Chiefs coach, Herm Edwards, has a QB dilemma on his hands. Evan Hengel compares Trent Green to Damon Huard. 3B
MILTON BRADLEY
K-State signs Michael Beasley, a top-10 nationally ranked 6-foot-10 big man forward.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9,2006 WWW.KANSAN.COM
JONATHAN KWATANG
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
PAGE 1B
THE RANT
Exhibition games showcase talent of freshmen players
It is difficult to gauge much from Kansas' two exhibition victories, simply because of the level of competition. But there were five things that caught my eye during the past week.
1. Freshmen Sherron Collins and Darrell Arthur are going to contribute immediately. Tuesday against Emporia State, Collins was nearly perfect. He showed aggressiveness driving to the basket. He hit difficult driving layups and had highlight reel moves on some double clutch layins. Collins also showcased an outside range, connecting on four three-point shots. His aggressiveness on defense will complement Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson nicely. Arthur impressed me with his defense at times in both exhibitions, making spectacular blocks and showing tremendous effort. Arthur's speed as a big man is something to be noticed because when Kansas runs, he is usually at the front of the break. Arthur was also able to knock down 10-foot jumpers against Washburn. He will be relied on immediately because of the absence of Sasha Kaun, who is out with a knee injury, and the recent dismissal from the team of C.J. Giles.
2. The Kansas post defense needs to improve. Until Kaun returns, Kansas may often be at a disadvantage defending the post. Too often during the exhibitions, Emporia State and Washburn were able to execute successful post moves against Arthur, Julian Wright and Darnell Jackson. These players will need to improve quickly if Kansas hopes to compete with the size of Florida in Las Vegas in a few weeks. Arthur's lean body and long arms give him the ability to move quickly while blocking shots and give him the best chance to compete with the size the Jayhawks will see in Las Vegas. Other players should feed off of Arthur's enthusiasm and his overall effort on the floor.
3. Brandon Rush may have found his left hand. Remember last season when everyone in America knew which way Rush was going? Well, Rush has shown signs of driving to his left during the two exhibition contests. Against Emporia State, Rush drove to the basket, using his left hand, showing some quick moves switching hands. Rush eventually missed the shot, but the use of his left hand leaves room for optimism.
4. The Jayhawks look best when they run. Kansas showed difficulty running a half-court offense in the first half against Emporia State. The team opened it up in the second, thanks to quick transitions, which led to easy points. Kansas is one of the deepest teams in America and needs to use that to its advantage every week. I understand Bill Self's philosophy of running a half-court offense, but he said that his team would run more this season. Kansas likely will not face another team as deep as it is this season, and running opponents into the ground certainly appears to be an option every time Kansas takes the floor. Come the second half, Kansas will have extra legs and will have had the opportunity to rest its players until the game matters the most.
5. Bill Self is going to start cutting minutes. If you groaned every time you saw Self switch out proven players with younger guys, don't worry, it's not going to happen that often. Self said before the season that he envisioned a rotation of eight to nine players. Against Washburn, 10 players played 10 or more minutes and that was without Kaun. Don't expect that to happen during the season. Now, Self must discover which players are going to make up that rotation. The minutes of the starting lineup from last season — Robinson, Chalmers, Rush, Wright and Kaun — are safe within the rotation. Collins and Arthur also will likely be in that rotation, along with Jackson. That leaves potentially one spot in the rotation for players like Rodrick Stewart, Brady Morningstar and Jeremy Case to fight for those final minutes.
Kansan sportswriter Ryan Colaiani can be contacted at rcolaiani@kansan.com.
Edited by Elyse Weidner
Buffaloes outmatch Jayhawks
VOLLEYBALL
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Brittany Williams, freshman middle blocker, deflects a spike from the Colorado Buffalooes, but fails to keep it from crossing the net. The Buffalooes swept the Jayhawks on Wednesday night in a three-game match. The match was the sixth consecutive loss for the Jayhawks.
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Isadora Rangel, freshman outside hitter, follows the ball after diving during a play in Wednesday night's three-game loss against the Colorado Buffaloes. Last night's loss marked the sixth in a row for the Jayhawks.
Colorado out-kills Kansas by 17, sends Hawks away with six straight losses
BY DREW DAVISON
The Kansas volleyball team wore its alternate red jerseys, watched a "psych-up" video, changed its warm-up routine and had its pregame meal catered instead of going to a restaurant. But these changes weren't enough to propel the team to a victory Wednesday night against Colorado.
Colorado (14-9, 10-6 Big 12 Conference) swept Kansas (10-15, 3-13 Big) 30-25, 30-28 and 32-30 at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center in front of 981 fans.
