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8A
The University Daily Kansan
Trivia question
What was the name of the New York Jets before Sonny Werblin bought the team and gave it a new image?
Sports
SEE ANSWER ON PAGE 7A
Inside: No. 3 Michigan State and No. 6 North Carolina took the court last night for a battle of top teams.
SEE PAGE 7A
Inside: The Texas Longhorns accepted a bid to the Holiday Bowl.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2000 For comments, contact Melinda Weaver or Jason Walker at 864-4858 or e-mail sports@kansan.com WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Sports Columnist
Jason Franchuk
sports@kansan.com
Weak teams make Kansas play off-key
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the show!
All day, all night, your favorite artists will be here performing your favorite songs, trying to convince Kansas basketball that what is good and what is right is a tougher schedule. Who says musicians don't fight for good causes?
Let's welcome our first act, Billy Ray Cyrus, to the big show! Billy, what do you think about Kansas playing a string of games against North Dakota, Boise State, Washburn, Middle Tennessee State and Illinois State?
Well, it's breaking my achy-breaky heart.
Couldn't have said it any better myself, Bill.
And Billy, wouldn't you say the Sioux, Twice-baked Potatoes, Ichabods and Blue Dragons have had as much of a chance at winning in Allen Fieldhouse as you've had of winning a Grammy?
Very funny
Jewel, welcome to the show!
Thanks for coming, Billy. Time for the second act.
Hi, nice to be here. I'm glad I can help out. Kansas' schedule has been completely unfair to the fans, who deserve to see the Jayhawks play top-tier opponents every night. This schedule is as crooked as my teeth.
But I loved watching Kansas play big games. I love seeing them play Michigan State or other top schools on a regular basis. I want to see Dickie V and ABC. I don't like the easy wins. If you want them easy, go find Britney or Christina.
Yeah, Jewel, but Coach Roy Williams said he wanted to tone down tough early season games. He said that Kansas playing tough teams early last season did not help, and when push came to shove in the NCAA tournament draw, the Jayhawks were hurt because they had more losses.
Jewel, you're on ...
And these ... foolish non-conference games ... are tearing me, they're tearing me, they're tearing me apart.
Ah, that was great Jewel. We know how much you love civic causes. But let's make sure to take a moment to remember that Kansas will play a few tough games. It already played UCLA and St. Johns and will face No. 12 Wake Forest on Dec. 7. Other than the Sooners, though, there's nobody to stop Kansas. Only Oklahoma (Jan. 13) is ranked in the Top 25.
Ricky Martin, welcome to the show! What do you think about Kansas' offense?
It should score as easily as me. The 'Hawks will kick some bon bon.
Ladies and Gentleman, we have a special musical surprise! Please welcome Luke Axtell to the stage! Luke's a shooting guard on the basketball team, and he's just come out with a new CD and ... huh? What?
Oh ... he can't advertise ... not during the season? Rules violation?
Aw, heck with it ...
Luke, you can't play. You're gonna get in trouble.
Frenchish in a Boulder, colo., mentor in journalism.
Heck, these aren't real games anyway.
Lackluster defense could hurt Jayhawks
By Michael Rigg sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Tense but not enough defense.
A lot of offense but not enough defense. That's the gist of Kansas coach Roy Williams' impression of his team in the first month. Even though Kansas is a perfect 6-0 and currently ranked No. 2 in the nation, Williams said the team was far-from-perfect.
"You can't be a great team if you don't guard people," he said. "And we've got to get better at that."
So far, the Jayhawks' lack of defense has not mattered because Kansas is blasting its opponents by an average of 25 points per game. Kansas will try to keep that streak tonight when it faces Illinois State at 7 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse.
Williams said this year's offense was so potent it could be one of the best in Kansas history.
"We are one of the best offensive teams I have ever had," he said. "We're not there right now, but I think we'll be one of the top two or three offensive teams I've had in my 13 years."
The 94.2 points per game average from the team this year is ahead of the 1989-90 team, which set the school record by averaging 92.1 points.
The reason for the offensive dominance is simple, Williams said. This year's Jayhawks don't have a glaring offensive weakness.
"Number one, we have guys that can shoot," he said. "And we have guys that can shoot with range. We have guys that can score inside. We have guys that can rebound the ball off the offensive board and get a second opportunity."
Williams said the only thing this year's team couldn't do was play defense.
"In '97, with that bunch, we shoot 26 percent and win at Kansas State," Williams said. "The only way you can do that is by guarding the dickens out of people. This team we have now hasn't shown that they can do that. And until we show that we can do that, we won't be as good as we want to be."
Senior center Eric Chenowith agreed that the team needed to be more intense on defense. He said the lack of effort on defense the last four games had a lot to do with the Jayhawks' competition.
"Picking up the intensity on defense will help more than anything," he said. "But the last four games we've averaged a 35-point win. It's just human nature not to be as intense on defense when you're up by 30."
Kansas Basketball Notes
Allen Fieldhouse could once again become Super Mario's world tonight.
Freshman point guard Mario Kinsey was scheduled to play a limited role in practice yesterday. Depending on how Kinsey's surgically-repaired left leg responds to the practice, he may see limited playing time tonight.
Kinsey has missed Kansas' last two games after having surgery to ease the pain of overstress on his left leg.
