SPORTS
University Daily Kansan / Tuesday, January 28, 1992
9
JV basketball lacks fans
Junior-varsity guards Jason Robertson (left) and Kenny Johnson battle for the ball during Saturday's game.
Varsity play overshadows 10-1 record
By Jerry Schmidt
Kansan sportswriter
Thatis, Kansas varsity basketball.
National rankings, sellout crowds and constant media coverage usually accompany Kansas basketball.
That's, Kansas varsity basketball.
Despite jumping to a 10-1 record, the Kansas junior-varsity team remains out of the limelight.
"I've told our guys that we're not going to beg for attention," junior-varsity coach Mark Turgeon said. "If we keep doing what we're doing, people are going to know about us."
Turgeon said that to play for the junior varsity team was an opportunity many students wished they could have.
In the 'Hawks' 10 victories, which included forift by Mid-America Nazarene, Kansas has outscored their opponents by more than 18 points a game. The only loss came Saturday when Dodge City Community College beat the Jayhawks, 84-73. Dodge City had previously beaten Hutchinson Community College when they were the No. 1 junior college team in the nation.
Achance to continue playing basketball after high school at tradition-rich Kansas has lured players to try out for the program.
"There's a real responsibility being on the JV team," Turgeon said. "The thing we always talk about is there's thousands and thousands of kids out there that would just love to wear 'Kansas' across their chest, and how lucky they are to wear 'Kansas' across their chest."
Turgeon said that since he took over the program four years ago, the talent level of his team had gotten better and he was no longer be fooled by the junior-varsity label.
"Now it's a big game to play KUJV." Turgeon said. "It used to be a game where they come in and they didn't get too excited about it. Now it's a tough victory for them."
Scott Novosel, a freshman who played high school basketball at Blue Valley North High School, said teams came into the games over-confident.
"Sometimes teams come into our games thinking they're going to kick our bouts." Novosel said. "Then we put it on them."
that led him to try out for the junior-varsity team.
He said there were many factors
"I could have played at a juco," Novosel said. "But I wanted to come to KU and also play competitive ball."
A few JV players even make it to the varsity level. Lane Czaphlinski, now a reserve for the varsity, spent three years in the junior-varsity program.
Novosel said that he would jump at the opportunity to do what Czaplinski was doing.
"He's traveling around the country and hanging out with the guys on the varsity," he said. "It would be great to bring your name to the end of the game."
the junior varsity team were a reflection of Turgeon.
"I think the success can be attributed directly to Coach Turgeon," Czaplinski said. "He's very much a student of the game, and the savvy he showed on the court as a player is a reflection of the team. He instills his priorities in his players."
Czaplinski said the winning ways of
Jordan breaks shooting slump
By Lyle Niedens
Kansan sportwriter.
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas point guard Adonis Jordan said he didn't have an answer for his recent shooting slump.
Saturday's game against Nebraska may have been answer enough.
Although he still shot under 50 percent, 7-6-18 from the field, Jordan hit six three-pointers in 10 attempts, both season highs for the Jayhawks. His 20 points led all scorers.
The performance was well-timed for both Jordan and the Jayhawks
"Ican't remember a time, even in high school, when I was in that bad of a shooting slump," Jordan said.
He was referring to his combined 8-12 of shooters in Kansas' previous three games against the University of Louisville, Missouri and Colorado. Those three games dropped Jordan's season shooting percentage from 62.4 percent to 52.1 percent, and his scoring average fell from 14.5 to 13.5 points a game.
It was not just outside shooting that was missing from Jordan's repertoire. He couldn't hit a layup either.
"I was missing easy layups, and guys inside have been playing ping-pong with my shot," he said.
While Jordan still had a few problems shooting after driving to the basket, he rediscovered his outside shot against Nebraka. He made three of Kansas' seven first-half three-pointers, a primary reason the Jayhaws led 52-38 at halftime.
Jordan said that he would have been down on himself if he had missed his first couple of shots against the Cornhuskers, but that Coach Roy Williams told him to keep shooting no matter what.
"I was feeling good," Jordan said of his game against Nebraska. "I have the green light. I just have to keep on shooting."
Apparently, Nebraska's jump shot was on vacation, though. The Cornhuskers, who came into the game leading the Big Eight Conference with 42.5 percent shooting from three-point range, made only 4-of-18 three-pointers.
Williams said, "I told Adonis his jump shot was not on vacation."
Williams attributed part of Nebraska's shooting problems to Kansas' perimeter defense. Kansas guard Rev Walters, whohit three three-pointers of his own, agreed with Williams.
"We tried to get a hand in their face every time they took a shot," Walters said.
