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4B the university daily kansan
friday. november 21, 2003
sports
Men's basketball regular season debut KANSAS VS. TENN-CHATTANOOGA TELEVISION:7 p.m., Channel 13
HOW THEY COMPARE
RADIO: 90.7 KJHK
CHATTANOOGA DOESN'T HAVE THE NAME RECOGNITION or top-10 ranking of Kansas' second opponent, Michigan State, so it might be easy for fans to look past tonight's game. But the Mocs finished 21-9 last year and have a chance to become one of this year's mid-major powers out of the Southern Conference. Coach Jeff Lebo, in his second year with Chattanooga, is considered one of the most promising young coaches in the business; Lebo was a finalist for the Iowa State job last summer before pulling out of consideration.
Chattanooga loves to run and has a talented lineup of scorers to make Lebo's system work. The Mocs aren't known for defense. Their defense allowed 74 points per game last season, which ranked sixth-worst in the 12-team SoCon, and was more than any team in the Big 12 Conference allowed.
POINT GUARD
POINT GUARD Aaron Miles, Kansas vs.
Ray Trowell, Chattanooga
At 6-foot-1, Miles, a junior, has a distinct size advantage over the 5-foot-9 Trowell, a senior. Like Miles, Trowell distributes the ball well in an up-tempo offense, averaging six assists last season. He's also a better scorer than Miles, averaging 10.9 points last year on 45.2 percent shooting and 36.7 percent on three-pointers. But Miles is one of the better defensive guards in the Big 12, and is as capable as anyone of shutting down an undersized opposing point guard. If 5-foot-11 Jeff Hawkins, a sophomore, starts, he could draw the defensive assignment on Trowell.
ADVANTAGE:Even
SHOOTING GUARD Mike Lee or Jeff Hawkins, Kansas
Jason Rogan, Chattanooga
Self continues to keep the identity of his third starting guard and his starting center a mystery. Hawkins and junior Mike Lee do a lot of the same things well; both are known for tight defense and three-point shooting ability. Hawkins is considerably faster and quicker than Lee, but Lee brings better size at 6-foot-3 and contributed meaningfully to last year's team, while Hawkins spent most of the year on the bench.
Whoever starts, they'll need to be on top of their game while defending Rogan, a senior, a solid 6-foot-2 scorer who finished second on the Mocs last year with 13.9 points per game and shot 45.5 percent from the field. Neither Lee nor Hawkins had the chance to prove they can be effective as starters, so tonight's game may be as important for them as anyone.
ADVANTAGE: Chattanooga
THIRD GUARD/SMALL FOR
Keith Langford, Kansas
Chris Brown, Chatango
With a lack of size in the frontcourt, the Mocs may have no answer for Langford, a junior, once he drives past his initial defender on the perimeter. Langford's slashing ability, as well as his ability to hang in the air on short and midrange jumpers, should lead to a big game for him.
Brown, a junior transfer from Polk Community College in Winterhaven. Fla., averaged 16.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in junior college action last year
ADVANTAGE: Kansas
POWER FORWARD Wayne Simien, Kansas
Ashley Champion, Chattanooga
This is where any opportunity Chattanooga has of pulling an upset really begins to break down. Champion, a senior, is the Mocs' best player, leading the team last year in both scoring and rebounding. But he's only 6-foot-6 and would have his hands full guarding the
foot-9, 250-pound Simien, a junior. If the Mocs play man-to-man defense, Simien should have no problem getting inside position on whoever is guarding him. Champion may not guard Simien much, if at all, as Lebo likely knows that man-to-man isn't the way to go against a team that has an overwhelming size advantage in the frontcourt.
ADVANTAGE: Kansas
CENTER
David Paddett or Jeff Graves, Kansas
vs. Mindaugas Kelavynis, Chattanooga
Provided Chattanooga is using man-to-man, the upset bid falls apart completely with this matchup. Katelynas, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound Lithuanian junior transfer, isn't really a center, or even a power forward. But he started each of Chattanooga's exhibition games and is better off guarding the thinner Padgett, a freshman, than getting knocked to the floor against Simien. Katelynas has also shown a propensity to rack up fouls in the MoCs' exhibitions. He does have shooting ability and may succeed in bringing Padgett or Graves out from under the basket when the MoCs have the ball.