"We were trying to find something to work," Emily Brown, junior right-side hitter, said. "But we couldn't close out game three, and we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot."
Brown had a team-high 12 kills on.333 hitting efficiency.
Kansas has lost six matches in a row, and although coach Ray Bechard is pleased with the effort his team gives he said they were playing without both "E's." The effort is there, but the execution is not.
"I think our volleyball IQ needs to be higher," he said. "It's not that we're not mentally and physically ready to play."
The Buffalooes ended the match with 17 more kills than the Jayhawks, 58-41, to win their second straight match.
With a perfectly balanced offense, Colorado took the first game from Kansas. The Buffaloes had six players with three kills in the first game.
Colorado went on a six-point run to take a ten-point advantage, 26-16, against Kansas. The Jayhawks fought back with seven unanswered points to pull within three, but that was not enough and the Buffalooes took the game by five.
In game two, the Jayhawks scored six straight points and took their first lead of the game, 18-17.
But Colorado pulled away late to take the game two by two. The Buffaloes had 17 kills compared to the Jayhawks ten.
Colorado needed to go to extra points to complete its sweep of Kansas in the final game. The Jayhawks had a 28-24 advantage late in the game, but could not come up with the final two points to win the game. Colorado took the match by two, with a .327 hitting efficiency compared to Kansas' .279.
"I was very disappointed," Jana Correa, senior outside hitter, said. "I was kind of surprised we couldn't finish that game."
Correa had a double-digit performance with 10 kills and 11 digs.
Kansas has a week off before it travels to Waco, Texas for its next match against Baylor (16-11, 4-10). The Jayhawks have yet to win a road conference match this season, but they did defeat the Bears earlier this season at home.
Kansan sportswriter Drew Davison can be contacted at ddavison@kansan.com.
— Edited by Elyse Weidner
CLUB SPORTS
Waterskiing team finishes fourth at nationals, despite slow start
Contributed by Kelley Scharosch
Amy Bing's strong slalom performance helped her team to a fourth-place overall finish. Bing finished her collegiate skiing career with a first place finish in the Women's Overall category in Division II at the 2006 Collegiate Water Ski Nationals.
BY KAYVON SARRAF
Following a regular season marred by injuries, the team squeaked its way into regional. Then it hit its stride, advancing from regionals and finishing fourth overall at the National Collegiate Water Ski Tournament in Sacramento, Calif., Oct. 12 to 14.
The University of Kansas waterski club peaked at the right time.
"Everyone really skied their best at the end of the year," coach Kelley Scharosch said.
This year's results were completely opposite from the year before, when the team did well all year long then struggled at nationals. With injuries to some of its top performers, the team had to work hard just to qualify for the regional tournament in Decatur, Ill., by finishing in the
misused here
"We kind of under-performed all year," said Christian Scharosch, Kansas City, Kan., sophomore and the coach's son. "We finally started to put it together at the end of the year."
top eight in the Great Plains conference made up of 22 teams. Kansas finished fifth.
At the regional tournament, normally five teams qualify for nationals and Kansas barely missed out, finishing sixth. But this year two other regions each had a team advance that was unable to participate in nationals. Half the Jayhawks already had plane tickets and were planning just to watch. Then a week before the event, Kansas was chosen as one of the substitutes.
On the way to the team's fourth place finish, Ainy Bing, Wielba
On the men's side, Christian set the pace for the Jayhawks with a second-place overall finish while Chris Carr, Wichita sophomore, placed fourth overall, including a second place finish in the Men's Jump.
Other standouts include Caitlin Gillian, Chicago junior, 11th overall, and Joel Hamilton, Bucyrus freshman, eighth overall.
Kelley said in water skiing, the top four finishers score points based on placement, so competitive teams need depth more than just a few great performers.
senior, led the way with a first-place overall finish. Jackie Allred, Leawood senior, placed fifth in the women's slalom and seventh overall.
"Even though it appears to be an individual sport, this team showed that solid depth is the key," she said.
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The club will put its boat away until the spring season, when competition resumes. The club will compete in tournaments throughout the spring, but instead of a national tournament, an All-Stars competition will take place, where four regions send their top 10 skiers to Seattle. Christian said the Jayhawks should be able to send three skiers from both the men's and women's sides.
The club is open to all KU students who love the water no matter their skiing abilities. For more information, visit kuwaterski.com.
Kansan sportswriter Kayvon Sarraf can be contacted at ksraraf@ kansan.com. Travis Robinett contributed to this story.
Edited by Travis Robinett