Sports
Men's basketball blowout Michigan State, coach Self's former Big Ten Conference rival, should give Kansas some stiff competition in tonight's men's basketball game. PAGE 3B
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sports commentary
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Joey Berlin
jberlin@kansan.com
Free-throw accuracy important versus MSU
You're not supposed to notice good free-throw shooting It's supposed to be a formality, like airplanes landing safely. So if you didn't notice how well the Kansas men's basketball team shot free throws in its opening victory over Tennessee-Chattanooga Friday. no big deal.
But because the Jayhawks built a reputation for crummy free-throw shooting during the Roy Williams era, their 15-of-18 performance against Chattanooga was noticeable and welcome. They'll likely need more of that kind of shooting if they're going to win tonight's matchup with Michigan State.
Kansas' ineptitude from the line has long been an annoyance — the Jayhawks topped 70 percent from the line only twice in Williams' 15 years as coach, and they shot better than 66 percent once in the last five years. Last April, after they cost themselves a national championship by hitting just 12 of 30 free throws in the NCAA title game against Syracuse, free throws became worth obsessing about.
Last season's team had its moments at the line, especially during an odd threegame stretch against Iowa State, Nebraska and Wyoming when it hit 86.5 percent. The rest of the time, it displayed consistent mediocrity with an occasional terrible performance.
Everyone remembers the Syracuse game, but some other gems were largely forgotten: four out of 12 in the first meeting with Arizona, five out of 10 against Texas Tech, eight out of 14 against UNC Asheville. None of those free-throw showings had an impact on the outcome of the game, but they foreshadowed the Syracuse debacle.
Even though it was just one game, Friday was a different story. Against Chattanooga, the guys you'd expect to get to the line got there — specifically, Wayne Simien and Keith Langford. Simien shot just 67.6 percent from the line in his injury-shortened 2002-2003 season, while Langford shot 63.5 percent and made five out of 10 against Syracuse.
But Friday, Simien connected on all seven of his free throws; Langford hit five out of six. Simien is Kansas' top post player, Langford the team's top slasher. They're likely to go to the line this year more than anyone else on the team. Both shot considerably better from the line during their freshman years off the bench than they did last year. It's hard to imagine how unstoppable they'd be if they could consistently make 70 percent or more.
Freshman David Padgett, who also should get to the line plenty this year, didn't fare as well in his first college game, hitting one out of three free throws. But Padgett has much better touch than the man he replaced in the starting lineup, Jeff Graves.
Graves shot 57.6 percent last season, including two of seven against Syracuse. His percentage last season was worst among players in Kansas' regular rotation, and it didn't hurt that he never went to the line during his six minutes of work Friday night. The less he gets there, the better.
Tonight's game should hinge on free-throw shooting a little more than last Friday's game. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo likes his Spartans to play physical defense, and knowing what Kansas did at the line last year, Izzo's frontcourt players probably won't hesitate to foul Simien, Graves or Langford if they have an easy look inside.
Berlin is a Leawood senior in journalism
If the 'Hawks can continue to shoot 80 percent or better from the line tonight, they'll give us hope that last Friday's performance wasn't a fluke, and one of Kansas' most consistent weaknesses may finally have been addressed.
Junior guard Aaron Miles pulled down an offensive rebound in the first half of Kansas' 90-72 victory against Tennessee-Chattanooga Friday. The Jayhawks take on their highest-ranked foe of the season, the Michigan State Spartans, at 8tonight in Allen Fieldhouse.
Courtnev Kuhlen/Kansan
Jayhawks prepared for physical battle
By Chris Wintering
cwintering@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas will get its toughest test of the early season tonight against the No. 3 Michigan State Spartans — toughest being the kev word.
Freshman guard J.R. Giddens said the game would be a war. Freshman center David Padgett said it would be the first test for him as a college player and Self said the Spartans were as tough as any team in the country.
