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SPORTS
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16A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2003
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Ryan Malashock rmalashock@kansan.com
Psychologist teaches team to visualize its potential
Once a week, sports psychologist Andrew Jacobs breaks from his private practice — The Winning Edge — in Kansas City. Mo., and drives to Lawrence.
It's not an unusual trip for Jacobs. In fact, he used to make the 43-mile trek from his office to Allen Fieldhouse more often. Back in the early '80s, Jacobs became Kansas' first-ever sports psychologist.
In 1984, he assisted the U.S. Olympic Cycling team, using his experience in mental preparation to springboard the squad to nine medals. Over the years, he's worked with the Kansas City Royals and far too many professional athletes to name them individually.
Now, he's back in Lawrence at the request of two women he befriended some 20 years ago.
Those two — women's basketball coach Marian Washington and assistant coach Lynette Woodard — remembered the quality of Jacobs' work and the mental inspiration and guidance he provided. They also, before this season, knew the 2002-2003 basketball campaign could challenge them beyond their capabilities.
They are great coaches. Washington won her 550th game earlier this year, but delving into the mental aspect of basketball is not their specialty, nor is it expected to be. And to be blunt, this year's squad absolutely needed direction in that area.
So much goes into coaching a successful basketball season, far more than the simple X's and O's on the court, and Washington should be commended for searching outside help.
After all, it's not easy to guide a proven scorer when she spirals into a shooting slump; or introduce players to one another and expect them to trust each other immediately; or advise a player on an academic or personal problem; or work on visualizing success.
Washington reigns over most of the country's coaches in those departments. Her recruits and players echo each other about how Washington doubles as a quasi-mother in addition to their coach. But even Washington was overwhelmed at the start of the season. So Washington called Jacobs, hoping he would work with her team part-time. He enthusiastically accepted.
"I went in with goals of helping the young ladies develop on the court and helping them improve issues that may be affecting their performance," Jacobs said. "Also, a lot of the girls had not dealt with losing before, so that was also an issue."
And though in-state rival Kansas State beat the Jayhawks by 23 points last night, the team has taken large strides in improving its mental makeup. Jacobs has operated on a consistent schedule, speaking weekly to every player individually before addressing the entire team.
He speaks of maximizing talent by trusting teammates, attacking school work with the same ferocity as the basket and seeing before doing. He suggested a new approach to free throws that included relaxing, deep breathing, visualizing and, finally, releasing the ball.
At first, the players were apprehensive. How much can this mental mumbo jumbo really work? But slowly, they've come along. Now, they embrace their weekly time with Jacobs, picking his brain for new ways to better themselves.
"As one of a lot of freshman coming in,
SEE MALASHOCK ON PAGE 12A
Jayhawks beat Aggies
By Doyle Murphy
dmurphy@kansan.com
Kansan sportswinter
How can Kansas forget trailing Oklahoma by 32 points in its last game? Beating Texas A&M by 40 points last night was a good start.
The Aggies (15-11 overall, 5-8 Big 12 Conference) had barely finished shaking hands before the Jayhawks (21-6, 11-2) were ahead by 10 points.
Kansas burst onto the floor, making five of its first nine shots for a 12-2 Jayhawk run while the Aggies struggled to make a basket.
"They are one of the best teams in the country at taking advantage of your missed opportunities." Texas A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. "And we had plenty of missed opportunities."
A&M was 1-of-6 from the field during the opening stretch—a trend that would continue. The Aggies made 26.2 percent of their attempts in the game, compared to the Jayhawks' 52.4 percent.
"We caught A&M on a night when the moon just wasn't right for them," Kansas coach Roy Williams said of Texas A&M's shooting woes.
Collison recorded a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, but King was not a factor.
Hounded by Kansas senior guard Kirk Hinrich, Texas A&M senior guard Bernard King scored just 7 points on 2-of-9 shooting, well below his 18 pointper-game average.
After the game, Hinrich refused to gloat despite holding King to his lowest point total ever against the Jayhawks.
"I just try to play hard and make things tough for him," Hirich said.
The preseason All-American caused problems for A&M with more than his defense. Hinrich scored a game-high 23 points, making eight of his 14 shots. His steal and subsequent two-handed dunk put Kansas ahead 63-23 midway through the second half, and a three-
SEE TEXAS A&M ON PAGE 12A
Sophomore guard Aaron Miles goes for a loose ball near the sidelines with Texas A&M senior Bernard King close on his heels. The Jayhawks beat the Aggies last night 85-45 in Allen Fieldhouse.
