THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Inside Sports
Sports
Wednesday
February 18, 1998
Section:
B
Page 1
Practice no longer is the same old drill for KU volleyball players. New coach Ray Bechard has brought new workouts and new intensity to the team
Olympic Games
U. S. Olympian Tara Lipinski will go for the gold tonight in women's figure skating.
The Olympics
SEE PAGE 4B
Readers' Forum
See what readers have to say about signs in Allen Field House and JaRon Rush in today's forum.
SEE PAGE 6B
Contact the Kansan
Sports Desk: (785) 864-4810
Sports Fax: (785) 864-5261
Sports e-mail: sports@kansan.com
Sports Forum: spfforum@kansan.com
WWW.KANSAN.COM/NEWS/SPORTS
Kansas women hope to extend streak
By Kevin C. Wilson Kansan sportswriter
Protecting your home court is essential to succeeding in the Big 12 Conference, says Kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington.
The Starting Lineup
"Every team has to take care of their home games in this conference," she said.
"For a young club, I think we've done pretty well."
Kansas guard Jaclyn Johnson tries to push past Iowa State's Janel Grimm to make a shot on basket. Kansas defeated Iowa State 65-58 last Saturday and looks to continue its winning streak tonight against Colorado. Photo by Geoff Kraier/KANSAS
In fact, the team will be looking to push its home winning streak to 10 games tonight when it plays the Colorado Buffaloes at Allen Field House.
Forward Jaclyn Johnson said that the Jayhawks relished playing in front their fans.
"We're always comfortable on our home turf," Johnson said.
The Jayhawks, 16-6 overall and 8-4 in Big 12 play, have won the last three consecutive games against Colorado, including a 65-45 victory Feb. 4 in Boulder.
Kansas used a tough defense to hold Colorado to 28.6 percent shooting from the field, a season low for a Jayhawk opponent. This season, the Jayhawks have held their opponents to an average field-goal percentage of 36.7 percent, which ranks among the top ten in the nation.
"It's been a focus for us all year, and we've worked very hard at it," Washington said. "With a young team, I thought we could look to score some points from our defense."
Colorado, 10-12 overall and 4-8 in Big 12 play, is coming off two straight losses, the most recent being a 72-67 loss to Oklahoma State Saturday.
The Buffaloes are led by the senior point guard LaShena Graham, who is the only Colorado player to average double-figures points. Graham leads the team in scoring (11.4), assists (4.6) and steals (2.1). She has scored double digits 11 times this season and has eclipsed the 20-point plateau
twice. Although Graham struggled in the last game against Kansas, Washington said she expected her to be much more determined this time around.
"She's the kind of player you have to respect," Washington said. "We're going to play strong defense on her and not let her get in a flow."
Guard Lynn Pride continues to lead the Jayhawks with her All-American play. Pride tops the team in scoring (15.1). rebounds (6.8), steals (2.5) and minutes per game (33.3).
"She is one of the lead players in the country and one of the best athletes," Washington said. "She has ignited us with
her defense, rebounding, and scoring."
Washington is optimistic about her team's chances of making the NCAA tournament. "We have to continue to playing good basketball down the stretch," she
said.
"We have done a good job against the top teams and our strength of schedule should help. If we can get 18 to 20 wins and do well in the tournament, we'll be in good shape."
Thomas shoots for perfection
Guard quietly steals, scores for Javhawks
Kansas guard Billy Thomas lays up a shot against Kansas State in Manhattan. Thomas has been scoring more this season in his starting role than in his last three seasons. Photo by Geoff Krieger/KANSAN
By Tommy Gallagher
tgallagher@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas guard Billy Thomas is quiet by nature. But in his head, he sometimes screams and speculates about whether he has helped the team as much as he would like.
"Sometimes I've been guilty of getting mad at myself and not really shooting the ball too well," Thomas said. "When my team's doing well, I don't take all the credit. But when my team's doing bad, I tend to take more credit because of my three-point shooting ability."
On one occasion, Thomas said he wanted to kick the floor, scream and yell because he missed a jump shot that he had made thousands of times before — during games, practices and warmups.
Thomas was a dismal 1-for-
12 shooting, including an 0-for-
9 performance from behind the three-point line,
in an 68-83 loss to Maryland
on Dec. 7. He finished with
just three points and six
rebounds.
The Jayhawks have soared and fallen with Thomas at times this season.
And in a 76-65 loss to Hawaii on Dec. 30, Thomas was 5-for-18 from the floor, including 4-for-14 from three-point range. He had 14
points that game.
Thomas said that he sought solace from coach Roy Williams and the rest of the team when he needed support.
"I have to realize that I am helping this team even though I'm not shooting the ball well," Thomas said. "Just to hear it from him and the other coaches, maybe even my teammates, really gives me a big boost because I do think I am my own critic, like most players are."
Thomas recorded career highs for points (27), rebounds (11) and assists (six) in first- and second-round games in December at the Rainbow Classic. He provided Kansas with another scorer when forwards Raef LaFrentz, T.J. Pugh and Lester Earl were forced to watch games from the bench.
But Thomas has proven vital to the Jayhawks' success this season.
