6B SPORTS
I will do it.
THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009
NBAC (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
Indiana Pacers guard Brandon Rush (right) fouls Orlando Magic guard Mickael Pietrus during the second half of the Jan. 27 Pacers loss. Rush has a mentor in Indiana's Danny Granger, an all-star player this year.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
just wasn't room for Rush in the starting lineup. That had never happened to him before.
His uneasiness at the prospect of coming off the bench showed early. Rush averaged nearly eight more points in the five games when, because of injuries, coach Jim O'Brien was forced to put him in the starting lineup.
"I've never come off the bench before," Rush said about the discrepancy in his numbers. "This is my first time ever experiencing it. I guess it's that comfort zone. As a starter you hit your first couple of shots and really get into that flow. Coming off the bench, you come in and miss a couple and get taken out. You really don't know when — if you're coming back in."
Lately Rush's minutes have been cut even more with the return of Pacers guard Mike Dunleavy from an injury that kept him out for the first half of the season. But Rush says he knows he belongs in this league, citing Granger as an example.
"In the future I want to be a Danny Granger type," Rush said. "When he was a rookie he was going through a lot of the same things I'm going through right now. You know, he just got better and better every year. I want to have that kind of career."
Careers, though, take time. Rush has demonstrated the potential to be a lethal scorer in the NBA. In his five starts this year he has averaged 13 points a game, and scored a career-high 22 against New Jersey. But he is still just a rookie.
"They got me doing things I never thought I would do," he said. "I'm getting McDonald's every morning for the guys, singing happy birthday to everybody, dancing and stuff. It's a big difference."
But misery love company, and Rush has plenty of that. Four of his former Kansas teammates were drafted along with Rush on that night in late June.
Among them was point guard Mario Chalmers, who was in Indianapolis Friday for the same reason Rush stayed late at practice that morning.
Chalmers' Miami Heat were set to take on Rush's Pacers that night. Rush said it was a dream come true for all of them.
Though the friendship is still strong — Rush took Chalmers out for a steak dinner the night before the game — both know that it's all business once they get on the court.
"It's one of those we talked about over the years," Rush said, "being able to play each other in the NBA. It's a lot of fun; were always joking with each other. You definitely root for them."
"It's fun to go up against a guy like Brandon," said Chalmers, who has started all 47 games at point guard for Miami. "But at the same time we're going to make each other work hard for everything we get."
Chalmers, who averages 31 minutes per game compared to Rush's 20, plays a major role for the Heat, one that he described as "just trying to get everybody involved in the offense, keep us going on defense
and really bring that energy."
His importance to the Heat was exemplified early in their game against Indiana. The Pacers won the tip, but a quick turnover led to the Heat's first possession. Less than 30 seconds into the game, Chalmers helped the Heat get on the board. He was forced to the baseline but found Dwyane Wade in the middle for a 15-foot jumper and his first of five assists.
Afwepossessions later, Chalmers took advantage of a weakness in the Pacers defense. He sliced through three Pacers defenders — all above 6-foot-9-inches — for an easy left-handed layup. It was a play Rush saw coming.
"I've just got to pick up our system and how we play defense," Rush said at lunch before the game. "With Self it was just blitz everything. ... With coach O'Brien it's jamming everything, trying to force the guy with the ball to the baseline. It's kind of tough because you open up the gate, straight to the hole, for a great offensive player."
Chalmer's inexperience showed shortly after the layup. Seven minutes into the first quarter, Chalmers was forced to check out because of foul trouble.
With Chalmers able to play only a minute and a half in the second
quarter, the Heat's deficit quickly grew from three to 17. Despite logging only 13 minutes in the game, Chalmers tallied a respectable nine points and five assists.
"You can go on and on about somebody's impact," Wade said about Chalmers' foul trouble. "We had guys come in who should've been able to step in and do the job, but you always miss a guy like that when they're not on the floor."
Wade's relationship with Chalmers is an interesting one. Wade, who was one of the stars of this summer's Olympic goldmedal-winning Team USA, was coaching Chalmers at every possible opportunity.
He would retreat down the floor to talk to Chalmers on the bench during free throws and talk to him on the court during timeouts. Whenever the two were together on the bench they would sit next to each other and run imaginary plays with their hands, pointing out spots on the floor and using their hands to make phantom cuts to the hole.
"Dwane, you know, he's the one that took me under his wing at the beginning of the season," Chalmers said. "He's just tried to show me the ropes, make the game a little bit easier for me. That's the person I go
A similar relationship has evolved with Granger and Rush.
to when I've got to ask questions
stuff like that. He's my vet."
"I try to emulate his game," Rush said. "The coaches want me to do that and I want to do that for myself because he's a great play
— he's an All-Star now — and I want to be at that level.
It's easy to mistake the two on the court. Granger, a 6-foot-9 swingman out of New Mexico, has a few inches on the 6-6 Rush, but their frame — and game — are eerily similar.
Granger, the Pacers' first-round pick in the 2005 draft, has developed from a reserve and emergency starter into one of the top players in the league, averaging more than 25 points per game.
