Wednesday, September 28, 2011
kansan.com
SOCCER PLAYERS RECEIVE ACCLAIM
Berry and Vidal named among Big 12's top 20 players PAGE7
COMMENTARY
Looking beyond the Phog
Brew: Kansas City could use an NHL hockey team PAGE 9
BOOT CAMPERS
EARLY WAKE UP CALL
Edited by Jason Bennett
Jason King, former Kansas sports beat writer for the Kansas City Star and current national college basketball columnist at Yahooli Sports, talked with me about his upcoming book, "Beyond the Phog," which hits shelves tomorrow. King will be at Jock's Nitch in Lawrence, signing the book from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. He'll also be at the Kansas Union Bookstore at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, before the Texas Tech game. He'll also be on the KJHK show "The League" today at 6 p.m. to discuss the book
For more information on "Beyond the Phog," visit kubook.net.
Q: How long have you been working on the book?
A: I decided two weeks after my second child was born in May to do it. I was just at home all summer. It's something that I've wanted to do for a long time, just because I knew there were so many stories about Kansas players, about things that went on behind the scenes that no one ever knew about.
Senior guard Tyshawn Taylor yells in disbelief at a foul called against him in the first half on Nov. 12, 2010 against Longwood. Taylor and the Jayhawks began boot camp training on Monday morning.
MIKE GUINNEO/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
A: A lot of the NBA players that I talked to really talked about how they didn't realize how much they loved it until they got into the NBA. They like the NBA, they like the money, but boy they miss the lifestyle at Kansas. They miss the love. They miss the camaraderie. I interviewed Brandon Rush and we were talking and he had a real honest moment. We were talking and I thought he was done answering the question I was asking him about Kansas, and I started asking him a new question about something totally different and he interrupted me. He goes, 'I miss it man, I miss Kansas so bad.' I didn't provoke him to say that, he looked me dead in the eye, which sometimes he doesn't always do and he goes 'Man I miss it so bad.'
Q: Were you surprised at how open
Roy Williams was with you?
Q: Was there on consistent theme or message that each player wanted to make sure they got across?
A: He's a guy that I still talk to frequently just because of my job with Yahoo! He was pretty open and honest, I will say the coaches, both he and Bill Self, are a little more guarded with what they say. They're not going to come out and speak negatively about anyone, which is totally understandable and expected. He did say, in the chapter, that if he had known how bad he was going to feel after telling his Kansas players that he was leaving, if he would've known how sick it made him, he never would have done it. Who knows if he means it, I thought it was pretty candid. He actually got emotional a few times talking about certain situations during our interview right there in the gym. He wasn't keeled over crying, but he definitely teared up a few times.
A. I didn't realize just how hard these guys work. The thing that tops it all off is the stress, the pressure, having to go out there and perform, Jeff Boschee told me that he said, when he graduated, after he played his last game, the very next week he was supposed to be at the Portsmouth Invitational, in front of a bunch of scouts that watch guys that are on the bubble as far as being drafted or not. He got invited to go to that, and he just skipped out. He said he was just burned out, he did not want to see a basketball, he said he didn't touch a basketball for a year. That's telling.
Q: What raised your eyebrows about the program?
MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
twitter.com/uck_bball
Freshman guard Merv Lindsay sat in his bed in the jayhawk Towers with eyes wide open the night before coach Bill Self's boot camp started.
"I couldn't go to sleep," Lindsay said. "I was so anxious."
Self's boot camp begins every day at 6 a.m. and lasts between 45 minutes and an hour. The training, which never involves a basketball and spans from Monday until next Friday, includes defensive slides, close-out drills, backboard taps, lots of running and whatever else Self can think of.
"Boot camp is all the stuff that we really don't want to do that has to do with basketball," senior guard Tyshawn Taylor said. "It's not the fun stuff."
Former stars Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and Wayne Simien were in town for the Legends of the Phog exhibition last weekend and spent some time warning the freshmen about boot camp. Lindsay said they told him to get some sleep. Junior forward Thomas Robinson and Taylor told him that boot camp is when training "gets real."
