WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2008 Sports WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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play a lick of point guard at Kansas. With Russell Robinson and Sherrron Collins on the roster, Chalmers never ran the show.
Chalmers' inexperience as a floor general may have compelled the San Antonio Spurs to spend their first-round pick on George Hill, an under-the-radar player from IUPUI. Hill may not have Chalmers' name recognition, but he has three years of service at point guard. Boston, which could have used the final pick of the first round to make Chalmers its new reserve point guard, opted for
Jayhawk expatriate J.R. Giddens.
If Chalmers hadn't bitten the NBA hook after his junior year, he would have had his senior season to audition at point guard. Junior Sherron Collins would have soaked up some of the minutes at point, but Chalmers would have become the focal point of Kansas' offense.
Last season, Chalmers competed with Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur for the ball and only took 19 percent of the Jayhawks' shots. With Rush and Arthur gone, Chalmers could have claimed scoring opportunities aplenty.
But "The Shot" guaranteed Chalmers would not return to Kansas. He graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and led off TV highlight packages for weeks. Chalmers' face value inflated while his basketball value hit a plateau. Most mock drafts placed him in the mid-to-late first round, but NBA teams didn't ask ESPN's experts for advice come draft night.
"Those mock drafts — those guys know about as much as I do," Self said. "Anybody can sit around and
pretend."
Self said he thought Chalmers' agent worked hard in the weeks leading up to the draft to accurately gauge teams' impressions, but the snub was disappointing. Self also said Chalmers was fortunate to drop into a favorable situation with the Miami Heat.
"I think Mario will latch on with Miami," Self said. "From what I understand, they're high on him and feel like he has a real good chance to make their roster."
Chalmers doesn't have much
competition for a roster spot in Miami. The team's incumbent starting point guard, Jason Williams, is a veteran in decline. The current backup point guard is Chris Quinn, a fringy third-year pro without a shade of Chalmers' athleticism.
If the former Jayhawk makes the team, it's an 'All's well that ends well' scenario. If he doesn't, it's the ultimate cautionary tale.
— Edited by Matt Hirschfeld
PRO GOLF
Tiger: 'It will be nice to finally have a healthy leg.'
BY DOUG FERGUSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BETHESDA, Md. - Tiger Woods does not know when he can play golf again, but he said Monday his rebuilt left knee has been sore his entire PGA Tour career and he looks forward to playing on two good legs.
"My left knee has been sore for 10 to 12 years," Woods said during a conference call for his AT&T National tournament, his first public comments since reconstructive surgery last Tuesday. "It will be nice to finally have a healthy leg. The doctors have assured me that my long-term health will be a hell of a lot better than it's been over the last decade. I'm really looking forward to that."
Woods said doctors in Utah used a tendon from his right hamstring to rebuild the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, which he said had always been weak and finally snapped while jogging on a
"I really didn't practice a whole lot going into the Open, and I couldn't play more than nine holes in preparation for it," he said. "After dealing with that, I decided to make the U.S. Open my last event for the season, no matter how it turned out. Whether I missed the cut or if I ended up winning the tournament, it was going to be my last event."
He is in a brace and will be on crutches for three weeks to keep weight off his knee.
Woods said he most likely would not be able to attend the AT&T National, which starts Thursday at Congressional, because there was swelling on the flight home to Florida after surgery and doctors have advised him to avoid planes.
Woods apparently wasn't listening in May when X-rays revealed a double stress fracture in his left tibia as he was getting back in shape from arthroscopic surgery to clean out cartilage in his troublesome left knee after the Masters.
"But who knows?" he added. "I don't really listen to doctors all that well, anyway."
In a story told by swing coach
Hank Haney, doctors said the best treatment was for Woods to spend three weeks on crutches, followed by three weeks of rest. Haney said Woods looked at the doctor and said, "I'm playing the U.S. Open, and I'm going to win."
Woods said he knew the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines would be his last tournament of the year no matter what happened.
on the 19th hole of a playoff. That gave Woods his 14th career major, and five victories in seven starts worldwide this year.
He won in spectacular fashion, making a 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate, then winning