THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
DOWN THE HALL
No.1 seed not necessarily a pipe dream
PAGE 1B
TIM HALL
THAL@KANSAN.COM
bigamous I big shot
Selection Sunday is still a few weeks away, but it's coming up fast. Right now
the Jayhawks are playing better basketball than anyone in the country, and they are fighting every game to improve their tournament seed.
A team that started 3-4 and with three freshmen and two sophomores certainly wouldn't be expected to be a top seed.
But if a few of the "big dogs" at the top of the polls drop a few games, and if Kansas runs the tables to finish 26-6 as Big 12 Champions, don't be surprised to see a No. 1 beside Kansas' name on Selection Sunday.
Kansas as a No. 1 seed is a stretch, but it is possible. And it will be a lot more reasonable if the Jayhawks can beat the Texas Longhorns Saturday night in Austin. If Kansas can win that game, it will be smooth sailing into the Big 12 Tournament in Dallas.
The top four teams in the nation are Duke, Villanova, Memphis, and UConn. Duke is a lock at the No. 1 seed, and Memphis is, too, because it plays in the lowly Conference USA and won't face any serious threats.
But Villanova and UConn both play in a dangerous Big East Conference that can spit them some late-season losses.
Villanova has remaining road games at UConn and at Syracuse, plus the conference tournament. UConn has an easier remaining schedule, but still meets Villanova at home on Feb. 26 and goes to the Big East Tournament. It's a stretch, but anything can happen.
In 1996, the Purdue Boilermakers finished their regular season with a 25-5 record, and an outright Big Ten Conference Championship.
A record like 26-6, with an outright Big 12 Championship,a big 12 Tournament Championship,and a 16-game winning streak (23 of the last 25) would warrant a No.1 seed.
That mark was good enough to get them a No.1 seed. In 1997, North Carolina finished its season with a record of 24-6, and still received a top seed. Kansas would have two more victories than that if they ran the table this year.
In 2000, two teams pulled down No.1 seeds with six losses. Arizona had a record of 26-6 and Michigan State had a record of 26-7.
And in 2005, Washington finished with a 27-5 record. They finished strong and won the Pac-10 Tournament, and won a No. 1 seed.
The precedents are there. A team with six losses has been given a No. 1 seed before, and if Kansas beats Texas tomorrow and wins the rest of their games, they have a shot.
Even though it will take a lot for that to happen, Kansas fans can plan on the No. 2 as the worst-case-scenario, and probably an NCAA berth in the Minneapolis Region. It all starts with Texas Saturday night.
★ Hall is a Woodbridge, Va., senior in journalism.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
big•game n. (big'gam')
1. In regards to sporting events, having great importance. 2. A defining moment in a sporting season 3.A contest with great rewards (i.e.league championship) or detriments (i.e.losing tournament seeding)
Back in the limelight
BY RYAN COLAIANNI
recolaianni@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTWRITER
Kansas coach Bill Self said it's been good not playing with much national attention, but with Kansas playing Texas on Saturday night, Kansas can break out.
"We don't need to be under the radar anymore. We need to be out there. It worked out pretty well, we didn't get too much too soon," Self said. "They made us earn everything and now you have to learn to operate with the attention that you will be receiving from the media."
The Kansas men's basketball team has been out of the national spotlight this season — until now.
A game like this is why athletes come to Kansas, said senior guard Jeff Hawkins.
Hawkins had advice for the young players who might think that Saturday's game is more important than others.
"It's not like they didn't know what they were getting themselves into." Hawkins said. "They came here to play in big games like this."
"Just take it like another game," Hawkins said. "Take it like it is Baylor, with a different name and a different uniform. As long as we continue to do what we got to do and execute and do what coach wants us to do, I think the name doesn't really matter."
Self's Jayhawks will be the talk of ESPN tomorrow, with "College Gameday" converging in Austin, Texas. It is fair to say that this game is probably the biggest game of the young Jayhawks careers.
Kansas' top seven scorers are either freshmen or sophomores and none of them have played in a game that has had this much attention or meant as much to their team. First place in the Big 12 Conference is on the line.
