SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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26
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TEAM HOPESTO IMPROVE AFTER SPRING CLASSIC
TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2008 PAGE 1B
PAGE 6B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Rush sets his sights on NBA Draft
BY MARK DENT mdent@kansan.com
Bill Self could've at least entertained the idea or humored wishful-thinking fans, right? Maybe said that Brandon Rush would worry about the NBA in a few months.
Yeah, Self could've done all that, but he would've been lying. Instead, while he chatted with the media just a few feet from Brandon Rush in the ballroom of the Kansas City Marriott during Big 12 Media days in October, he gave a blunt assessment of how likely it would be for Rush to come back for a senior year.
"Nobody's thinking that he is, including me, including him." Self said. "He knows he would not be here now if not for the injury so why should we expect him to play for two more years."
Now, toward the end of his junior season, Rush is finally playing like someone who's worthy of getting drafted. He's averaging better than 19 points a game in the last four games and is starting to rely less on his outside shot by taking the ball to rim more often. Rush won't publicly tell anyone about his future plans – he maintains he's focused on the NCAA Tournament – but he couldn't hide his enthusiasm when asked how much a solid run in March would help his draft stock.
"They're definitely going to be more impressed," Rush said about the pro scouts.
He was right. An NBA executive, who insisted on anonymity, said the tournament
could often make or break a player's draft standing. Someone who was not even on the radar could sneak into the second round or someone who was already a high pick could go
NBA draft
Mock Draft Projections
even higher because of a strong postseason. This means a player like Rush could go from the late second round, where he was projected to land just a couple months ago, to a possible late first round or early second round pick.
Mock Draft Projections These aren't always the most reli- able, but here's where a few mock drafts place Brandon Rush. NBADraft.net - 34th MyNBADraft.com- 28th Collegehoopsnet.com- 38th Draftexpress.com- 22nd
had to withdraw from draft considera tions.
However, Rush said that throughout the season his knee felt fine and didn't bother him. In fact, his play showed the opposite. Games went by, and Rush rarely looked comfortable. He could still score - he was KU's scoring leader in conference play - but almost never ventured in front of the three-point line.
Throughout the season Self pled with Rush to be more aggressive, as he often has during the past three seasons. One confrontation may have finally worked. It was halftime of KU's quarterfinal game of the Big 12 Tournament against Nebraska.
"He challenged his manhood," senior guard Russell Robinson said. "Brandon accepts criticism well and just took it as coach trying to motivate him and turned it around."
The next day Rush scored a careerhigh 29 points. He followed it up with six three-pointers in the Big 12 Championship and earned the MVP award for the Big 12 Tournament. He has stayed aggressive in the NCAA Tournament, going for 18 points and 12 points in the first two games.
KANSAN.COM
Most analysts thought Rush would be drafted in the late first round last summer, when he entered the NBA Draft after his sophomore year. His workouts were good, and he was regarded as one of the best defenders in the draft. That all changed when Rush tore his ACL in late May and
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The improved play has boosted his draft status and helped his team win. A National
Championship or Final Four might make Rush a better draft pick than anyone would have thought possible a month ago. Robinson would love to see Rush's value increase because it would mean that the team was having success.
"The main thing is he's playing well." Robinson said, "and we need to get him to continue playing well. Good things will happen for us and they'll happen for him as well."
-Edited by Nick Mangiaracina
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Brandon Rush goes up for a shot over Portland State defenders during Thursday's game at the Owest Center in Omaha, Neb. Rush scored 15 points in the first half of the game and finished with 18 for the game. He scored 12 points in Saturday's game against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
COMMENTARY
Team encouraged by WNIT game, ready for next year
Henrickson instructed her players to fill out brackets as the teams were announced and to watch the show as if Kansas were going to be one of the 64 teams announced. When it was all said and done, the Jayhawks indeed were not one of the eight Big 12 teams selected to participate in the big dance.
Although she knew her team had no chance of being selected for the NCAA Tournament, coach Bonnie Henrickson brought her players and coaches together last Monday to watch the selection show anyway.
"It was pretty painful," sophomore guard Kelly Kohn said, "To watch Nebraska, who we just beat twice, get into the tournament, and Iowa State, who we just beat at home...it was tough, it was painful to watch all of the other teams like Stanford and all of the big ones all excited on camera."
The jayhawks schedule, ranked as the 18th hardest in Division I by collegepi.com. featured 12 teams that were selected to the NCAA Tournament. The
Jayhawks won five games against teams going to the tournament including at Xavier and only three of their 15 losses came against teams not selected to the big dance.
