's scoring.
The rest of yesterday afternoon's box score:
Kansas (12-18, 5-11) Points Rebounds Three-pointers Minutes
Taylor McIntosh 3 11 0-0 35
Crystal Kemp 27 11 0-0 39
Kaylee Brown 0 1 0-3 22
Aquanita Burras 8 4 0-0 39
Erica Hallman 19 1 3-5 36
Sharita Smith 0 0 0-0 6
Blair Waltz 0 1 0-1 16
Jamie Boyd 0 1 0-0 7
TEAM TOTALS 57 34 3-9 200
Missouri (11-17, 4-12) Points Rebounds Three-pointers Minutes
Carlynn Savant 9 11 0-1 35
EeTisha Riddle 14 11 0-0 39
Christelle N'Garsanet 19 1 0-0 22
LaToya Bond 12 4 2-4 39
Tiffany Brooks 8 1 0-0 36
Kassie Drew 0 0 0-1 6
Blair Hardiek 0 2 0-0 16
Megan Roney 0 1 0-0 7
TEAM TOTALS 62 40 2-6 200
Disappointed with the defeat, Kemp was still happy with this season and is using it as a stepping stone to prepare for next season.
"This season gives us a lot of momentum going into next year," Kemp said. "The fact we are going to be seniors is a plus because we know what to expect and how to lead the team."
Hallman, who wiped away tears before entering the interview room, was also looking forward to next season.
"We need to learn from today and get better in the offseason," Hallman said. "When our freshman come in over the summer, we need to get them on the same page as everyone else. If we keep listening to Coach, we will be more successful than this season."
Not making the postseason is something new for Henrickson, who broke an 11-year postseason streak by missing it this year. While at Virginia Tech she averaged 23 wins per season and had an overall record of 158-62.
With Henrickson at the helm and Kemp and Hallman primed for a big senior season, next year should be promising. If Henrickson can get her incoming recruiting class to buy into her system, a return to postseason is a possibility for Henrickson and the Jayhawks.
Coaching
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Edited by Nikola Rowe
"Over 20 years we've been able to do a pretty significant renovation." Fine said. "You would not recognize the place from when I started in '84."
Fine's efforts with the bowling teams have turned them from above-average into nationally recognized programs. In 1998, after his twoyear stint in the SUA office, Fine met with three returning seniors and discussed ways to improve the program.
In the spring of 1999, the men's team reached national recognition when it made it to the Intercollegiate Bowling Championship. Fine had gotten the women's team to the IBC in 1995, and he said the team's philosophy led it to continued success. That success reached its crowning moment last year when the men's team won its first IBC National Championship under Fine.
It will be difficult to replace what Fine, who was the 2001-2002 Intercollegiate Bowling Coach of the Year, has done for the Jaybowl and the University of Kansas. He served not only as the bowling coach and recreation coordinator, but also as a mechanic in the Jaybowl. The multi-talent necessity of the job will make the search for Fine's replacement difficult.
Waite said David Mucci, director of KU Memorial Unions, was reviewing the current job description for recreation coordinator.
"Mike is such a multi-talented, three-in-one guy," said Jim Waite, director of programs for the Memorial Unions. "We may have to resort to hiring an independent person from the position to serve as either a coach or a mechanic."
"The review process will probably take a week or two," Waite said. "I anticipate we will
head out on the search after spring break."
Waite he hoped to have a few of the current members of the bowling team help with the search for a new coordinator.
The fact that their coach will be leaving at season's end has some team members wondering where the program will go.
"We could be in some trouble," junior bowler Rhino Page said. "But I know that there's a lot of people out there that care about this program, especially in town, so I don't think — by any means — it's going to go down the tubes."
Page said Fine's personality, in particular, will be a huge loss. Some bowlers had trouble verbalizing Fine's place in their lives.
"He's kind of like a father figure," freshman bowler Nikki Johannes said. "You can go and talk to him, he's really easy to talk to."
For senior bowler Kelly Zapf, who intends to come back next year to help the team make the transition, was holding back tears.
Source: Big 12 Conference
"He's not just my coach, he's not just my boss — he's my friend and I don't know where I'd be right now if it wasn't for him," Zapf said. "I can't imagine this place without him next year."
Fine's decision to leave Kansas came two weeks before the IBC Sectional Qualifier on March 19-20. Florida State is in the same sectional as Kansas, and junior bowler Zach Taylor said he was concerned the team might get wrapped up in how Fine's future players do.
"I think it's kind of in the back of all our minds," Taylor said. "We'll probably be watching Florida State a little more closely than we would ordinarily."
On May 20, Fine will end his career as the recreation coordinator for the Memorial Unions and the Kansas bowling coach.
— Edited by Jennifer Voldness
Robinett
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This problem plagues the small and mid-major conferences because their conference tournaments render the regular season virtually worthless.
Vermont, despite owning an RPI of 23, thought so little of its at-large chances that coach Tom Brennan sat his two leading scorers after clinching the regular season America East Conference Title. With its two best players resting up before the conference tournament, Vermont suffered an embarrassing loss to Maine.
Brennan said that he made the move because he thought
the only way his team could make the NCAA Tournament was by winning the America East Conference Tournament.
With all of this carnage going on in the lesser known leagues across the country, it certainly is nice to be Pennsylvania, which found out it would be playing in the NCAA Tournament way back on Feb. 26.
The Quakers won the Ivy League by five games with a 13-1 record and never had to worry about the drama — and possible heartbreak — that comes with losing one game in a pointless postseason tournament.
- Robinett is an Austin, Texas,
  senior in journalism.
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