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Tony Thompson goes deep twice against Western Illinois. BASEBALL 3B
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2009
SOFTBALL TEAM LOSES PAIR OF CLOSE GAMES
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Kansas played solidly, but still fell to Creighton. SOFTBALL 16B
PAGE 1B
KANSAS VS. MICHIGAN STATE S SWEET SIXTEEN, 8:37 P.M. FRIDAY, LUCAS OIL STADIUM, INDIANAPOLIS
SPARTAN SEQUEL
Jayhawks don't try to hide their drive for revenge in Sweet Sixteen game
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
No verb can accurately describe the physical domination Kansas encountered in its 75-62 defeat to Michigan State earlier in the season.
So Kansas coach Bill Self made up one his own.
"We got big-bowed" Self said
How exactly does a team get big-boyed? Self identified three main criteria: getting thoroughly out-rebounded, allowing a monstrous individual performance, and not dealing with a road environment effectively.
Kansas did all three in its beatdown at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich., on January 10. The Spartans out-rebounded the Jayhawks 42-31. Michigan State guard Kalin Lucas, the Big 10 Player of the Year, scored 22 points and controlled the pace of the game. The Breslin Center crowd became a major factor when Michigan State went on a 19-1 run in the first half.
Junior guard Sherron Collins cringes at the mention of being big-boyed, but he knows that's what happened.
"That doesn't sound good," Collins, whose nose was bloodyed by a Michigan State player in the game, said. "Big-boy only works for us when we big-boy each other in practice. We don't want to hear it with any other team."
And the layhawks certainly don't want to hear it associated with another team twice in the same season. Yet that could easily happen if Kansas repeats its performance from earlier in the year when it meets Michigan State again Friday at approximately 8:37 p.m. in the Sweet Sixteen at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium.
But no one is expecting it. The Jayhawks say they aren't even the same team that the Spartans pounded earlier in the season.
"Michigan State played a team in East Lansing that was not the Big 12 Champion," Self said. "They played a pretty good college basketball team, but not one that played to the level we played at."
SEE SEQUEL ON PAGE 5B
Kansas From Top: Tyshawn Taylor,
Sherro Collard, Cole Aldrich, Belf
Michigan State From Top: Kalin Lucas, Delvon Roe, Durrell Summers, Tom izzo
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Confidence issues hurt Morris' game this season
BY JAYSON JENKS
jienks@kansan.com
The best defender junior guard Sade Morris faced this season resided in the depths of her own mind.
Morris is Kansas' second best scorer — a player who possesses speed, impressive wingspan for a guard (she's 5-foot-11) and the ability to be a lockdown defender. But, at times, Morris' thoughts subtly betrayed when she was on offense with the ball in her hands.
"I don't understand it because if I was De, I'd be puffed up, walking around here like I owned everything," coach Bonnie Henrickson said.
Morris' struggles with self-con
fidence have always been present, but her tale is one that's familiar to many athletes playing Division I sports.
"Every player goes through maybe I'm not good enough to be at this level," Morris said. "But
The competition for playing
caliber of athletes leave many questioning their own abilities.
Morris did not appear confident, often deferring instead of attacking.
Morris said, but then you figure out
"Every player goes through 'maybe I'm not good enough to be at this level."
There's no doubt that Morris is talented enough to compete in the Big 12. But in games this season
Sometimes, she simply lacked the aggressive, take-it-to-the-
that you wouldn't be here if you weren't good enough"
SADE MORRIS Junior guard
basket style that serves as her greatest strength.
"I never want to be the person that wants to be selfish," Morris said. "There will be times when I say 'De, you're doing way too much."
In return,
Henrickson's pleas with Morris have been relentless and seemingly neverending. The goal, the purpose behind the constant prodding for more hinges on Morris'
8
WNIT THIRD ROUND
Kansas vs. Arkansas
7 p.m., Today
Allen Fieldhouse
Admission is free for
students with a valid KUID.
COMMENTARY
natural ability and noticeable importance to Kansas' success.
When Morris missed two games and the second half of another earlier in the year, Kansas went 0-3.
But when she's healthy and at her best, as was the case when she scored 24 points against Nebraska in the Big 12 tournament, Kansas'
offense changes from two-dimensional (junior forward Danielle McCray and everyone else) to a three-dimensional offense capable of competing with any team in the Big 12.
"Sade is a great player, and I always tell her that to booster her confidence. I tell her that she can take anyone to the basket." McCray said. "She's a good player like that. And once she's aggressive, you can't stop her."
Indeed, Morris has been difficult to stop, let alone slow down, in Kansas' past three games. In that stretch, she's averaged 20 points per game and made 54 percent of her attempts.
SEE WOMEN'S ON PAGE 5B
Going fishing: a tale of the walleye
Hopes of catching spawning walleye invited us to cast our bait into the water.
Kansas had just won its first round game when we — my father, brother and I — began to navigate the jagged bank of Clinton Lake's dam.
No luck. In fact, I had caught a cold just days before, so even that old axiom was out the window.
The wind, not as biblical as Monday's offering, was enough to upset my line, creating a nasty backlash to end the day. To be more accurate, relative inexperience with open-faced fishing reels and a lengthy hiatus from fishing may have played a small role in my folly and frustration.
In place of success was a perspective of the time off the water — time that grows with age and obligations. Textbooks, keyboards and money occupy increasing amounts of our time. Diversions sometimes include house parties, hurried jogs and maybe a trip to a game or two.
Despite my lures being ignored and my mishandling of fishing equipment, the freedom of shutting it all down was welcome. With the University, East Lawrence and workplaces out of sight, all to be seen was miles of choppy water. Out there was a fish that would take the bait. Maybe.
Roy Williams once said he didn't give a s---- about North Carolina. While at the lake, neither did I. Honestly, Quality time with family — another element growing in relation with the passage of time — took precedence over bracketology. That and I wanted a walleye.
The walleye, which is from the perch family, is among the many fish of Clinton Lake. It is among the best-tasting fish as well, but upon first sight its distinctive features stand out. Its eyes sport a haunting glow like something out of a science fiction. Its thick body, colored yellow, brown and black, is crowned by a spiny dorsal fin that means business.
April, May and early June are the prime months for hooking these fish. Fishingnotes.com says they are coming off the spawn now and will be aggressively feeding in the months ahead. The key is to beat the other fisherman to the walleye. If you are too early or simply unsuccessful — like we were — Culvers offers a consolation prize with its fried walleye basket.
There are plenty of other fine fish in that lake. Crappie, for instance, will soon be ready to be caught en masse and later fried or smoked to perfection.
And so while our dollar gets us little more than toilet tissue these days, a few bucks spent on a license and a few supplies make for a cost-efficient diversion.
Fishing offers one more thing we could all use: Hope. Hope that tomorrow things will be better. You may have no luck, but there's always tomorrow.
Edited by Melissa Johnson