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Blame for Saturday's loss should be spread around, but Mangino has only one real choice to fix the problems. FOOTBALL | 6B
TUESDAY,OCTOBER21,2008
COMMENTARY
PAGE 1B
Hawk fans should see the glass as half full
'TWINTOWERS'
The Kansas basketball and football teams combined for an astonishing 49 wins and only four losses last year.
Kansas fans never even had to witness a loss at Memorial Stadium or Allen Fieldhouse because the teams went undefeated at both venues.
However, that was last year and this is, well, this year. It's easy to say that matching last year's success would be nearly impossible.
The Jayhawks easily had the best two-sport record in NCAA Division-I athletics last year. Kansas was the only school to go to a BCS-bowl game and also advance to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. The only other team that even came close was West Virginia, which won the Fiesta Bowl in football and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in basketball.
Despite last year's success, we live in a society where people care a lot about what someone has done for them lately.
Nine teams that Kansas will face in the non-conference season participated in post-season play last year. Michigan State, Temple, Arizona, Tennessee and Kent State all played in the NCAA tournament. Tennessee and Kent State both won their conferences.
Expectations are always high in basketball. After losing all five starters from last year's squad, the Jayhawks are going to have some major growing pains, and their non-conference schedule isn't going to make it any easier.
Both teams were knocked out by another one of the Jayhawks' future foes: the University of Massachusetts, the runner-up in the 2008 NIT. Kansas will also face NIT-participant New Mexico State.
If that's not daunting enough, Kansas will most likely face Washington — who appeared in the College Basketball Invitational — and either Florida or Syracuse in the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in November. Syracuse advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT last year and Florida advanced to the semifinals.
This is all before the conference season even begins. Once Kansas enters conference play, it will have to deal with talented squads such as Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas.
Then there is the rest of the Big 12, which will give Kansas some troubles as well. Oklahoma State beat the Jayhawks, despite Kansas' best record ever.
There is reason to think that one or two teams in the middle or lower parts of the conference could beat Kansas at least once this season. If Kansas was to go about 23-10 it would seem like a let down after last year, but it would be a season a school such as Colorado would die for in basketball.
As far as football goes, the Jayhawks are sitting at 5-2 with a tough schedule ahead. With the way the Big 12 is shaping up, I think a lot of people would say Kansas will finish with seven wins, maybe eight. This would have been a stellar mark for Kansas football a few years ago, but it may seem like a let-down to some Jayhawk fans this year.
It shouldn't. Neither should a 23-win basketball season. Just think about Kansas' neighboring schools and how they have had to deal with losing. Kansas isn't losing the way some other Big 12 North schools are. They aren't suffering losing seasons. They aren't getting blown out.
Nebraska, Iowa State and Colorado are all struggling more so than Kansas In football, Nebraska has suffered
SEE DUFEK ON PAGE 6B
Markieff?
HOW CAN YOU
EYEBROWS?
TELL?
SIDEBURNS?
BY,CASE KEEFER
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Matt Kleinmann freezes when he sees Marcus or Markieff Morris walking alone on campus.
Kleinmann, a senior center, tries to take a quick glance at the face to determine which one of the two Morris twins it might be. It doesn't work. Kleinmann can't tell them apart yet, so he has to choose a simpler greeting.
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"Hey" Kleinmann says, "What's up twin?"
Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor notes that Markieff has a bigger head. Senior guard Brennan Bechard looks at their eyebrows. Marcus' seem to be thinner.
Kleinmann is not the only one who struggles to differentiate between the two freshman forwards from Philadelphia. The twins' teammates and coaches are facing
the same problem, but they are beginning to compile identification strategies.
Perhaps the Morris twins have not shared the secret to telling them apart with everyone.
"Normally," Marcus said, "I'll cut my sideburns off so I can be clear."
The Morris twins.
however, are not agitated by the failure to identify them. Not the least bit. Marcus and Markieff have grown up at each other's sides.
Not only are they used to it, but the twins embrace it. Marcus and Markieff
made it clear early in the recruiting process that they would be attending the same college. They've always played on the same basketball team, so they figured there was no reason to stop in college.
But the similarities between the twins go beyond basketball.
Their favorite subject is math. Their favorite food is cornbread. Their favorite TV show is "Martin." They share the exact same tattoos — including one etched on their arms that reads "Twin Towers."
"They do everything together," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "They even dress alike."
So the biggest difference between the twins is the sideburns. Until they step on the basketball court. It's not that one is substantially better than the other — they both were ranked as top 50 recruits in the 2008 class — but their games have just
developed differently.
The 6-foot-9, 235-pound Markieff plays primarily inside and is known as a fierce reboucher. He averaged 12 rebounds per game last year at APEX Academy in New Jersey.
The 6-foot-8, 225-pound Marcus can play either inside or on the perimeter. He likes to move around and takes more jump shots.
"I can play all five positions on the court," Marcus said. "It depends on how the match-ups are going."
Both Marcus and Markieff will have a chance to start for the Jayhawks right away this season. Self said the twins brought a dimension to the game that Kansas did not have during his first five years as coach big men who can shoot.
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SEE TWINS ON PAGE 6B