THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
KANSAS
7
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2010
SOCCER | 7A Jayhawks face last Big 12 games Kansas will play Nebraska on the road this weekend, followed by Colorado on Monday. The Jayhawks are 1-7 in conference play after a rough loss to Baylor in overtime last Sunday.
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PAGE 10A
TWO GOOD TO BE TRUE
Little, Morris create mismatches on court
From right, Kansas basketball players Marcus Morris, Mario Little and Tyrel Reed are shown during the Big 12 Basketball media days at Sprint Arena in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday. Little and Morris may not play the positions analysts expect them to this season.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
"Well, I don't know if Id go that far," Self said. "Paul's a Hall of Famer. But he's a player like that, from being able to utilize his size inside, but also be as much of a perimeter player as he is."
Most anyone who has tried has projected this starting lineup for Kansas: Josh Selby at the point, Tyshawn Taylor as the two-guard, Mario Little at the three, and Marcus and Markeff Morris at power forward and center, respectively.
Bill Self knows he has a talented player on his hands with Marcus Morris. He's a 6-foot-8, fluid, athletic shooter. It's easy to draw comparisons between Morris and Paul Pierce, the last Jayhawk with that kind of size and a guard's ability on the outside.
Those five players may be right, but the positions may not be.
time at the three.
The door is wide open for Marcus Morris to be the starter at the three with the 6-foot-6, 218-pound Little manning the four spot. Little played most of his minutes in the 2008-09 season as an undersized power forward, and Self has said he likes the matchup problems Little creates.
He put up his hands as a caution when a local media man made the comparison.
"We're so beat up." Self said. "With Withey out and now with Keef out, we just don't have guys to practice."
Whoa. Self will stop you right there.
Morris said Little's ability to score from anywhere on the court is what makes him dangerous enough for the role.
"Mario is the best scorer we have, hands down, the best natural scorer that we have," Morris said. "Rio can score down low, he can shoot the ball real well. He's probably the best natural scorer in the league."
For the moment though, Self isn't sure what his best options are and he said he may not have a set eight-man rotation until the Big 12 season begins in January.
Self said he has looked at both Little and 6-foot-5 sophomore Travis Releford as options in that line-up, but with the Jeff Withey's injury and Markkeford Morris' hernia surgery yesterday, Marcus hasn't seen much
"It probably won't shake out totally 'til we know what losh is doing," he said. "If we could have our rotation set by Big 12 play, I'd be happy about that."
That lineup would allow Morris to use his uncharacteristic athleticism and shoot range to create a mismatch against a power forward, while Little could use his above average size to back down a smaller guard inside.
"We'll play him on the perimeter as a four man," Self said. "What I can see is posting him, and playing Marcus on the perimeter, so you get Marcus' big man on the perimeter and you can post a guard."
— Edited by Lisa Curran
Jayhawks to fight Aggies for conference win
FOOTBALL
kcarpenter@kansan.com
BY KORY CARPENTER
For Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman and Kansas coach Turner Gill, it's a long way from the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. Sherman was the Green Bay Packers coach for six seasons, and he hired Gill as the Director of Player Development in 2005. After meeting Gill, Sherman was immediately impressed.
"I felt he could relate well to the players and coaches," Sherman said. "He is full of integrity."
Freshman Jordan Webb passes downfield during the third quarter of Kansas game against in-state rival Kansas State at Memorial Stadium Thursday night. The Jayhawks will attempt to earn their first conference in 10 games.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Five years later, the two coaches are in the Big 12 Conference, Gill in his first season with the Jayhawks and Sherman in his third with the Aggies.
Both teams have struggled through the first half of the season and both are still looking for their first conference win. The Aggies started the season strong with three consecutive wins, but have dropped the last three, including conference losses to Oklahoma State and Missouri. Kansas has faced similar adversity, dropping the last two games by a combined score of 114-14.
Freshman safety Keeston Terry will miss another week with a leg injury he suffered in the second half loss to Southern Miss. Gill confirmed the decision after Wednesday's practice.
