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MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FOOTBALL
Spring game shows defensive improvement
ETHAN PADWAY epadway@kansan.com
In one of the Kansas football team's practices last week, sophomore linebacker Michael Reynolds had three different coaches talk to him about running the play full speed.
At the end of practice, coach Charlie Weis called him out for it, trying to explain to him that they are going after him because he is one of the few players on the team who can make that play.
"My whole coaching point to him
points per game in the NCAA Division 1 last season.
Reynolds, along with fellow linebacker senior Toben Opurum, played a hybrid linebacker/defensive end position normally seen more in a 3-4 defensive scheme than in the Jayhawks' 4-3.
"I'm very comfortable with it because it gives me the chance to stand up and rush the passer and also play in coverage." Reynolds said.
Weis likes playing more versatile players at both positions because it allows him to keep his best players on
what his role will be in the fall. Because of Jackson's bigger build, he has the ability to play in the traditional halfback position as well as a bulkier backfill.
"He could very easily be at 230 with a couple of cheeseburgers," Wets said. "That's what we were going to have to decide, what weight we want him at, but you can see he has some natural running instincts."
Sophomore running back Tony Pierson's Spring Game at Memorial Stadium
The zero on the board beneath the white squad's name is an impressive feat, but it must be noted that the teams were not matched equally. The
COMMENTARY
Weis'infl
On a day when the University honored one of its football program's most significant figures, former coach Don Fambrough, it embarked on a new era.
An estimated 15,000 Jayhawk fans caught a glimpse of the new Kansas football team under the leadership of new coach Charlie Weis during the spring game Saturday.
New quarterbacks Dayne Crist and Jake Heaps showed off their extraordinary passing ability that Kansas fans haven't seen since Todd
KANSAS 67, GEORGETOWN 63
NOVEMBER 21, 2011
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
Junior guard Travis Releford practices a shot during warmups prior to tip off against Georgetown Releford went 4-4 for 10 points in the Jawahires 67-63 victory.
Kansas outlasts Georgetown in Maui
MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
LAHAINA, Hawaii — A week removed from a loss in New York and a few long-distance flights, the Jayhawks never had a second to catch a breath of tropical air.
Georgetown wouldn't let them.
Kansas slipped out of the Lahaina Civic Center with a 67-63 victory after enduring a tense opening-round matchup in the Maui Invitational.
"We continued to keep our composure and we battled," senior guard Tyshawn Taylor said.
Carried by junior forward Hollis Thompson, a stringy skyrocket who shoots 3-pointers with mechanical form, the Hoyas rarely led, but never relented. Thompson dazzled outside, swishing several contested shots from deep, yet never shied away from taking it to heart of the Kansas defense.
Kansas had to work around varying zone defenses and presses that clogged lanes and denied the right to dribble. At times, Georgetown's formations dictated the pace of the game and morphed Kansas into a slower half-court team. Without the privilege of steady fast-breaks, Self needed his shooters to step up.
Senior guard Tyshawn Taylor obliged, proving that his long summer of shooting
was worth the effort. He shot with balance and composure, knocking down all three of his 3-point attempts, establishing himself as a far more complete player than he's ever been.
"I just felt good," Taylor said. "I shot it pretty good in warm-ups, so I definitely went into the game wanting to look for my shot."
Then there was a brief scare.
With 14:28 left in the game, Taylor jumped to defend a Hoya three, but fell to the floor grabbing his calves. With players, referees and trainers circled around him, Taylor repeated: "I can't do it." After stretching and sitting on the bench for a few minutes, Taylor returned. Just as he had done before the fall, he energized an offense that was often dumbfounded by Georgetown.
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"I knew I was coming back," Taylor said.
Under Taylor's tutelage, junior forward Thomas Robinson thrived. His experimentation with mid-range shooting produced average results, but he never needed it much. Instead, he hung by the basket, where he's always been effective. Alley-oop dunks and two handed rebounds came in bunches, as Robinson finished the game with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
KANSAS 72, UCLA 56
NOVEMBER 22, 2011
Senior guard Tyshawn Taylor drives into the paint during the first half against UCLA at the Lahama Civic Center. Taylor contributed 13 points and 6 assists in the Jayhawks 72-56 victory. KU will face Duke in the finals for the 28th Annual EA Sports Maui Invitational.
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
Kansas defeats UCLA in a game of defense
kcarpenter@kansan.com
KORY CARPENTER
LAHAINA, Hawaii — It's as if Kansas coach Bill Self saw this game coming weeks ago. Before the season, he talked in detail about this year's team and it's offense, or lack thereof. Self's teams at Kansas have been stellar defensively, and more often than not, those defenses have been paired with a very good offense.
This year wasn't going to be the case, though. At least not heading into the season.
Self said the Jayhawks "weren't going to outscore anybody," so 85-80 shootouts or scores of that nature weren't going to be the norm.
It was anything but a shootout. The Kansas defense gave up just 26 first-half points as the Bruins were unable to get clear looks at the basket.
In the first half, UCLA sat on two points until the 13:49 mark, due in part to plenty of missed layups, clanked free-throws, and turnovers. They didn't reach the 20-point point plateau until there was less than 6 minutes to play in the half. And by the break, the Bruins had just 26 points to the Jayhawks' 46.
UCLAS apparent advantage, its depth in the front court, couldn't really get anything going the entire night. Josh Smith and Reeves Nelson, the two best post options for the Bruins, finished with just 13 points and six rebounds combined, nullifying any hopes of overwhelming the Kansas back-court which many people see as thin.
Guards Tyler Lamb and Jerime Anderson shot well from from the field and finished with 19 points combined. However, many of those baskets were contested three-point attempts in the second half when Kansas had over a 20-point lead at times. The Bruins got within five with a second half run which included multiple three-pointers by Reeves Nelson and Jerime Anderson.
With 4:37 left on the clock and the Kansas lead sitting at 61-56, the Bruin offense went silent. They missed three layups in the final four minutes and didn't register a single point, eventually losing by 16. The run the Bruins made in the middle of the second half proved to be more an anomaly than an actual threat, caused mainly by bad shots and a swarming Kansas defense. It was an ugly game for Bruins fans, and it was just the game Bill Self expected to see many times this season.
"William Faulkner was a Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) Member." What other English Literature courses and assigned novels were written by fraternity men and sorority women authors?
(BONUS QUESTION)
Which KU fraternity man was founding editor of the Book of the Month Club and ran for Kansas Governor on an Anti-Klu Kux Klan Ku Platform?
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