SPORTS UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, April 18, 1994
11
Defense scores big in scrimmage
Coach, team see strengths improvement
By Andrew Gilman
Kansan sportswriter
Spring football ended Saturday with the scoreboard on and the defense gaining some respect.
"In the first two scrimimages, every one has a handwritten name."
one was hyping the offense," junior comerder Backor Dianne Brew said. "But we showed today that we're pretty good, too."
The defense outlasted the offense 66-40 in the 45-play scrimmage, but the score wasn't indicative of how close the game was.
The defense was awarded points for stopping the forearm, forcing turn.
stopping the offense in the red zone and even for allowing a field goal.
He added up to what Kansas coach
Glen Mason called a productive practice.
"We came up with a unique scoring system," he said of the defense getting three points for a stop and 14 points
for senior outside linebacker Don
Davis's field goal block and return for
a touchdown. "But it still come down
to a few key plays. I thought we had a good tough go. We finished up with a positive note."
Even though the defense earned some bragging rights over the offense, Mason has said that this was the best offense he had seen since he arrived at Kansas.
"This is a good offense," he said. "We've improved on fundamentals, and everyone has had playing experience."
The first-team offense, led by senior quarterback Ashkei Preston, scored
twice. Once was on a seven-play, 41-yard drive that ended on freshman kicker Jeff McCord's 51-yard field goal. Another drive, which was just 15 yards, ended in a touchdown for the offense.
Overall, Preston completed seven of 12 passes for 87 yards. Preston said that he used Saturday's scrimmage to work on certain aspects of his game.
"I wanted to work on keeping my eyes downfield," he said. "I also wanted to stay in the pocket and not scramble as much and throw the ball away if there was nobody open."
Williams directed a 97-yard drive for a touchdown and also drove the offense in for a score from the 7-yard line.
Junior college transfer quarterback Mark Williams completed four of five passes for 93 yards, including a 69-yard pass to senior wide receiver Rodney Harris.
"It was just a post route," Harris said. "It felt real good to catch a pass like that. It had been a long time."
The offense started drives at different areas of the field, including its own 3-yard line and the defense's 7-yard line.
He blocked the kick, picked the ball up and ran 85 yards for a touchdown.
Davis said that even though it was just a scrimmage, the defense kept an eye on the scoreboard.
Kansas running backs rushed for a combined 187 yards on the day. The longest was a 34-yard carry by junior running back L.T. Levine. But Saturday belonged to the defense.
Davis got through the right side of the line when the offense lined up for a field goal attempt.
"It made the game more competitive," he said. "This may be one of the best offenses in the league." Davis said. "But the defense will be."
"We set up eight different situations for the offense, excluding the two-minute situations," Mason said.
Tom Leininger / KANSAN
Junior defensive back Dorian Brew, No. 17, defends sophomore wide receiver Andre Carter on a pass route. The first team Kansas offense played the first team Kansas defense in Saturday's spring scrimmage.
'Hawks win one of three in Ames
By Andrew Gilman
Kansan sportswriter
The No. 16 Kansas baseball team finally found its pitching and left Ames, Iowa, with one win out of three against the Big Eight Conference's sixth place team.
Kansas got a complete game from senior pitcher Chris Corn, 6-1,his second victory in four days,and the Javahawks triumphed 6-4.
The Jayhawks, 26-11 overall and 11-7 in the conference, have had dominating pitching this season.
As recently as Wednesday night, Kansas defeated No. 6 Wichita State 6-3, behind Corn's four scoreless innings of relief, but the Jayhawks haven't been able to solve the Cyclones this season.
Iowa State, scored 20 runs Friday, including nine in the first inning, to defeat the Jahawks 20-14. The Cyclones came back from a two-run deficit with eight runs in the fifth for a 11-6 victory Saturday.
"We've had difficulty all year with the big iming, more than I'd like," Kansas coach Dave Bingham said. "I felt like we lost our poise, and that bothers me."
Kansas lost earlier this season when Iowa State scored seven runs in an innning on two separate occasions in a 19-15 Cyclone victory at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium.
Iowa State, 12-22, overall, and 6-13 in conference play, won three of five games from the Jayhawks this season.
"Iowa State has played us particularly well this year," Bingham said. "The flat beat ours."
On Saturday Kansas got out to a 2-0 lead after four innings, but Iowa State registered eight runs in the fifth and three more in the eighth to gain the victory.
Brian Vandervliet / KANSAN
In the first game, sophomore Clay Baird lasted only one-third of an inning, and 13 Cyclones came to the plate. Baird gave up nine runs on six hits, but only one run was earned.
After four innings the Cyclones led 19-3, and the Jawhaws could not catch up.