Jordan said, "We wanted to make this our best defensive game of the year."
Jayhawks rise in AP poll
Kansas basketball rallied this week as the team's team hung on to fifth place and the women's team moved up from last week's ranking.
Duke 1 1. Maryland 1
UCLA 2 2. Virginia 2
Oklahoma St. 3 3. Stanford 3
Indiana 4 4. Tennessee 4
Kansas 5 5. Iowa 5
Connecticut 7 6. Stephen F. Austin 7
Arkansas 9 7. Mississippi 8
Missouri 12 8. Penn St. 9
Arizona 11 9. George Washington 6
Ohio St. 6 10. Purdue 12
North Carolina 10 11. Vanderbilt 13
Syracuse 13 12. Miami 14
Michigan St. 14 13. Washington 10
Kentucky 8 14. W. Kentucky 16
Michigan 16 15. Clemson 15
Tulane 21 16. Houston 11
N.C. Charlotte 17 17. Hawaii 17
Oklahoma 17 18. SW Missouri St. 19
Texas-El Paso 17 23. Texas Tech 29
Georgia Tech 18 20. Kansas 22
UNLV 18 21. California 21
Alabama 15 22. Northwestern 18
Florida St. — 23. North Carolina 25
Louisville 20 24. Alabama —
Southern Cal. — 25. West Virginia —
Kansas Basketball Game 16
(5) KANSAS JAYHAWKS Coach: Roy Williams Record: 14-1, (3-0)
MARQUETTE
WARRIORS
Coach: Kevin O'Neill
Record: 11-6, (2-1 in
the Great Midwest)
Game time: 7:38 tomorrow night at Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
Probable Starters
Player/Position Ht. PPG RPG
24-F Alonzo Jamison 6-6 10.0 4.5
34-F Richard Scott 6-7 11.4 4.5
51-C Eric Pauley 6-10 8.2 2.7
23-G Rex Walters 6-4 15.9 3.3
30-G Adonis Jordan 5-11 13.9 3.1
Player/Position Ht. PPG RPG
44-G William Gates 6-0 3.5 2.4
35-C/F Damon Key 6-8 15.3 6.1
34-C Jim McLlvaine 7-1 10.9 5.2
10-G Tony Miller 6-0 7.1 4.4
12-G Robb Logtermann 6-3 12.1 2.2
**game notes:** Kansas leads the all-time series against Marquette 4-1, Kansas won the last season's game in Lawrence 108-71. ■ Marquette defeated Kansas 64-51 in the 1974 Final Four in Greenboro, N.C. ■ Roy Williams needs only 10 victories to become the fifth coach to win 100 or more games in his first four seasons as a Division I head coach. ■ Point guard Adonis Jordan has recorded at least one assist in all 84 games of his career. ■ The game will be televised on WIBW Channel 13 in Lawrence and will be broadcast on KLZR 105. FM.
Jeff Meesey, Daily Kansan
Kansas to take break in Big Eight season will play surprising 11-6 Marquette team
By Lyle Niedens
Source: Kansas Sports Network
Interrupting the Big Eight Conference season for a non-league road game does not bother Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams.
In fact, he says he likes the idea of mixing non-conference games, such as tonight's game at Marquette, with the Big Eight schedule.
"I've said several times that I'd like to have a couple games that break up the conference schedule." Williams said. "I wish it were St. Mary's Sisters of the Blind instead of Marquette, but it is just another game, another road trip and another game against a good club."
This Marquette team is better than the Warriors' squad that Kansas dismantled 108-71 in its home-opener last season. In that game, the Jayhawks set a school record with 22 steals.
Kansan sportswriter
The Warriors finished with a 11-18 record last season and were picked before this season to finish last in the new, six-team Great Midwest Conference.
But Marquette has surprised its criticies so far this season. Although the Warriors have dropped their last two games to Notre Dame and Memphis State, the Warriors have an 11-6 record, including a 2-1 conference mark.
Kansas, coming off Saturday's 103-78 victory against Nebraska, will be the second Big Eight team Marquette has played this season. The Warriors lost Jan. 14 on the road at No. 3 Oklahoma State 64-52.
Marquette coach Kevin O'Neill said stopping the No. 5 Jawhays, 14-1 and 3-0 in the Big Eight, would be a formidable task.
"Kansas is one of the better-balanced teams in the country," he said. "They rebound, defend and run the court to perfection.
"Somehow, we have to control the tempo in our comfort zone and not theirs."
Marquette's comfort zone is in low-scoring games. The Warriors have used zone defenses that have held opponents to 39 percent shooting and
"Like games like this," Jordan said. "I like playing somebody new, somebody who doesn't know your system."
