Ivana Catic will lead a group of young Jayhawks trying to fill the void left behind by the departing seniors.
AVERYS 3
Former Jayhawks Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison sign contract extensions with their NBA teams.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
PAGE 1B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Exhibition game to be depth test for Jayhawks
BY SHAWN SHROYER
Kansas will find out just how deep it is tonight against the Washburn Ichabods.
Without junior centers Sasha Kaun and C.J. Giles, expect coach Bill Self to play some interesting makeshift rotations.
Junior Russell Robinson should start at point guard, alongside sophomore guards Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush.
Monday, Self said he planned to play junior Darnell Jackson and freshman Darrell Arthur in place of Kaun and Giles. Sophomore Julian Wright will start at power forward and could be relieved by sophomore Matt Kleinmann. Self said 6-foot-4 junior guard Rodrick Stewart might even see time as a forward.
Kansas will still have its back-court intact.
"We're going to have to play small. We are a tiny team all of a sudden." Self said. "We have gone from being a deep, long, athletic team to being, in the short term, a team that does not have much inside depth at all. We're a pretty thin group right now"
The role of the guards will remain the same as the Jayhawks wait to get back to full strength. Jackson said the low-post players wouldn't have to adjust their roles either. Instead, they will have to acclimate to playing more minutes right off the bat.
“It's just looking to the side and knowing Sasha's not going to be able to come in and get you when you're out there breathing for ain", Jackson said. "We're going to miss him."
In addition to the minutes Kaun and Giles play, the team will also miss their shot-blocking ability.
Kaun had 36 blocks last season and Giles led the team with 48. Jackson has only six career blocks. As much as he'd like to increase his blocks, Jackson said arm length was the main factor in blocking shots.
"I'm just going to have to go drink some of C.J's water, and hopefully I get long arms and go block a couple shots for him," jackson said.
Fortunately, Kansas will face a small Washburn team tonight. The tallest Ichabod expected to start tonight is 6-8 forward Brad Sydik. The only three players taller than Sisk on the Washburn roster may play limited minutes.
Sisk is one of four returning starters for Washburn and led the team in points and rebounds last season with 14.4 and 5.7, respectively. Joining Sisk in the front-court will be returning starters Dylan Channel, who was second on the team with 10.1 points per game last season, and Paul Byers, who led the team with 31 blocks last season.
On the perimeter, Andrew Meile will handle the point after leading the team with 66 assists last season. Guard Kyle Fisher is the leading candidate to fill the fifth starting spot.
While tonight will be Kansas' first game of the season, Washburn played four exhibition games in China in August. Playing Zhejang University, Zhejang Normal University and Shanghai Normal University, Washburn went 4-0, winning by an average of about 50 points per game.
Tonight will mark the 34th meeting between Kansas and Washburn. The Jayhawks lead the series 30-3. Kansas is also 2-0 against Washburn in exhibition play, but the Ichabods gave the Jayhawks a close game two years ago.
"Two years ago, it was a ninepoint game." Self said. "It was four or five points late in the game and they had a shot, so I think that game helped us in a lot of ways."
Kansan sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at sshoyer@kansan.com.
Edited by Erin Wiley
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 80-55
Season starts off right
Shaquina Mosley, senior guard, tries for a steal from Fort Hays State's Kayla Klug during the first half of the Jayhawks' opening exhibition game. Mosley managed a game-high 10 assists during the game, as well as 5 rebounds.
Ryan McGeeney/KANSAN
Freshman Sade Morris scores 14 points, Shaq Mosley tallies 10 assists
BY CASE KEEFER
An impressive first half and a disappointing second half characterized the women's basketball team's 80-55 exhibition victory against Fort Hays State on Wednesday.
"Obviously, I liked the first half team better than the second half team," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "But the second half won't take away from how good I thought we were at times during the first half."
Within the first minute of the game, the Jayhawks forced a Lady Tigers time-out that followed a 6-0 start off of two Ivana Catic steals. Kansas would continue its domination during the remaining 19 minutes of the half.
All seven freshman saw considerable minutes in the game, but Sade Morris stole the spotlight. Morris was four for five in the first half with 12 points.
Offensively Morris slowed down in the second half with only two points, but still showed her big play ability with a steal and a huge block.
"I just did my best to get us going." Morris said.
Henrickson sacrificed size for athleticism by starting two forwards, Morris and junior Jamie Boyd instead of the expected starting center, Marija Zinic.
Catic, Taylor McIntosn and Shaquina Mosley made up the starting backcourt. Kelly Kohn and LaChelda Jacobs received the most minutes off the bench with 17 and 14, respectively.
Henrickson switched the role of point guard out between Kohn, Jacobs, Catic and Mosley equally as the game went on. Mosley had the most success at the position.
Mosley showcased her role as a facilitator in the Jayhawk's offense. With solid ball handling and non-selfish play Mosley fed the ball to teammates like Sade Morris, Kelly Kohn and Danielle McCray on her way to a career-high ten assists.
"When Bonnie had me at the
point, I just saw people open and tried to get it to them." Mosley said. "I always feel like it's better to get shots inside the paint than outside."
The lightning-quick speed of the tandem of guards was hard for the Lady Tigers to keep up with. Kohn, Mosley and Jacobs each got a handful of open looks because of their quickness.
In the second half, the Lady Tigers outscored the Jayhawks 37-34. Many of the problems can be attributed to the emergence of Fort Hays State freshman Naomi Bancroft.
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 8B
PROFILE
Jeff Foster, junior receiver, made key plays on Saturday to help Kansas defeat Colorado, including a 31-yard catch on a Kansas scoring drive. Foster has not played much during the season, making his first catches during Saturday's game.
Kansas File Shares
Rarely used wide receiver makes big plays in victory
BY C.J. MOORE
Jeff Foster's performance may have surprised a few people Saturday.
Foster, a seldom-used junior receiver and former walk-on, made three game-changing plays against Colorado: Drawing a pass-interference penalty on one play, coming up with a 31-yard catch on another and recovering a fourth quarter onside kick, which earned him special team player of the week.
But this was nothing new to the jayhawk coaches and players, who have seen Foster shine on the practice field.
Receiver Jonathan Lamb wasn't surprised by Foster's performance.
"Jeff's making big plays all the time in practice" he said.
Foster was doing just that — making big plays — in practice last week.
"Jeff and I actually hooked up on a couple big 30- to 40-yard pass plays," Reesing said.
Every Wednesday the second-team offense takes on the first-team defense in a two-minute drill. Last week the second-team offense was led by freshman Todd Reesing, who on Saturday went from being a redshirt afternought to big man on campus in one half of football Saturday with some help from Foster.
As Reesing ran the two-minute drill Wednesday, Foster was his go-to guy on the drive.
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So when Reesing was flushed out of the pocket for the first time in the second half against Colorado, he spotted a familiar number open in the back of the end zone. The pass to Foster was not caught, but resulted in a pass interference call that gave Jayhawks a first down and kept their first scoring drive alive.
In the fourth quarter, when Reesing again avoided pressure and scrambled to his left, he threw downfield to Foster for a 31-yard completion that led to the Jayhawks' final touchdown.
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"I was like 'Jeff, man, just like in practice,' Reesing said.
Foster's only highlights this season before the Colorado game had come on the practice field. Although he has seen spot duty, he had yet to catch a pass until Saturday after catching four passes last year with one touchdown.
Because of several injuries to the receiving core, Foster found his way onto the field frequently during the second half against the Buffaloes.
"Actually I wasn't expecting it at all," Foster said of his playing time. "It was just kind of how the game played out."
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 8B