Volume 125 Issue 35
kansan.com
Tuesday. October 23, 2012
COMMENTARY
Volleyball well worth attending
By Ryan McCarthy rmccarthy@kansan.com
But there's another group of athletes that should command your attention over the next few weeks as they grow closer to the postseason.
Kansas football and basketball are usually the talk of the campus at this point in the season.
The group usually convenes on Wednesday nights to a crowd of loyal supporters, which includes a devoted pep band to college basketball coaches stopping by for a few sets.
so as we transition out of football season and gear up for basketball season, remember to watch out for this other team on the radar that might make some noise as well.
People talk about football because of its ongoing struggle to be relevant in the big 12 conference, and its fight to hopefully break the 16-game conference losing streak sometime soon.
By the end of November we will see how this team finishes in conference play, and by what the Jayhawks have shown, it might have something bigger than just mediocre in store.
— Edited by Andrew Ruszczyk
FOOTBALL
People talk about basketball because this is Lawrence after all, and basketball is the topic of conversation every day of the year.
Last week was one of those games against Kansas State.
It's not the same raucous atmosphere as Allen Fieldhouse, but Horejsi Family Athletics Center reaches a decent decibel level when it's the right game.
There are still difficult matches out there with trips to Baylor and Kansas State. There also is a showdown with Texas looming on Nov. 10 that could determine the regular season title.
The Kansas volleyball team had taken down a few good teams, but a win over Kansas State was a vital sign that this program was ready to turn this season into something special. Kansas State has dominated the series in recent years, winning every match the last three seasons.
ASHI FIGH LEE/KANSAN
The Jayhawks wanted to reverse that trend, and they did, knocking the Wildcats off in four sets. Afterwards the team stormed onto the floor in a mob of excitement.
Coach Charlie Weis walks off the field after the first half of Saturday's game against Oklahoma at the Gaylord Family- Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. Okla. The Javhawks lost 7-52.
Winning the game on Saturday showed this team's focus on the task at hand. Sure there were errors against the Horned Frogs, but the team showed the composure that it will need to compete for a championship.
That win extended the school-record 12 game home winning streak that won't be in jeopardy until next Monday when they play West Virginia.
And it wasn't just the players.
Now comes the home stretch for this team, with nine games left in the regular season.
More importantly, Kansas did not have a letdown afterwards as they took care of business and beat TCU on Saturday.
The win also got the attention of the other contenders in the Big 12 that this team will be in the mix this season.
The win over the Wildcats could be a defining moment for a Jayhawk team that's been mediocre the past few seasons.
From the postgame pictures it appeared coach Ray Bechard showed off his vertical leap in the locker room with a look of ibulation on his face.
WEIS STILL UNDECIDED
Crist and Cummings still contending for starting quarterback position
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
The only news on the Kansas quarterback front is that there is nothing new.
For the second week in a row coach Charlie Weis has deferred to talk about the battle between fifth-year senior Dayne Crist and freshman Michael Cummings until his weekly press conference of Tuesday.
Last Saturday in Norman, Okla., it was Cummings who got the start but was rotated with Crist in different packages. Yet both paed in comparison to their counterpart on the Sooners, Landry lones.
"Hes had a couple of flat games, but when he's on he's on," Weis said of Jones during Monday's teleconference call. "Unfortunately he got him on one of those nights."
Weis said Jones had a dangerous combination of strength, accuracy and ability to complete passes.
Jones racked up 291 yards and three touchdowns while Crist and Cummings combined for just 124 passing yards with no touchdowns. Kansas' only score of the day came from junior running back James Sims with a little over three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Sims' score was a reminder of the jayhawks' biggest strength on offense — rushing. While the passing game continues to work out kinks and the defense continues to improve, Weis is pleased with the rushing game.
"I do like the fact that they've fought till the end of every game, even in the Oklahoma game," Weis said.
But even with the quarterback struggles, Weis doesn't place any more blame on Crist or Cummings than the rest of the
team. The coach who turned Tom Brady into an NFL superstar says it has got to be a collective effort on offense. Weis said the team's successes or failures are a group effort, not the responsibility of just one player.