Rush, at the moment, is trapped in the reserve and emergency starter role, as Granger was in his rookie season, but his numbers hover right around what Granger put up that first year.
"It's a different level when you're going against all-stars every night," Rush said. "But I'm picking it up."
He doesn't have to go buy a lottery ticket, as his coach suggested.
tery ticket, as his coach suggested. He's already won it.
Edited by Grant Treaster
FORMER HAWKS AROUND THE NBA
The four Jayhawks from last year's team playing in the NB joined seven others who had already established themselves in the league. They are
Nick Collison
Collison
Oklahoma City Thunder, Class of 2003
Season: 8.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists
Career: 8.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1 assist
Collison, who formed one of the most prolific tandems in school history with Kirk Hinrich in his four years at Kansas, has become a mainstay in the Thunder's starting lineup. Despite Oklahoma City's struggles, Collison has proved to be a reliable power forward in the NBA.
Drew Gooden
Chicago Bulls, Class of 2002
Season: 13.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists
Career: 12.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Gooden has become known just as much for his varying facial hairstyles as for his reliable play for the Bulls. He joined fellow Jayhawk Kirk Hinchin in Chicago after being traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers last year, Gooden, in his seventh year in the league, is improving most of his career numbers in his first full year in Chicago.
Gooden
Kirk Hinrich
Chicago Bulls, Class of 2003
Chicago Bears, Class of 2003
Season: 9.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.3 steals Career: 14.1 points, 1.5 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.3 steals Hinrich was Chicago's starting point guard for the past five years, but when the opportunity arose for the Bulls to select hometown hero Derrick Rose with the first pick of the draft, they jumped. Hinrich is widely believed to have the talent to be a starting point guard, and his name, according to ESPN.com, is being thrown about in trade discussions.
Minrich
Raef LaFrentz
Portland Trail Blazers, Class of 1998
Season: 1.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, 0.2 assists, 0.4 blocks
Career: 10.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.6 blocks
LaFrentz is on the downstroke of a successful NBA career.
He has spent time with Denver, Dallas, Boston and, for the past two years, Portland, and may very well retire a Trail Blazer. The sweet-shooting big man has hit threes at a 36 percent clip for his career.
LaFrentz
Boston Celtics, Class of 1998
Paul Pierce
Season: 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 steals Career: 22.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.6 steals Pierce's scoring average has dropped during the past two years as a result of the Celtics finally building a winning team around him. After struggling through some bad years with the Celtics, last year Pierce broke through and won the NBA title. He was voted Finals MVP, becoming the second Jayhawk, after Jo White, to win the award with Boston. Pierce has had a borderline Hall of Fame career.
Pierce
Jacque Vaughn
San Antonio Spurs, Class of 1997
Season: 2.6 points, 2.3 assists, 0.8 rebounds
Career: 4.5 points, 2.5 assists, 1.3 rebounds
Vaughn, like LaFrentz, will likely be leaving the NBA within the next few seasons. After spending time with Utah, who drafted him 27th overall in 1997.
Atlanta, Orlando and New Jersey, the 33-year-old point guard has found a home with the San Antonio Spurs.
Vaughn
Julian Wright
Susan Wright
New Orleans Hornets, Class of 2007
Season: 2.9 points, 1.8 rebounds
Career: 1.6 points, 2.0 rebounds
Wright is still looking to break into a lineup that
features sharp shooter Peja Stojakovic and all-star
David West starting in the two forward spots that
Wright would likely occupy. As a reserve, he is
averaging 10 minutes per game.
Wright
BASKETBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
after promising Kansas would be fine.
"I don't know how we'll handle it," Self said. "It's probably a good thing we have five days off, to be honest with you."
Kansas' only solace seems to
be the looming matchup against Kansas State on Saturday in Manhattan. Self and the layhawks are impressed with the Wildcats' current five-game winning streak
— which includes an 88-72 victory against Missouri.
They know Bramlage Coliseum will be everybit as hostile as Mizzou Arena. And if the Jayhawks were to lose their second game in a row, they would likely see another court flooded with opposing fans.
To Kansas, a victory in Manhattan would get its season back on track. That's why the players adopted a motto after the loss in Columbia, Mo.
But it's about more than that.
"You can't turn one loss into two," sophomore guard Tyrel Reed said.
It almost sounded rehearsed as Aldrich and junior guard Sherron Collins described the game against Kansas State the same way.
None of them thought motivation would be a problem. Not only because it's a showdown against
an in-state rival, but also because of how the Missouri game played out.
just 1 of
"If you get beat," Reed said. "next game you've got to come out with a bad taste in your mouth and be ready to play."
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Reed described the Missouri defeat as "tough to swallow." Aldrich took it a step further and said it "eats at me."
Although the image of fans in black and gold flooding the court after a loss isn't going anywhere, Aldrich said it must be used as a positive.
"We've got to learn from it," Aldrich said. "That's the bottom line"
— Edited by Brandy Entsminger
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