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SPORTS
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
1B
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2003
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Jesse Newell
jnewell@kansan.com
Jayhawks use talent to advance
Many coaches say that to win the NCAA Tournament you need good play and luck.
Kansas has proven this year you might need just one.
It seemed that the Jayhawks had nothing go right for them this tournament. Gone was forward Wayne Simien. Gone was a number-one seed in the tournament. And gone was any thought Kansas could breeze to the Final Four.
The selection committee dealt Kansas a cruel hand on Selection Sunday, as perennial powers Duke and Arizona stood in the way of a trip to New Orleans. It seemed the only way the Jayhawks could make it through the first four games would be to get lucky.
They didn't.
The Blue Devils and Wildcats posed two challenges for Kansas. Duke was determined to shut down the Jayhawks' perimeter game while relying on its own hot shooting, while Arizona's zone defense tried to take away Kansas' inside presence just as it had earlier in the year.
Luck might have lost. Kansas did not.
No doubt the Jayhawks faced adversity.
If nothing else, the Jayhawks earned their spot in the Final Four. Against Duke, they showed their interior game, as Nick Collison carried Kansas with a 31-point, 18-rebound performance. As if on cue, Kirk Hinrich stepped up against Arizona, establishing a perimeter presence the Jayhawks desperately needed against the talented Wildcats.
Former Kansas teams might not have passed the test. No one would have been surprised if the Jayhawks had faltered against Duke or Arizona, all the while cursing fate and claiming to be unlucky once again.
This team, however, is not like the others.
When Oklahoma faced a challenge in the tournament against Syracuse and its home-court advantage this year, the Sooners failed. When star Keith Bogans became injured for Kentucky, the team stumbled.
SEE NEWELL ON PAGE 8B
Comparing war, basketball
General uses Williams as analogy for strategy in Pentagon conference
By Doyle Murphy
dmurphy@kansan.com
Kansan senior sportswriter
College basketball is full of war analogies: Games are battles and wars, players bomb three-pointers or fire a shots, offenses attack defenses and the list goes on. But in a role reversal yesterday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers used Kansas coach Roy Williams to explain the military game plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Williams
Addressing reporters during a Pentagon briefing with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Myers said it was not unusual to change plan of attack shortly after entering combat, much like basketball.
coaches shift strategies after tipoff
"I'm sure Roy Williams—when he puta plan together to go meet Arizona," Myers said, "he had a plan and went to the floor that night and said 'OK, we're going to play Arizona, and here's our plan,' and I imagine that plan didn't survive 10 minutes, and so then he had to start adjusting. A…"
wegoing to adjust? You bet."
Myers
Williams said at a press conference yesterday that he had met Myers, a 1965 Kansas State graduate from Kansas City, Mo., and was flattered to be mentioned by the general
but was quick to point out that, though basketball and war share terminology, they were apples and oranges when it came to importance.
"It's peculiar to hear them talking about game plans, and we're talking about game plans," Williams said
Throughout the United States' conflict
with Iraq, Williams has been careful to avoid taking a public pro or con stance regarding the United States involvement in the war. However, he has not shied away from his support for the deployed, American troops.
Williams said he was angered when friends of his had been met by protesters after returning from fighting in Vietnam. Williams said he understood there was going to be division among U.S. citizens, but he did not want soldiers returning from Iraq to meet a similar atmosphere.
"If those guys don't support our troops then I have no freaking use for them," Williams said.
Defense key against Marquette
By Ryan Greene
rgreene@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Marquette is not your typical Kansas opponent. Sure, if you've paid attention to the college basketball scene this season, you know about junior guard Dwyane Wade, but the rest may be pretty blurry. After all, Conference USA is not a traditional post-season powerhouse. For those of you trying to gain knowledge on the Golden Eagles before heading watching Saturday's game, here is your Marquette scouting report.
1) Wade is Public Enemy No.1.
Senior guard Kirk Hinrich and sophomore guard Michael Lee may be the most important Jayhawks defensively if Kansas wants to play Monday night. Plain and simple, Wade always gets the job done, even though at times it may not be pretty. In Saturday's Elite Eight victory against top-seeded Kentucky, Wade recorded a triple-double with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Wade can get it both shooting from the outside as well as slashing to the hoop, just like Hinrich. Wade is arguably the nation's top finisher when it comes to driving at the hoop, which is an attribute that typically tends to lure opponents into early foul trouble. No matter who the opponent, Wade will always find his way to the free-throw line, and Kansas will have to hope that he is cold from the charity stripe. One plan of action to beat Marquette may be to leave Hinrich or Lee on Wade 1-on-1, let Wade do his thing and concentrate on keeping his supporting cast from beating Kansas.
Kansas' Take:
"Dwyane Wade, he's a great athlete and a great player, and I would like the challenge of guarding him, to see if he's as
"What has impressed me about him is that he is so versatile. He can beat you in so many different ways. He is just a great player." — Hinrich
2) Golden Eagles are playing with nothing to lose.
