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SPORTS
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
1B
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2002
COMMENTARY
Daniel Berk
dberk@kansan.com
'Late Night' is religious for freshman
Upon my arrival at the University of Kansas, I never really received a formal welcome. However, the welcoming I got at "Late Night with Roy Williams" was good enough for me. It taught me everything I needed to know about this university.
Two things happened last year when I was asked where I was going to school. The first was that everyone went into shock that a kid from St. Louis was going to Kansas instead of Missouri. The second was that they would say, "Pretty special basketball program they got up there."
Well, thanks for pointing out the obvious. Like I do not know who Paul Pierce or Ryan Robertson is. However, when a teacher of mine told me that going to a game at Allen Fieldhouse was like a religious experience. I was skeptical.
I thought it was a little weird, but I kept my mouth shut — something I am not good at. Then someone else told me the same thing. So, I did something else I am not good at and decided to have an open mind when I arrived in Lawrence.
My first experience with the basketball team and Allen Fieldhouse came Oct. 11 during Late Night. I was truly excited to see if these guys were crazy or not. My friends and I arrived about 6:15 p.m. anticipating the arrival of the festivities. Finally, at 9:45 p.m., it was time. The lights turned off and every person in the stands stood up and started cheering.
Let me stop right there. The fact that 16,000 people were at the fieldhouse on a Friday night to cheer their team on in a non-competitive event shocked me.
The fans started chanting "let's go Jayhawks" and I joined in, but all I could think was that everyone in St. Louis would be extremely disappointed in me.
Then about 9:55 p.m., something happened that I thought was amazing — the future stars of Jayhawk Land were introduced. Four guys that do not even play for Kansas got a standing ovation. I just stood there in awe.
A few minutes after that, a video tribute honored women's basketball coach Marian Washington, something I thought was nice.
Now it was time. I wanted to see if this would be a religious experience or not. Before I could decide, the men's team's introduction began. The fans and I started going crazy.
As each player was introduced, the roar seemed to get louder. Langford, Miles and Simien got extremely loud cheers, and I could not wait to see what these awesome fans would do for the two All-Americans. Then Kirk Hinrich came running out with his hands going up and down, trying to get the crowd louder, something I did not think was possible.
The tast player was introduced: Nick Collison. And then the biggest ovation of the night went to the man who deserved it — Roy Williams. Everyone started to chant his name, and I joined in.
At this point, my question was answered. My teacher was right. This was just like a religious experience.
As I watched the skits, laughing and cheering at every opportunity, I started to think about how good the team was. KU is home to one of the best ball handlers in the nation, the best shooter in the nation, one of the most underrated players in the country, a guy who is a huge physical force inside and the man in the middle, the guy who is so important to this team's success.
Two things often occur to me as I daydream in class. The first is that I might be the biggest dork in Lawrence, and the second is that Massachusetts Street sure will be crazy in early April.
Berk is a St. Louis freshman in pre-journalism.
Kansas downs All-Stars
Simien shines bench impresses in Jayhawks' 'glorified practice'
By Jessica Scott jscott@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
In Sesame Street terms, last night's game was brought to you by the letter W and the numbers nine, 10 and 26.
Wayne Simien — the Big Bird of Kansas' first game — showed what he learned while school was out, scoring 26 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Simien also nailed 8 of 8 free throws while leading Kansas to a 111-94 win against the EA Sports All-Stars.
"I felt good out there and got into a nice rhythm offensively," Simien said. "That's something I worked on over the summer and it's showing. I'm sure coach is going to say I needed to rebound better. He always finds something that I need to work on," he said, after finishing with six boards.
Simien was right. Coach Roy Williams said Simien's play did not surprise him, but it did not impress him, either.
"He had one of these games last year against them also," said Williams about Simien, who now averages over 25 points against this team. "Maybe he just likes playing against EA Sports."
Williams said that the rest of the "glorified practice" pointed out weak areas. The squad did not play well defensively, he said, and the tempo and play-making need work, too.
"I don't think we played exceptionally well," he said. "It wasn't as good of a game as we need to have to say the least, and
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 6B
CHRIS BURKET/KANSAN
JARED SOABES/KANSAN
Aaron Miles, sophmore guard, hits a lay-up on a fast break in the first half. Miles scored 7 points and stole the ball 6 times to help the Jawhawks defeat EA Sports 111-94.
