Looking for a place to live that offers a quiet, comfortable atmosphere, and much more?
Well,picture this...
- Spacious 2 Bedroom Apartments
- Roomy Kitchens with Ceiling Fans
- Large Patios or Balconies
- Laundry Facilities in each Building
- Swimming Pool
- Close to Campus on KU Bus Route
Stop by or simply give us a call: 842-3040
On the corner of 9th and Avalon
Roy's Boys
Williams says teamwork is key to winning another league title
Difficult schedule to prepare Kansas for NCAA tournament
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
Roy Williams is an unsatisfied coach.
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
After 184 victories, four Big Eight Conference championships and two Final Four appearances in just seven seasons as the coach of the Kansas men's basketball team, Williams has yet to accomplish the goal he really seeks.
Williams wants his team to win the national championship.
However, Williams doesn't sell himself short. In his brief career, he has accomplished one impressive goal: His team is expected to contend for the national championship every season.
"You want to have your program at a level where you're one of the eight to 10 programs that have that goal every year," Williams said.
Last season, the Jayhawks failed to accomplish their goal in March — the one goal that everyone emphasizes.
"You lose in March, and you're done," Kansas junior center Scot Pollard said. "I think that's the biggest reason everyone pays attention to it. That's the end of the line, and then that's when the cream rises to the top."
Despite the four conference championships, the focus always turns to the end of the season. Although fans may judge a season by how a team finishes in the NCAA tournament, Williams said he judged a season differently.
"Regardless of what happens, if we do well, we're pleased with that," Williams said.
But even his players see the end of the season as the goal to focus on.
"Preseason is just as important," Pollard said. "We have some exhibition games that don't mean anything, and we're going to Paris to play some teams. It's all preparation for the end."
To prepare his team, Williams has challenged the Jayhawks with a nonconference schedule that gets tougher every season.
Kansas seniors Greg Gurley (left) and Greg Ostertag celebrate the Jayhawks' 1995 Big Eight Championship. Kansas will try to win another title this season.
This year's schedule includes last season's nemesis Virginia, Utah, Indiana and national champion UCLA. The showdown with the Bruins will be at Allen Field House.
"If you're playing St. Mary's Sisters of the Blind, you're not going to be as enthoused," Williams said. "I do want the regular season to mean something. I want us to do something over a long period of time because I think that's what life is. I don't think in life you can have one good week unless you are Bill Gates or somebody like that.
"I'm a very strong believer in doing the best I can every single day. And if I do, then by the end of the year, I'll probably be the best I could possibly be."
Pollard agreed that these games helped prepare the Jayhawks for the postseason tournament.
"I look back on last season, and we lost to Indiana, and that was a big disappointment," Pollard said. "And we beat the crap out of Connecticut, and that was a really fun game for me. Of the two, Indiana prepared us more for the post-season because when it comes down to it at the end of the season,
sometimes you're not going to be playing very well, and you've got to figure out a way to win whether your best scorer is scoring or he can't hit the side of a barn."
March Madness is a term coined by the media, but it may belong to the players and coaches involved in the tournament.
"It's one of those things that you know that this could be your last game," Pollard said about playing in the tournament. "That's why they call it madness because you could go crazy if you think about it too much."
4
The March to March
-Hill • November 15, 1995