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SPORTS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
1B
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2002
COMMENTARY
Jonha Ballow
jballow@kansan.com
Yes, coach your'Hawks are overrated
I wish I had been in New York last week.
I would have liked a first-hand glance at the absolute debacle of the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team.
Kansas lost its first game to an inexperienced team, the University of North Carolina, 67-56.
Fifty-six?
This is the first glaring problem with the game—besides the fact that the Jayhawks lost to a team they should have run out of Madison Square Garden.
Kansas averaged 90-plus points during its first two games of the regular season. Suddenly, with a trip to New York and some solid competition, the Jayhawks folded.
During the game against the Tar Heels, the Jayhawk bench managed to score just four points. In order for this team to be successful, the bench must contribute and four points will not get the job done.
Aside from poor bench contribution, North Carolina's starters whipped Kansas' starting five all over the court. The Jayhawks got back-cut and dunked on during several possessions, showing its defense's weaknesses. This was not the team Kansas fans have grown accustomed to watching over the past couple years.
After losing to North Carolina, Kansas played No. 7 University of Florida. The game was an opportunity for Kansas to redeem itself and prove its No. 2 ranking was not overrated. However, the Jayhawks disappointed their fans again with an 83-73 loss to the Gators.
Kansas mustered just 26 points in the first half and tried to fight back all game, but to no avail. The bench produced eight points from Jeff Graves and Moulaye Niang. This shows that some players off the bench do have a pulse,but they still have not added much-needed scoring support.
Did Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich forget they were preseason All-Americans?
The two seniors finished with decent numbers, but their leadership was missing. Collison and Hinrich have to provide the go-to guy mentality for Kansas. Hinrich struggled with back pain, but Collison was out of syne for both games. He finished with 19 points in the first game and 16 in the second, but did not play with the presence of an All-American.
Coach Roy Williams said after the game that he was not happy with how Hinrich and Collison played.
"I jumped them a bit because at half time our two seniors, our potential All-Americans, had only four points between them." Williams said. "We can't have that in big games. Big-time players have to play."
About the only bright spot for Kansas was Keith Langford, who scored 17 points against Florida. Kansas is now 2-2 on the season for the first time since 1987-88.
"We do have some things to fix," Williams said.
That is an understatement. Kansas has a tough schedule with games against Oregon, Tulsa, UCLA and Arizona in the next two months and early Big 12 Conference games mixed into the schedule.
The fact is Kansas is overrated.
Williams has said all along that he thought the No. 2 ranking was too high for Kansas and this proved to be true last week.
Now is the time for Kansas to prove its worth as a national powerhouse. While it's early December, the team must step up and starting playing like it is March.
Ballow is a Littleton, Colo., junior in journalism.
Soccer ends season
Men's club soccer team loses to Weber State in national tournament
By Steve Vockrodt
svockrodt@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The KU men's club soccer team competed in the national championship tournament last weekend in Bakersfield, Calif., and played well until dropping its last match to eventual champion Weber State University.
Already seeded in a competitive pool, KU faced a "do-or-die" situation against Weber State in order to advance to the tournament round, but lost 2-1. The defeat ended KU's run toward the championship and gave the team a final record of 14-3-5.
"This was my final trip as a senior and it couldn't have been better," midfielder Ben Stone said. "We faced some of our toughest competition all year."
Weber State struck first after a scoreless first half but was countered by a successful penalty shot by leading KU scorer Oumar Seck. In the late stages of the second half, however, Weber State exploited the KU defense, which
The team's chances of advancing to the bracket round were hindered by two consecutive ties in earlier pool matches. This forced a must-win situation against a tough and experienced Weber State team.
played one man down after an ejection, and ended KU's hopes of continuing in the next round.
KU's first game against the University of Michigan ended in a 1-1 tie after Seck assisted on a Drew Darmon goal in the second half, shortly after Michigan took a 1-0 lead.
"We talked about keeping our heads up if we were scored on first," Darmon said. "We responded the way a team should respond."
Unfortunately, the next game saw the tables turn on KU as the University of Virginia tied the game 1-1 with a goal with just two seconds remaining. The late goal came after Johnny Kedzuf scored on a rebound from the Virginia goalkeeper to put KU up 1-0.
"We started playing defensively towards the end of the second half in order to protect the lead," coach Matt McCune said. "I had a feeling this might happen. You just don't think it will happen with two seconds left on the clock."
Weber State went on to win the
national championship after beating Brigham Young University in the final match. 2-0.
Despite not advancing further into the tournament, the players saw many positives from their experience. Backup goalkeeper Mike Kutz was forced to play in place of regular Chris Hartley, who was out with an injury, and played admirably, according to forward Scott Reynolds.
Other players of note included midfielders Darmon, Jason Shaad and Andy Nussbaum, along with the presence of Cedric Sunray, according to Reynolds.
Next year looks to be a good one for KU as it returns 16 of 22 players including three first team all-conference players in forward Aaron Law, defensive Sean Murray and Oumar Seck.
This year's seniors ended their season with a loss, but they left the field with positive feelings.
"KU soccer has been a major part of my life during my college years," Reynolds said. "This is the best performance and best experience we have ever had with this team. To step out on the field and represent this University of nearly 30,000 people is an amazing feeling."
