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SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY MARCH 14 2007
>> SECOND ROUND OR BUST
Nostaglia part of March Madness
Let's get warmed up for the greatest sports spectacle in America by reminiscing about some of the University of Kansas' most memorable NCAA tournament moments. However, it would be ignorant of me to try to rank all the moments in lajhawk history.
Below is a top-seven countdown of Kansas' NCAA tournament moments — both good and bad — since the day of my birth (Oct. 18, 1984).
7) J.R. Giddens' three-pointer: J.R. Giddens was playing better than anyone on the team. It was Bill Self's first season as Kansas' coach, and the expectations weren't too high.
Just before time ran out on the season, Giddens hit a long-distance three-pointer at the top of the key to send the game to overtime against Georgia Tech in the Elite Eight.
The Yellow jackets were favored to win, which they did in overtime, but it didn't matter. No one had expected Kansas to make it so far with this young roster and a new coach. It was probably the only loss that was viewed as a moral victory in recent Kansas history.
6) Losing to Duke in the 1991 championship. In the semifinal game, Roy Williams and Kansas defeated Williams' mentor Dean Smith and North Carolina. On the other side of the bracket, Duke defeated the heavily favored and undefeated, UNIV Running Rebels. It seemed like destiny for Kansas to go forward and beat Williams' old rival, Duke, in the championship. It would have been the same way the lajhawks did it in the 1988 championship run.
Kansas couldn't catch Duke in the final game, and the layhawk nation felt its first championship disappointment in decades, losing 72-65.
BY ERIC JORGENSEN
KANSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST
JORGENSEN@KANSAN.COM
5) Wayne Simien misses the turnaround shot against Bucknell. It was a shot the All-American Simien had made countless times during his career at Kansas. After struggling the whole game, Kansas had an opportunity to even the game against Bucknell in the first-round match-up.
No Jayhawk fan imagined Kansas could lose to Bucknell, especially not in the first round. So when Simien missed his turnaround jumper at the tree-throw line in the final seconds, the shock left thousands speechesless.
Simien made hundreds of simple shots in his career, but it was the one he missed fans will remember forever.
4) The 1996-97 team loses to Arizona: That team is considered by many to be the best in Kansas history. Three players on that team now have their names in the ratters of Allen Fieldhouse
Jacque Vaughn, Rae Lafrentz and Paul Pierce. The team was the heavy favorite to take the National Championship. Led by Miles Simon and Mike Bibby, the No. 4-seeded Arizona Wildcats met up with No. 1-seeded Kansas layhawks in the Sweet Sixteen, and defeated Kansas, 85-82, in a one of the most surprising and heartbreaking losses in Kansas history.
3) Defeating No. 1 Arizona in the Elite Eight: Years after defeating Kansas in the 1997 tournament, Arizona came to Allen Fieldhouse during the 2002-03 season and defeated Arizona again.
rematch in the Elite Eight was huge.
Two days before they were to play Arizona, Kansas defeated Duke and sent the fan base into a frenzy. Thus, when the Jayhawks defeated the Wildcats 78-75 and advanced to its second Final Four in a row, fans took to the streets to celebrate like never before.
2) The Block. The most famous play in Kansas basketball history is not one Kansas fans are fond of Syracuse's Hakim Warrick's block of Kansas' Michael Lee is possibly the most famous, and most replayed, block in basketball history.
Kansas had battled back in the championship game to cut the lead to three. Kansas had the momentum and likely would have won the game had it gone to overtime. Michael Lee had been on fire all tournament by knocking down almost every three-pointer he shot. So when he fired up a last second three-pointer, the chances he would have made it and sent the game into a Jayhawk favored overtime was likely.
Of course, as everyone knows,
Wartick didn't allow for that.
1) Danny and the Miracles:
Through all the good and the bad moments, none is as sweet, memorable or replayed as Danny Manning giving a fist pump after defeating Oklahoma 83-79. Mannings fist pump, coach Larry Brown's sideline celebration and then the team and coaching staff storming the floor is a moment Kansas fans will love to watch for the rest of their lives.
The Jawahaws weren't the favorites, but they fought hard and followed the player-of-the-year to a National Championship. All this made the celebration that much more exciting and memorable.
