Volume 124 Issue 124
kansan.com
Friday, March 30, 2012
COMMENTARY
Edited by Amanda Gage
Season filled with surprises
Kansas fans should embrace the underdog role while it lasts,'because it should be a long, long time before the talking heads in the media ever underestimate Bill Self again.
FINAL FOUR
Like most of my college days, my Wednesday night began with my now daily pilgrimage to YouTube, the animated face of the sometimes-disturbing world of the Internet.
One of those happenings would have been a pleasant surprise. Two would have been a blessing. All of them, along with junior forward Thomas Robinson's unanimous All-America play, is a miracle not unlike Manning or Mario.
It's hard to say how many combined hours, days or months I've spent looking at videos of people hurting themselves on swing sets or cats jumping into progressively smaller boxes, but one video in particular caught my eye that night.
Sometime after watching a clip of a road-raging Brazilian woman attempting vehicular manslaughter on a motorcyclist who kicked the side of her van, I stumbled upon a clip of Jack Harry from NBC Action News from a few months ago set to ominous, Hans Zimmer-like background music."I've got a beef with the league's coaches," Harry barked. "They really whiffed on this one, folks. Every year the so-called experts close their eyes and automatically anoint Kansas as conference champions."
Double ouch.
"KU will be lucky to finish in the top five." Harry continued. "There is no way the Jayhawks repeat this season."
Ouch.
Since the video was posted on March 28, it has received more than 10,000 views, 250 likes and only three dislikes. Harry's words are so satisfying to Kansas fans because the Jayhawks, preparing to play in their 14th Final Four and going after their second national championship in four years, can finally play the "Nobody believed in us!" card.
It is hard to blame them. With several stars on last season's squad jumping to the NBA or graduating and with the ineligibility ruling against several key freshmen, the Jayhawks more resembled the Island of Misfit Toys than a Final Four contender.
Who could have foreseen the frequently-suspended senior guard Tyshawn Taylor overcoming his personal and on-court struggles? Who imagined the lanky Jeff Withey would blossom into one of the most imposing defensive figures in all of college basketball? Or how about sparingly-use reserve junior forward Kevin Young averaging more than five rebounds a game in the NCAA Tournament?
It's bizarre to think of a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a team that just earned its eighth-consecutive Big 12 regular season title as underdogs, but Harry was certainly not alone in his assessment of the Jayhawks before the season started. Several media outlets projected teams like Baylor, Mizzou and even Texas A&M ahead of Kansas in the standings.
Buckeyes and Jayhawks are different teams from December
MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
NEW ORLEANS — Recent history often hints toward the future better than anything else in basketball. It reveals player trends. It exposes match-up disparities. It gives us a final score.
Not long ago, on Dec. 10, to be exact, the Ohio State Buckeyes visited Allen Fieldhouse and stuck with the Kansas Jayhawks, but lost 78-67. It was a back-and-forth affair that gave the unproven Jayhawks just what they needed.
"We had to have a feather in our cap" coach Bail Self said.
Does this recent history help us
assess a rematch between Kansas and Ohio State in Saturday's 7:49 p.m. national semifinal?
The Jayhawks would argue that it doesn't. Not in the slightest.
"This might as well be a whole new year," said senior guard Tyshawn Taylor.
Before that game, Buckeyes coach Thad Matta shook hands with Self and told him: "Merry Christmas." Matta had an early gift. At the time, the Buckeyes were undefeated and ranked No. 2 in the nation. But in this matchup, they would play without All-American forward Jared Sullinger, who suffered from back spasms.
Also in that game, Taylor
guided his team with 13 assists, but surrendered seven turnovers. Taylor, a point guard of speed and deception, was hobbling on a torn meniscus in his right knee. He would have surgery the day after the game.
Then there was the Davidson game on Dec. 19: an 80-74 loss that plummeted Kansas to its lowest point of the season. After the game, Self said he thought his team just stunk. They weren't tough or energized when they had to be. Then Taylor went through his bumps, which involved turnovers and careless tempo, and he inspired a now-infamous analysis from Self.
