4
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2008
SPORTS
3B
JACOBS (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
start the game.'
"There's a lot of this game that isn't a skill part that she's really starting to understand and embrace."
In her first two seasons, Jacobs started a combined eight games while splitting time between point and shooting guard as a reserve.
This season, it appeared all but certain that incoming freshman Angel Goodrich would take over the starting point guard position, forcing Jacobs to remain on the bench. Still, Lange continued to push: If you can do this, this and this and if you can get better in these areas, you can be really good.
When Goodrich's debut season ended before it began with an ACL injury, Jacobs was ready.
"LaChelda's a pretty confident player," Lange said, "and I love that about her. I don't think that she ever doubted what she was capable of doing, whether we had Angel or not."
For her part, Jacobs understands the importance of getting past a miscue.
"The game is so fast," she said.
"When you make a mistake, you just have to pick it back up and make a good play the next time."
Indeed, turnovers have been a major focal
similarly unfathomable 28 turnovers as a team. And, as players and coach Bonnie Henrickson said blatantly after the game, those miscues
point in Jayhawk's.
During practices, Kansas coaches track turnovers while players participate in a drill.
And when a Jayhawk doesn't finish a practice with more assists.
"The game is so fast. When you make a mistake,you just have to pick it back up and make a good play the next time."
LACHELDA JACOBS Junior guard
than turnovers, she must spend extra time dribbling or passing.
"So it might be that in a two-and-a-half hour practice, they may really only be live for about 20 minutes," Lange said. "Well, in those 20 minutes you might turn it over 12 times. If you're playing 20 minutes in a game, 12 turnovers really isn't very good."
Although no player committed 12 turnovers in Sunday's 67-57 loss at Marquette, Kansas committed a
the Jayhawks a win.
In that game, the boys had a team-high seven assists, but the 5-foot-10 guard tied another team-high with five turnovers. Solid play from the point guard
position is vital if Kansas wants to reach its postseason goal of making the NCAA Tournament. And it's something Jacobs and Lange continually talk about.
"Really, you need to understand that every little thing you do matters," Lange said. "You're the point, you're the key for what we do. You can't win in this league without a good point guard. You just can't."
Edited by Mary Sorrick
kansas vs western illinois, 7 p.m.
ABOUT WESTERN ILLINOIS;
Simply put, the Westwinds aren't a very good basketball team. They enter the game 2-6, including a 67-38 trouncing by IUPII (5-3) on Saturday. And against IUPII, Western Illinois made just one of 16 shots in the first half.
Key Stat:
In a 67-57 loss at Marquette on Sunday, Kansas' four post players combined for 11 of the team's 28 turnovers. The Jayhawks can live with occasional mistakes from the guards, but they'll struggle down the road if their interior players continue to give up the ball.
Outlook:
After Western Illinois, Kansas plays three road games, including a tough UCLA team on Dec. 21. The Jayhawks need to put the Westerwinds away
early and easily heading into their road trip.
NOTES:
NOTES:
Boogaard still out, no timetable set for return
timetable set for return
Sophomore center Krysten
Boogaard will not play against
Western Illinois because of
a stress reaction in her leg,
coach Bonnie Henrickson said
yesterday, Boogaard, who
averaged eight points and
four rebounds, has missed four
games with the injury.
Henrickson said Boogaard would not play until she was pain free.
"And I haven't been given how many days she needs to be pain free before she can play," Henrickson said.
Feickert sees more playing time
In Kansas' first four games, junior Rebecca Feickert played at three of the minutes. But without sophomore center Krysten Boogaard and with inconsistent post play, Feickert's playing time has spiked.
In the last two games, Feickert has played 32 minutes, scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds. Coach Bonnie Henrickson said she expected Feickert to continue seeing minutes in the absence of Boogaard.
"In our last two games, she's been our best post player," Henrickson said. "It's about kids who produce. She's been given an opportunity and done a great job."
-Jayson Jenks
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Focus shifts to practice time
Hawks hope to capitalize on downtime after busy week
BY CASE KEEFER keefer@kansan.com
Kansas coach Bill Self figures his players aren't looking forward to the next 10 days.
The Jayhawks play only one game, Saturday afternoon against Massachusetts at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., which means they will practice plenty. Self loves it but thinks his players loathe it — he said they'd rather play four games as they did in the past nine days.
Apparently, Self hasn't asked freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor for his thoughts on the subject. Taylor said he was excited for the opportunity to improve through practice and hoped his teammates felt the same way.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Senior center Matt Kleinmann battles for a rebound during Saturday's game against Jackson State. Coach Bill Self said Kleinmann got the start because none of the other big men had practiced hard enough. The team will have plenty of time to work on how it practices because its next game isn't until Saturday, when the Jayhawks play Massachusetts in Kansas City.