But Kansas, responding to its first two-game losing streak since Feb. 11-13, avoided a sweep with Corn's complete game.
Senior pitcher David Meyer, 5-3, went seven and two-thirds innings and was given the loss.
The Jayhawks return to action at 7 tonight with a home game against Creighton.
Kansas recruit keeps fans happy
By Matt Siegel
Kansas basketball recruit Billy Thomas takes questions from a Channel 4 news reporter after the U.S.A. High School All-Star Basketball Classic in Kansas City, Mo. Thomas had 14 points in the game on Saturday night. His Kansas hat was given to him by a fan at the game.
Kansan sportswriter
The U.S.A. High School All-Star Classic turned into what most all-star games degenerate into: a fast-paced game that produces a big score.
"There wasn't a lot of defense played tonight, that's for sure," said Kansas State coach Tom Asbury, who was on hand to see K-State recruit Aaron Swantzendrub play. "It was probably a typical all-star game in many regards."
But the 1,600 fans who were at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., on Saturday didn't seem to mind. Even before the tipoff there were shouts of "We want Billy," a reference to Kansas recruit Bliff Thomas.
He didn't disappoint his new hometown fans. Thomas shot 6-13 from the field and ended the game with 14 points.
The one thing that did seem to irk the crowd was Thomas' playing time. Each player played approximately 10 minutes a half. Thomas, who averaged 29.5 points a game his senior year at Loyola Prep in Shreveport, La., didn't really care about how much he played.
At times he showed flashes of why Kansas coach Roy Williams recruited him. He is an outside shooter who can also put the ball on the floor. His first basket, with just under 16 minutes left to play in the first half, was a three-pointer from the left corner. He also competed in a halftime three-point shootout and hit eight three-point baskets. He finished third in the contest.
"It was fun," said a smiling Thomas. "That's all-star games are for — fun. You don't play defense in all-star games. My shot was kind of off, but I was doing some other things."
Thomas' 14 points and Southwestern Louisiana recruit Kelvin Price's game-high 19 points, helped the U.S.A. all-stars to route the Missouri all stars 122-89. Thomas started in the backcourt with Swantendzuber, a future rival.
"It was kind of fun for them," Asbury said.
"They're different types of players, but ultimately they will probably see the floor against each other. I think Aaron is more a point guard type, where Thomas is more of
an off guard. Thomas is more athletic, he plays bigger because he is a little bit bigger. Both of them are going to be excellent players."
What made the game special for Thomas was playing so close to Lawrence. The fans, who cheered for Thomas throughout the game, were different from what Thomas has been hearing lately, said Thomas' high school coach Brook Kantrow.
"He played in an all-star game last weekend in Indiana, and the fans were helpless for all these Indiana people," Kantrow said. "It was nice to come here and hear them holler for Billy."
Royals pull off series sweep in Cleveland
However, Kantrow said the Indiana trip gave Thomas the opportunity to meet his future teammate, Raef LaFrentz, who also was recruited and signed by Kansas.
similar, both of them are kind of laid back. They're very good basketball players, but they don't act cocky. They come off as regular guys."
Thomas said that he could not wait until next season, where he would play in front of more than 15,000 fans.
Bv Chuck Melvin
"The first couple of times I'll probably be a little nervous," Thomas said. "但 once I get a few games under my belt I'll be all right. I kind of like playing in front of a lot of people, so it will be easy to get used to. When I visited Allen Field House I was like 'wow,' I had never seen so many fans gathered together."
"They roomed together and got along real well," Kantrow said. "Billy threw Raef an alley-oop during the game. They work really well together. Raef's a good guy. They're
Kansas has offered Travis Williams, a 7-foot-2 recruit from Rozel-Pawnee Heights, a scholarship. Williams can't sign with the Jayhawks until he qualifies academically. To qualify he will need a minimum score of 17 on the ACT.
Williams averaged 20 points,11 rebounds and 5 blocks as a senior in high school.
The Associated Press
"Tonight should be better," Appier said yesterday after he pitched seven strong innings as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Cleveland Indians 8-3 for their fourth-straight win.
CLEVELAND — Kevin Appier can get some sleep now.
No more late nights watching tapes of his last game. No more tossing and turning, wondering what went wrong.
Five days earlier, Appier had experi-
encled the worst start of his career, a nine-run, three-inning nightmare in a 22-11 loss to Boston.
It was so bad, he headed for the bullpen to work on his delivery and spent some long nights looking over videotapes.
"I knew something was mechanically wrong," he said. "My back step. My shoulder. My head. Rushing. It was a combination of stuff, plus the fact that my arm was dead."
He spotted nothing major, but lots of little things.
