6B the university daily kansan
basketball preview
tuesday, November 11, 2003
Kansan file photo
Langford begins season with hunger for ultimate prize
Junior swingman Keith Langford has been on Kansas' last two Final Four teams. The Fort Worth, Texas native said he wouldn't be satisfied until the Jayhawks won it all.
Junior guard sets his sights on winning a national championship
By Chris Wintering
cwintering@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
After going to the Final Four his freshman year and the championship game his sophomore year, junior Keith Langford said there was only one thing left for him and his team: a national championship.
"I can't even describe it, anything less than that is unacceptable now," Langford said. "I don't think anyone will be satisfied until we finish it off."
Before Langford or his team can begin to do that, he must first get healthy.
Langford had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Sept. 30 and has been rehabilitating the knee since then.
The knee is still not 100 percent, according to Langford, but he said it was getting better. He is still able to practice, mostly running and shooting, but he has problems with lateral movements and defense.
"If we had an important game, I could go out there and play. I'm not at 100 percent right now," Langford said. "I have good days and bad days but the good days are starting to come in abundance now."
The team doctors, Langford and his family decided to have the surgery because he did not want it to be a nagging problem throughout the year, coach Bill self said.
Langford needs to get healthy if the Jayhawks want to return to the Final Four this season, junior Wayne Simien said. Langford was the team's leading scorer last year, averaging 15.9 points and shooting 53 percent from the field.
His strong freshman and sophomore seasons helped make Langford a preseason candidate for the John R. Wooden Player of the Year Award. However, Langford has been left off a number of preseason All-American lists including first team All-Big 12.
"He is definitely one of the most underrated players in the country, and Keith notices that and he's going to use that to add fuel to the fire." Simien said. "I think a lot of people are going to be in trouble this year."
Langford said he was not worried about those lists and was just looking to get better this season.
During the off-season, Langford worked as a counselor at both the Nike Basketball camp and Michael Jordan's camp. He said at those camps he learned to change the release point on his shot, which has made him a better three-point shooter.
"I'm not about to become just a three-point shooter; I'm not going to stand out there and shoot threes just to show people I can," Langford said. "I just want to be able to keep the defense honest and make the open shot. If coach Self wants to bring me off a screen, I want to have confidence in myself to hit that shot. I want him to have confidence to call that play."
Adding the three-point shot to his offensive repertoire will also help Langford's career after Kansas.
"IIf want to have any consideration at any type of level of professional ball beyond this, I have to be able to hit the outside jumper," he said. "Midrange-wise, I pretty comfortable; 15, 16, 17 feet but I have to step behind that line and hit consistently."
With the loss of Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison, Langford, along with Simien, will be asked to be one of the team's top scorers this season. That is a role both are comfortable with, Simien said.
"Trying to move into a more aggressive scorer position is not new to Keith and I," Simien said. "I think we're ready to step up and take the responsibilities."
In addition to picking up some of the scoring slack left behind by Hinrich and Collison, Langford also hopes to take over some of the leadership responsibilities the two seniors vacated on their way to the NBA.
"I think if I don't, who will? I know Aaron and Wayne will, but at the same time, why can't I?" he said. "I think about it like that and I think it's not time for me to be on the backburner anymore. I'm ready and willing."
Edited by Mike Owells
Highly-touted freshman Ervin makes transition
By Jesse Newell
jnewell@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Despite popular belief, J.R. Giddens and David Padgett are not the only McDonald's All-
Ervin
Americans joining the Jayhawks this season.
top players. Ranked as high as the number-two prospect in the nation, Ervin turned down offers from perennial powers Tennessee, Rutgers, Texas and LSU to play for coach Marian Washington and Kansas.
Ervin averaged 24 points and 18 rebounds per game her senior year, becoming a finalist for Naismith Player of the Year. Upon arriving at Kansas, however she has realized differences from her California high school.
"Everything was pretty relaxed and not a lot about fundamentals," Ervin said. "When I got here, coach explained to me that we have to have fundamentals. I just had to start with the basics."
Not easy for someone who has had as much success as Ervin.
She scored 48 points in one summer AAU game and pulled down 24 rebounds in another. She averaged a double-double in high school from her sophomore through senior seasons. She was named to five different All-American teams during her high school career.
With her outstanding talent,
Washington feels a sixth All-
American nomination could be
within her reach.
"She is a typical freshman with butterflies, but I think she is going
to be another All-American for Kansas," Washington said. "It's a whole different level of basketball for her."
High compliments for a freshman still learning to adjust to Division I basketball.
Practices have been an change for Ervin, as she has had to go up against players, such as teammate Tamara Ransburg, sophomore forward, who are just as tall as she is.
"It's pretty much what I expected when I came to college," Ervin said. "I expected that I'm not going to be the tallest girl on the floor. I'm not going to dominate everybody."
Still, Ervin said the transition to playing with the big girls was an eye-opening experience.
Ervin more than held her own at the preseason exhibition games in Mexico. She was the team's leading rebounder off the bench, pulling down 44 rebounds in four games, and also adding 9.5 points per game to help the Jayhawks to a 4-0 record. Her 17 rebounds in the Monterrey game were a team-high for the weekend.
"They block my shots," Ervin said about practices. "I'm not used to that. I'm the one that needs to be blocking shots."
"Everyday I need to practice like it's my last practice and play like it's my last game, and I think I can do that with the help and support of my teammates." Ervin said.
With such high expectations surrounding her, Ervin knows she needs to put forward the additional effort to have a successful freshman campaign.
Washington knows that with a strong work ethic, the sky is the limit for her young forward.
"You have to make these younger players understand that it takes the extra time that they put in on their own," Washington said. "I think that's something she is beginning to understand."
—Edited by Erin Riffey