"He makes plays you can't coach," Self said, "and then he makes plays that look like he's never been coached."
The Buckeyes had their struggles, too. They lost three in a five-game stretch in February. Some observers tagged Sullinger as an overrated name, and many no longer considered the Buckeyes to be elite. Kansas has endured a similar perception. Yet both teams braved their struggles and reached the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for the Final Four.
Most folks don't question Sullinger any longer. They say he uses all his might to beat a defense.
Taylor has redefined the perception that he plays carelessly. Instead, they say, he just wins.
And so, when you watch Saturday's game, know that the product on the floor is of two teams that have progressed over a season. It won't be a mirror-image of the Happy Holidays meeting in the Fieldhouse.
"Anybody you play in November or early December is like two seasons ago," Self said.
Edited by Ian Cummings
BASEBALL
Looking for momentum in home stand
MAX LUSH
mlush@kansan.com
For the first time this season, the Kansas baseball team will play more than two games in a row at home. Kansas will host the Texas Tech Red Raiders for a three-game series that starts today at 6 p.m.
Kansas will try to put an end to a four-game losing streak and win their first game in Big 12 play.
Coach Ritch Price said despite the tough losses, it was good to see the Jayhawks competing with good teams late in games.
Kansas was beaten by a two-run double in the eighth inning Sunday against Baylor and a walk-off single Tuesday against Missouri Sate.
"When you're playing as many young as I'm playing, you know there will be growing pains," Price said. "Traditionally it takes guys 20 to 25 games to become good Division 1 ball players. I think we're just starting to take that next step."
After struggling early in the season, the Kansas offense is beginning to find its stride. Kansas scored 14 runs in its last two games. In each game, Kansas batters recorded 10 hits.
The Red Raiders are 15-11 this season, but are just 1-5 on the road. Like the Jayhawks, the Baylor Bears swept the Red Raiders in their first conference series. They are 1-5 in Big 12 play.
The Jayhawks fell to 10-14 this season Tuesday at Missouri State,
but they have only played three of their 24 games at Hoglund Ballpark in Lawrence. They are 2-1 at home this season.
Junior pitcher Thomas Taylor
"When you're playing as many young as I'm playing, you know there will be growing pains."
RITCH PRICE Coach
said Kansas' starters will need to be better to have success this weekend.
"The hitters have been doing exceptionally well the last two games," Taylor said. "The pitching staff needs to go out there and try and limit the runs as much as possible and get back to what we were doing in the beginning of the season."
Texas Tech boasts a strong offense. It averages 6.73 runs per game and every starter in its lineup
is hitting above .275.
Senior catcher James Stanfield will be calling the pitches for the Jayhawks' young pitching staff. He said it's important that the pitchers don't shy away from the Red Raiders' batters.
"A lot of it is just confidence," Stanfield said. "We've got to have a little more bulldog in us. They're tring to hurt us, we're trying to hurt them, and we just have to finish off their batters when we got them."
Sophomore pitcher Frank Duncan (3-3, 3.54 ERA) will take the mound today. He will face red-shirt sophomore Duke von Schaman (3-3, 2.08).
Duncan has struck out 34 batters, but has walked 17 this season. He won't be able to afford walking batters against the Red Raiders, who bat .311 as a team.
Duncan will have confidence pitching to contact knowing the defense behind him ranks 17th in the nation with a .978 fielding percentage. The defense has committed only 20 errors in 25 games.
This weekend is the 48th time the two teams have met and the 45th time they have met in Big 12 play. Saturday's first pitch will be at 2 p.m. and Sunday's at 1 p.m.
Edited by Caroline Kraft
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
ASHELIGH LEE/NANSHI FILE PHOTO
Associate coach Ryan Graves, freshman pitcher Colin Tousson, and junior catcher Alex DeLon discuss their next play on the pitcher's mound during game one against North Dakota Tuesday, March 6.