TRACK: Kansas team gets off to a good start in Manhattan. SEE PAGE 9A. NFL: Oakland slips by the Chiefs. SEE PAGE 9A.
10A
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Commentary
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2001
Brandon Stinnet
Sports columnist
sportsekanan.com
'Big Seven all deserve big minutes
Another Monday. Another opportunity to savor a Kansas victory from the past weekend. I could get used to this.
But there are more pressing issues at hand than rehashing a routine 79-68 victory against the University of Missouri-Kansas City. With each passing game, it becomes increasingly evident that Kansas coach Roy Williams is facing perhaps his toughest coaching challenge since coming to Kansas in 1988.
Whether Kansas cuts down the nets at the end of a championship season doesn't depend on the performance of any individual player (except maybe Brett Ballard if he gets on a roll). Kansas' success or failure rests solely on the shoulders of its coach. Williams is the secret ingredient to a Kansas national championship. Period.
If Williams coaches well, Kansas is a lock for the Final Four. I'd bet my college education on it.
Unlike previous years, this Kansas team contains seven players capable of making big plays. There's Jeff Boschee, Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden, Nick Collison, Aaron Miles, Wayne Simien and Keith Langford. Each has the ability to catch fire and light up the scoreboard at any given time.
Williams cannot afford to keep any of them out of the game. Unfortunately, the official NCAA rule book states that each team is allowed a maximum of five players on the court at one time. Do a little simple math and you'll find that two Kansas players with big-play ability will be off the floor at all times.
That's where Williams comes in. He must devise a substitution plan that keeps the right players in the lineup at the right times. Williams must substitute in a way that gives all seven of the Jayhawks' potential superstars a chance to excel.
Previous Kansas teams, even the most talented, never had this many players who deserved to be on the floor. A case can be made that each of Kansas' "Big Seven" players deserve more playing time than they are getting, especially Simien, a freshman forward who has scored in double figures in both regular-season games he has played in. He scored 13 points in 16 minutes against UMKC and 10 points in 15 minutes last Wednesday against Wake Forest.
Simien certainly deserves more minutes, but he's playing behind experienced juniors Collison and Gooden.
Williams could go with a three-forward lineup, but then Miles wouldn't get as much playing time at guard. And what about Langford? He scored 19 points and showed tremendous ability in Kansas' big win against Arizona on Dec. 1. He needs more minutes to further hire his skills to compete at the Division I level.
Ensuring that all of Kansas' talented players receive ample playing time won't be easy. If Williams can't devise a substitution plan that provides enough minutes for each of the "Big Seven" players to reach his full potential, Kansas won't win its first national championship since 1988.
Stinnett is a Shawnee senior in journalism and psychology.
Jayhawks disrupted but still victorious
By Ryan Malashock
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas guard Jeff Boschee looks for an entry pass as a UMKC guard defends. Kansas defeated UMKC 79-69 Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City's defense pestered and annoyed the No.4 Kansas men's basketball team Saturday night like no other opponent had this season.
The Kangaroos attempted to stymie the up-tempo Jayhawk game by primarily playing a 2-3 zone. UMKC employed the zone, hoping to force the Jayhawks to shoot from the outside, instead of pounding the ball in to junior forwards Nick Collison and Drew Gooden.
The previously undefeated Kangaroos succeeded in frustrating the Jayhawks, but they wouldn't prevail on the scoreboard.
scoreboard.
Senior guard Jeff Boschee led five Jayhawk players in double figures and matched his season-high with 19 points as 6-1 Kansas shook off pesky 5-1 UMKC 79-68 at Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas coach Roy Williams complimented the Kangaroos for the test.
"It's a tough kind of game because they control tempo at both ends of the court," Williams said. "They'll take some time off on the offensive end and take time off when they play defense because the zone they play tends to normally make sure you don't get quick shots."
the second half. Junior guard Kirk Hinrich penetrated UMKC's scrambling zone for most of the night, which created shooting opportunities for his teammates. Hinrich dished eight assists in addition to his 15 points and eight rebounds.
Kansas finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field despite connecting on only five of 20 three-pointers and posting a 35.7 shooting percentage in the second half.
"They were flying at us so it made it easy to get it in the middle of the zone," Hinrich said. "I don't know how I'd grade how we did against it, but we did a pretty good job getting it in the middle."
The first half turned out to be a wake-up call for the Jayhawks. The first eight minutes passed and no one seemed to
notice. Kansas players lethargically tossed up shots as they got out to an 11-10 lead. Then, Kansas woke up.
Contact Malashock at 864-4858.
Gooden scored six points, two of them with a dunk on an alley-oop pass from Hinrich, in a 15-3 spurt. Kansas built a 13-point lead that dipped below double digits only once the remainder of the game.
Gooden finished with another double-double, his fifth this season, recording 13 points and 10 rebounds. Collison and freshman forward Wayne Simien each added 13 points for Kansas.
