10A the university daily kansan
sports
thursday,december 11,2003
(5) KANSAS VS. OREGON
WHEN/WHERE: Sat., Dec. 13, 1 p.m., Kansas City, Mo.
RADIO: 90.7KJHK
TELEVISION: ESPN
HOW THEY COMPARE
Run. Get to the basket. Shoot a three. Run some more. When that gets old, run.
That's what the Oregon Ducks do, and the past two years, especially during the 2001-02 season, they've done it nearly as well as anyone in the nation. Coach Ernie Kent's team annually features a fast, sweet-shooting backcourt that tries to sprint and bomb opposing teams out of the building. The Ducks succeed more often than they fail, finishing 23-10 last year and advancing
to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight the year before.
When they do fail, it's because the Ducks never have a reliable post player to run the floor, put points on the board and stop the opposition's post scorers. Mitch Platt, a touted 6-foot-10 freshman with speed and rebounding ability, may be Kent's first big step toward ending that trend.
Win or lose, the Ducks' NASCAR pace is fun to watch, even when they're executing it in seizure-inducing, bright yellow
uniforms. The 3-0 Ducks are coming off a 90-61 blasting of Marshall and arrive in Kansas City with a devastating 46.9 team three-point percentage, which ranks fourth in the nation.
Meanwhile, the talk in Lawrence this week is about how Kansas is going to get its post star, Wayne Simien, more touches after he managed just two field goals in Saturday's ugly 64-58 defeat to Stanford. Simien has to be scoring down low for the Jayhawks to play their best game.
Jared Soares/Kansan
Junior forward Wayne Simien battled two Michigan State players for a rebound during second half action on Nov. 25.
and Kansas can't continue to try 20 three-pointers per contest.
Kemper Arena isn't exactly a neutral court, but Kansas' inconsistent performances in Kemper in conference and NCAA Tournaments in past years show that playing in Kansas City isn't the same as playing in Allen Fieldhouse.
Point guard Aaron Miles, junior, Kansas vs
Aaron Brooks, freshman, Oregon
A rapid 5-foot-10-inch McDonald's All-American, expectations are big for Brooks as
he fills the vacancy created by the early departure of Luke Ridnour. His transition to college hasn't been great thus far; Brooks has more turnovers than assists and hasn't shot
wei. But he's a tremendous ballhandler and will eventually be a fantastic player.
Miles
Against Stanford, Miles continued a trend of showing aggressiveness on the offensive end, but when he leads the Jayhawks in scoring with an 11-point performance, defeat is a near certainty. Miles is fast enough to stay with Brooks, and he has a small advantage in size and a big one in experience.
Advantage: Kansas
Shooting guard Keith Langford, junior, Kansas
Andre Joseph, senior. Oregon
The 6-foot-3 Joseph is a good defensive player and a capable shooter and passer who's averaged 3.7 assists. He splits minutes
nicely with his backup, senior James Davis, who's shorter but a superior shooter.
Langford is coming off his first bad game of the year, but the Ducks aren't going to throw
Kansas off defensively the way Stanford did. Barring foul trouble,
Langford should resume getting to the bucket and score somewhere between 18 and 24 points.
Advantage: Kansas
Langford
Third guard/small forward J.R. Giddens, freshman, Kansas
Luke Jackson, senior, Oregon
It's amazing how many college basketball players are talented enough to become All-American candidates once they get the
opportunity After spending two years as the Ducks' other "Luke" alongside the more celebrated Ridnour, Jackson is now the team's undisputed star. The 6-foot-7 Jackson leads
Giddens
the Ducks in scoring (21.0), rebounding (7.0) and even assists (5.3). His incredibly well-rounded offensive game also includes a 9-for-17 performance from threepoint range. He can hurt the opposition from anywhere on the floor, and if Oregon competes in the Pac-10 this year, he'll be an All-American honors candidate.
Kansas doesn't have an obvious defensive answer for Jackson
— Langford doesn't have the size, Giddens lacks the experience. Self will have to get creative to contain Jackson, which means using some form of zone.
Giddens will be more at home in this fast-paced type of game than he was in Anaheim, and should get some open three-point looks when Oregon goes to a zone. Because of his height, length and leaping ability, Giddens may have to guard Jackson, but if he spends extended periods of time guarding him straight up, Jackson will expose Giddens' inexperience.
Advantage: Oregon
Power forward Wayne Simien, junior, Kansas vs.
Mitch Platt. freshman. Oregon
The 6-foot-10, 270-pound Platt is questionable for this game after suffering a high ankle sprain in the victory over Marshall. He's a lower-Top-100 freshman who potentially gives Oregon something it desperately needs: A bulky post player who can both
run the floor and bang underneath the basket. His early performances have shown positive signs; he grabbed eight rebounds in 25 minutes against Marshall.
Self doesn't consider Simien's groin injury serious. It won't keep
him out of this
game. Now that
he has had a
week to digest
and analyze
how Stanford
made him a
near-non-fac-
tor, he should
shake out of his
slump against
an inferior
Simien
defensive team and turn in a performance more like his first two games. Oregon will throw some zone at him, but the Ducks don't have the interior bulk of Stanford. Simien's rampage of destruction at the free-throw line continues; he's now 26 of 27.
Advantage: Kansas
Center
Center David Padgett, freshman, Kansas vs
vs.
lan Crosswhite, sophomore, Oregon Crosswhite is a rangy 6-foot-11,
but he's not much of a true center.
The letty shooter spent a lot of time around the perimeter last year and hit 41.9 percent of his three-pointers. He's only tried three threes this year, but he's getting
Padgett
plenty of chances to shoot inside the arc and is making good on them, averaging 13.7 points on 60.9 percent shooting. He'll bring Padgett away from the basket, which will keep Kansas from completely clogging the defensive glass.
Padgett is going to have one isolated breakout game one of these days that will give Kansas fans a sampling of what is to come from him. It could be this game, as Oregon doesn't have tremendous post defense. He's the type of player that was built for the "hi" component of Self's hi-lo offense, but it's still questionable how much command he and the rest of the Jayhawks have of the offense, as they didn't adapt
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