THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 7
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I was nowhere near as talented when I was 19; I didn't know anything about the NBA then; I sure wasn't doing any Adidas commercials."
— Kevin Martin on Andrew Wiggins
— StarTribune.com
FACT OF THE DAY
In his first season with the Timberwolves, Andrew Wiggins is scheduled to earn $5.5 million, which is more than Paul Pierce ($5.3 million) will make with the Washington Wizards this year.
ESPN.com
TRIVIA OF THE DAY
Q. Excluding Wiggins, how many Jayhawks play in the NBA's Western Conference?
A: 10: Darrell Arthur, Tarik Black, Nick Collison, Xavier Henry, Ben McLemore, Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris, Thomas Robinson, Brandon Rush and Withey
NBA.com
THE MORNING BREW
ESPN analysts have low expectations for Andrew Wiggins
W with the NBA season underway today. there has been a lot of buzz surrounding
the rookie class, which regarded as possibly the best class since the 2003-04 season, which featured LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh. However, for the first time in a while, the No.1 overall pick in the draft doesn't seem to be the one getting the most attention, or even any attention for that matter, as far as the conversation for Rookie of the Year is concerned.
The first pick in the draft would seem like a logical place to start when discussing the potential winner of the NBA's Rookie of the Year award, considering three of the last six recipients of that honor were selected with the top pick, but Andrew Wiggins really hasn't gotten much credit at all. In fact, in a recent survey of 28 ESPN basketball "experts," the former Kansas standout received zero first place votes for the award. Instead, former Duke Blue Devil
Instead, former Duke Blue Devil
Jabari Parker was selected as most likely to be named Rookie of the Year, racking up 22 votes, while Nerlens Noel, Julius Randle and Marcus Smart split the remaining six. This marked the first time since the 2007-08 season the top overall pick failed to get a single vote for Rookie of the Year from the ESPN panel, which was only the case because top pick Greg Oden was sidelined due to injury. Wiggins' teammate Thaddeus Young offered some explanation to why the former Jayhawk might not be facing those high expectations, in an interview with StarTribune.com.
[Wiggins] is very, very raw right now," Young said. "Right now, he has to get that fierce dog in him; he's too
much of a nice guy."
Many media members seem to agree with Young's comments, at least for now. The ESPN Forecast panel, which features more than 215 media members who contribute to ESPN's basketball coverage, ranked Wiggins the 114th best player in the NBA, behind fellow
However, Wiggins' father, Mitchell Wiggins, offered a different perspective on why Wiggins might not be receiving the praise he deserves.
"A lot of young guys worry about stats and the points they put up," Mitchell Wiggins said in an interview with StarTribune.com. "Andrew wants to win, and he un-
- Young, Nikola Pekovic and Ricky Rubio - and placing him just one slot ahead of another teammate,
Kevin Martin.
rookies Jabari Parker (95) and Nerlens Noel (102). The panel also slotted Wiggins behind three other Minnesota Timberwolves' players
derstands that defense wins ballgames [and is] the difference maker."
the
the past five years includes John Wall, Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry, James Harden and Paul George, all of whom went on to be selected to the NBA's All-Star game.
Wiggins doesn't necessarily need to win the Rookie of the Year award to be a great player. After all, the list of those passed over for the honor in art five years includes
Regardless, no amount of preseason accolades will make Wiggins a better player. Ultimately, it'll be up to the Canadian rookie to find his place in NBA history, and Wiggins will have his first opportunity to do so Wednesday, as the Timberwolves kick off their season against the Memphis Grizzlies at 7 p.m. (CST).
— Edited by Jacob Clemen
This week in athletics
Wednesday No events
Thursday
No events
Friday
Women's tennis Houston Invitational TBA Houston
Saturday
Cross country
Big XII Championships
10 a.m.
Lawrence
Sunday
Women's rowing Head of the Hooch TBA Chattanooga, Tenn.
Monday
Men's basketball
Washburn University
7 p.m.
Lawrence
Kansas adapting to revived offense
Tuesday
No events
SHANE JACKSON
@jacksonshane3
Offensive coordinator John Reagan was brought in this year to completely change the Kansas offense. Reagan previously served as offensive coordinator for Rice for three years, one of which he led the Owls to their second-most successful offense in school history, compiling 5,556 yards.
When he came to Kansas he brought his own offensive scheme: the spread.
The spread has drastically taken over in today's age in college football. More and more teams are putting an emphasis on scoring and scoring quickly. Just this past weekend there were 19 scoring drives in the Big 12, and 13 of those scoring drives took less than two minutes and six in less than 60 seconds.
But from day one, Reagan has said his spread offense isn't dependent on going fast.
"It all depends on where we are as a team." Reagan said. "It's not going to do us any good to go fast if we are not good at that."
Oregon and Baylor model the success of running the spread, Baylor being Kansas' next opponent.
The Bears rank toward the top in the college football in nearly every offensive category. They are second in first downs per game (29.3), fifth in passing yards per completion (15.90) and seventh in passing offense with 349.9 yards per game. Baylor averages 49 points per game, the second most in the country behind TCU (50.4).
"You name it, they lead in nearly every statistical category," said interim head coach Clint Bowen. "They are always looking for a way to push the envelope offensively, but they recruit very well, and they know what they are doing."
Kansas has taken a bit longer than expected to adjust to this new offense. The Jayhawks currently average 16.6 points and 336.3 yards per contest. Though those numbers don't quite reflect the growth this offense has taken in the last month under Bowen.
But arguably the biggest difference these past few weeks has been the man under center, junior quarterback Michael Cummings. In Cummings' two starts, Kansas is averaging more than 20 points per game as they nearly knocked off then No.16 Oklahoma State and put up a fight against Texas Tech.
"With his ability to complete the deeper shots it has helped," Bowen said. "He has settled in as the QB that's running the offense. He's been through some ups and downs in the program, but he's a mentally tough guy."
This week could be a good indication of how well this Kansas offense has grown with Bowen and Cummings leading
the way as they match up with the nation's most fearsome attack.
"It becomes second nature to their players because they have been running the system for three or four years now," Bowen said.
It would be foolish to expect the Jayhawks to match this well-oiled machine shot for shot offensively. But perhaps the Jayhawks could utilize their tempo, or lack thereof, to keep the ball away from Baylor.
"You can be a tempo team and control the clock," Bowen said. "You just have to go in with your plan and match their urgency."
Regardless of the outcome, Saturday at the very least will be a chance to see where Kansas' spread offense stacks up with the rest of the country.
"We tell our players this is the type of game you came to Kansas play in," Bowen said.
Edited by Ashley Peralta
Junior quarterback Michael Cummings has helped revived a formerly stagnant offense. Cummings has thrown for more than 200 passing yards in Kansas' past two games.
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