kansan.com
Volume 126 Issue 38
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
COMMENTARY
Wiggins proves athleticism despite young age, nerves
The expectations placed on Andrew Wiggins might be impossible to live up
to, but with one play in the first half, Wiggins showed exactly why those expectations are so lofty. His head rose to rim level as he caught a pass from Jamari Traylor and slammed down a dunk that rumbled the Fieldhouse.
The gameplay before that moment showed why he still has so much room to grow — Wiggins looked uneasy early in his debut for the lajawhaws.
More than two hundred camping groups waited to get seats for the exhibition game against Pittsburgh State and from the roar of the crowd as Wiggins was introduced, it was clear that most of them had waited just to see the 17-year-old freshman.
But 10 minutes into the game, six Jayhawks had scored and Wiggins wasn't one of them.
"He didn't play very well early," Self said.
In his press conference, Bill Self said that Wiggins admitted his pre-game nervousness in the locker room after the game.
The first time he touched the ball, Wiggins was called for traveling. His first shot, a three, clanked off the back of the rim. Wiggins blocked a shot, headed the other direction for what looked like a sure dunk, but instead fumbled the pass from Andrew White III out of bounds. Wiggins slapped his hands together, yelled and let out a deep breath.
It was a called play by Self to set up something for Wiggins.
Then, with a baseline drive and a pull-up floater, Wiggins was on the scoreboard with 9:36 left in the half. The nerves faded. The anxiety eased.
Wiggins began to look comfortable.
That is when Wiggins leaped into the air and slammed down the alley-opp from Traylor. Fans in the Fieldhouse screamed with excitement and Wiggins let out a yell right along with them.
up something for Wiggins. Kansas fans will have to be patient this season. Remember, Wiggins reclassified before his junior year of high school. He's basically a high school senior playing at the NCAA level. He wouldn't be here, right now, if he hadn't been the most athletic player at the high school level a year ago.
The expectations might not be fair for a 17-year-old, but the athleticism that Wiggins displayed in Tuesday night's exhibition begs for comparison to some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game.
However, Wiggins is human. The hype and anticipation that swirl around him would be enough to make any kid his age sweat bullets before ever taking the court.
Despite how much Wiggins' athleticism separates him from every other player at the college level, he's still a freshman, and a young freshman at that.
"Hes a thinker, all freshmen are thinkers right now," Self said.
"There are very few freshmen who react. Everybody isn't as athletic when they think."
— Edited by Kayla Overbey
OPENING NIGHT
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
Freshman guard Brannen Greene celebrates with fans after the Jayhawks beat Pitt State 97-57. Greene finished the game with 10 points in 11 minutes of playing time.
NEW GUY NERVES
Jayhawks overcome first-game jitters in win over Pitt State
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
Early in the Jayhawks preseason opener last night, freshman guard Andrew Wiggins resembled most freshmen on campus.
He was just as nervous being away from home as any other first-year student. Wiggins' first possession resulted in a travel, while his first shot was a missed three.
But as the clock showed seven minutes remaining in the first half, Wiggins granted a glimpse of why there's so much hype surrounding him.
With the Jayhawks in transition, redshirt sophomore forward Jamari Traylor found Wiggins streaking to the basket and lobbed a pass his way. Wiggins, having been in this situation before, grabbed the ball and slammed it down with style before unleashing
a primal roar that was echoed by the capacity crowd.
Rarely is a scream so comforting, but it seemed to calm the rest of the team down.
The dunk ended Wiggins' 0-3 stretch from the field and sparked a 16-point, six-rebound night that tied him with sophomore forward Perry Ellis for the scoring lead.
"You would expect for the first couple minutes not to be sharp," sophomore guard Andrew White III said. "Guys found a comfort level after the first five minutes. It's a work in progress."
Around the same time Wiggins found his groove, the rest of the team seemed to fall into theirs as
Still, the tension was apparent in Wiggins and the Jayhawks during their 97-57 victory over Pittsburg State as they displayed the kind of performance that easily explains the need for a preseason.
"The second half we played much better," junior guard Naadir Tharpe said. "But we have a lot of young dudes who were nervous and trying to get into the flow of the game."
well.