Freshman guard Christian Garrett learned the definition of real on Monday, when he puked in a trash can next to the practice court after a running drill.
"I gave him a little pour of water on the neck to cool him off", senior Guard Conner Teahan said.
Taylor said that other than that incident, Garrett has shown no signs of slowing down.
After Late Night at the Phog on Oct. 14, Self's practices will show no mercy.
"As older guys, we've got to smack them on the butt and tell them they can do it," Taylor said. "Boost them up a little bit."
"If you went right into practicing the way we practice after late night, you wouldn't be able to handle it." Teahan said.
Boot camp serves as a way to prepare for those practices and as a barometer of the team's current condition.
"Everybody was in decent shape," Lindsay said. "But now we're getting into Kansas basketball season shape."
With the departure of the Morris twins and Josh Selby to the NBA and
with Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed now playing in Europe, Self cannot rely on skills alone to trump opponents. When playing against premier talent such as Anthony Davis of Kentucky or Jared Sullinger of Ohio State, Kansas could benefit from having an extra burst of energy in crunch time. Boot camp
can provide that extra burst.
"If you can get through this, you can get through anything," Taylor said.
Self doesn't give his players any formal breath, but Taylor said that every once in a while he sneaks a sip of water. However, Taylor said he wishes the training was in the
"I think that's the toughest part," he said of the 6 a.m. start.
afternoon instead of before the sun rises.
Self has been barking at everyone, catching minor details that may seem trivial, but make a difference to him.
"I got caught slipping a couple of
times," Lindsay said.
Lindsay said he knows that self's yells only bring the best out of talented athletes.
"We've got goals this year, Lindsay said. "So we've got to work toward them."
Quarterback Jordan Webb attempts a pass against Georgia Tech. Webb has the fifth highest quarterback rating in the country.
FOOTBALL
Edited by Jayson Jenks
Kansas defense still searching for an identity
MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
During Monday's Big 12 media teleconference, Texas Tech coach Tommy Tubercville said that the Kansas football team resembled his team in the sense that both schools are still looking for their identity.
While the Kansas football team hasn't entirely found their identity, some pieces are coming together.
"From our perspective were probably trying to find our identity on more of the defensive stand-point," Gill said. "We're figuring out our personnel and what our guys can do."
When coach Turner Gill was asked about Tuberville's statement, he agreed — for the most part.
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAP
It's tough to argue with Gill, as the Kansas defense has given up an average of 44 points per game this season.
"The defense that we've put out on the field the past Saturdays isn't really the defense we were capable of being." Opurum said. "I feel like with this bye week, we've been able to work better on our fundamentals and techniques and come this Saturday we'll look like a different defense really."
While the defense has been searching for their identity, the offense has had one all season.
Besides giving up a large number of points, the Kansas defense has often given up plays, because of a defender's mistake.
Junior defensive lineman Toben Opurum is confident that the work the team put in during bye week will pay huge dividends against Texas Tech this Saturday.
The Jayhawks have run the ball 90 more times than they have thrown it, giving the offense a physical mentality. When Kansas has the ball, they like to run it. Then run it again. And run it some more.
"For us, when we're most successful, is whenever we're playing really physical," Webb said. "If our guys are blocking well we're going to be able to spring a lot of big runs and that's going to open up the passing game."
That is exactly what Kansas has been able to do.
Webb has the fifth highest quarterback rating in the NCAA because, in large part, of his ability to make the big play. Webb is averaging 9.7 yards per pass attempt, which shows that the big play has been opened up by the dominant rushing attack. Offensive coordinator Chuck Long said an offense typically strives for an average attempt of six to seven yards.
"It's just having a plan, having a recruiting plan, and developing that
plan and staying with it. We felt like we recruited some good young running backs and we wanted to play to that," Long said.
12
Early into Gill's second season at Kansas, an identity is starting to form. While the defense is a long way away from finding theirs, they at least know what identity they'd
like to one day have.
"The biggest thing for me, is to be an attacking defense," Oparum said. "If we do that, we'll have a better opportunity to create turnovers, which will help us when more games this year."
Edited by Adam Strunk
---