WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11,2002
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
Coach tells critical fans he's not opening letters
Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams says although his mailbox has been flooded with advice for the men's basketball team, he won't read a single letter. The Jawhawks will try to solve their problems on their own tonight in Tulsa.
Fric Braem/Kansan
By Jessica Scott
jscott@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Roy Williams likes Jayhawk fans, and he said he looks forward to hearing from them — but not right now.
With a 3-3 record, a small group of Kansas fans are contacting Williams via anonymous letters, overflowing with opinions and suggestions.
While he appreciates the gesture, Williams said, he knows how to coach this team.
"I do know more about this team than anybody else does," he said. "I'm not reading one piece of mail, good, bad or indifferent. Some people are going to say things and I understand that, but for me as a coach, nobody's more critical than I am."
Williams said he encouraged players not to read anything about the team. Senior Kirk Hinrich said he enjoyed reading what fans and media had to say at this point in the season, but it didn't change the way he played.
"I read the newspapers—I just like to see what people are saying," Hinrich said. "Whether it's positive or negative either way, I don't really read too much into it."
With a hampering back injury at Oregon, Hinrich played 39 minutes and led all Jayhawks with 24 points. He said his team was prepared to play with the pre-season No. 2 ranking on its back.
"I thought we were going to be ready to live up to that, but we didn't," Hinrich said. "Now we're just trying to get better every day and stop the bleeding."
In preparation for tonight's 7 p.m. game at No.17 Tulsa.
Williams showed his team 13 minutes of Oregon game clips, but the session lasted more than an hour, he said. Junior forward Bryant Nash said the video dissection helped point out a reoccurring problems that hinder the Hawks.
"We take shots before the shot clock gets past 20 seconds," Nash said. "We just need to be more patient."
While this team faces challenges that last year's Final Four squad did not encounter, he said it will get through this tough early season lineup.
"I realize that we have some limitations and that we had to get some questions answered," Williams said. "Adversity sometimes is good for you."
Edited by Melissa Shuman
point range, placing them last in the Big 12 Conference.
Malashock CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Sophomore guards Aaron Miles and Keith Langford have tackled the task of replacing Boschee to some extent, but it's apparent they're not fully comfortable with that role yet. Even sophomore guard Michael Lee
since his inspired 20-minute, 11-point and 8-rebound performance Saturday has offered a glimpse of hope in the three-point game.
Langford is Kansas' most accurate bomber at the moment at 5-for-12 (41.7 percent), but to get the Kansas offense rolling, to command opposing defenses' respect, the Jayhawks will need to find their three point touch.
But Miles' strength lies in creating scoring opportunities for others, Langford thrives on driving to the basket, and Lee is a defensive hawk rather than a consistent shooter.
Even more troubling is Kansas' recent failure to defend the three-point shot. Before the season Langford said a potential lack in offensive three-point
Instead, Kansas has seen minimal change in its three-point defense. Last season, Kansas' opponents dropped in 36.1 percent of three-pointers, and this season they are hitting for 38 percent, putting Kansas second-to-last in Big 12 three-point defense.
production would need to be offset by an increased effort in perimeter defense.
Even worse, Kansas' inability to defend the three has come to the forefront in two of Kansas' three early losses. Florida converted 14-of-31 three-pointers and Oregon torched Kansas for 9-of-18 threes Saturday.
Kansas shot a dismal 8-of-30 combined from three-point range in those two games. It's simple arithmetic. If Kansas shoots 41.8 percent and defends at 36.1 percent, as it did last season, the Jayhawks win both those games.
Langford scratched his head last week, making a puzzled look, before reacting to a question regarding the issues with Kansas' perimeter defense.
"We need to stop giving up penetration because when someone gets beat, someone else has to help him out," Langford said. "That leaves someone wide open."
That knock on the Kansas man-to-man defense shows that by being too aggressive, by overplaying and over-pursuing, the Jayhawks have left three point shooters free. Kansas went to a zone Saturday against Oregon for some time, but the result was more unguarded opponents.
"We absolutely have to get up on guys, get a hand in their faces," Langford said. "Three-pointers are killing us right now. We've got to be able to defend that better."
Sure, Kansas enjoys a stranglehold down low with Simien and senior Nick Collison and normally wins rebounding and free-throw battles, but the three-point shot still commands attention considering the lack of depth and foul issues with Kansas' big men.
So as the Jayhawk faithful point fingers, rant on radio shows and demand answers as to the cause for Kansas' slow start, look no further;
Just glance at the line. The one 19 feet, 9 inches from the hoop.
Malashock is an Omaha, Neb., senior in journalism.
Boston College tops Iowa State
The Associated Press
but never pulled ahead.
AMES, Iowa — Troy Bell scored 26 points and freshman Craig Smith had all 14 of his points in the second half, leading Boston College to an 85-78 victory over Iowa State last night.
Smith had made 18 straight shots going into the game, but the streak ended when Jackson Vroman blocked his first attempt of the night.
Bell opened the second half with a 3-pointer that gave Boston College (4-2) a 59-26 lead. The Eagles spent the rest of the game holding off Iowa State (5-1), which got to within two points
Jared Homan led Iowa State with a career-high 18 points. Jake Sullivan and Adam Haluska scored 16 each, but Sullivan, the Cyclones' leading scorer for the season, made just 3-of-15 shots.
Homan's layup on a pass from
Sullivan cut the lead to 64-62 with 7:25 left, and the Cyciones trailed 72-69 after Haluska's 3-pointer with 5:04 remaining. But Boston College scored on seven of its last nine possessions to stay on top.
Boston College built a 10-point halftime lead with Bell and Craig Smith sidelined by fouls. Bell sat out most of the final 6:57 after getting his second foul. Smith went to the bench with three fouls at the 4:49 mark.
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