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SPORTS
9A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2002
Former'Hawks flying high
Fernando Medina/NBA Photo
Orlando Magic point guard Jacque Vaughn looks for an open teammate. Vaughn had a strong showing against Memphis last Tuesday with four points, five rebounds and four assists.
Former Kansas icons perform professionally in basketball, football
By Ryan Greene
greene@kansan.com
Kansans sportswriter
Drew Gooden - Memphis Grizzlies
NBA
Memphis' preseason finale saw Memphis lose to the Magic 82-74 last Tuesday, with Gooden having his poorest outing yet, posting 10 points and four rebounds. The Grizzlies will start their regular season tomorrow night at home against Dallas. Gooden was the brightest of Memphis' young stars in the preseason, finishing the eight-game schedule by leading the team in points per game (18.0) and rebounds per game (11.5). Gooden will be coming off the bench to start the season as Pau Gasol's backup at power forward.
Paul Pierce - Boston Celtics
In Boston's final two preseason matches, Paul Pierce showed up to play, averaging 26.5 points per game. The Celtics lost at home to Dallas on Wednesday, and then won while hosting Washington in the first NBA game televised by ESPN this season. In his first national television appearance of the season, Pierce dropped in 31 points on 10-of-20 shooting, and added seven rebounds in the 104-95 win. After finishing the preseason 4-4, Boston will start its regular season campaign tomorrow at home against the Bulls.
Vaughn had a solid outing against Memphis last Tuesday, posting four points, five rebounds and four assists. In the preseason finale Thursday, Vaughn had his best game yet this year, with 12 points and seven assists. He outshone Darrell Armstrong, and it is yet to be determined who will start at point guard. The Magic will start the regular season tonight in Orlando as it hosts Philadelphia.
Raef LaFrentz - Dallas Mavericks
The Mavs will head into tomorrow night's opener against Memphis on a high note. The team ended the preseason with three straight wins, including Wednesday's 105-97 win at Boston and 102-95 victory the next night in Orlando. LaFrentz started the two games at center and recorded a total of 22 points and 13 rebounds.
lacque Vaughn - Orlando Magic
Scot Pollard - Sacramento Kings
The Kings wrapped up the preseason with a 6-2 record, including three wins last week. In the preseason's final week, the team beat the Trailblazers and Cavaliers at home, then ended with a road win over the Lakers, which was overshadowed by a brawl between Doug Christie and Rick Fox. Pollard solidified his bid for more minutes this season by recording double-doubles in Sacramento's final two contests, including 15 points and 14 boards against Cleveland. The Kings start regular season play tonight at home against the Cavs.
SEE PRO ON PAGE 6A
Women's golf opens play in Hawaii
By Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
The Kansas women's golf team has performed strongly under new coach Megan Menzel, finishing in the top half of all but one of its tournaments. The team could head into its winter hiatus on a positive note after this weekend.
Today the team will tee off in the Rainbow Wahine Golf Classic in Kapolei, Hawaii.
Kansas has shown consistent improvement throughout the fall season, and now finds itself ranked 82nd in the Golfweek Top 100 for the first time this season.
The first 36 holes will be played this afternoon, with the final round of 18 tomorrow morning.
The team has placed no lower than 14th in an event in Menzel's first year as coach.
Their last trip to the links produced its best finish yet, a thirdplace tie in the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational in Wichita. Senior Heather Rose paced the team's performance, placing seventh individually after firing a threeround total of 226 (10-over-par). Junior Jennifer Bawanan was close behind in a tie for eighth place with a total score of 228 (12-over-par).
This weekend's tournament will host 17 teams.
Edited by Adam Pracht and Ryan Malashock
Kansas' sisters lose in tennis semifinals
By Jonah Ballow
jballow@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
The University of Missouri women's tennis team was the only obstacle between Kansas juniors Courtney and Kristen Steinbock and a trip to the finals of the Omni Hotels Women's Tennis Central Region Championships this weekend in Tulsa, Okla.
After the Steinbocks defeated the University of Tulsa's Aleksandra Durska and Alicia Pillay 8-5 they fell to Missouri's Urkia Juric and Katka Sevkikova 5-8 in the semifinals of the tournament Saturday.
— Edited by Sarah Hill and Lauren Beatty
In singles, sophomore Paige Brown could not get past the quarterfinals, losing to No. 1 seeded Pillay 6-1, 6-3.
Courtney Steinbock also competed in the backdraw, or consolation, singles final Sunday after losing her first match in the main draw. She went on to win three straight matches en route to the backdraw championship. Maja Kovacek of the University of New Mexico defeated Steinbock, 6-3, 6-2.
"Overall, this was a very good tournament for us," coach Kilmery Waterman said. "Paige Brown is playing the best she has ever played and Courtney Steinbock has won some tough matches and is playing at a new level herself. We are excited for next spring."
Another notable performance for the Jayhawks came from junior Emily Haylock who lost a close match to Kansas State University's Haley McIver 7-6, 6-7, (10-5). Haylock dropped the first set but bounced back to win the second. However, Haylock could not defeat McIver in a close tie break to decide the match.
