Volume 126 Issue 42
kansan.com
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
COMMENTARY
Jayhawk players continue to heat up for basketball
It took more than 32 minutes into Tuesday's exhibition game against Fort Hays State for Kansas to finally churn out a complete play on both sides of the court.
Andrew Wiggins skied to block a Tiger shot, rebounded it himself and slung the rock up court to fellow freshman Wayne Selden. As the lone Tiger defender approached, Selden smoothly dished it off to a streaking Perry Ellis in the lane.
Two-handed slam. Mission complete.
Ellis' dunk put the Jayhawks up 32 points en route to a 92-75 victory in the team's final tune up before Friday's season opener. Yes, it is an exhibition game. And yes, none of this really matters.
But the play was an awesome moment in the game for fans who are desperately awaiting a team to play elite. There is immense talent that is ready to be groomed by the nation's best coach. In other words, the ingredients are mixed, but are not yet in the oven.
in the heat will come early, of course. Kansas boasts arguably the nation's toughest nonconference schedule with slates against Duke, Florida, New Mexico, San Diego State and Georgetown. What fans will see in December won't be close to the product in March. Or - I'll say it - April.
When Kansas comes hot out of the oven later this season, it will be a fine-tuned, uber-athletic, slashing, ferociously guarding machine. It'll be exactly that because Bill Self will have it no other way. He is a relentless perfectionist that demands the same from his team.
and putting points on the board.
And for this team to play up to the standards the impossible hype that has been created, the responsibility will largely fall on the shoulders of the three involved in Tuesday's most complete play.
But Self isn't the one defending and nutting points on the board.
Ellis, of course, is the closest representation of Self's desired polished product. He's a pure scorer that can put the ball in the basket in so many ways. More importantly, he's a precedent for what Wiggins and Selden are very capable of doing when March rolls around. Last season, Ellis showed both growing pains and blips of greatness throughout the year
But March arrived and Ellis was great when he came out the kitchen. The unknowns are Selden and Wiggins - questions that need to turn into statements.
Wiggins will need to be un-guarded. And there's no reason to say he isn't already there. His spin move is dizzying and it hardly takes a dribble to get from the 3-point line to the rim. The perimeter shooting is the only real knock on his game.
Points will be a must from Selden. He led the team in scoring Tuesday with 13 in just 20 minutes of action. The new hand-check rules will play in favor of his slashing style and he'll largely contribute from the free throw line.
If Kansas is cutting down any sort of nets this year, Wiggins, Selden and Ellis will be the first up the ladder.
— Edited by Chas Strobel
DEPTH AND SKILL
BACKUP ARRIVES
Bench proves worth in expanded role
continued in his role as the Jayhawks' most well rounded weapon. "Our bench was great in the first half," coach Bill Self said. "They were better than the first team
It's not that Kansas doesn't want Andrew Wiggins on the floor; the Jayhawks were just able to show how well they can play without him.
As bench players rotated in during the first 17 minutes of play in Kansas' 92-75 victory over Fort Hays State (the final exhibition of the season). Wig gins was nowhere to be found and hardly needed.
Instead, Joel Embid found his comfort zone in the paint,
Connor Frankamp and Bran-
ne Greene took turns knocking down threes and Perry Ellis
Until he came barreling down the baseline for a ferocious slam near the end of the half. Wiggins hadn't even factored into the game. By then the score was 52-30. Even with the Tigers heaving threes without mercy, the Jayhawks' offense would be tough to slow down, let alone catch up to.
Wiggins' play was the least concerning part of the early goings.
In his first start for Kansas, point guard Frank Mason had a bit of trouble leading the Jayhawks. Mason wasn't screwing up, but initially he may have stalled the offense as Fort Hays took a small lead. This was made even more apparent when Naadir Tharpe checked in for him at the first media timeout and rattled off four assists in a matter of minutes.
"Frank was probably about as good of a performer as we had out there."
Still, this was the experience that Mason needed in preparation for Friday's season opener against Louisiana-Monroe as Tharpe serves his single game suspension. And after the first
few minutes had passed, Mason showed he was more than capable of handling the job. The freshman went on to notch four points and six assists with three steals and just one turnover.
Whether it is a lack of confidence, inexperience or a combination of the two, Mason pushed through and gave Jay-hawk fans a reason to (almost) relax when he plays a majority of the minutes on Friday.
4
Earlier in the week, Tarik
"Frank was probably about as good of a performer as we had out there," Self said. "He took care of the basketball and he played with energy."
BILL SELF head coach
Black noted one of the differences between Mason and Tharpe was that Mason liked to get out and run with the ball. Once he got comfortable, Mason was
able to back up Black's message
Edited by Kayla Overbey
With the Jayhawks in transition late in the first half, Mason charged up the court with one defender back and made a smooth bounce pass over to Black in the lane for a simple finish.
It wasn't the only time Mason would push the tempo and get his teammates moving up the court with speed and style. In the second half Mason threw a lob pass halfway up to the rafters. Andrew Wiggins effortlessly lifted off the ground and slammed it down with his head parallel, if not above, the rim.
"I knew he was athletic enough to go and get," Mason said. "If it was a little off I had confidence in him."
Turns out keeping Wiggins off the floor doesn't stop him from scoring either.
TARA BRYANT/KANSAN
V
Freshman guard Frank Mason started in place of junior Naadir Tharpe to prepare for Friday's game against Louisiana-Monroe.
Kansas will be remembered for final games
FOOTBALL
Wets likes to break his team's season schedule up into three parts and Saturday's game against Oklahoma State signals the beginning of the last third of Kansas' schedule. He even made a joke about it.
This is what Charlie Weis calls the final third.
CONNOR OBERKROM
coberkrom@kansan.com
This was all in tongue in-cheek obviously, but there's no shaking off what this last third of the schedule means for a program that sits in the cellar of the conference. Trying to climb out from the bottom can be tough, but for a program with many growing pains this season, the finish is the most important stage.
For the Jayhawks, wins mean everything — otherwise the process is a failure. As Weis has noted multiple times, these next four games will be a testament to if this team is honestly getting better. Wins are the blatant measuring stick for that, but things can tend to get aggravating for players and coaches as fans expect immediate results in this age of instant gratification. Through it all, Weis said that the main focus is to draw a conclusion after the season.
"This season will be remembered on what happens in the last four games." Weis said.
"If we go 6-6, they build a statue." Weis said.
Volu
While Kansas sits at just two wins, a new slate provides an opportunity for Kansas to prove that its program is gearing toward a positive place.
"That's the perspective we're taking. This 2-6 is not what they're going to be remembered by," Weis said.
Now that things have played out he still believcs in his team and
"I think the most important thing is to let the season play out. Sometimes you have not just how things are going, but how they finish." Weis said last week.
"I'm going to be miserable anyway; it doesn't really make a difference. I like to win every game. I am 2-6 as the head coach this year — I'm not very happy." Weis said. "But it's not because the players aren't playing hard."
The team has had many ups and downs all season, but despite everything, college football is about peaking at the right time. Finishing off the season well, as Weis admits, is a more encouraging sign than how it started off.
that progress will manifest itself in all facets. Weis is still understandably upset at the way the season has gone, but it isn't on the personnel.
Edited by Kayla Overboy
"That's their legacy. Their legacy isn't where they are two-thirds of the way through the season." Weis said. "I think that's clearly the way our team is looking at that."
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Coach Weis speaks with the media after the Louisiana Tech game on Sept. 21.