"It sucked," sophomore guard Sade Morris said. "Every time a team would come up like Hartford, we beat
them; Xavier, well, we beat them.
And then we saw teams that we think we could beat, and knowing they took eight Big 12 teams...I just don't even like thinking about it"
Henrickson organized the group watch party to instill the mind-set of postseason basketball in her player's minds. The Jayhawks were fighting for an NCAA bid but lost their final five Big 12 conference games to end the season.
"I really felt like we needed to understand the tournament," Henrickson said. "I wasn't convinced throughout the year and even at the end of the year that we really understood about the conferences and the at-larges and automatics. Just watching it and filling out a bracket and talking to them about how exciting it was to make the NIT and see their name in a bracket, and just how much more exciting it is when you're up in the other bracket and on TV."
In addition to the eight Big 12 teams selected to play in the NCAA
SEE RAINS ON PAGE 4B
》 WNIT PLAY
Improved play advances Hawks
Monday night in Allen Fieldhouse Kansas demolished Evansville 82-60 in the second round of the WNIT to advance to a showdown with Michigan State in East Lansing on Thursday.
A late season collapse ensured Kansas and coach Bonnie Henrickson wouldn't play in their first NCAA Tournament since 2001. But rather than hang their heads and dwell on missed opportunities, Henrickson and the Jayhawks are relishing the chance to make their presence felt in the WNIT.
BY ANDREW WIEBE
awiebe@kansan.com
The layhawks played like it, shooting 56 percent from the field while limiting the Co-Missouri Valley Champion Purple Aces to 30 percent for the game and 22 percent shooting in the first half. Four different Kansas players scored in double figures, led by sophomore guard Danielle McCray's 20 points and seven rebounds on 9 of 16 shooting.
"This is our NCAA Tournament," sophomore guard Sade Morris said.
"Danielle had a quiet 20," Henrickson said of Kansas' leading scorer's first 20 point game since February 12 against Colorado. "I was a little surprised when I looked and she had 20."
McCray was joined in double figures by Morris, sophomore guard Kelly Kohn and freshman center Krysten Boogaard. Morris, Kohn and Boogaard combined for 36 points, shot 14 of 17 from the field
SEE WNIT ON PAGE 4B
COMMENTARY
With about two minutes to play in Kansas' 75-56 dispatching of University of Nevada, Las Vegas, junior guard Mario Chalmers hit the deck after a drive through the lane. Chalmers lay motionless near the baseline for a moment as teammates and coaches arrived to assist him.
Self's tactics lead adaptable Jayhawks into Sweet 16
Kansas coach Bill Self knelt down to assess the situation. Chalmers looked up at his coach with a grin — he was feeling fine. Self quickly turned his attention from his thankfully healthy player to a more pressing issue: the officiating. Self used the impromptu stoppage of play to turn to a nearby referee and deliver a playful jab.
"You sure that wasn't a foul on that block down at the other end?" Self implored, cracking a half-smile.
The Kansas coach's politicking didn't convince the officials to overturn junior guard Brandon Rush's fifth foul, but it did serve as perfect punctuation for the masterpiece of a game Self penned from the sideline.
Self's success last weekend in Omaha
shouldn't come as a surprise. He's authored a lot of good ones lately.
Through the first 20 minutes of Saturday afternoon's second-round game, UNLV had its way with Kansas. The Runnin' Rebels didn't run, instead they
plan that drew 11 first-half Kansas fouls. With 7:48 to play in the first half, UNLV capped a 12-4 run with two free throws, putting the Rebels on top by two points.
Kansas made a small run to extend its lead to five points by halftime, but the game wasn't going as planned. No.8 seeds from the Mountain West Conference aren't supposed to hang with No.1 seeds from the Big 12 Conference, let alone the powerful Kansas team that went 18-0 against nonconference foes during the regular season.
flustered the Jayhawks with vise-tight defense and a muddy offensive game
Self made sure UNLV wouldn't hang with Kansas for much longer. In the second half, Kansas adjusted its lineup, throwing four guards and one post at the Rebels instead of staying with its standard three-guard, two-big man setup. The change-up not only helped Kansas defend the diminutive Rebels, who didn't start a player taller than 6-foot-7, but also assisted with the Jayhawks' offense.
Without an extra post player clogging the lane, the Kansas guards took
SEE FUSCO ON PAGE 3B
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