friday, december 5, 2003
the university daily kansan
sports
7A
KANSAS VS. STANFORD
WHEN/WHERE: Tomorrow, 3 p.m. Wooden Classic Anaheim, Calif.
TELEVISION: 3 p.m., Channel 13
HOWTHEYCOMPARE
RADIO:1320 AM KLWN
Imagine if the writers of The Simpsons decided to kill off Homer Simpson. Could the show go on? Supporting players such as Mayor Quimby, Ralph Wiggum and Comic Book Guy could step up and keep the show solid and funny, but without Homer as a focal point, it wouldn't be the same.
Like The Simpsons without Homer, Stanford coach Mike Montgomery has enough talent
That's the predicament Stanford is in as it faces the early part of its schedule without junior guard/forward Josh Childress, who will be out until at least early January with a stress fracture in his left foot. Childress' long, lean frame makes him a threat to score from anywhere on the floor and also enables him to pull down eight rebounds per game from his perimeter position. To top it off, he sports college basketball's most awesome-inspiring Afro.
to keep the Cardinal competitive in the Pac-10 Conference. But it's unclear whether Stanford is still a Top 25 team without Childress. The Cardinal is 3-0, but it hasn't yet faced Top 25-level competition and slid by likely NIT contender Rice in its last game, 60-56.
Still, with a partisan crowd in Anaheim, Calif., the Cardinal figures to give Kansas a solid challenge.
POINT GUARD
Aaron Miles, junior, Kansas
vs.
Chris Hernandez, junior, Stanford
Cardinal players are experts at getting foot injuries. Hernandez broke his foot twice last year, missing most of his sophomore season. This year, he's run the team defy, averaging 15 points and five assists per game and hitting nine of three-pointers. Not many of college basketball's talking heads talk
about Hernandez, but if Stanford is able to maintain its place in the Top 25 without Childress, Hernandez's emergence will be the main reason.
Against TCU Monday night, Miles looked more like his old self than the player who aggressively torched Michigan State with relentless drives. Kansas will need him to play with the same kind of fire he showed last week, because Stanford is far more talented than TCU.
Advantage: Stanford
John Nowak/Kansar
SHOOTING GUARD
J.R. Giddens, freshmen, Kansas
Matt Lottich, senior, Stanford
Lottich's main calling card is his long-range shooting, but he hasn't found the touch yet this year, hitting just three of 16 three-pointers. His scoring average and field goal percentages are also down, a bad sign for a shooting guard, but he's too talented for it to continue for long. When he gets hot, he's trouble.
Freshman center David Padgett tried to get a shot over Justin Ockerman Tuesday, Nov. 25, against Michigan State. Padgett enters this weekend's game against Stanford averaging 6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
Giddens' performance in his first career start against TCU suggested that all he needed to become a big part of the Jayhawks attack was an opportunity for extended minutes. He's still a work in progress and will make mistakes, but his combination of talent and athletic ability mean he may well have locked up the starting spot by the time Mike Lee gets back.
Advantage: Even
SWINGMAN Keith Langford, junior, Kansas vs.
Nick Robinson, iunior, Stanford
Robinson, a role player last year who averaged 4.5 points per game, has performed solidly in the unenviable position of Childress' replacement. The 6-foot-6 Robinson is averaging 8.3 points on 56 percent shooting so far. But he's nowhere near the asset Langford is.
Langford scored 24 points against both Tennessee-Chattanooga and TCU, and his 13-point second half against Michigan State may have been his most impressive performance this year. He proved foul trouble wasn't going to stop him from getting to the rim and scoring.
Advantage: Kansas
POWER FORWARD Wayne Simien, junior Kansas
Justin Davis, senior, Stanford
Justin Davis, senior, Stanford
Davis has good size and skills but hasn't yet played to his capabilities as a scorer; he's averaged just 8.3 points this season after averaging 10.3 while battling injuries last year. He also leads Stanford in turnovers, averaging 4.7 per game.
The zone defenses TCU took Simien out of the game. Although Stanford doesn't have the size deficiency in the post that TCU does, Montgomery will likely show Kansas a few zone looks. Still, it's a good bet Simien will bounce back with a solid game at the least.
Advantage: Kansas
Lindsay Coleman/The Stanford Daily
CENTER David Padgett, freshman, Kansas vs.
Rob Little, junior, Stanford
Kansas coach Bill Self seems unconcerned about Padgett's last two less-than-stellar games, saying Wednesday that he's "just going through a phase and becoming more of a complete player, even though sometimes he doesn't think he is." Even while struggling to become a factor, Padgett still grabbed seven rebounds against an undersized TCU club. If his confidence isn't eroding he'll be a tremendous player before the year is over, but he's not going to turn into Nick Collison overnight.
Little gives the Cardinal solid scoring and rebounding underneath, as well as good size at 6-foot-10,275 pounds. He's Stanford's second-leading scorer and rebounder, with 11.7 points and 6.3 rebounds, and has shot 55.6 percent from the floor.
Advantage: Stanford
Benches: Against TCU, sophomore guard Jeff Hawkins either established himself as Kansas' main three-point shooter off the bench or simply had the best game of his career. Montgomery will presumably use zones, which will give Kansas' outside shooters wide open looks, so Hawkins will get the opportunity to prove his 19-
Stanford sophomore guard Chris Hernandez leads the unbeaten Cardinal with 15 points per game and five assists per game. The top-ranked Kansas men's basketball team squares off against Stanford at noon tomorrow in Anaheim, Calif.
point performance wasn't a fluke. Jeff Graves needs to become a true factor on the boards sooner or later, and Stanford is the biggest team the 'Hawks have faced thus far. Graves' performance thus far isn't going to cut it down the road. Bryant Nash will again get the opportunity to throw down a couple of alley-oop dunks.
Sophomore forward Matt Haryasz is Stanford's top bench threat. The 6-foot-10 forward is thin but scores and grabs rebounds. Montgomery gets minutes from sophomore guard Dan Grunfeld and senior forward Joe Kirchofer, and some time from freshman forward Fred Washington and sophomore guard Jason Haas, but thus far those four have done little more than take up space on the court.
Advantage: Kansas
Coaching: Montgomery is a well-regarded coach who keeps his players' roles well-defined. Stanford rarely runs, opting for
efficient half-court scoring. That makes it an anomaly in the fast-paced Pac-10, but the Cardinal led the league in scoring defense last year. Montgomery took the Cardinal to the Final Four in 1998.
It's evident that Kansas still hasn't entirely grasped Self's philosophies, especially on the offensive end, but it's nice to be No.1 while learning.
Advantage: Even
Final analysis: With Childress, the Cardinal would be a good pick. They've got the crowd on their side and will be fired up for their first game against a big-time opponent this year. But without Childress, the game comes down to a simple practical matter: The Cardinal doesn't have enough scoring to beat Kansas. It will keep it close but won't make enough big shots down the stretch.
Prediction: Kansas 79, Stanford 73
-Compiled by Joey Berlin