He felt much livelier yesterday, when he stymied all the Indians except Albert Belle, who drove in Cleveland's three runs with a single in the fourth and a two-run home run, his first, in the seventh.
Rookie designated hitter Bob Hamlin backed Appier with a home run, a double and three RBI. Hamlin has driven in eight runs in his last two games, and he leads the Royals with four homers and 14 RBI.
Brian McRae had four hits, matching his career high
All four of Cleveland's losses this year have come against Kansas City.
Kansas City completed a three-game sweep and evened its record at 5-5.
Appier (1-2) came into the game with a 13.50 ERA. Customarily a slow starter, he improved his career April record to 4-10, allowing three runs and five hits, striking out seven and walking none.
Jack Morris (1-1) lasted six and two-thirds innings, yielding six runs, one of them unearned, and eight hits.
He was victimized by a four-run sixth inning set up by an error on second baseman Carlos Baerga, who dropped the throw from shortstop Omar Vizquel on Wally Joyner's potential double-play grounder. A double steal and a walk loaded the bases for Hamelin, who hit a two-run double. Dave Henderson followed with a two-run single.
GUEST COLUMNIST
The Royals scored a run on Joyner's double-play grounder in the first, and Hamelin led off the second with his fourth home run.
Don't count cliches until fat lady sings
Are you ready to rumble?
It's game time. Step up to the plate, dig in and get ready for tip-off.
Sports clichés are not only overused, but they're also a way of communication.
This one's worth all the marbles, so listen up, because the loser goes home. Except with these words, the loser is all of us.
So push it up the court, fast break, you've got the numbers, slam it and clean the glass. Don't forget to shoot the rock then dish it off. Because if you don't, then maybe you should get a T.O.
This won't be easy, it will be a showdown, a battle, actually a war. So establish the ground game, use the clock, grind it out, because games are won in the trenches, up-front where the big guys earn their living, between the hash marks, in the slot, shoot for the five hole, but the cliché could put you in the penalty box.
Once you're back in the game, don't forget the bullpen, because there's always the need for a crafty southpaw who can bring the heat and shut 'em down. But it's not over 'til it's over, and the fat lady ain't singing. We're barely past the seventh inning stretch. Get on your horse, run the bases, put yourself in scoring position, but don't get caught in a rundown. This way of communicating may get you tagged out, so hit the showers and grab some pine.
Be ready to pinch hit, be that sixth man, 'cause in the locker room you've got to talk strategy and game plan. By the second half kickoff, you'll be ready to capitalize on the power play, watch for the shorthanded goal, but always keep your poise, or you may be T'd up.
Let's shoot two, take it to the rack, stay in your lanes, block out and don't put it on the floor. It may be third and long, but watch out for the trick play or a run up the middle.
Hit the gridiron, take to the hardwood, but stay in control. Set it, kill it, spike it, the cliché in sports writing is used more often than Dickie Vee says "awesome" at a Kansas basketball game.
It's showtime, fan-tastic, catch the fever, spring fever.
So catch a game and catch all the action. Watch for the swing and miss, pop out, Texas leaguer, ground out or a sack.
I know you have good hands, and this one's right between the numbers. Don't drop the ball, the team's counting on you.
Chalk it up. Mark it down, it's the sweet 16, the final four, the fab five. Check out these numbers, they don't lie, it looks great on paper, and it gets the job done. It's the ace that can get the final out, well before the final buzzer or before the shot clock expires.
Watch out for the turnover, the press and the blitz. Control the tempo. Don't forget time of possession. Get ahead on the hitter because a walk is as good as a hit. Get one at a time, but remember it only takes one.
The tables are set, clear the bases.
Go on a run, play above the rim, get some air, be like Mike. A slasher, a cutter, quickness just isn't the same as speed. From end to end, rack to rack and coast to coast.
The cliché can play with anyone, because any team can beat any other team on any given night, so let's play two, a double dip, and make it under the lights.
Use descriptive phrases to make your point, not clichés.
Think. Play within yourself. Use your head. You need the desire to win. Punch' em out, ring 'em up, and sit 'em down. Because in the meat of the order it's no can of corn. This is the big dance. Hit it hard, on a rope, past the hot corner and out of here in a hurry.
This is no rebuilding year, the experience is there, a veteran bunch, a well-oiled machine. Because under pressure, in crunch time, when the game is on the line, you need the senior leadership, a guy that wants the ball.
Whether it's cross court, ask pass, zone buster, tri-fecta, or a turn around. When you play with your back to the basket, and it's all said and done in the red zone, you've got to put points on the board.
Play your game, life is short. Just worry about what you can do.
Because when the clock reads 0:00 you can't stop the cliché,you can only hope to contain it.