6B = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN KANSAS BASKETBALL MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2002 Player overcomes nervousness for better game By Kelly McNearney kmcnearney@kansan.com Kansan staff writer Go ahead — laugh at Mike Lee. His teammates do. The sophomore is the brunt of most jokes made by fellow guards Jeff Hawkins and Aaron Miles. "The one we pick on the most is Mike Lee," Hawkins said. "He's the one we always tease, non-stop. We just make up stuff sometimes and have the whole locker room laughing at him." Lee said it's all in good fun, though. "I think it's because I talk the most so a lot of it I bring on myself," Lee said. mates and focus on proving himself to his coaches this year. Lee will have to ignore the heckling from his jokester team- Lee Coach Roy Williams needs his bench players to step up and fill in for his five starters, three of whom are guards. Williams said he would consider Lee as a possible candidate for more minutes on the court. Lee said he was rushed during games last year, and the game pace was too fast for him. "Coach helped me a little bit and we talked about it a lot in a couple of games last year — why I would get the ball and be nervous and just ran around like a chicken with my head cut off. Lee said. He said his biggest improvement since last year was his composition. Lee said he was more comfortable with the level of play and the speed of practices and games. He worked on learning to slow down and react better to the game. "I was just so nervous and worried that I was going to do something wrong that I would just do more wrong." Lee said. Lee said coming off the bench was a difficult change for him. He said at this level he could not get away with some of his old habits. "Coming off the bench, there's no room for error," Lee said. "You don't have time to come in and then turn the ball over. More than nerves, it's telling yourself, 'Don't mess up. Don't mess up.' Battling against Hawkins and freshman walk-on Stephen Vinson for playing time will be a challenge that Lee said he would embrace. He believed the secret to earning more playing time was improving his defense. "The best thing I could do is play defense and be the best defender I can and run the floor when we get the ball and keep a positive attitude out there." Lee said. "You can always play defense. Your shot might not always be there or anything else, but defense doesn't take a night off." Leb said he had changed and grown up since last year. He said he hadn't suffered the homesickness that plagued him last year. He said he was more at home at Kansas and with his team, and he had finally gotten used to the crazy crowd support that Kansas fans offer. He also noticed more attention from college women. "I don't know why, because I haven't looked any different for the past 18 or 19 years of my life," Lee said. "Nothing's changed but the territory I guess." "That's the pretty boy right there," Lee said, pointing at Hawkins. "They say he looks like Puff Daddy. Jeff is probably the ladies' man on the team. He attracts a lot of girls." Evidently, Lee can still dish it out as well as he can take it. Sophomore Guard Height: 6-foot-3-inches Weight: 215 pounds Hometown: Portland, Ore. Lee's Career Highs MICHAELLEE-#25 — Edited by Melissa Shuman Points: 7 vs. Pittsburg State, Nov. 28, 2001 Houston, Nov. 20, 2001 Three-Point Field Goals: 1, five times Rebounds: 3 vs. Texas Tech, March 9, 2002 Field Goals: 3 vs. Pittsburg Field Goal Attempts: 6 vs. Three-Point Attempts: 3 vs. Houston, 11-20-01 Free Throws: 1, twice Free Throw Attempts: 2, twice Assists: 2, twice Steals: 1, twice Blocked Shots: None Minutes Played: 10 vs. Houston, Nov. 20, 2001 Aaron Miles looks to be dominant force By Doyle Murphy dmurphy@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter Chris Zerbe couldn't understand why the pizza delivery man wanted to talk to him, especially at one in the morning. But he got up, and went down to the hotel lobby to sort the whole thing out anyway. "We looked out our peep hole and saw him walking down the hall," Aaron Miles said. "That was so funny, but that's just something that we do every once in a while." The comedic team of Miles and Jeff Hawkins had struck again. Hawkins — the voice of an insistent hotel clerk — and Miles — the angry pizza man in the Miles background — hit it offright away when they came to Kansas last fall. And the guards quickly established themselves as the team'spranksters—usually at the expense and annoyance of their teammates. "He and leff are a bunch of little clowns," Kirk Hinrich said. "They're always messing around." Still, he told reporters there were times last season when he could have used a little assurance. That would be the biggest difference between freshman Miles In between pranks, Miles kept busy as the starting point guard for the jayhawks. He led the team in assists with an average 6.8 per game. His 252 assists on the season set a new school record for freshmen. He also recorded the second-most steals by a freshman with 60. "I'd like for him to become even more dominant defensively." Williams said. "In the Maryland game when we came back from 21 down, or whatever it was, with 5 and a half minutes and sophomore Miles,he said. The largest improvement in confidence and play occurs between the freshman and sophomore years. Roy Williams said. "Confidence is the biggest thing in everything you do, I think," Miles said. "You have to believe in yourself. Last year I believed in myself, but I kind of doubted myself every once in a while." AARON MILES - #11 Sophomore Guard Height: 6-foot-1-inch Weight: 175 pounds Hometown: Portland, Ore. Miles' Career Highs Points: 16 vs. Princeton, Dec. 12, 2001 Rebounds: 7 vs. Illinois, March 22, 2002 Field Goals: 5, four times Field Goal Attempts: 11 vs. Illinois, to play to get it down to 3.1 mean, Aaron really set the whole tone for that with his defense." March 22. 2002 March 22, 2002 Three-Point Field Goals: 2 vs. Texas, Feb. 11, 2002 Three-Point Attempts: 5 vs. Texas, Feb. 11, 2002 Free Throws: 10 vs. Maryland, March 30, 2002 Free Throw Attempts: 12 vs. Maryland, March 30, 2002 Assists: 15 vs. Texas Tech, March 9, 2002 Steals: 4, three times Blocked Shots: 1, three times Minutes Played: 37 vs. Texas, Feb. 11, 2002 player all the way around. "I do expect that he will be bet ter in every facet of the game." - Edited by Jessica Hood KU Basketball Is Life The rest is just details Here are the details: Collison #4 Nash #33 Lee #25 Simien #23 Hawkins #1 Niang #55 Here's to a great season! All the way Hawks! Hinrich #10 Langford #5 Miles #11 Graves #42 Moody #34 Vinson #20 Coach Roy Williams Coach Roy Williams Coaches Robinson, Holiday & Miller Mon, Tues & Wed 9:30-6:00 Thurs 'til 8:00 F-S 9:30-7:00 Sun Noon-5:00 Downtown Lawrence 8th and Mass. 785-843-1099 The North Face Denail Jacket earned its name after a peak colder and windier than Everest. This warm comfortable Polartec 300 Series fleece will handle year round use in cold, dry weather or zipped into a shell when the weather turns nasty. And since it's lightweight and compressible, you'd better have a good reason for leaving it behind. 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