Terry played a large part in the upset of Georgia Tech, recording five tackles in the 28-25 Kansas win. His absence the last three games has been noted, as the Kansas defense has given up an average of 43 points per game.
"He's still having trouble. He won't be ready for this ballgame," he said. "We'll make to make the decision next week if he's able to go or not."
in those performances are repeated Saturday night in Memorial Stadium, Homecoming week for KU fans might end on a sour note,
Texas A&M senior quarterback Jerrod Johnson has ruled the air for the Aggies this season. He's averaged 43 passes a game, including a staggering 62 attempts in the loss to Oklahoma State. Johnson is also second in the Big 12 in total offense, second only to Baylor's Robert Griffin III. However, Johnson is capable of making bad decisions. His nine interceptions so far this season are more than he threw all of last season.
as the Aggie offense is 10th in the nation in passing yards per game with an average of 305 per contest.
On offense, Kansas has failed to put up double digits in Big 12 play, only scoring 14 points the last two games. Freshman quarterback Jordan Webb is in his first season running the Jayhawk offense, and it has shown recently. After starting his season with only one intercept-
the three straight losses by the Aggies could be a sign of hope for Jayhawk fans. However, last week Kansas State came to town after an embarrassing loss as well. All they did was put up 460 yards of offense while beating the downrodden lavhawks 59-7.
With the offense struggling to score points, Gill didn't rule out the idea of calling a few trick plays Saturday night.
"We always have some plays like that in the game plan," he said. "It's just about finding an opportunity to execute them."
tion in four games, he has thrown three in the last two losses.
Gill said he wants to have the lead early to call a trick play like a reverse or half-back pass, but that obviously hasn't been the case the last two games.
Big 12, with big games still remaining in conference for each squad. Texas A&M still plays Oklahoma and Texas while the Jayhawks have yet to play Nebraska or Missouri. A win by either team would give the respective squad much needed momentum heading into the second half of the season. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
— Edited by Abby Davenport
COMMENTARY
Saturday's loser will be 0-3 in the
Frank Martin is not paying attention to the hype his Wildcats have gotten this
Fans shouldn't look at the preseason rankings because Martin isn't.
Hudas have gotten this season. He didn't pay attention to the media four years ago when it said he sucked as a coach.
Preseason rankings ignored by coaches
He talks about it with his team but doesn't want the pressure coming from anywhere but the Kansas State locker room.
From just listening to Martin talk Thursday afternoon, he is doing a lot of things right in Manhattan.
Martin said he is flattered that his team was picked to finish first in the Big 12 conference because that means other coaches, his peers, think he is doing something right.
He has lost guys like Michael Beasley and Bill Walker, but he has replaced them.
According to Martin, there isn't a problem replacing the numbers. Somebody will step up the next season and contribute, but it's replacing the character that is the most difficult.
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Martin says that this is Kansas conference because of its dominance.
His main goal when he became the coach was to win the Big 12 Championship. He has yet to do that because Kansas has won it the last six seasons.
It's addition by subtraction. It's not like the NBA where guys can play for the same team from their rookie season to retirement. Guys come and go their first year or stay for four, but in the end they will be replaced.
"Nobody has beat them on the floor, which is where you decide who wins," Martin said.
This is true. Since the 2007-2008 season, when Martin was hired as the Wildcat coach, Kansas has a 42-6 record. Kansas State is 30-18.
I think the number one reason Kansas was not selected first was because of the loss of Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry.
It's the same thing Martin does, but in Manhattan.
On paper Kansas State looks like the favorite, but Martin lives in reality and winning on paper doesn't cut it for him.
It's what coach Bill Self calls "Kansas Math."
But Self does not live in the past
He thinks it's difficult to win a national title and it's even more difficult to repeat. He is hungry for another title.
He doesn't look at the preseason polls either. When asked about receiving two first-place votes, he had no idea that Kansas received two votes.
I don't think coaches really care about preseason polls and awards. They don't mean anything if the team isn't cutting down the net in April.
Edited by Abby Davenport