Face it, nobody expected Marquette to wind up in the Final Four; probably not even the team itself. Marquette has proven that it can play the role of David, having beaten Kentucky and Pittsburgh on its road to New Orleans. The team's confidence has to be pretty high after beating Kentucky, who many analysts predicted to walk away with the championship. Basically, Marquette's biggest positive headed into this game is that it will not be scared by the Kansas mystique. Kansas' Take:
Kansas' Take:
"They have to be pretty good to beat Kentucky by 14, 15, or whatever it was. We come out and play terrible, we'll lose." — sophomore guard Keith Langford
"We think they are as good of a team as we have played all year. There shouldn't be any overlooking of them. We know they are capable; they beat Pittsburgh and Kentucky, two of the hottest teams in the country, back-to-back." — Hinrich
3) Keith Langford will be needed on defense badly.
More than likely, Langford will draw the defensive match-up with Marquette's freshman gunner Steve Novak. Novak is listed as a small forward, but like Texas' Brian Boddicker, spends most of his time on the perimeter. Novak's presence will be big for Marquette because he will keep his defender out from under the glass. In four tournament games, Novak is 14-for-20
SEE MARQUETTE ON PAGE 8B
Marquette junior guard Dwyane Wade slips past Kentucky senior forward Marquis Estill during Saturday's game. Wade helped drive the victory against top-seeded Kentucky with his 29 points.
Contributed photo/Marquette Tribune
Baseball defeats Bears again
Scott Reynolds/Kansar
Sophomore infielder Travis Metcalf waits for a pitch from the Southwest Missouri State pitcher while freshman Matt Baty prepares in the on-deck circle. Metcalf hit a grand slam in the third inning, scoring three players who had reached base on consecutive walks as the Jayhawks defeated the Bears 12-7 yesterday.
By Daniel Bork
dberk@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas baseball team kept its momentum heading in the right direction last night. The Jayhawks (23-11, 1-5 Big 12 Conference) defeated the Southwest Missouri State Bears 12-7, one night after earning its first conference victory against Oklahoma State.
The Bears were ranked in the preseason Top 25, but suffered their second loss to Kansas this season. The Jayhawks defeated the Bears 2-0 in Springfield, Mo.
After neither team scored in the first inning, the Jayhawks scored three runs in the bottom of the second.
Senior infielder Casey Spanish started the rally by hitting a single into the outfield. He then stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Freshman infielder Matt Baty continued his hot streak by hitting a double that drove in Spanish. Junior catcher Jake Kauzlarich hit Baty home with his third home run of the season.
"You have to swing the bats in order to win these games, and we know that," coach Ritch Price said. "I am real pleased that we beat them earlier in a pitcher's duel and now we beat them in a slugfest, and I think that is a real confidence-
booster for this team."
Then the Jayhawks scored four more runs in the third inning. After three consecutive walks to junior infielder Ryan Baty, senior infielder Kevin Wheeler and Spanish, sophomore infielder Travis Metcalf hit a grand slam. It was the first grand slam from a Kansas player since
"The last grand slam I hit was in high school, and those don't count anymore," Metcalf said. "I just went to the plate relaxed and looking for a first pitch fastball, and that is what I got."
IEE BASEBALL ON PAGE 8B
Both clubs like the long ball. No. 23 Kansas (21-9) has hit 30 home runs this season, two away from the school record established by last year's club. Wichita State (22-11) of the Missouri Valley Conference tied its single-season team record for home runs at 27 over the weekend during a home series with Illinois State.
After clashing with several Big 12 Conference foes lately, the Kansas softball team will travel to Wichita for some in-state doubleheader play at 4 p.m. today against the Shockers of Wichita State.
Shocker senior Audrey Walters recorded Wichita State's first four-hit game of the season with a home run in the bottom of the eighth in the Sunday finale against Illinois State. The school record for hits in a game is five, set by Walters.
Kansas coach Tracy Bunge said most of the Shockers' offensive production was due to to first year coach Tim Walton. The former Oklahoma hitting coach has improved Wichita State's plate production in his time in Wichita, she said.
"We know it's going to be a tough game," Bunge said. "We know we're going to be in for a dog fight. On the other hand we're not worried about what Wichita State is going to do to us, but what we're going to do to them."
The 'Hawks have some hot bats of their own with a number of players registering multi-hit games, namely infielders Jessica Moppin and Nettie Fierros. The two freshmen have been on an offensive tear recently, posting home runs and hits. Moppin broke the freshman season home run record with her ninth blast on Sunday at Iowa State. Fierros went 4-for-4 in the first game against Oklahoma City last Tuesday.
Before being swept by Illinois State over the weekend, Wichita State had been shocking most of its competition, going on an eight-game winning streak.
Bunge wants her squad's aggressive tactics to end up being the difference in the doubleheader.
4
The Jayhawks will return to conference play this weekend with two games at Texas Tech, starting at 2 p.m. Saturday.
— Steve Schmidt
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