tuesday, November 11, 2003
the university daily kansas
basketball preview
3B
Self steps in to job with high expectations
Kansan file photo
New coach Bill Self takes over at Kansas after three seasons at Illinois. Self will feel pressure to win right away even after the Jayhawks' lost last year's senior leaders, Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich.
By Chris Wintering
cwintering@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
At the men's basketball team's annual media day on Oct. 17, first-year coach Bill Self was overwhelmed with the amount of media in attendance. That same day he was surprised that students were camping out for Late Night in the Phogat 5.30 a.m. m.Slur's players said they hoped that these surprises were just the beginning.
"Hopefully he'll be in for a lot of shocks with us continuing to win and winning a national championship," said junior Aaron Miles.
Being the new Kansas coach, Self is in an interesting situation. He has never coached in the Final Four, but that is all most of his players know. Even though he has never coached there, Self said he knew how bad his players want to get back.
MEN'S BASKETBALL STAFF
"These guys are hungry and they still haven't accomplished what they want," he said. "If these four juniors are hungry, like I think they are, then I think we are going to have a great chance to be successful."
Junior Keith Langford said that no matter who the coach was, the goal at Kansas was always winning the national championship
"Just because there is a different coach and different situation none of that changes the past history of what has happened here," Langford said. "That is one of the good things about this program. Just because there is one change doesn't mean it has to take a domino effect."
Self said that he had not, and would not, be breaking down tape of the last year's championship game against Syracuse to motivate the team.
Even though the team was close to winning it all last year, Self has some large obstacles in the way of winning the championship this year. Especially with the loss of Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison.
"Kansas math is unbelievable. You lose two lottery picks and a lot of people think you are supposed to get better." Self said. "I really feel we have good enough players to play at the very highest level and to compete with everyone nationally."
The team will change its style of play because it lost last years' seniors, Self said. The team will not play as fast as it did last year because Collison and Hinrich
were two of the nation's fastest players at their positions.
"I am not sure coach Williams and his staff could have played as fast this year," Self said. "I think we could be a team that scores in the 80s. Last year, Kansas averaged almost 83 points a game, and I can't see why we can't consistently, over time, be a team that scores in the same range."
This year the team will play a
high-low offense, which revolves more around the team's post players. That should also open up driving lanes for perimeter players like Langford and junior guard Aaron Miles, as well as some of the team's younger players.
To be successful this season,
Self said the incoming freshman
class needed to make an impact.
Self expected three of the four
would be in the team's eight or
nine-man rotation.
"With our depth situation, David Padgett and J.R. Giddens will have to have big years for us," Self said. "There are definitely minutes to be fought for by Omar Wilkes and Jeremy Case."
Langford said that the incoming freshman contribution would be one of the question marks heading into the year. The four will have to go through their ups
Ben Miller: Miller, a 1991 graduate of Luther College, is the director of basketball operations. His duties include directing camps and clinics, supervising academic progress and organizing the managerial staff. He has been a member of the Kansas staff for nine years and served as an assistant coach under Roy Williams.
Brett Ballard: Ballard played for the Jayhawks for two seasons and was a member of Kansas' 2002 Final Four team. He is a student assistant this year as he works on earning a degree in secondary education. He is the former co-host of a local radio show.
Sean Harrington; Harrington will take over as the team's video
Harrington
coordinator
coordinator and administrative assistant. He played for Illinois the last four seasons, three of which were for Kansas coach Bill Self. He was named to
the academic All-Big Ten team three times and helped the Illini make the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament his sophomore season.
Danny Manning:Manning joined the staff this season as the director
or student- athlete development. He is Kansas' all-time leading scorer and rebounder. In 1988 he led the Jayhawks to the NCAA title and was the consensus
Manning
national player of the year. He recently wrapped up an injury-plagued professional playing career after being the first overall pick in the 1988 NBA Draft. He
and downs and be tested to see how they will respond, he said.
Self said that one of the best parts of being the new coach was that the team just wants to win.
averaged 14 points a game during 15 seasons in the NBA and was a two-time All-Star.
"Whether their play fits your style or their ability fits how you want to do things, whether their
Roberts
NEW ASSISTANTS
Norm Roberts: Roberts worked with
Atlanta in Illinois, Tulsa and Oral
Roberts. He has a reputation of being a strong recruiter and helped Illinois land a top-10 recruiting class in 2002. Roberts played and coached at Queens College where he is the
school's second all-time leading scorer. He also coached NBA player Kenny Anderson while working at Archbishop Malloy High School in New York City.
Tm Jankovich: Before working at Illinois last year, Jankovich was an assistant coach at Vanderbilt.
Jankovich
There, he worked under former Kansas assistant coach Kevin Stallings. Jankovich was a four-year starter at Kansas State as a point guard. He was a three-time
Academic All-American at Kansas State University and a Rhodes scholar candidate.
Dooley
Joe Dooley: Dooley spent last
year as an assistant coach at Wyoming. His team visited Allen Fieldhouse to play the Jayhawks in a regular season game Jan. 15. Kansas won
the game 98-70.
personality meshes with you, whether you want to recruit somebody else to challenge their spot it doesn't matter." Self said. "It's a bottom line business. They want to win."
— Edited by Ashley Marriott