The Jayhawks, on the other hand, like an up-tempo game, as their 90.8 points-a-game average attests. The clash of two styles of play between unfamiliar opponents intrigues Kansas point guard Adonis Jordan.
59. 7 points a game.
The Warriors, who have no seniors on their roster and start two freshmen, are led by 6-foot-8 sophomore swingman Damon Keys, who is averaging 15.3 points and 6.1 rebounds a game. Anchoring Marquette's three-guard offense is 8-3 sophomore guard Robb Logtermann, who averages 12.1 points a game. Coming off the bench, 6-8 junior forward Ron Curry leads the Warriors with seven rebounds a game.
The Jayhawks' starting guards continue to guide Kansas' offense. Junior Rex Walters leads the team with 15.9 points a game, with Jordan adding 13.9 points a game.
The 'Hawks led the Big Eight in field goal percentage at 52.8 percent.
Broadcasters trivialize Naismith's contributions to basketball
For every sport and every season, there is a fun fact that broadcasters feel compelled to inundate listeners with.
In the Larry Brown era, not a Jaya-hawk game went by without someone pointing out the fact that Kansas guard Scooter Barry was the son of NBA legend Rick Barry. By the time Scooter was a senior, we all knew it. Then he got a chance to him on, but the announcers went on stating the obvious anyway.
In virtually every Kansas City Chiefs game this season, someone had to spell out the fact that running back Christian Okoye's name literally means, "Born on Sunday," in his native Nigeria. Thank you, Bill Walsh. We've been hearing that for the last three years. Okoye also eats goat meat, and he did not play football until he was in college. Now tell us something we don't already know.
Unfortunately, it seems some announcers are simply reading the press release as the game drags on. They are either too lazy or too lame to do any real research, so we the listeners are forced to hear the same old thing weekend after weekend.
David Mitchell Sports columnist
Now, in this the 100th year of basketball, sports broadcasters have found it necessary to go out of their way to trivialize the game's inventor, James Nai-
ing out the already well-documented fact that Naismith is the only coach in Kansas history with a losing record.
Really? How shocking. If you did not already know this, turn in your tickets and transfer to Kansas State, home of boring basketball.
Seldom has a Jayhawk game gone by this season without someone point-
This presentation usually begins with one commentator bringing up the fact that Coach Roy Williams is the winningest coach in Kansas basketball history after just four seasons. This season, Williams remaining percentages. Williams still needs 500 more victories before we think of renaming Allen Field House.
Unavoidably, the announcers forget about the game in front of them and digress into the rich history of Kansas where it is already know backward and forwards.
We are reminded once again that Williams, Brown, Ted Owens, Dick Harp and Phog Allen all have coached
Jayhawk squads to the Final Four.
Poor old Naismith. What comesnext is all too predictable: "You know Max, it's ironic that Naismith, the inventor of the game, was the only Kansas coach with a losing record."
Wow! Too bad they laugh off the statistics and never tell you the rest of the story. They never tell you that Naismith did not always travel with the team because.fteaching responsibilities, and that a lot of the coaching was actually done by manager Rusel Russell.
This Naismith bashing has gotten old and boring to the point of being frustrating. The man made many contributions to the University and the
They also omit the fact that Kansas did not have a home court on campus until 1907, Naismith's eighth and final season. In fact, during his tenure, the 77 of the Jayhawks' '115 games were played outside of Lawrence.
If broadcasters want to make a statement about Naismith, why can't
world of sports. He taught at Kansas for 40 years until 1937 and then became athletic director. He served as fencing coach and invented the football helmet. He designed and pushed for the construction of Robinson Center. In the 1950s, people at the University still thought highly enough of Naismith to give his name to the road leading to the field house and Jayhawk basketball.
Naismith did have a losing record, by five games at 55-60. However, no one goes out of his way to point out the fact that Allen's teams lost more than 200 games or that Owen's teams lost 30 games in his last two seasons. And of course, Larry Brown broke our hearts and left Kansas mired in disgrace and controversy. Give Williams time, and he too will probably prove himself human, no matter how picture perfect he may seem to us now.
they concentrate on the fact that he left us one of the greatest joys imaginable?
What else has been as loved or shared on this campus? In times of war, racial tension and a myriad of other conflicts, basketball has been the one thing Kansans have always agreed on. Where else but Allen Field House could strangers link arms and sing a simple song of a golden valley?
Many sports origins date back so far that their inventors are unknown. American football and even baseball are derivatives of English games. Very few things are truly American. Basketball, however, is ours.
Naismith should be remembered not in jest but with pride. For he was many things, but never a loser.
David Mitchell is a DeSoto senior majoring in journalism.