THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
FOOTBALL | 3B
Team expecting a loud crowd
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11,2010
Coach Turner Gill said that he is telling his team to have no doubts going into Saturday's game against Nebraska in Lincoln. Memorial Stadium holds 86,000 loud fans every home game.
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COLE ALDRICH IS FINDING A HOME IN THE NBA
Former Kansas center Cole Aldrich laughs during warmups at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City Sunday night prior to the Oklahoma City Thunder's game against the Boston Celtics. After leaving Kansas following his junior year, Aldrich was drafted 11th overall in the 2010 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Hornets, and was then traded to the Thunder. Aldrich is averaging nine-and-a-half minutes and just under two rebounds per game in his rookie season in the NBA.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
tournament? And we're not talking about the NIT, here."
"Last year was bad, man. Last year was bad." Aldrich says about the Jayhawks' loss to Northern Iowa in the same building he now plays his home games in. Then he fires back, "Wait a minute, did you even play in the
White has no response, even though he went to the tournament three times. Aldrich, after all, owns a championship ring.
"I can't talk to somebody who can't lead his team past Northern Iowa." White jokes. "I can't talk to him."
Such is life in the locker room of the Thunder, the second-youngest team in the NBA. Aldrich is the only rookie, but he's the fourth-youngest player on the roster, and he holds his own in the locker room smack talk.
"As you can see, the locker room is pretty relaxed," Aldrich said. "I mean we kind of get after each other in a while, but it's a lot of fun. We've got a bunch of fun guys. So it's just kind of — it's got of like KU"
LIVING THE DREAM
Aldrich said adjusting to the NBA lifestyle hasn't been much of a challenge at all.
"To be honest with you, it's a little more low key," he
SEE ALDRICH ON PAGE 4B
VOLLEYBALL
Kansas slides by Aggies in five sets
BY IAN CUMMINGS icummings@kansan.com
Freshman libero Brianne Riley contributed a career performance to the win, recording 32 digs, while senior outside hitter Karina Garlington led the offense with 18 kills. Senior outside hitter Jenna Kaiser also had an outstanding performance, scoring 17 kills in the match with an efficiency of 268. plus four digs and a block.
"All the seniors especially were really excited to win in College Station," Kaiser said. She also said Riley had been working hard to
For the first time in program history, Kansas beat the Texas A&M Aggies at their home in College Station, Texas, Wednesday. The Jayhawks topped the Aggies 3-2, just as in their previous meeting in Lawrence on Sept.18.
improve her game.
"She just has been more aggressive," Kaiser said. "She was just all over the court tonight."
"They were stepping up really well," Riley said. "Jarmoc and T. (as Tolefree is known by teammates) had a lot of really good touches, which allowed me to get to a lot of balls that I wouldn't have been able to get to."
Riley said some games went better than others and gave credit to the Kansas blockers for helping her out against the Aggies.
The layhawks got off to a big lead early in the first set with kills by Garlington and sophomore middle blocker Tayler Toleflee. Aggie errors and a block by Toleflee and junior outside hitter Allison Mayfield gave the
SEE VOLLEYBALL ON PAGE 6B
COMMENTARY
Overwhelming criticism hurts coaches' ability
Football has seen some major coaching changes this week. The Dallas Cowboys fired Wade Phillips, and the Colorado Buffaloes fired Dan Hawkins. Both of these teams were having visible trouble and one more loss was all they needed to boot their coach.
Though the decision about Phillips has been highly regarded by fans and sports reporters as a good choice, the team maintains that it came as a complete shock to them. Sometimes there is an unsung relationship of trust between players and coaches that the public is not privy to.
Coaches serve as mentors, father figures and even friends. From the day these athletes are signed to play at their school of choice or are drafted to a professional team, they have tangible evidence of their worth as a player through that coach's eyes. Sports are about opportunity and for many athletes, moving on to
BY KATHLEEN GIER
kgier@kansan.com
that next level is not only praiseworthy, but can create a new life for them.
None of this would be possible however without coaches, and I think that is where the focus is lost. Even if a team is not as successful as it could be, it is not always the coach's fault. In both the situations with Dallas and Colorado, the team records were not holding up with dismal performance throughout the season so far. While some of this can be pinned on the coaches for bad strategies, that is not the only element to a team's losses.
This week on the hit show "Glee," the high school's football coach was put in an embarrassing position where she was being mocked and trash talked in the hallways. At one point she says, "I'm the coach. If the students here don't respect me then I can't do my job." This quote intrigued me.
The team is having a bad year and they have acknowledged that, but does everything reflect on Turner Gill? Simply put, no. As a coach in his first year at a new school, it cannot be expected that he will go undefeated and win a bowl game. I think most people hoped that the team would win more games, but the fact is that the Jayhawks have not. One of those factors is that Gill has not
Many fans are quick to blame a coach when things go wrong, but can that criticism affect a coach's ability to preform at his job? This is one of the saddest things I see here at Kansas.
had time to build those important relationships with the players that dictate the success of some programs. Though Kansas has talented athletes, none of them were recruited by him, which to me is a vital part of the trusting relationship between athlete and coach.
Another factor is that Kansas lost three players to professional football — Kerry Meier, Dezmon Briscoe and Darrrell Stuckey — as well as its all-time leading passer Todd Reesing. They were key players in victories in previous years.
Kansas has Gill under contract for four more years. If he is given that time to be accepted into the program he will gain leeway with the athletes and eventually the students and fans. Kansas football will rise again and I still believe Gill can get us there.
— Edited by David Cawton