"Teams used to double down on Raef when I passed the ball inside, and they would leave me all alone." Thomas said. "But that doesn't happen anymore. Teams are guarding the outside better, but I can't place all the blame on that. I have to make the shots when I get
Although his scoring has significantly decreased recently, Thomas said it partly was because of better defensive play.
Thomas averages 13.8 points per game. He made clutch shots in wins against Arizona State and Nebraska. Monday night at Colorado, he led the Jayhawks with 16 points and seven assists as LaFrentz and forward Paul Pierce struggled to score.
Despite shooting from the perimeter, Thomas is No. 8 in the Big 12 Conference rankings for field-goal percentage. He has improved defensively, averaging a team-high 1.9 steals per game, which places him among the conference leaders.
them."
But make no mistake about it: Thomas said long-range shooting forever would be his trademark at Kansas.
LaFrentz said that Thomas' shooting could become more important than ever as the Jayhawks inch toward post-season play.
"We're really going to need him in the tournament," LaFrentz said. "We love to pound the ball inside, and he helps take some of the pressure off of us. We feature a balanced offense, so if our inside-outside game isn't there, we become a much easier team to defend against."
LaFrentz, Pierce are two of 10 trophy finalists
The finalists were announced yesterday at a press conference in New York City.
Kansas forwards Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce are two of 10 finalists for the Frontier Oscar Robertson Trophy.
No Kansas player has ever won the award, which dates back to 1959. Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams won the College Coach of the Year award in 1990
The award, formerly known as the College Basketball Player of the Year award, is voted on by the United States Basketball Writers Association to recognize the player who shows tireless effort, hard work and dedication to the game throughout the season.
Kansan staff report
LaFrentz: Nominat ed for the Frontier Oscar Robertson Award.
Kansas is one of three teams
with two finalists. The other two are Arizona with Mike Bibby and Michael Dickerson and North
Carolina with Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter. The other finalists are Ansu Sesay of Mississippi, Bonil Wells of Ball State, Richard Hamilton of Connecticut, Andre Miller of Utah and Mateen Cleaves of Michigan State.
The nominees for the College Coach of the Year Award are Bill Guthridge of North Carolina, Rob Evans of Mississippi and Ray McCallum of Ball State.
The award winners will be announced during the CBS Sports broadcast of the Final Four August 16 in San Antonio.
Four on March 28 in San Antonio, Texas.
Pierce: Also nominated; no Kansas player ever has won the award.
Last year's winners were Tim Duncan of Wake Forest and coach Clem Haskins of Minnesota.
Olympics and spring training just can't fight the winter blues
This is my least favorite time of year. No question
There's just something about February that gets me down.
Maybe that's what has altered my disposition.
Winter has lost its novelty. Money's tight. Classes seem to drag on forever. Skipped classes are starting to pile up. Robinson is booked with intramurals. And on top of all that, everyone on campus looks pissed off. Including me.
The only silver lining is that spring break is close and I'm heading south.
Scratch that silver lining crap.
Unfortunately, midterm exams are closer, and my grades are heading in the same direction.
Harley
Rattli
sports@kansan.com
It is times like these when I have to turn to the one thing that, no matter what, will
instantly put a nice big grin on my face.
instantly put a nice big grin on my face:
The St. Louis Rams' big, bad, naked fullback Craig Heyward standing in the shower with his liquid Zest in one hand and the "white thingy" in the other.
"But 'Ironhead..."
But when it comes to throwing one down, Pierce — and just about everyone else in the country — takes a back seat to North Carolina's Vince Carter. The Tar Heels' rangy forward has produced the most electrifying and comprehensive catalog of dunks in, dare I say, college basketball history.
**Kansas' Paul Pierce may be the best all-around small forward in the country. He can handle the rock, has a sweet jumper, and can take it to the hole with the best of them.**
Baseball was meant to be played outdoors in the sweltering August heat, not in a stuffy indoor arena. The Diamondbacks will have a retractable roof, which will make their stadium only slightly less offensive. The Devil Rays, on the other hand, have no excuse.
Not only has spring training arrived entirely too soon, but has anyone noticed that both of the new expansion teams, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks, will play in domed stadiums? Come on, people.
One word describes Carter's rim-rattlers:
sick
Maybe it's because I'm a lousy skier. Maybe it's because I hate the cold. Maybe it's because I'm from a state where cowchip tossing is a legitimate sport. Whatever the reason, I simply can't seem to catch Olympic fever.
- The Winter Olympics are in full swing, and you know what, who cares? I know I don't.
I know he is the greatest basketball player that ever lived.
Curling. Women's hockey. Yee-haw!
I know there will never be another like him. I know that I should cherish every time he graces the court.
Doesn't matter.
"I'm sure you've all noticed that the Jayhawks' season finale is against none other than my Oklahoma Sooners. Next Monday, Hootie, Eduardo, and the entire Sooner squad will arrive at Allen Field House.
I'm still sick and tired of Michael Jordan winning everything.
Now, if you all remember, I was the columnist last semester who fit his size-10 1/2 sneakers into his rather large mouth when I predicted the Sooners would beat the Javahaws in football.
So now you want to hear my basketball prediction, don't you? You want to see me make some harebrained prediction that the Sooners will defeat the Hawks.
Hey folks, I'm stupid. But not that stupid.
---
Rattliff is a Norman, Okla., junior in journalism.