They will work on everything. Self will use the time to add new offensive sets and polish existing ones.
"If they don't think so then I don't know about them," Taylor said. "I know I have some things to get better at. I know everybody has some things to work on."
Rebounding might also be a focus, as Kansas out-rebounded Jackson State by only one board in its last game.
Don't forget about defense, either. With Self, there's always room to improve defensively. The players are expecting the practices to carry that theme.
"I know they're going to be defensive-oriented," sophomore guard Tyrel Reed said.
Reed said he would spend time grabbing rebounds under the basket.
No guard on the Kansas roster is averaging more than two and a half rebounds per game. Reed thinks the guards need to help more on the boards.
Taylor wants to keep easing into his role as a point guard. He recorded a career-high 11 assists against Jackson State. But Taylor's first instinct is to score. Practice can help him become a more natural passer.
Freshman forward Marcus Morris said he was still adjusting
to a new position.
He played small forward in high school but has started five of Kansas' eight games at power forward. He's not used to posting up and continues to learn new techniques during practice from assistant coach Danny Manning.
"I enjoy both," Aldrich said. "It's always fun to get out there and play in front of the crowd, but it's tiring
Perhaps all the Jayhawks like practicing more than Self expected. Sophomore center Cole Aldrich said it provided a different sort of satisfaction.
"He was a great post player — we all know that," Morris said. "So whatever he tells me to do, I'll do."
at the same time. It's nice to get in there and practice and work on the things we need to get better at."
Edited by Mary Sorrick
keep a higher price for the Cubs and ivy-walled Wrigley, analysts said, which could ultimately benefit the creditors who were put on
NEW YORK — By keeping the storied Chicago Cubs baseball team and Wrigley Field out of its bankruptcy filing, Tribune Co. gains the freedom to run the team without having to constantly consult with a judge — and to continue soliciting bids for the Cubs and the stadium that could net $1 billion.
MLB
A sale outside of the bankruptcy process could help Tribune reap a higher
Cubs unaffected by bankruptcy Tribune Co.'s Chapter 11 filing won't extend to team
BY VINNEE TONG ASSOCIATED PRESS
"It's business as usual at Wrigley Field as the Cubs continue to prepare for the 2009 season."
CUBS TEAM STATEMENT
Several of Tribune's biggest lenders, including Merrill Lynch Capital Corp. and hedge fund Highland Capital, declined to comment on the Cubs.
Tribune's first hearing in bankruptcy court is scheduled for Wednesday morning in Delaware.
Operating outside the bankruptcy means the Cubs won't need to hold a bankruptcy auction, a more cumbersome process because of the checks and balances that Chapter 11 protec-
hold by Tribune's Chapter 11 filing Monday. Still, it's not clear whether Tribune's more than 1,000 creditors would agree to leave such a prized asset outside the bankruptcy court's control.
"I'd be more concerned with the larger creditors, the banks," Gimme Credit senior analyst Dave Novosel said. "While banks typically, at least, want to be accommodating, in today's environment, they have less ability to do so, considering their own issues."
tion requires. Including the Cubs in the filing could hamper the team's ability to pursue expensive free agents, manage its farm system and quickly
Lisa Hill Fenning, a former judge who now is a bankruptcy attorney at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, said sales of sports teams are complicated because leagues and owners need to approve the winning bidder. As a result, she believes creditors will let Tribune leave the Cubs outside the bankruptcy case because selling it out of court is simpler and likely to be smoother for potential bidders.
By June of this year, there were still nine approved bidders on the list, and in August, Zell announced the field had been narrowed to five. At least three would-be buy-
make deals without going to a bankruptcy judge for approval.
Tribune Co. announced on Opening Day 2007 that, besides accepting a buyout offer from real estate mogul Sam Zell, it was selling the Cubs and Wrigley Field. Since then, Tribune has moved slowly in soliciting bids and considering the potential buwers.
ers have submitted second-round bids to Tribune, and a Cubs senior vice president, Crane Kenney, said last week that he expects the franchise to be sold by spring training, which begins in February.
Tribune Co. entered bankruptcy Monday, burdened by $13 billion debt. The newspaper company has 20,000 employees and owns large daily newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Hartford (Conn.) Courant and the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel, cable channels and 23 TV stations.
On Monday, the Cubs said the bankruptcy of its parent would change very little as the team tries to finally win its first World Series since 1908. "It is business as usual at Wrigley Field as the Cubs continue to prepare for the 2009 season," a team statement said.
Even so, Standard & Poor's analyst Emile Courtney said Tuesday that Tribune would need to get bankruptcy court approval to finalize a deal.
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