— Edited by Kimberly Thompson
Senior forward Kenny Gregory hangs victoriously from the rim after scoring against Middle Tennessee State Monday night. The men's basketball team could be one of the strongest offenses in Kansas history, said coach Roy Williams. Photo by Justin Schmidt/KANSAN
Huge task awaits Redbirds
Illinois State coach hopes his players will be competitive
By Chris Wristen
Kansan sportswriter
When Illinois State comes into Allen Fieldhouse tonight for its 7:05 game against No.2 Kansas, the Redbirds' quest for an improbable victory will bring them into the dangerous realm of ... the Manwich.
The Manwich is the nickname coined by Kansas sophomore forward Nick Collison in describing Kansas' forest of big men, including himself, fellow sophomore forward David Gooden and senior center Eric Chenowith.
The Kansas big men, and pretty much everything else shy of the team's trainers and Don's Steakhouse food, strike fear into Illinois State coach Tom Richardson.
"There's a lot of disadvantages in this game," Richardson said. "The major challenge is Kenny Gregory and Gooden and Chenowith and Collison and (Kirk) Hinrich and (Jeff) Boschee and (Luke) Axtell and Coach (Roy) Williams and Allen Fieldhouse."
Richardson has watched enough of the Kansas horror flicks to know how dangerous the Jayhawks will be.
"I've been watching too much tape on KU," he said. "The more I watch, the more frightful I get, so I'm not going to watch any more."
To be fair, Williams watched his fair share of game tape, too. But while Richardson was scared because of what he saw on the tape, Williams couldn't bear to watch Southern Illinois' tape because of its poor quality.
"I started looking last night but it was so bad," Williams said. "The tape was so blurry and it shakes. It's not like I could call up the cable company and tell 'em to fix it."
Regardless, Williams saw enough of the tape to know his team will have to be prepared defensively.
"They are sound fundamentally, and one kid got 40 (points) against Miami (Fla.) last year," Williams said. "We'll make sure we know his number."
That player was junior guard Tarise Bryson. He led Illinois State in scoring last year and posted 16 points in the season-opening 88-46 win against Chicago State.
Beyond Bryson, two more players the Jayhawks will have to watch out for are transfers Traves Wilson and Rich Beyers. Wilson transferred from Arizona and Beyers from Illinois — two programs that are ranked in the Top 10. Richardson said both players were adjusting gradually to the Illinois State program.
"Both are doing well," he said. "Wilson is starting for us, and Beyers came of the bench to score 13 points in our first
"I've been watching too much tape on KU. The more I watch, the more frightful I get, so I'm not going to watch any more."
Tom Richardson
Illinois State coach
game."
The Redbirds will need both players to come along quickly if they are going to hang with Kansas — or any opponent this season. The win against Chicago State was a confidence builder for a team that won just 10 games and lost 20 last year.
"Last year was miserable, it truly was," Richardson said. "Our front line was decimated with injuries. We had a kid leave the team that we were counting on. It was just ugly. I'm proud of the kids for winning 10 games because we were outmanned physically."
Richardson said he hoped his team would play its best tonight and wouldn't get embarrassed.
"The greatest fear is going in there and being intimidated, and they knock you out easily," Richardson said. "You just hopefully take that initial thrust that they seem to give, and hopefully your players can settle down and be competitive."
— Edited by Shawn Hutchinson
Junior guard fulfills expectations
First-year player starts off season with strong play
By Zac Hunter
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Five games into the women's basketball schedule, and the Jayhawks are starting to come together.
Some bumps were and will be in the road, but junior guard K.C. Hilgenkamp is working herself into the Kansas system.
Hilgenkamp is making the most progress of any of the first-year players. She is averaging a shade less than 10 points per game and set a career-high with nine assists against Illinois on Tuesday.
She came through when it was most important, feeding senior forward Jaclyn Johnson a quick two to start the second half.
She also said seeing someone else score because of her pass made her as happy as her scoring.
"I think passing is a great thing." Hilgenkamp said.
Twice she fed Johnson in the low post for easy layups, which set the tone for the second-half shellacking of Illinois.
She is hitting 54 percent of her shots, which includes 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. That total could have been pushed to 6-of-7 had Hilgenkamp not had a toe on the three-point line.
But she said she didn't care where she was, as long as there was an open shot.
But don't think Hilgenkamp looks only to pass.
With Hilgenkamp's production at the offensive end, it is easy to overlook her defensive abilities. But Washington said she noticed it immediately.
"I just had my hands ready to shoot," she said. "I really wasn't looking where I was at."
With Hilgenkamp on the floor the entire second half, the 'Hawks limited Illinois' three best scoring threats to 16 points.
That is exactly what Hilgenkamp and the rest of the Kansas backcourt did against the Illini.
"What I really enjoyed seeing in K.C. was her intensity level," Washington said. "When you match up with the players that Illinois has, we really needed to work hard to stay with them and keep the pressure on them."
Washington touted Hilgenkamp as one of the best combination guards in the country. With her improvement on offense and defense, Washington said Hilgenkamp had met all her expectations.
"We knew that all the guards on Illinois are really good players." Hilgenkamp said. "I think that the team has really come together, and I think that's what got us the win."
— Edited by Warisa Chulindra
Junior guard K.C.
K. C. Hilgenkamp leaps over an illini defender as she shoots the ball. The women will play Eastern Illinois on Doc. 1 in the KU Credit Union Jayhawk Classic. Photo by Craig Bennett/KANSAN