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University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, Dec. 9, 1953
By STAN HAMILTON
By STAN HAMILTON
Kansan Sports Editor
Tomorrow night the curtain goes up on another KU basketball season, and at this juncture it still remains a question mark as to just how the Jayhawkers will do.
Coach "Phog" Allen's sophomore-streaked team is up against one of the toughest schedules it has had in recent campaigns. It has 21 regular season games, the majority of them against highly-touted fives.
Tulsa, Louisiana State, Oklahoma A&M, and Tulsa among non-league opponents, and then the usual Big Seven toughies such as Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska make the 1953-54 slate one of the ruggedest in the nation.
Tulane, the initial foe, took second in the Southeast conference behind No. 4 U.S. team, Louisiana State, the Saturday night opposition for the Jayhawkers. LSU rolled to a 24-1 record last season before dropping its two outings in the NCAA tourney at Kansas City, but the entire starting lineup, including the nation's 10th highest scorer, Bob Pettitt, is back this year.
Tulsa, coached by Clarence Iba, brother of Oklahoma A&M's Coach Hank Iba, finished in a 3-way tie for second in the Missouri Valley loop last year and was the only outfit that defeated LSU in the regular season. The Hurricanes also went to the National Invitational tournament, but lost in the first round.
The Oklahoma Aggies won the Missouri Valley and rolled to a 23-7 won-lost mark.
In fact, KU faces 10 different schools this year, or possibly 11 if it meets Washington in the Kansas City Christmas tournament. These 10 teams last year won a total of 142 games and lost 85, or 62.5 per cent. KU's record last season was 19-6 (76 per cent). If, per chance, Kansas faces Washington's Huskies at Kansas City, fans may well recall that last year, although KU tromped them in the national play-offs, they still had a 30-3 mark.
That 62.5 winning average, by KU's opponents last year looks mighty good, but a note to make it sound even better. Six of those teams, of course, are Big Seven members, yet their total marks, even though they spent about 75 per cent of the season knocking each other off, was 66-59. Yes, it may be a pretty cold winter.
But they (the "experts") said last year at this time that the Big Seven was to be all K-State.
Seven was the one he be in. "Kansas? It lost Lovellette, Kenney, Keller, and Houghland," they said. "It's new center, some fellow named B. H. Born, only averaged about one and a half points behind Big Clyde. Only Dean Kelley is back from the starting lineup of 1951-52. Nope, KU won't go anywhere this year."
Remember? Well, let your pessimism hide itself for a while this year. Not one regular is back from last year—three are. Experience is lacking—only 10 lettermen are out. And we think our coaching staff now is seasoned enough for another season—just 50 years of experience between Allen and assistant Dick Harp.
We have watched this team practice and we witnessed their game with the frosh. We haven't been too impressed on the whole.
with the frown. We have Al Kelley seems to have the same fight and better scoring ability, but keeping him from fouling out is going to be something else again. Last year he averaged 4.2 fouls a game.
Harold Patterson and John Anderson, while they have come around quickly, still need a few weeks to get the feel of the game after three months of football. Born, while his rebounding still seems to be tops, has not been hitting as he did in the latter stages last spring.
Larry Davenport, scheduled to start tomorrow, has his usual sharp eye on the long 1-handed set shots, and seems to be improving much on defense. Dobbs, the only soph slated to start, is fast and shoots well, but what he will do when the chips are down remains to be seen.
What the team will do remains to be seen. We aren't predicting anything sensational this year, although we sort of think we'll cop the Big Seven. As for the national picture, we won't hazard a guess, but we won't bet against Allen.
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Ottawa 50, Wm. Jewell 47.
Washburn 72, Maryville 58.
SW Missouri State 72, El Paso 42.
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Ohio State 84, St. Louis 83.
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Houston 62, Texas A&M 56.
Four Starters Back For Oklahoma Sooners
By STAN HAMILTON Kansan Sports Editor
Down Sooner way, where Bruce Drake is beginning his 16th year as head Oklahoma basketball coach, prospects look rosy in spite of the 86-61 defeat administered OU Saturday by Illinois.
Drake has four starters back from his team which last year won eight and lost 13 games and finished in a fourth place Big Seven tie. Starters back for duty are Bob Waller, Ron Blue, Dink McEachern, and Lester Lane.
Waller last season got 284 points, Blue scored 226, and Lane, 219, for the team which upset the Jayhawkers by 15 points in an early season contest at Norman.
Unfortunately, for OU that is, the Sooners have lost a pair of tall men who might have been able to cope with other tall teams, Tom Churchill, 6-6 reserve center, and Bob Edwards, 6-6 sophomore. Churchill, Dn Rwyer, and Joe Owens are the only lettermen lost via graduation, and Edwards, who looked good in early drills, withdrew from school three weeks ago to enter service.
Drake's starting outfit, which uses the OU "shuffle," an ingenious ball control pattern off which any player may score, averages just over 6-1. Waller is the tallest at 6-6, Blue is 6-3. McEachern and Sterling Jones, the only newcomer, stand 6-1, and Lane is the midgut of the squad at 5-10.
Last year KU retaiated after the
OU humbiling for an 87-59 triumph in the second game against the Sooners. Oklahoma first will meet the Jayhawks here this season Jan. 4. The game at Norman is Feb. 6.
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