"I think just to hang the quarterback out to dry is not the direction I would take it," he said.
It's somewhat of a different sentiment from Weis, who at his introductory press conference vowed to make the layhawks a competitive team — and from a competitive standpoint, he has done just that.
against Rice, Northern Illinois, TCU and most recently Oklahoma state for plain competitiveness to satisfy the first Kansas coach.
Yet this Jayhawks team has come too close to winning games
"I think to just hang the quarterback out to dry is not the direction I would take it."
CHARLIE WEIS Football coach
Weis appreciates that players play hard but he is already itching to get to the next level.
"Moral victories isn't what
you're in this for," Weis said. "The next hurdle that our program needs to get over is we've got to beat somebody. Competing, that's great, but sooner or later you've got to beat somebody."
It won't get any easier for the Jayhawks to find a victory the rest of the season. Starting next week with the 23rd ranked Texas, Kansas will face three more top 25 teams Texas Tech,West Virginia and Baylor, the nations best passing offense.
Weis will be the first to admit the Big 12 is at one of its highest levels, meaning competitiveness might be even more crucial at this stage of the rebuilding process.
"I'm new to the Big 12 and I'm
just in the grind of going through this schedule," Weis said. "I just know that anyone outside this conference doesn't understand the talent in this league. Every week you're dealing with another set of problems. It doesn't make a difference who you're playing."
MEN'S BASKETBALL
— Edited by Luke Ranker
A year of extra practice well spent
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
Freshmen Ben McLemore and Jamari Traylor drove to two hours and 43 minutes to Columbia, Mo., to watch their teammates play in a crucial conference game last season. They saw firsthand how fierce the rivalry could be, as the Missouri fans routinely honked and flipped off the car with a Jayhawk license plate as they passed it on the highway.
It was one of many drives the duo, who are also roommates, undertook to watch their teammates play following the decision by the NCAA that ruled them ineligible to play last October.
"They took a negative and made it into a positive," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "And it's really not bad for their life at all."
McLemore and Traylor responded to the NCAA ruling that prevented them from playing with the team all last season, and from practicing with the team until second semester, by working hard in the classroom, with each of them posting above a 3.0 GPA.
The ruling also helped the players on the court. In the spring semester, McLemore was charged
And it's really not bad for their life at all."
BILL SELF Men's basketball coach
"Jamari actually held his own with Thomas three out of five days," Self said. "Then the other two hed get murdered. But I think it was really great for those guys to play against pros last year."
Traylor said the time spent around Robinson helped out his game and his maturity.
with defending the explosive Tyshawn Taylor, and Trayler had to match-up with National Player of the Year candidate, Thomas Robinson.
Playing against the strong 237 pound Robinson forced Traylor to become a tougher presence inside, which is important, as Traylor will be one of the players expected to fill the void left by All-American Thomas Robinson.
Robinson also helped Traylor develop as a person off the court.
being around him makes you more humble for what you do have, like my mom and my
"I think that Ben could've been a difference maker," Self said. "We line up with Kentucky with Ben, we match up along the perimeter better, but that doesn't mean our team would've been as good, maybe our chemistry wouldn't have been as good or what not."
McLemore now is in a position where he is used to how Self runs the practices, but lacks the in-game experience of a veteran. But McLemore said being around the older guys helped out his maturity where he now stays focused on what he needs to do to help the team out.
Edited by Whitney Bolden
"It's been amazing to me how much they've both improved in practice; just since the start of practice, because they're starting to get it." Self said.
Although both players would've contributed to the smaller than usual rotation the Jayhawks employed last season. McLemore came into last season as the more heralded recruit who would've had a more significant immediate influence.
family, so he definitely made me a more humble person as well," Traylor said.
TYLER BIERWIRTH/KANSAN
Freshman guard Ben McLemore attempts a 3-point shot during a team scrimmage against the Crimson team at the Oct. 12 sold out Late Night in the Phog event in Allen Fieldhouse.
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