Keegan: Giles produces for KU

By Tom Keegan     Dec 11, 2005

Kansas University needed more than Stephen Vinson playing with the heart of a Chesty Lion to walk away with its first victory against a quality opponent Saturday afternoon at Kemper Arena.

The Jayhawks needed an inside presence to stand toe-to-toe with University of California’s Leon Powe. Sasha Kaun, slowed by a flu and a funk, wasn’t up to the task.

It had to be C.J. Giles. There could be no vanishing act on this day. Talk of potential wouldn’t do.

A repeat of his effort against Saint Joseph’s wouldn’t get it done. In that one, Giles made one of six free throws, had three rebounds and fumbled a beauty of a pass from Brandon Rush right out of bounds late in the game.

Another Nevada output of six points and four fouls wouldn’t suffice. The Jayhawks couldn’t afford Giles to pull a no-show like the Arizona game (two points and four turnovers), either.

He had to produce, and he had to do it now.

And he did. Did he ever.

When the Bears brought it to Giles, he sent it back at them with authority. When a teammate missed a shot, his hand was above the rim, slamming it home.

His impressive numbers — 17 points, nine rebounds, five blocked shots, three steals — didn’t fully capture his impact on KU’s 69-56 victory.

“He blocked five shots, and he had to alter seven or eight more,” KU coach Bill Self said. “He was a great goalie today.”

And a smart one. Giles played 32 minutes and was whistled for just two fouls.

“I need to go back to focusing on my defense, and my offense will come,” Giles said. “Last year, I was a defensive player, and this year coach wanted me to score more. So I started focusing on my offense, and that caused my rough start, but if I go back to rebounding and blocking shots, the offense will come.”

Giles never will be a skilled passer. Julian Wright is lucky his hands still are attached to his wrists. Standing two feet away from the rapidly improving Wright, Giles rifled a Roger Clemens fastball off of Wright’s hands and out of bounds for one of Giles’ three turnovers.

Still, overall it was a huge game for Giles, which doesn’t necessarily mean a huge step. He’s a young sophomore in terms of lifetime basketball experience because he played just two years of high school basketball. Like most teammates, Giles teases with talent and frustrates with inconsistency.

Nobody did that more than Brandon Rush against Cal. All of his 12 points and six of seven rebounds came in the second half. Mixing sky-walking attacks of the hoop with remarkable no-look passes and pull-up jumpers, Rush played better in the opening minutes of the second half than anyone has in any stretch of any game for KU all season. He was playing at a different speed than everyone else and yet was the most under-control player on the floor. He was frighteningly good.

And on a day Mario Chalmers (six turnovers in 11 minutes) looked more like a freshman from Alaska than ever, classmates Julian Wright (11 points, six rebounds) and Micah Downs (10 points, three offensive rebounds, shaky defense) again made the team better when they were on the floor.

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