Freshman Christine Skoda worked her way to the quarterfinals in the qualifying draw. Skoda would eventually fall to Melissa Mendieta of the University of Oklahoma 6-3, 6-0.
The Omni Hotels tournament ends the fall season for the Jayhawks. The team will resume play during the spring season.
Friends meet as rivals in Sunflower Showdown
By John Domoney
jdomoney@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Saturday's Sunflower State battle between Kansas and Kansas State matches two rivals and two coaching friends.
Kansas coach Mark Mangino and Kansas State coach Bill Snyder will stand on opposing sidelines for the first time as head coaches when the Jayhawks and Wildcats meet at 1 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in the teams' 100th meeting.
"If it was not for Bill Snyder, I would not be here at KU as the head football coach today," said Mangino in yesterday's Big 12 Conference teleconference. "He has had a big impact on my career, on my life, on the way I think and on the way I approach things."
Mangino got his first Division I coaching experience at Kansas State when Snyder hired him to be a part of his staff in 1991.
Over the next eight years, Mangino was a part of the Wildcat's emergence from the depths of college football ineptitude to national contenders.
"I think the roles were reversed. At Kansas State we talked about not getting the respect we deserved in the state of Kansas. We'd have to earn that respect and we'd have to go out and beat KU to do it. Now the table's turned."
Mark Mangino Kansas football coach
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Kansas State went 71-23-1 over that span and was invited to six bowls. In 1998, the Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the country from Nov. 8 to Nov. 29 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll on their way to finishing as the Big 12 North Division champs.
Although Mangino left the next year to join Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops' first staff, Mangino still has fond memories of his experiences with the rivalry.
"I think the roles were reversed,"
Kansas State junior wide receiver James Terry runs the ball up the field against former Kansas cornerback Carl Lvey in last year's Kansas-Kansas State game. The Jayhawks and Wildcats will host for 100th time at 1 a.m. Saturday in Memorial Stadium.
will meet for the 100th time at 1 p.m. Saturday. Mangino said, "At Kansas State we talked about not getting the respect we deserved in the state of Kansas. We'd have to earn that respect and we'd have to go out and beat KU to do it. Now the table's turned."
Mangino said in the later years of his stint on Snyder's staff, Kansas State would not even spend its full practice
time into preparing for the Jayhawks the week before the game.
"Early in my career there at Kansas State, it was a big game," Mangino said. "Late in my career there, it was not because KU could not make it competitive
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 10A
Gooden proves his worth in Grizzlies preseason
Face it Jayhawk fans, Drew Gooden has made the right choice, and with each game he plays in a Grizzlies uniform, it is more obvious.
Last spring, Lawrence was filled with naysayers who chastised Gooden for choosing to forego his senior season at Kansas to enter the NBA draft.
He became the second player under Roy Williams to leave school early for the pros, and has proved critics wrong ever since.
Not only was he named one of the Most Valuable Players at the Rocky Mountain Revue Summer League in Salt Lake City, Utah, but he also led the Memphis squads in scoring and rebounding in the summer league and the preseason.
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Gooden averaged a double-double in the preseason, and fell a couple rebounds shy of doing the same in Salt Lake City.
Ryan Greene rgreene@kansan.com
Despite all early accomplishments,
why do his critics on the KU campus make fun of him for being in a commercial for NBA Live 2003 rapping about "moving in and out of the groove?"
Come on people — this is our boy we're talking about. The same guy who played a game with the flu against Texas his sophomore year. The same guy who, over the past three years, has stepped up in crunch time to carry the team on his back. The same guy who, on the court, was the emotional cornerstone during last year's run to the Final Four.
Critics should think about the repercussions on and off the court if Gooden had stayed this season.
What would happen to Gooden if he sustained a serious injury at the beginning of the season? It would be much better for him if it happened in Memphis, instead of in Lawrence, where he at least could have a $3 million signing bonus in the breast pocket of his new Armani suit.
If people want to get hung up on Gooden obtaining a degree, he can still do it after leaving to play in the pros. Shaq did it at Louisiana State and Vince Carter did it at North Carolina.
Finally, no one realizes how Gooden's play would have been affected if he stayed this season. He would have fallen victim to endless double and triple-team coverages, and he would have been forcing shots even worse than he did last year. After he finished as Co-National
Player of the Year, a drop-off in production would have killed his draft stock by the time next June rolled around.
It's hard to deny that Gooden will be a force for years to come in the NBA.
He is stuck for now as a contributor off the bench, playing behind six former first round players, including Pau Gasol, Shane Battier, Stromile Swift and Lorenzen Wright.
Gooden has solidified himself as the preseason front-runner to bring home Rookie of the Year hardware. No matter what, with every big performance that he puts up in the NBA, it only makes Kansas athletics look better, so embrace it.
If his performances stay consistent, he will have silenced forever all of the fans who loved him at KU and then turned their backs on him after he left school.
- Greene is a Vernon Hills, Ill., junior in journalism.