THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2006
SPORTS
3B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Basketball notebook: practices start soon
Kansan File Photo
Sophomore forward Brandon Rush defends against a Missouri player at a game at Allen Fieldhouse last spring. Kansas's basketball coach Bill Self said Rush and sophomores Mario Chalmers and Julian Wright were the most improved.
BY SHAWN SHROYER
Although he was hot on the recruiting trail this week, Kansas men's basketball coach Bill self took time to talk about his team's offseason workouts, former Kansas basketball players, brainstorming with other basketball coaches and even Kansas football.
Workouts going well As of Sept. 15, the men's basketball program will be able to have full-
squad workouts, but in the meantime, coaches can only work with four players at a time.
This rule has kept Self from getting to see how his team works together in game-like situations. But he can already tell
"Brady's been a very pleasant surprise so far," Self said. "Sherron and Darrell both have shown a great deal of natural talent but are still trying to get down what we want done from a basic fundamental standpoint. Brady has probably done some of that back in high school, whereas those other two have not."
Morningstar was the most impressive.
Going international
"We basically open it up and show everybody the way we do it ... and steal some ideas from the coaches in attendance."
Former Kansas guard Kirk Hinrich was in the news last month for his
that his players have improved from last season, especially sophomores Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and Julian Wright.
BILL SELF Kansas men's basketball coach
At the same time, he has noticed what freshmen Brady Morningstar, Darrell Arthur and Sherron Collins need to do to improve. He said
efforts on the USA National team during the FIBA World Championship in Japan. Hinrich averaged 5.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, and ranked fourth overall in assists-to-turnovers ratio for the tournament.
Duke coach Mike Krzzyzewski took time away from the Blue Devils to coach the senior national team. Although Self is on the selection committee that chooses players for the junior national team he doesn't plan to coach at the international
level any time soon. He said he had thought about it, but wouldn't be able to coach for at least a couple of years.
Self optimistic about football team
Before leaving town to make recruiting visits, Self attended the Kansas football game against Louisiana-Monroe.
A regular at home football games, Self was impressed with ULM sophomore quarterback Kinsman Lancaster's 377-passing-yard performance. However, Self didn't think the 21-19 final score accurately reflected how good Kansas could be this season.
"We should be encouraged that we're 2-0 going on the road, getting ready to be 3-0, because I think we're going to have a great football season," Self said.
Globetrotters add another Jayhawk
Former Kansas forward Bryant Nash was one of six players offered a contract by the Harlem Globetrotters last month. Nearly 50 players participated in the first open-player tryout in more than 20 years. The Globetrotters already features former Kansas guard Michael Lee.
Self wasn't surprised that the
Globetrotters were interested Nash's athleticism.
He said that Bryant was one of the best athletes to go through Kansas in a long time, and that he could do things physically that very few people could do. Bryant will be a nice addition to the Globetrotters, Self said.
Bill Self Coaches Clinic information announced
The 2006 Bill Self Kansas Coaches Clinic has been scheduled for Oct. 28 at Allen Fieldhouse.
The clinic features presentations by the Kansas basketball staff, an invitation to a Kansas basketball practice and a ticket to the Kansas vs. Colorado football game, but the focus is on discussing different coaching philosophies.
"There's a million different ways to do it so we basically open it up and show everybody the way we do it and share some positive ideas with them," Self said. "And also steal some ideas from the coaches in attendance because it does become kind of an open-forum format."
Kansan sportswriter Shawn Shroyer can be contacted at sshroyer@ kansan.com.
MLB
Edited by Natalie Johnson
Royals beat Indians, sweep road series for first time in nearly three years
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEVELAND — Jorge De La Rosa pitched five solid innings and Emil Brown homered to help Kansas City defeat the Cleveland Indians 6-2 Wednesday night as the Royals gained their first road series sweep in more than three years.
Shane Costa had three hits for
the Royals, whose modest two-game winning streak gave them a road sweep for the first time since taking three in a row July 11-13, 2003 at Texas. Their 86 consecutive series without a sweep was the third-longest streak in history, two behind the Montreal Expos in 1995-98. The Washington Senators went 100 series without a sweep in 1901-05.
De La Rosa (3-2) allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in his first start in eight days.
The Royals acquired the lefty from the Milwaukee Brewers on July 25 — the day he came off the disabled list after missing more than six weeks with a similar blister.
Grady Sizemore gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead in the third with his 24th
homer. Cleveland then loaded the bases on a single and two walks, but got only Casey Blake's sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
David Defesus singled and scored on a double to right by Esteban German, who was thrown out trying for third. Mark Grudzielanek then singled, took second on a ground-out, and was thrown out by Blake trying to score on another single by Costa.
The Royals tied it with a four-hit fourth against Jake Westbrook (12-10). Consecutive singles by Brown, Costa and Ryan Shealy made it 2-1. Joey Gathright later added an RBI single.
The Royals went 4-for-5 in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.
Two more singles and an RBI fielder's choice by Gathright in the sixth made it 4-2. Brown's 14th homer, a two-run shot off Rafael Betancourt, made it 6-2 in the seventh.
Westbrook allowed four runs and 11 hits during six innings. In his previous start Sept. 6, he gave up 11 hits in six innings in a loss to Toronto.
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