If Padgett starts, he'll have an impressive offensive showing in his first Kansas game. If Graves gets the starting nod, he should pick up at least 10 rebounds.
ADVANTAGE: Kansas
BENCH
Hawkins will likely assume point guard duties when Miles is out of the game, even if he starts. Graves is likely to be Kansas' sixth man. Freshman J.R. Giddens, whom some expected to start alongside Miles and Langford, could be the Jayhawks' best three-point shooter this year. With freshman guards Omar Wilkes and Jeremy Case and forwards Bryant Nash, a senior, and Moulaye Niang, a sophomore, Kansas has potential for excellent depth, but it's unclear how much any of those players will contribute. Self's preferred rotation consists of nine players.
Chattanooga's bench includes 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Alphonso Pugh who averaged 8.2 points per game as a freshman last year. Freshman Casey Long will back up Trowell. Backup junior shooting guard Bryan Richardson connected on 36.7 percent of his three-pointers last year, and sophomore shooting guard Mike Matthews will probably see time.
ADVANTAGE: Kansas
Self replaced a North Carolina disciple as Kansas coach, and his first game in Lawrence is against a former Tar Heel. Lebo was a point guard under coach Dean Smith.
COACH
If the pace Kansas played at against EA Sports Midwest and Pittsburg State is any indication, the Jayhawks will still do their share of running under Self. Chattanooga has good perimeter shooters, so the Mocs will give Kansas an early test of whether its three-point defense, the worst in the Big 12 last season, has improved.
Lebo likes to change defenses, and Self said Wednesday he expects the Mocs to play two or three different types of zones. If Lebo wants to give
CHATTANOOGA LINEUP
NO. NAME POS HT WT CL
0 Ashley Champion Forward 6-6 235 Sr.
3 Alphonso Pugh Forward 6-6 235 Soph.
4 Bryan Richardson Guard 6-5 205 Jr.
10 Zach Dragoo Guard 6-1 185 Soph.
13 Ricky Hood Guard 6-3 190 Soph.
14 Mike Matthews Wing 6-6 215 Soph.
15 Mindaugas Katelynas Forward 6-9 220 Jr.
21 Ray Trowell Guard 5-9 175 Sr.
22 Casey Long Guard 6-2 185 Fr.
23 Emory Walton Guard 6-1 235 Fr.
Redshirt
34 Matt Malone Center 6-10 255 Fr.
42 Jason Rogan Guard 6-2 205 Sr.
44 Chris Brown Forward 6-7 190 Jr.
55 Charles Anderson Forward 6-8 235 Soph.
KANSAS LINEUP
21 Nick Bahe Guard 6-2 180 Fr.
10 Jeremy Case Guard 6-0 165 Fr.
15 J.R. Giddens Guard 6-5 195 Fr.
42 Jeff Graves Forward 6-9 255 Sr.
1 Jeff Hawkins Guard 5-11 180 So.
5 Keith Langford Guard 6-4 210 Jr.
25 Michael Lee Guard 6-3 215 Jr.
11 Aaron Miles Guard 6-1 175 Jr.
34 Christian Moody Forward 6-8 215 So.
33 Bryant Nash Forward 6-7 210 Sr.
55 Moulaye Niang Forward 6-10 220 So.
3 Brett Olson Forward 6-7 220 Sr.
44 David Padgett Center 6-11 230 Fr.
23 Wayne Simien Forward 6-9 250 Jr.
20 Stephen Vinson Guard 6-2 190 So.
2 Omar Wilkes Guard 6-4 175 Fr.
his team its best chance to win, he might as well stay in some form of zone the entire game. Playing a zone would allow the Mocs' undersized front-court to collapse on Simien and Padgett, and Kansas' perimeter shooters aren't likely to kill Chattanooga when that happens.
But even staying in a zone won't be nearly enough. Expect big games from Simien, Langford and Padgett.
PREDICTION: KANSAS 94, CHATTANOOGA 77
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