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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2004
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Kansas lesson just in time Close victory over Washburn keeps players alert
Cindy Yan/KANSAN
BY JESSE NEWELL
jnewell@kansan.com
KANANS SPORTSWITHER
Kansas coach Bill Self is not one to get too tied up in numbers.
J. R. Giddens and Russell Robinson try to hold onto the ball in a small scuffle with Washburn's Karlton Mims with eight minutes left in the first half of the game against Washburn Sunday night.
"He says he doesn't care about the score too much," senior guard Aaron Miles said. "He just cares about how we play and how we perform."
That wasn't enough to save Miles and the Jayhawks from criticism Sunday, after their 79-70 victory over Division II Washburn.
"He was a little disappointed in some of our efforts," Miles said.
After a 115-70 victory over Emporia State last week, Self said Sunday's competitive game with Washburn was just what the team needed before starting regular-season play this Friday against Vermont.
"Things had come pretty easy for the most part," Self said. "It was good for our freshmen to play in a game where possessions are magnified, and certainly it was good for our five returning players to collectively not play as well and get their minds refocused."
Self stressed many points of emphasis for practice this week.
The coach said the team needed to work on game situations, such as the one it was placed in at the end of the Washburn contest.
After Miles made jumpshot off the glass, Kansas held a comfort the 71-58 advantage with just more than five minutes to play.
But instead of taking control, Kansas allowed Washburn to creep back to within seven just two minutes later.
"I kept telling our guys to play to win the game, but I never felt like there was a sense of urgency to play to win the game," Selt said. "We were just playing. The last five minutes I think that was very evident."
With the competitive game,
Self was also able to see the way
ns team adjusted its game to a close score down the stretch.
"That was a great practice situation for us to be able to play a certain way in order to have long possessions," Self said. "I didn't feel like we did a good job with that."
Self said he was also concerned with the team's rebounding, which he felt needed to improve before the beginning of the season.
Focus also was a concern for the team, with Self saying the Ichabods had "out-scrapped" the Jayhawks and Simien saying Washburn had "outplayed" them.
Kansas did out-rebound Washburn 45-41, but did so with a much taller team and with senior forward Wayne Simien pulling down 15 himself.
"You could tell our intensity wasn't there like it was the first game," junior forward Christian Moody said. "We've got a lot of things to work on. They just came out really strong, and it just kind of hit us and hit us quick."
In the end, Washburn's effort ended up not only keeping the game close, but also giving Kansas an opportunity to learn more about itself.
"It's always good to play a team that competes, plays hard
and scraps," Miles said, "because then you see how much scrap you have in yourself."
Self said he was not concerned with the team's poor three-point shooting.
Basketball notes
The Jayhawks hit five of 16 attempts for 31 percent after hitting 14 of 28 in their first game against Emporia State.
The three-point line was moved back nine inches for the Washburn game, reflecting experimental rules that might be used next season.
"If we have to rely on making threes to win games, then we're not playing the way I'd like to play anyway." Self said.
Both freshman forward Alex Galindo and junior guard Jeff Hawkins did not play in the Washburn game because the game was closer than expected.
"We played to win the game."
"Self said. "I would love to have played everybody, but that wasn't how the game played out."
Galindo is returning from a nagging groin injury, but Self confirmed that was not a factor in his decision to not play the forward.
Edited by Johanna M.
Maska
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