8B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2005
Sports
SHARK'S SURF SHOP
Self assesses Giles' injuries
BY MIRENDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
KANALAN SENIOR SPORTWRITER
"They are a good team, and it is another challenge on the road," senior guard Mike Lee said. "They played a good game against us at home, and we lost to them last year. So we are working hard to get ready for them."
The Kansas men's basketball team met yesterday for the first time since its victory against Missouri on Monday night. The Jayhawks took Tuesday off, but were back on the court yesterday, preparing to hit the road to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday.
Yes, the same Nebraska team that was one three-point shot at the buzzer away from upsetting Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 19. The team that defeated the Jayhawks, 74-55, last year at Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb.
With that on their minds, the Jayhawks were all business yesterday.
C. J. Giles may be more ready than anybody else. The freshman forward has been nothing more than a spectator on the Kansas
He didn't suit up for the Jayhawks' last three games because of a severely bruised right foot, and he played only a combined five minutes in Kansas' two prior games.
bench for about two-and-a-half weeks.
Giles said that he came down on his foot wrong after an alleyoop dunk during the Kentucky game Jan. 9. He played 21 minutes in the Jayhawks' next contest against the Iowa State Cyclones on Jan. 12, but he realized the injury was more serious during practice after the Colorado game on Jan. 15. Shortly thereafter, he began wearing an orthopedic boot on his right foot.
The boot has helped minimize the pain and swelling so much that Giles said he expected to be ready to play this weekend.
"I am not all the way there, but I should be by Saturday," he said.
Kansas coach Bill Self said that Giles could play only if he practiced yesterday.
"If he isn't prepared to play, 'I won't play him'. "Self said. "But I am certainly hopeful that he can practice in the next day or two."
Before practice yesterday,
Giles was boot-free and said he
would participate in some half-court drills.
Giles' injury poses a significant problem because it may have set him back in the rotation, forcing him to have to earn his way back into the Kansas line-up. Before the injury, Giles had emerged as the front-runner of the freshman big men, starting three games for the Jayhawks when senior forward Wayne Simien was out with an injured thumb.
But after practically no playing time in five games, Giles may find himself behind fellow freshman Sasha Kaun, who has surfaced as the first big man off the bench.
Kaun has played at least 11 minutes in each of the last five games, while averaging six points and three rebounds per game.
Self said he expected Giles to be in the line-up, but he said that his injury could affect the amount of minutes he will play in the immediate future.
"I don't think it was very timely for C.J," Self said. "But we need a shot-blocker and an alterer and an athlete up front, so I think if he is healthy, and when he gets back in the groove, I still see him getting
back into our rotation."
Freshman Alex Galindo, who has an injured groin, will probably not be as lucky. Self said he didn't expect the freshman forward to be available for Saturday's game. But he also said that Galindo's groin injury was not as serious as the one Simien suffered last year.
"It is not quite as severe because Wayne's bothered him all year," Self said. "And Alex could progress to that, but I don't know if it is to that stage vet.
Speaking of Simien, Self said the power forward was ready to play without a cast. Simien has been playing with some form of cast on his left hand since his return to the court on Jan. 12. He had surgery to prepare ligaments on his left thumb on Dec. 20.
Simien played his first couple of games back wearing a rather bulky cast, and has recently moved to a smaller one. From there, Self said Simien would probably use just tape. But in the meantime, Simien has to lose the cast.
"It is time for that one to come off," Self said.
- Edited by Ross Fitch
CLASS: Preserve unique Fieldhouse atmosphere, Self says
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
the tradition of Kansas basketball. Forty-eight hours later, while calling the Michigan State vs. Illinois game Tuesday night, he was still talking about how much class Kansas had.
With that in mind, Self simply wants the profanities to stop.
"I'll plead to the students now," Self said. "Any type of profanity should not be chanted."
He encouraged the fans to be creative instead of derogatory. "There are enough creative things that we can do," Self said. "They should come up with something clever."
Senior guards Mike Lee and
Aaron Miles said the chants didn't bother them, but they said they recognized that it might reflect poorly on the program.
"It would be perceived as more classless than anything else," Lee said.
But Lee said part of the reason that it didn't bother him was because the Missouri fans "are the worst fans I've ever witnessed."
Miles pointed to a situation during his junior year when the Kansas football team defeated Missouri
"A 70 year-old man who was a Missouri fan punched a student," Miles said.
Self said he didn't want Kansas fans to stoop to that level. He also doesn't want an action to take away from the unique atmosphere of Allen Fieldhouse.
"Nobody enjoys a great home court more than me, and no one appreciates the student body being involved in the game more than me," Self said. "I respect the fact that they camp out and donate their time. That's what makes this place special, but I do think that if you get into vulgarity it takes away from how special this place is."
Edited by John Scheirman
"Nobody enjoys a great
home court more than me, and no one appreciates the student body being involved in the game more than me."
Bill Self
Kansas basketball coach
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