Jorgensen is a Baldwin City senior in journalism.
Edited by James Pinick
So, the anticipation for the
Baseball vs. Wichita State
6 p.m. Hoglund Ballpark
FRIDAY
athletics calendar
Men's basketball vs. NIagara, 6:10 p.m., Chicago
TODAY
Softball vs. Cal Poly, Noon
6:30 p.m., College Station, Texas
sacramento Calif
Softball vs. Idaho State, 5 nc no. Sacramento Calif.
p. m., Sacramento, Calif.
Baseball vs. Texas A&M
- Women's golf, all day,
Austin, Texas
SATURDAY
Baseball vs. Texas A&M, 2 p.m., College Station, Texas Softball vs. Georgia Southern, 2 p.m., Sacramento, Calif. Softball vs. Pittsburgh, 5
- Softball vs Pittsburgh, 5 p.m., Sacramento, Calif.
Women's golf, all day,
Austin; Texas
SUNDAY
Baseball vs. Texas A&M,
p.m., College Station, Texas
Women's golf, all day,
Austin, Texas
FOOTBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
State,1 p.m., Sacramento, Calif.
The Jayhawks season -ending loss to Missouri left the team full of motivation for spring practices, which start today. The team can be seen at 3:40 Friday afternoon at the KU practice fields for open practice and the spring game on April 15.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
bent," Mangino said, "but he is going to have to compete for the position."
On defense, junior-college transfers Patrick Resby and Kendrick Harper, both juniors, are in competition for the vacant strong safety position. The defensive line will be anchored by senior defensive tackle James McClinton and augmented by
the addition of converted freshman linebacker Maxwell Onvegbale.
Fans will have the chance to see some of these adjustments in action at 3:40 p.m. Friday at the KU practice fields for the annual open practice and the spring game on April 15. How the team tares in 2007 may have just as much to
do with the players' reaction to adversity as with any changes to the depth chart.
Kansan sportswriter Asher Fusco can be contacted at afusco@kansan.com.
— Edited by James Pinick
SPECTACULAR SUMMER SESSIONS
CHOOSE FROM MORE THAN THAN 300 SUMMER COURSES
EARLY SESSION:
May 29-June 28
FULL SESSION:
May 29-July 19
LATE SESSION:
July 2-August 2
WASHBURN
UNIVERSITY
www.washburn.edu/schedule/summer
BASKETBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
arena. It is much larger than Allen Fieldhouse.
It won't be the first time this season that the two have returned home. In early December, the lajhawks lost to DePaul 64-57 at the Allstate Arena, Since then, Collins has been given a major role in the offense, and Wright has taken his numbers to superstar levels.
"It has a feel like an NBA floor," Collins said. "But once the game starts, you just concentrate on that."
Coach Bill Self said that he was glad the players weren't having their first home game during the tournament, because now they knew what to expect from family members and friends trying to contact them.
"There are a lot of distractions you deal with, whether it be tickets, seeing people, people calling wanting tickets or people disappointed because you can't get them tickets," he said. "That is going to happen this week. Sherron and Julian won't be able to get tickets for everybody, so there will probably be people mad at them for that."
Wright said he was going to decide who was on his ticket list by today so it wouldn't be a distraction to him for the rest of the week.
"My family will always come first," he said. "It's not that bad, really. A lot of people are understanding."
Chicago is also familiar territory
for Self. He coached at the University of Illinois before moving to Kansas.
Self won't have to worry too much about receiving a hostile welcome, because the Illini are playing this weekend in Ohio. He's not anticipating a lot of demands on his time this weekend.
"I doubt it," he said. "Believe it or not, there were some people who were quite upset with me when I left Illinois. There won't be a lot of people calling for tickets."
Kansan senior sportswriter Michael Phillips can be contacted at mphillips@kansan.com.
Edited by Stacey Couch
Junior center Sasha Kaun and freshman forward Darrell Arthur both continue to improve after suffering injuries last weekend.
Kaun didn't participate in contact drills Tuesday but was expected to rejoin the team for practice today.
Arthur has resumed practicing after taking a knee to the groin during Sunday's game against Texas. That came after he had been battling a chest virus all week.
injury update
Both players are expected to be able to fully participate in Friday's game.
Michael Phillips
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