Edited by Melissa Shuman
By Ryan Greene
rgreene@kansan.com
Kansan Sportswriter
Now that the NFL and NBA regular seasons are in full swing, every Tuesday the Kansan will update you on how your favorite former Jayhawk athletes are doing in the professional ranks. If there are any former Jayhawks that you would like an update on, e-mail your requests to rgreene@kansan.com.
AYHAWKS IN THE PROS
NBA
Drew Gooden - Memphis Grizzlies
With 17 games under their belts, the Grizzlies are still seeing hard times on the court. With a 2-15 record, bright spots have been hard to find other than rookie sensation Drew Gooden. Gooden had a 23-point effort Wednesday and his second double-double on Friday in a 112-106 loss to the Lakers with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Gooden still leads all rookies in scoring with 14.8 points per game.
Paul Pierce - Boston Celtics
Pierce has been hot of late, having scored at least 30 points in four of his last five games. Pierce wrapped up the week with 30 points on Sunday in a big win over New Orleans.
Contributed photo
Jacque Vaughn - Orlando Magic
Former Jayhawk Drew Gooden leads all NBA rookies in scoring with 14.8 points per game. Gooden's team, the Memphis Grizzlies, is off to a dismal 2-15 start despite Gooden's success.
The Magic are back on track with three straight wins and a 10-7 record, but Vaughn's playing time continues to fluctuate. In Wednesday's 112-102 win over the Lakers, he only played one minute. However on Saturday in a win over Atlanta, Vaughn recorded eight points in 20 minutes.
DID NOT PLAY
Returning from a sprained ankle, LaFrentz is being eased back into the lineup. On Saturday night in a win over Chicago, he saw 15 minutes of action, recording five points in the effort.
Ostertag is having a tough time earning more minutes with the improved play of Jarron Collins and John Amaechi. In three games last week, Ostertag posted decent numbers, totaling 16 points and 19 rebounds.
Raef LaFrentz - Dallas Mavericks
Greg Ostertag - Utah Jazz
Scot Pollard - Sacramento Kings (lower back fracture)
NFL
Kwamie Lassiter - Arizona Cardinals The Cardinals have hit the skids since
the end of September, and Sunday's 49-0 loss to the Chiefs extended their losing streak to six games. Lassiter was Arizona's biggest bright spot on defense, leading the team with seven tackles.
Gerald McBurrows - Atlanta Falcons
McBurrows is seeing fewer plays on the field every week for Atlanta. In Sunday's 30-24 overtime thriller over the Vikings, McBurrows only had one tackle on the stat sheet.
Despite starting earlier this year, Davis is now fourth on the Rams' linebacker depth chart. In a 10-3 slugfest with Philadelphia, Davis only had one tackle.
Don Davis - St. Louis Rams
DID NOT PLAY
Moran Norris - Houston Texans (Bench)
Isaac Bydr - Carolina Panthers (Bench)
Andrew Davison - New York Jets (Late
Monday Night)
Gilbert Brown - Green Bay Packers (Sore Left Ankle)
Dana Stubblefield - San Francisco 49ers (Food Poisoning)
A READER'S REQUEST
Jason Thoren - Kansas Linebacker, 1994-97
Thoren had a successful gridiron career at KU as a four-time letterman. Thoren played in the Jayhawks' 51-30 win over UCLA in the 1995 Aloha Bowl as a sophomore, and was also named third team allBig 12 as a junior in 1996. He got a shot as a pro with the Kansas City Chiefs in training camp before the 2000 season, and was allocated to the NFL Europe in the summer to play for the Berlin Thunder. He never made the Chiefs roster, and has since moved on from aspirations of a professional playing career. Thoren now aides former Kansas coach Glen Mason on his staff at the University of Minnesota.
— Edited by Ryan Malashock
HEARD ON THE HILL
Compiled by Daniel Berk
Kansan sportswriter
After Kansas' two losses in the NIT, how do you think they will do the rest of the season?
Luke Wohlford Andover sophomore
"Hopefully they will turn it on now that they don't think they are the best team around. Now they know they are not invincible. Hopefully, they will practice harder and work harder and get better. I am hoping it was good for them. It happened so early
that maybe they can develop and get better by March when it matters."
Hayden Galler Overland Park sophomore
"The last time Kansas went 2-2 was 1988. We all know what happened after that. We will be fine."
"I think we will be all right. We will still be in the top 10 in rankings. I think
we need better bench play, especially Jeff Hawkins and Bryant Nash. Moulaye Niang needs to be more dominant in the post. However, we
Thomas Griffin
St. Louis junior
still have the best starting five in the nation, but the bench needs to be stronger in case of foul trouble, like Langford had in New York."
KristiWood St. Joseph, Mo., freshman
"I think that this has been a learning experience, and they will continue to pull together and be stronger than before."
"I think losing two games already will be a big wake-up call for Kansas, and they will learn from their mistakes and be stronger in the end. They will still do great this season."
Dave Trotter St. Louis junior
"After the two recent losses, they will regroup and everyone will get back on track and win the national championship."
Erin Friend
Wichita freshman
"I think they are going to be fine. They lost to UNC and Florida and it was just a preseason tournament. Now, they will start playing more home games and get the fan support they are used to and start winning."
Blake Shuart Topeka junior
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