Box Scores No.4. KANSAS 79, UMKC 68
UMKC (5-1)
Golson 3-7 0-0 6, Jackson 4-13 3-4 11, Curtis 0-1 0-0 0, Suther 5-8 0-1 12, Watson 12-26
0-0 29, Atchison 0-1 0-0 0, Palmer 3-6 2-3 10, Leadbetter 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 27-62 5-8 68.
KANSAS (6-1)
**KANSAS (6-1)**
Gooden 5-7 3-8 13, Collison 3-7 4-6 10, Hinrich 7-12 0-1 05, Miles 1-2-0 0-3, Boschee 6-
14 4-4 19, Ballard 0-0-2 22, Langford 1-4-2 02, Nash 0-1-0 00, Carey 0-1-0 00, Simien
3-7 4-7 13, Lee 1-1-0 02, Zerbe 0-1-0 00, Totals 27-54 20-30 79.
4-7-13, Lee 1-10-02, Zerbe 0-10-00. Totals 27-54 20-30 79.
Halftime—Kansas 42, UMKC 29. 3-Point goals—UMKC 9-22 (Watson 5-13, Suther 2-3,
Palmer 2-4, Golson 0-1, Atchison 0-1), Kansas 5-20 (Bossee 3-10, Miles 1-2, Hinrich 1-6,
Collison 0-1, Langford 0-1), Fouled out—Golson, Rebounds—UMKC 30 (Jackson 10),
Kansas 37 (Gooden 10), Assists—UMKC 10 (Suther 4), Kansas 19 (Hinrich 8). Total
foils—UMKC 19, Kansas 10. A—16,300.
Kansas defense steps up against UMKC
By Ali Brox
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams didn't expect his team to be as motivated to play its game Saturday night against Missouri-Kansas City as it was for games against Arizona and Wake Forest, but the Jayhawks didn't let it show on the defensive end.
UMKC had averaged just 8.4 turnovers per game, the least amount in the country, but committed 18 miscues against the Jayhawks. And for the second straight game, Kansas' opponent didn't shoot any free throws in the first
half. The Kangaroos shot only eight free throws the entire contest, making five.
"Well, they're not going to shoot many free throws," said Williams, referring to Jajhawks' 79-68 victory. "They're shooting so many jump shots, and you shouldn't foul guys shooting jump shots."
UMKC sophomore guard Michael Watson was the player taking most of those jumpers. He finished the game 12 of 26 from the field, including 5 of 13 from behind the three-point line.
Watson led all scorers with 29 points, tying his career best.
Despite putting on an offensive display, Watson was very complimentary of the Kansas defense, especially Jayhawk point guards Aaron Miles and Kirk Hinrich.
Roy Williams
"They have great one-on-one ball pressure." Watson said. "Hinrich and Miles are great defenders, so my hat's off to them."
Hinrich had the responsibility of
guarding Watson for most of the second half. Williams said he was pleased with Hinrich's performance.
"Defensively, he was really good," Williams said. "In eight previous games, Kirk's been the defensive player of the game six out of the eight games."
The Kangaroos only shot 43.5 percent from the field. A Kansas opponent hasn't shot more than 50 percent from the field all season.
Weber State stings Kansas women on Saturday
Contact Brox at 864-4858
By Jessica Scott Kansan sportswriter
The absence of three key reserve players on the Jayhawk roster was evident Saturday afternoon as the Kansas women's basketball team fell to Weber State, extending the Jayhawks' losing streak to three games.
The Jayhawks (3-6) scored a seasonlow 48 points and lost 51-48 to the Wildcats (4-4). Kansas turned over the ball 26 times and was out-rebounded 24-8 on the offensive glass by a smaller Weber
State team.
reasons.
"That was a big blow to the squad, but I really feel that we as coaches are here to do more than coach a game," said Kansas coach Marian Washington. "We have to depend on a certain work ethic and, most definitely, a certain type of attitude, and they slipped. I wanted to make
Sophomore Leila Mengue sat out with a sprained ankle that she sustained in practice while sophomore Keila Beachem and freshman Brandi McGinest were benched for disciplinary reasons.
sure that it was crystal clear that it is the only standard we are going to have."
In the first half, Kansas came out firing, building a 16-3 lead early in the contest. Weber State reacted with a 23-10 run to tie the score at 26.
"They took advantage of us slacking off because we thought it was going to be easy," said senior Selena Scott.
easy, said senior coach Kansas never regained its offensive production. Nearly seven minutes passed in the second half before the Jayhawks scored. The two teams went basket for basket until Kansas led 48-47
with 3:45 left to play. Weber State led by three with 16 seconds to play, but the Jayhawks failed to execute on their last possession.
Scott led Kansas with 16 points while grabbing four assists and four rebounds. Hilgenkamp tallied 11 points, five assists and five rebounds.
Freshman Blair Waltz came off the bench and scored seven points and had five rebounds and two steals.
Contact Scott at 864-4855