THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2008
SPORTS
MEN'S BASKETBALL
7B
North Carolina's Hansbrough provides tough competition
BY RUSTIN DODD ddd@kansan.com
Darrrell Arthur has played against Tyler Hansbrough — well, once.
In the summer of 2003, Kansas sophomore forward shared the floor with Hansbrough — then a high school junior — at the Nike Hoop Jamboree. Arthur might have trouble recognizing that Hansbrough today. That Hanbrough was a little lighter, a little shorter and his skills a little less polished. But the faint memory Arthur has of Hansbrough includes the one skill that made Hansbrough the face of college basketball.
Nearly five years later, Arthur will step back on to the floor with Hansbrough, and the player they call Psycho-T needs no introduction. No longer the baby-faced kid at Nike camp, Hansbrough has morphed into a rebound-grabbing, body-banging basketball Tazmanian devil.
"He had the same motor," Arthur said.
North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough dunks over Juan Palacios during the second half of the NCAA East Regional final basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday. Hansbrough's play has led North Carolina to the Final Four.
A first-team All-American and likely National Player of the Year, Hansbrough could give Kansas its toughest defensive test of the season. Hansbrough's raw strength and athleticism combined with an unflappable will make Hansbough an opposing coach's nightmare.
"What don't you know about Hansbrought?" Kansas senior forward Darnell jackson said. "He's a great player."
There might not be a definitive way to defend Hansbrough.
Jackson, along with Arthur, senior Sasha Kaun, and as Self noted, freshman Cole Aldrich, will all be counted on to defend Hansbrough, who comes into Saturday's National semi-final averaging 22.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.
Don't believe it? Ask the coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Although they might not want to talk about it.
Not after the way Hansbrough gashed Miami for 35 points on Jan.23.
"He just completely dominated." Miami coach Frank Haith told reporters after the game.
He ran up 39 points on Clemson in an overtime victory on Feb. 10, and toyed with N.C.State to the tune of 32 points on Feb. 20.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Still, his best performance of the season might have come against Louisville last weekend, as Hansbrough drove the Tar Heels to the Final Four with 28 points and 13 rebounds.
"He plays harder than probably anybody in the country," Arthur said.
The legend of Psycho-T is still growing in Chapel Hill, N.C., and leading the Tar Heels back to the Final Four for its 17th time in school history hasn't hurt. Some Hansbrough legends have even made their way back to Lawrence.
"I hear stories about how when they're on off days," Jackson said "he's in the gym, five hours, working on his own."
Poplar Bluff, a town of about 16,000, sits in the Ozark foothills about 30 miles from the Arkansas border.
HE'S FROM MISSOURI
"Who would have ever thought, starting out in Poplar Bluff," Hansbrough said, "I would end up playing at North Carolina, and then go play at a Final Four."
They've been saying it since he was in high school. He's all grit and intensity and heart. He just outworks people. The insuination? Hansbrough isn't particularly skilled. It's a stereotype Hansbrough scoffs out.
"I think some of my other skills are overlooked." Hansbrough said.
By the time Hansbrough was a senior in high school, Kansas coach Bill Self already knew all about the Missouri high school star. As Hansbrought's profile was rising, Poplar Bluff played a nationally televised game against Greg Oden's high school team. Poplar Bluff lost, but the nation saw Hansbrough — and so did Arthur, who recalled the Hansbrough versus Oden matchup before practice on Tuesday.
Of course, he was dominant in high school. Hansbrough, with the help of his little brother Ben, who now plays at Mississippi State, won two Missouri 5A state championships at Poplar Bluff High School.
It's no secret, Kansas wanted Hansbrough - bad.
"We recruited Tyler very hard," Self said. "He visited here. Back then you knew that he would be something special."
North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky were all hot in pursuit.
Williams and North Carolina won out.
Hansbrough won National Freshman of the year in 2006, but a young North Carolina team fell to upstart George Mason in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Last season Hansbrough was named an AP first team All-American, but again the Tar Heels fell short of the Final Four by giving up a lead to Georgetown in the Elite Eight.
This season Hansbrough lifted North Carolina over the Final Four hump.
"We just want to keep on moving." Hansbrough said.
GUARDING HANSBROUGH
If Kansas has any advantage in
finding a way to stop Hansbrough it can thank ESPN.
Bill Self said Kansas' players were able to watch North Carolina play at least 10 times this year, because North Carolina seems to play every game on national television.