Courtney Kuhlen/Kansan
Courtney Kuhlen/Kansan
Simien injured again
By John Domoney
jdomoney@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Last night's box score in Kansas' 85-45 victory over Texas A&M does not give much detail to Wayne Simien's night on the floor.
Every part of Simien's box score was filled with zeros except for the 1 minute of playing time Simien had.
Seconds after checking into the game for junior forward Jeff Graves, Simien's shoulder took a blow when Aggie guard Bernard King collided into him.
A look of dejection and frustration
crossed the face of Simien as he held his shoulder close to his body.
Simien went to the locker room with trainer Mark Cairns and never returned to the floor.
Williams appeared optimistic about the latest tweak to Simien's shoulder after the game, but he said it was difficult for the rest of the Jayhawks to concentrate on the game.
Williams said after the game that the decision to have Simien in the game was one he never considered changing.
"The decision that Wayne has made, and we've gone along with, is Wayne is going to play hurt," Williams said.
Graves filled the hole left by Simien's absence by playing 26 minutes and contributing 4 points and eight rebounds.
Graves said after the game that watching Simien run into the locker room with trainer Mark Cairns brought back unpleasant memories.
"It was a flashback in terms of a reality check because everybody knew he wasn't 100 percent." Graves said.
Simien was seeing action in his fourth game since returning to the Kansas lineup after he suffered an injury to his
SEE SIMIEN ON PAGE 12A
Evan Semon/The Collegian
Sophomore guard Stacey Becker battles for a loose ball with Kansas State's Kendra Wecker, front, and Chelsea Domenico. The Jayhawks lost 80-57 to the No. 5 Wildcats last night at Bramlage Coliseum.
'Cats star returns; Hawks efforts fail
by Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
MANHATTAN — The Kansas women's basketball team expected a tough game from No. 5 Kansas State, but no one, not even the Wildcat faithful, expected Laurie Koehn.
The purple-clad crowd of 10.702 at Bramlage Coliseum gave Koehn a standing ovation when she checked into the game with just more than 4 minutes left in the first half. Koehn, a sophomore guard, missed seven games with a sore right foot. She was her same old self with 9 points, going 3-for-5 from beyond the three-point line as Kansas State (26-2
overall,13-1 Big 12 Conference) downed Kansas (10-15,3-11),80-57.
"Obviously, I couldn't be more excited," Koehn said. "It's so much fun to be out there playing with these guys and everyone on the team."
Kansas State started the game hot, remained hot, finished hot. Sophomore forward Megan Mahoney led the way with 21 points, including hitting all four of her three-pointers in the first half. Junior center Nicole Ohide was too much for Kansas to handle in the middle, posting 20 points and 12 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season. Sophomore forward Kendra Wecker
SEE KANSAS STATE ON PAGE 12A
NCAA holds summit about fan behavior
By Kevin Flaherty
By Kevin Flattery
kflaherty@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Summit, held Feb. 20, may affect how fans watch sports.
Concerned members of various NCAA sports, such as coaches, administrators, psychologists and referees, gathered at the summit to address the growing problem of crowd control. The attendees listened to various case studies about different problems, then broke into groups to discuss possible action.
While they made no definite solutions, several new possibilities were discussed.
Bo Carter, Big 12 assistant commissioner, said the summit wanted the games to remain fun but not affect the course of the game.
"I think the gist of the plan from the summit was to keep everything in moderation and to keep things within reason," Carter said.
Two major concerns of the summit were to keep people safe without hurting the traditional rivalries and to control the use of alcohol and intoxicated fans.
"We want responsible hostility," Dooley said.
SEE SPORTSMANSHIP ON PAGE 12A
The concerns were raised after the NCAA college football season ended with controversial misbehavior by fans.
Vince Dooley, Georgia athletics director, said rivalries were great without the dangers of bad fan sportsmanship.
At the Ohio State-Michigan football game, police were forced to use hoses of pepper spray to subdue a crowd looking to celebrate a championship game berth. They also used grease on the goal posts to
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS FOR
SPORTSMANSHIP
PROBLEMS:
Changing student and pep band seating from behind the opposing team's benches
More thorough pregame planning sessions
- Limiting or eliminating controversial big-screen replays that show officials' mistakes
Better enforcement of alcohol laws, as well as more security measures to control intoxicated fans