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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4,2009
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THE SEASON BEGINS
PAGE 10A
KU dominates Fort Hays State
Offense shines while defense could improve
Weston White/KANSAN
Senior guard Sherron Collins drives through the lane for an uncontested lay-up Tuesday night. Kansas defeated Fort Havs State 107-68 at Allen Fieldhouse for the first victory of the season.
BY COREY THIBODEAUX cthibodeaux@kansan.com
The preseason is not made to make teams look pretty.
The Jayhawks appeared to have the offense of a championship-caliber team defeating the Fort Hays State Tigers on Tuesday night in a packed Allen Fieldhouse. Their defense is another matter.
"You guys saw it," coach Bill Self said. "We showed flashes where we looked pretty good, we showed stretches where we didn't look good at all."
Sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor said Self's goal for the players for this game was to show him they could play defense.
Despite this being an exhibition game, high standards remain for the jayhawks. Taylor had 15 points and three turnovers — a performance his coach called "careless."
"Coach still expects things from us no matter who we're playing," Taylor said.
On paper, the defense and offense both looked great; Kansas shot 53.3 percent and held Fort Hays to 33.8 percent.
Several players tried to do too much with the ball, which resulted in 18 turnovers, and the Tigers had wide-open three-pointers available all night long.
"I think that they have a lot of pieces to the puzzle," he said, "and he will get them to play the way that he wants them to play, that is for sure."
The Jayhawks did impress their opposition. Fort Hays State coach Mark Johnson said he is confident Kansas will find a way to maximize its potential.
The most positive news came from the young stars.
With the two best players in the country in Sherron Collins
SEE OPENER ON PAGE 6A
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Senior midfielder Monica Dolinsky takes the ball away from a Missouri player Friday. Kansas will face Missouri again in the Big 12 Tournament.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Kansas prepares for rival rematch
SOCCER
San Antonio, Texas — Calling the last six days wild for the Kansas soccer team would be a major understatement, to say the least.
BY JOEL PETTERSON jpetterson@kansan.com
But all that matters now is that the team has a chance to compete in the Big 12 Tournament tonight against top-seeded Missouri.
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On Friday morning, the Jayhawks' postseason hopes looked slim. Kansas needed a victory against the top team in the Big 12 Conference, which happened to be Missouri, and help from two other conference games that night for a shot at advancing.
"If we get to keep playing, that's all we can ask for," senior midfielder Monica Dolinsky said.
But Friday afternoon, the Jayhawks pulled a 3-2 upset
against the Tigers. And Colorado defeated Texas Tech to give Kansas one of the results it needed.
Then things got really nuts.
COMMENTARY
Baylor tied Oklahoma to put Kansas, Texas Tech and Baylor in a three-way tie for the last two spots in the conference tournament. Friday night, the Big 12 ruled that Kansas and Baylor would advance to the tournament after a four-step tiebreaker.
Less than 24 hours later, however, the conference changed its decision after Texas Tech disputed the tiebler. It ruled that Kansas and Texas Tech would
SEE REMATCH ON PAGE 8A
Freshmen hold keys to postseason success
Some things haven't changed. Sherron Collins still back pedals and close after hit
petals and claps after hitting pull-up three pointers. Cole Aldrich's lengthy free throw routine still causes lane violations. Tyshawn Taylor's hands? Lightning quick as always.
But there were a moderate amount of changes in Kansas' 107-68 exhibition victory against Fort Hays State on Tuesday, from the decisively less epic music in the pregame video to the new-school-but still-awesome-old-school layout of Allen Fieldhouse.
But the only thing that truly matters is the changes on the court
"I think they handled it great," Collins said.
It was our first true look at freshmen Xavier Henry, Elijah Johnson and Thomas Robinson. It's obvious that they still have a lot to work on, namely not fouling out like Henry and Robinson did, but their skill sets meshed well with the upper-classmen in their first real game in the fieldhouse.
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It'll take a while to adjust to Taylor wearing number 10 and similarly sized Elijah Johnson wearing the number 15 Taylor sported last season. Their games are similar too. Johnson skied for an alley-op from Taylor and the crowd went nuts.
Xavier Henry's first basket as a lajayhawk was a three-pointer, and his shooting touch from the wing will keep defenders from doubling down on Aldrich. Coach Bill Self said he thought Henry's NBA-ready body is even a bigger asset.
"I think I could have got higher though," Johnson said.
Thomas Robinson plays a lot like former Kansas big man Darnell Jackson. In Robinson's first second on the floor, he grabbed a rebound on a missed free throw and converted the put-back. Just 20 seconds later, he picked up his second foul.
Like we all saw with the Morris twins last year, there are going to be ups with freshmen, and there are going to be downs. Robinson experienced them both Tuesday.
Freshman C.J. Henry sat out with a bum knee, but he will provide more depth at guard. Is he better than Collins like his father Carl Henry claimed this summer? That remains to be seen.
There are two major reasons why Kansas is ranked No. 1 in most preseason polls: the return of two preseason All-Americans and the talent of the incoming class.
Collins and Aldrich have been around the block. Kansas Athletics might as well hand out box scores with 20 points for Collins and a double-double for Aldrich already written in.
But the newcomers hold the key to this season. Two good players can take a team a long way, but if one or both have off nights, there need to be other guys ready to step up.
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Don't get discouraged by the newcomers' skaly play early in the season. In the end, they'll determine if Kansas will play in April.
- Edited by Tim Burgess
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