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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2006
BIG 12 BASKETBALL
Texas Tech prepares, welcomes new athletes
Texas Tech coach Bob Knight speaks with guard Martin Zeno at a home game last year. Knight said it is too early to finalize this year's lineup.
Kansan file photo
BY JAY LANGLEY
DAILY TOREADOR
Jarrius Jackson only known starter to open the season
LUBBOCK, Texas — At his first press conference of the 2006-07 season, Tech men's basketball coach Bob Knight said Tuesday he knows his team's key to winning.
"Really I think it boils down to one thing," Knight said, "and that's going to be how well (Chris) Carpenter pitches today. I think if he pitches well today, then I think we have a chance to go up 3-2 over the Mets."
While Knight will not be sitting on the bench with St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, the coach said he is happy with his Raider squad after just five practices.
"I think that right now we have everything about as good as it can be," Knight said. "I think that our lineup, for this time of the year, is a very strong one. I think we've got the kind of depth to play against different situations."
Knight said it is too early in the season to determine what his lineup will be. The only guarantee, Knight said, is that Jarrius Jackson will be in the starting five.
Jackson, a senior guard from Monroe, La., led the Big 12 in scoring last year and was voted to the
2006-07 Preseason All-Big 12 First Team. Knight said even his all-conference guard needs to work on his game.
"Jackson has got to be a better defender or that hurts us," Knight said. "For him to be as good a player as he can be, he has to be better defensively."
In addition to Jackson, Knight welcomes nine new faces to his 2006-07 roster.
"We have pretty good competition within our roster which is really important," he said. "If kids understand that the other kids can play, then I think that's a very important thing in practice. We have the competition to probably a greater degree than we've had since we've been here."
The Raiders begin the season Nov. 11 at the United Spirit Arena against Sam Houston State. Tech's second game of the season is the first round of the GBE Classic against Gardner-Webb. As part of the early season tournament, the Raiders could play one of three teams with Final Four experience, Duke, Marquette or Stanford.
"The best thing about these early season tournaments is that if you win you get to play two more games," Knight said. "It just adds games to
the season. And the next two games are going to be against good teams"
The CBE Classic will be the third early season tournament the Raiders have played in under Knight. In the last two the Raiders played against perennial powerhouses Utah, Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.
The 2006-07 season will be Knights 40th year of coaching college basketball. His 879 wins are 11 shy of the record for all-time coaching victories. Knight said college basketball has changed a lot since his first season at Army.
"There are more teams that are good and more players that are good," he said. "There is a tremendous increase in the number of good players. But the really good players are not any better and, in some cases, not as good as they were back then."
Knight said he does not think he has changed much from his early days of coaching.
"My hair got gray" he said. "I probably weigh more. I don't like the media any better. That's probably it."
BIG 10 BASKETBALL
Knight said his key to victory remains the same.
"We have to get guys on base;" he said. "If we get guys on base it's really hard for them to pitch around Pujols."
Expectations are high for this year's Ohio State Buckeyes
BY CHRIS PATRICK THE LANTERN
THE LANTERN
COLUMBUS, Ohio — For months, talk of a national championship has crossed the lips of Buckeyes fans. Now, many forecasters predict similar conversations will continue well into spring concerning prospects in a sport other than football.
The biggest names in college basketball analysis, from Digger Phelps to Dick Vitale, believe this year's edition of the Ohio State men's basketball team will have its best opportunity to win the second title in school history since Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd led the 1999
Final Four run, now erased from the record books and the rafters. Phelps and Vitale, both of ESPN, rank the Buckeyes third and fourth, respectively.
With the ultimate goal in reach, it is definitely present on the players' minds.
"The first day we met as a team, coach (Thad Matta) showed us a packet with Final Four information," preseason first-team All-Big Ten pick Jamar Butler said at media day last Thursday. "He told us if we want to be there we have to work hard."
The junior guard is one of only four returning players that saw significant action for last season's Big
Ten regular-season and tournament championship squad (26-6, 12-4), selected as a No. 2 seed in the Minnesota Regional before falling to Georgetown in the second round. Expected to step into the void is one of the most highly-touched recruiting classes in OSU history.
In spite of the publicity, the newcomers have been pupils rather than prima donnas.
Kiichiro Sato/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ohio State freshman basketball pose for a group photo Oct. 12, during the basketball media day in Columbus, Ohio. From left are Daequan Cook, Mike Conley, David Lighty, Othello Hunter and Greg Oden. National pundets are predicting big things for this year's Buckeyes team.
"The freshmen listen and respect us," senior guard Ron Lewis said at media day. "(They) came ready to learn and without big heads."
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Highlighting the list is 7-foot, 275-pound center Greg Oden. The two-time Gatorade High School Player of the Year brought immediate credibility to the Buckeyes and has already drawn praise from his new coach.
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"You can't wait for these games," Terwilliger said Thursday afternoon. "They are why you play basketball. They will be a challenge, but it doesn't get much better than that."
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Coaches Association Classic at Schottenstein Arena on Nov. 10. A number of early tests highlight this year's schedule, including trips to Chapel Hill to face off with North Carolina on Nov. 29. Indianapolis for a neutral-site affair with Cincinnati on Dec. 16 and Gainesville, Fla., to play the defending champions — the Florida Gators — a week later.
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Oden is expected to be sidelined until January while recovering from off-season surgery on his right wrist. When he does return, he will be joined by his teammate from Lawrence North High School and fellow McDonald's All-American guard Mike Conley Jr. The two led the Indianapolis school to a third straight state championship this past spring. Guard Daequan Cook, also an All-American, and guard/forward David Lighty round out the group of four freshmen; none of whom are permitted to talk with the media until logging game action.
"I have been really impressed with his basketball intellect and how well he has picked up on things," Matta said Thursday.
Talent aside, Matta knows it will not be easy to have his team prepared for opening night.
The Buckeyes will open regular-season competition against the Virginia Military Institute in the eight-team SportsTime Ohio Black
Nevertheless, the blend of new and old faces hasn't diminished the solid team chemistry that was so important to the success enjoyed last season.
"From the first day we were really close," Butler said. "We have a strong team bond."
"If we played tomorrow, he would likely be our center," Matta said. "He can step out and shoot the ball for us and his post game has gotten better."
"We have a tremendous challenge ahead of us because we are so young," he said. "We have a lot of new guys and a short time to figure out what we can and can't do without sacrificing teaching the fundamentals."
With the early-season absence of Oden, junior center/forward Matt Tervillier will get a chance to step up for OSU after spending his first two years in the shadow of Terrence Dials.
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