Self said a game like this was similar to the buildund to an NCAA tournament game.
"This is a big game. My first 'College Gameday,' freshman guard Mario Chalmers said. "We are going to be really excited to go out there and play."
"They will be excited to play, I am pretty sure of it, but I don't want them to be too excited." Self said. "I think that can be counterproductive."
tournament," Self said.
"I'm not going to try to shield them from everything, they just have to grow up and understand that this is how it is during the NCAA
Sophomore guard Russell Robinson said it has been tough to look at Saturday's game like an ordinary one.
"It's kind of hard just because it's on a big stage and everybody is going to be watching," Robinson said. We just have to be up for the challenge."
Basketball Note: Hawkins, who was suspended from Tuesday's game against Baylor, is expected to play Saturday, Self said. Hawkins would not comment Thursday on the incident. He received a ticket for fleeing an accident on Sunday morning.
Edited by John Jordan
LaMarcus Aldridge and Russell Robinson
KANSAN.COM The University Daily Kansan
Let the Jayhawks know how you feel about Saturday's game against Texas. Post a comment online at Kansan.com and check back for complete game coverage.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Sophomore guard Russell Robinson blocks Kansas State's junior guard Mario Taybron on Jan. 14 in Allen Fieldhouse.The Jeyhawks last faced a zone defense against the Wildcats and lost by four points.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
KU prepared for zone defense
BY DANIEL BERK
dberk@kansan.com
KANSAN SENSIOR SPORTSWITTER
The last time Kansas faced a zone defense for the majority of the game was against Kansas State.
Most Kansas fans remember how that game turned out. Kansas lost by four points on its home floor.
This weekend, when Kansas travels to Austin, Texas, to play No. 7 Texas, Kansas coach Bill Self said he expected to see a lot of zone defense again, and this time he expected his team to be ready for it.
Kansas has seen some zone against teams since the Kansas State game, but just in spurs. Self said the team was better now against the zone than it was a month ago when it played Kansas State.
"We were bad against K-State's zone, and since the K-State game we have gotten significantly better against the zone because we have had numerous opportunities to go against it," Self said.
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"I think we have been playing pretty good against the zone.Mario has been hitting some outside shots.Russell has been shooting pretty good.I think we can stretch the defense."
Jeff Hawkins Senior guard
Against Kansas State, Kansas shot just 32 percent from the field and was only 5-20 from threepoint distance. The point of zone defense is to make the opponent settle for bad, outside shots instead of allowing them to take advantage of individual match-ups by driving to the basket.
Iowa State and Oklahoma were two of the schools that played a little zone defense against Kansas. Kansas was successful against both of those teams because it was able to shoot well from three-point distance.
Senior guard Jeff Hawkins said that if the team could shoot the ball from outside as well as it has lately, it would force Texas to move to a man-to-man defense.
Self said it didn't matter if teams played zone or man defense; he didn't prefer going against one more than the other.
"I think we have been playing pretty good against the zone, Hawkins said. "Mario has been hitting some outside shots. Russell has been shooting pretty good. I think we can stretch the defense."
"I don't know if I like it or dislike it," Self said. "I like it if we make shots. When we played them last year, they came in here and tried to play zone from the start. We shot it pretty well and then they went to man-to-man for a good bit after that."
Last year against Texas, Kansas shot 50 percent from the field and 7-17 from three-point
distance. The team was able to do most of its damage inside with Wayne Simien. Texas was without its two best, big men for that game, then sophomore forward PJ. Tucker and freshman forward LaMarcus Aldridge. Both players are available now, and Simien is in the NBA.
Self said the match-up inside with Aldridge, Tucker and senior forward Brad Buckman against Kansas' front line of sophomore center Sasha Kaun, freshman forward Julian Wright and freshman guard Brandon Rush would be a key in determining the winner.
Hawkins said the team would have to do a good job of getting Wright the ball because he was dangerous against a zone defense.
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"The thing is with their zone, is you have to attack the middle," Hawkins said. "That is what Julian is best with. If we can put the ball is Julian's hand, it will be good. We just got to keep the ball moving, and he's good at that."
Edited by Jodi Ann Holopirek