"You have to beat them because they won't beat themselves," Self said. "There's a reason why they went to three straight Final Fours and won the national championship."
Given the Spartans' early season struggles, it might seem like the Jayhawks are overly concerned. Michigan State lost to the Harlem Globetrotters in the exhibition season, almost lost to Bucknell last Friday, and coach Tom Izzo called the current Spartans "the softest team we've had in the nine years I've been here."
Self said that statement was a bit misleading.
"His definition of soft is not necessar-
"You have to beat them because they won't beat themselves."
Bill Self On Michigan State
ly what the average human being's definition of soft is," Self said.
While Michigan State is the probably the best team on Kansas' non-conference schedule, Kansas is one of many top teams Michigan State will play this season. In addition to the Jayhawks, the Spartans play Duke, Oklahoma, Kentucky, UCLA and Syracuse. Self said that was an indication of what Izzo really thought of his team.
"That tells you they have a pretty good team," Self said. "Tom wouldn't play a schedule like unless he was really confident."
Self is familiar with Michigan State after coaching in the Big Ten Conference the last three seasons. As the coach at Illinois, Self went 3-3 against Michigan State.
"They'll run it down your throat," he said. "You have to score over them or go through them - you're not going to score a lot of easy baskets."
Self also said many of the games against the Spartans in the past came down to home-court advantage, which is something the Jayhawks will have
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 7B
"Everybody here is very confident and with all of the information I have received — we are going to get a bowl bid." Mangino said. "You just don't
While it was not yet certain the Jayhawks would go to a bowl, Mangino said a strong possibility existed.
By Kevin Flaherty
kflaherty@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
As Kansas players soaked coach Mark Mangino with Gatorade on Saturday, the time ran out on a 36-7 victory over Iowa State that made the Jayhawks bowl-eligible.
The Big 12 Conference does not have ties with the Hawaii Bowl, so if Kansas plays in a bowl it will play in the team's first bowl game on the mainland since its 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl appearance. The Jayhawks won both the 1992 and 1995 Aloha Bowls.
The game is not just a big deal for the players. The Athletics Department would also make more money based on bowl participation.
Kansas likely will play in either the Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, or the Mazda Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Fla. Where they go depends on the impact different teams
know about those things until they are in your hand, so there is a little bit of anxiety."
But if the Big 12 garners two BCS teams, then it wouldn't matter and the Big 12 could accommodate all nine bowl-eligible teams. If nine teams each went to a bowl it would set a Big 12 record. Texas A&M was the ninth bowl-eligible team last season but chose not to accent the bid.
have in the Bowl Championship Series. If the Big 12 lands only one BCS team, then the Big 12 has eight bowls to put teams into. This could lead to Kansas being left out if Colorado, which defeated Kansas earlier in the season, becomes bowl-eligible with a victory over Nebraska on Friday.
Bo Carter, Big 12 assistant commissioner, said commissioner Kevin Weiberg was trying to talk to all of the bowls and convince them not to finish slotting teams until after the Big 12 season had concluded.
Meanwhile, the bowls must wait. While the top bowls can start to hone in
TALK TO SPORTS: Contact II Henslev and Shane Mettlen at PORTS@KANSAN.COM
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 7B
By Ryan Greene
rgreene@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
With the way the scenarios are looking, the Big 12 Conference could see as many as nine teams headed to bowl games. Oklahoma and Texas' apparent berths into BCS games opens the gates for teams like Colorado and Kansas at the bottom of the conference bowl-eligibility barrel. Of course, Colorado still needs to down Nebraska this Friday to become bowl eligible. There are plenty of bowl possibilities for the conference, and most of them hinge on that game's result, but here are some early predictions of who is going where and when.
Sugar Bowl — Jan. 4
New Orleans, Louisiana
Prediction — Oklahoma vs. USC
Why? — Plain and simple, these are the two best teams that college football has to offer. USC looks like the only team
SEE BOWLS ON PAGE 7B
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