"You would expect for the first couple minutes not to be sharp."
ANDREW WHITE III
Sophomore guard
Kansas coach Bill Self was expecting this to some degree, especially with his freshmen.
Self said that most of the time, recruits come in and worry too much about their own game to
play at their potential. This was seen in a few Kansas players: Wiggins had a sluggish outing early on, freshman guard Conner Frankkamp went 0-3 from the field and freshman center Joel Embiid missed some easy layups down low.
"All freshman are thinkers right now," Self said. "There are very few freshmen who react. Everybody isn't as athletic when they think."
But not everybody was in need of a tune up. Tharpe showed virtually no signs of rust as he scored seven points and disilled nine assists with no turnovers — although after the game he admitted the official scorers may have missed a giveaway.
More than anything, the layhawks were sloppy, and as far as Self is concerned, that much can be cleaned up by the start of the regular season. Perhaps the biggest reason for the inconsistency
was the 50 combined fouls that were called, in large part due to the new hand-checking rule. It didn't seem like either team had much of a chance to get into a rhythm or allow the game to flow naturally.
Seni and the Jayhawks will have a week to learn from their first game experience before Fort Hays State comes to Lawrence on Nov. 5. By then, Self's hope is that his new guys are more acclimated to the college level.
"Primarily it comes from not knowing how to guard." Self said of the excessive fouls. "It wasn't us putting our hands on them so much as we allowed them to force help all the time."
"There were some good things," Self said. "But obviously we need to play a lot better than we did tonight."
Edited by Emma McElhaney
FOOTBALL
Weis encourages confidence against Texas
CONNOR OBERKROM
coberkrom@kansan.com
When Texas came to Lawrence last year, Texas quarterback Case McCoy lead the Longhorns on a game-winning drive. The Kansas football team will fight for redemption when it travels to Austin on Saturday.
Last year's battle against Texas was nothing less than demoralizing. This year, Kansas is still missing that one signature win (or, really, any Big 12 win) under Weis. Looking back to last season, the Jayhawks were closer to winning a conference game under Weis than ever before.
Weis said in his press conference on Tuesday that, even after studying last year's loss, the team
can still enter the game with confidence.
Since last season, Texas lost a few of its familiar defensive players, but the offensive players are mostly the same. Despite the lack in changes, this year Texas raised its status to one of the hottest teams in the league. Weis has shown Kansas the tape of last year's game and noted that a similar group of Longhorns that beat the Javahawks 21-17.
"The players should feel that they have a chance of winning." Weis said. "That's the most important thing."
With David Ash still out because of an injury, McCoy has started for three consecutive games and has averaged approximately 220 yards a game over
Kansas assistant defensive back coach, Scott Vestal, was the quality control coach at Texas during McCoy's freshman year. Vestal has noticed considerable improvements in McCoy compared to where he began: Under the shadow of his brother, Colt McCoy, who is now a backup quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.
those three starts.
"The intangibles are there; [McCoy] is a hard worker. There's no doubt in my mind [that] as a senior the other players believe in him, so he has got a little moxie there." Vestal said.
From one offense to another, Weis thinks that Kansas can mimic the Longhorns' offense, which focuses on getting playmakers
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The current two-quarterback system Weis is using will be prevalent in Austin. Cozart and Heaps will still split reps until a leader emerges. If one doesn't make a statement, Weis will continue to play the hand and experiment to spur some offensive production.
"I actually think the receivers played better last week—you actually saw route definition. They weren't just running routes, they
Even with a rotating quarter-backs, a large adjustment for the offensive players, Weis saw a drac tic change in how the receivers played last week.
in space with short passes and by pounding the ball. This is a formula Weis has emphasized all season long.
just were competing for balls," Weis said.
As for his new role of working more individually with players, Weis said the change isn't necessarily an indictment on wide receiver coach Rob Ianello. It's more of an intimidating motivational tactic from Weis himself. Thanks to his increased interaction with the team, Weis said that he thinks they will be improved and playing strong by the end of the season.
Kansas will try to break their 24-game road-losing streak against Texas this Saturday and will continue looking for tangible evidence that their performances are improving.
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Edited by Kayla Overbey