Former Jayhawk Adonis Jordan talks with some of his former coaches during a break in play. Jordan received a warm greeting from the Allen Fieldhouse fans last night.
Guard thrilled to be back in Lawrence
By Doyle Murphy
dmurphy@kansan.com Kansas sportswriter
The past and future of Kansas basketball converged at the point guard position last night.
Former Jayhawk Adonis Jordan returned to Allen Fieldhouse as a member of the EA Sports All-Stars to face Aaron Miles and the current Kansas team.
Even more than playing the game, Jordan said he was thrilled to be back in Lawrence.
"I will always be a jayhawk," Jordan told reporters after the game. "I don't get to come back that much, because I'm all the way over on the west coast but I'll always be a jayhawk."
Recruited by former Kansas coach Larry Brown, Jordan chose to stand by coach Roy Williams after Brown's departure. It wasn't a popular decision with other recruits, and most went elsewhere when it was revealed the Jayhawks would face probation as a result of recruiting violations committed under Brown.
Jordan and Kansas turned out to be a perfect match. He and the Jayhawks made two trips to the Final Four during his tenure, including a second-place finish in 1991.
"I don't know if people really understand how important he was to us 15 long years ago." Williams said after the game. "He stuck with us during the time it was really tough around here. I was really happy how the crowd treated him."
Even though Jordan graduated from the University in
SEE JORDAN ON PAGE 6B
Freshman gets chance in lopsided loss to 'Cats
By John Domoney
jdomoney@kansan.com
Kansan writerwriter
Kansas coach Mark Mangino has not been on the losing end of any game quite like Saturday's 64-0 loss to rival Kansas State.
Even though Mangino usually has been on the victorious side of such blowouts, as an assistant coach at Kansas State and Oklahoma, he knew exactly what to do as he watched the Jayhawks fall behind 36-0 midway through the second quarter.
He said he told the assistant coaches that they weren't going to change the outcome of the game, so he wanted to give younger players the experience of going against quality Big 12 competition.
The most obvious switch that Mangino made was in the second quarter when he replaced senior quarterback Jonas Weatherbie, who was starting in place of injured junior quarterback Bill Whittimore.
CHRIS BURKET/KANSAN
Weatherbie was not providing the spark to the offense that Mangino looking for when he listed him as the starter. After completing two of nine passes for no yards and an interception, Weatherbie was sent to the bench in favor of second-year freshman Brian Luke.
Brian Luke, red-shirt freshman quarterback, drops back to throw a pass late in the fourth quarter. Luke threw 18 passes with 7 completions totaling 74 yards.
Luke was surrounded by other offensive players who had not seen much action in the Jayhawks' previous nine games.
Senior wide receiver Barry Goodrich, who had not played
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 3B
JAYHAWKS IN THE PROS
By Ryan Greene
rgreene@kansan.com
Kansan Sportswriter
The regular seasons for both the NFL and NBA are now officially in full swing. Each week, the Kansan will run updates on former Jayhawk athletes now in the pro ranks. E-mail requests for those former Jayhawks who aren't listed to rgreene@kansan.com.
NBA
Draw Gooden - Memphis Grizzlies
Gooden received the starting nod over Shane Battier on Wednesday, and put in 16 points in a close loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Coming off the bench on Friday, Gooden scored 21 points in a 23-point drubbing from the Detroit Pistons. To round out his first official week as a pro, Gooden tallied eight points and two rebounds in a losing effort against Sacramento.
Paul Pierce - Boston Celtics
The team struggled with consecutive losses Wednesday and Thursday. In the two contests, Pierce totaled 40 points, 13 rebounds, and 13 assists. Pierce exploded on Saturday, scoring 46 points in a 10-point victory against the Knicks, including shooting 20-for-21 from the free throw line. After the season's first
week, Pierce is sixth in the NBA in points per game at 28.7.
Raef LaFrentz - Dallas Mavericks
After 14 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's opening night win against Memphis, LaFrentz was forced out of the team's second game on Saturday against Phoenix with an injured ankle. Initially diagnosed as a sprain, LaFrentz said he feared the
SEE JAYHAWKS ON PAGE 3B
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