Unlike Davidson, North Carolina is a media darling. The
The theory goes like this: The more times you see a team play, the more familiar you are with its tendencies and style of play.
Self said Kansas saw Davidson play maybe once before it played the Wildcats in the Elite Eight. That alone put Kansas at a natural disadvantage. Self said.
Tar Heels play on ESPN regularly, and Hansbrough seems to spend more time on television than Anderson Cooper.
"Their whole team has been the talk of the town, the talk of the national news," Arthur said. "We're just going to have to come bring our A' game and play."
As for specific match-ups, Self said Kaun would be the Jayhawks' best option to contain Hansbrough.
Arthur said Kansas will throw everybody they have at Hansbrough.
"If you just look at it on paper, Sasha's standing height and size would be as good a match-up as we
would have with him." Self said.
But Kaun won't play the entire game, which will leave Jackson and Arthur to guard Hansbrough at times.
Nearly five years ago, Arthur was a high school sophomore, guarding Hansbrough at the Nike Hoop Jamboree. Now the stage is a little bit bigger.
But for Arthur, the key to Hansbrough has stayed the same. It's all about the motor.
"The whole team," Arthur said, "is going to have to match his intensity."
— Edited by Jared Duncan
MEN'S BASKETBALL
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Former Jayhawk Julian Wright could have played with this year's Kansas team but decided to forgo his next two years of eligibility to play in the NBA for the New Orleans Hornets, who currently are in a fight for first place in the Western Conference.
Wright still bleeds crimson and blue
BY JEFF DETERS
jdeters@kansan.com
The Jayhawks will have their legion of fans with them in San Antonio. They will also have at least one more rooting for them in New Orleans.
Wright said this year's Kansas team had two characteristics last year's team didn't: momentum and 12 more months of know-how, both of which he said could benefit Kansas this weekend.
Julian Wright, who left school last season for the NBA and is now a member of the New Orleans Hornets, has kept up on his former team throughout the year. He regularly checks his cell phone or computer for KU scores and still keeps in touch with his former teammates.
"Another year of experience does wonders," Wright said.
He added that this year's team wasn't satisfied just yet, and it could
accomplish more than it already had.
Wright is in a position to possibly win a championship himself. The Hornets are a lock for the NBA Playoffs and are battling for the first place seed in the Western Conference. Since Wright left college, he has taken his game to the perimeter and plays small forward in the pros, although he has played sparingly this season, averaging three points and two rebounds a game.
"Playing at a place like Kansas, expectations are always Final Four," he said. "But I think this year we're really equipped. Everyone's bought into the system and playing unselfish ball."
Wright said he had no regrets about leaving school early and wished his old team well.
"I bleed crimson and blue," he said.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
— Edited by Jared Duncan
BY MARK DENT
mdent@kansan.com
mdent@kansan.com
All season long, the Jayhawks relied on balanced scoring and the belief that anyone could step up in a big game and deliver down the stretch. Russell Robinson has said many times that several players could take the shots in the most important parts of the game.
But in reality, Kansas does have a go-to-guy.
Crunch time no problem for Chalmers
"If you study it," said Kansas coach Bill Self, "you'll find out who our go-to guys are."
It's Mario Chalmers. In games settled by five points or fewer, he's done the most damage in the game's last four minutes.
The Jayhawks have played six games decided by that margin: against Arizona, Southern California, Georgia Tech, Texas, Oklahoma State and Davidson. In the last four minutes of those games, Chalmers scored a total of 19 points.
"He doesn't necessarily want the spotlight," Robinson said, "doesn't want all the attention, all the publicity. But at the same time, he wants the ball in his hands. He's going to do it at the stake of the team
doing well."
Chalmers' best late-game run came against USC. He scored seven points in the final four minutes, including a big three-pointer that put Kansas up for good. He also had six points and the game-tying free throws against Arizona and six in the last four minutes of a loss at Texas.
No other player comes close to matching Chalmers' production down the stretch of close games. Collins scored six points in the last four minutes of the Georgia Tech victory but otherwise hasn't scored at the end of close games. Darrell Arthur also has six total points in the six tight games.
Perhaps most surprisingly, Brandon Rush has only scored a total of four points down the stretch and shot the ball less than one-third as many times as Chalmers. It's clear, Kansas wants Chalmers to have the ball at the end, and he's fine with that.
"I've always thought of myself as the guy who could do it with the game on the line," Chalmers said.
Edited by Daniel Reyes