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Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Self holds court on course

Kansas coach impressed by Hinrich

By Gary Bedore

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Thanks in part to former Kansas University basketball player Kirk Hinrich, the United States appears to be regaining prominence on the international scene.

The 6-foot-3 point guard has averaged 6.2 points and 2.0 assists in 19.0 minutes per game for the U.S., which takes a 6-0 record into Wednesday's 5:30 a.m. World Championship quarterfinal contest against Germany (5-1).

"I think Kirk has done a great job," KU coach Bill Self said Monday, chatting on a variety of topics at his Boy Scout Golf Classic at Alvamar Country Club.

"There are probably five or six guys on that team who on the verge of being perennial all-stars. Kirk is one of those guys, and I think this will do a lot to enhance his popularity and to give him great confidence that he can play with the very best and have great success."

Hinrich this year begins his fourth season with the Chicago Bulls. Another ex-Jayhawk, Paul Pierce (elbow injury), is also in the running to be on the 2008 Olympic team.

"I'm sure Paul will be on that team eventually, too, or have a great chance," Self said of the Boston guard.

Hinrich's and Pierce's popularity figure to help KU in recruiting prep athletes who look up to those players. Self also likes having Nick Collison (Seattle), Drew Gooden (Cleveland), Scot Pollard (Cleveland), Jacque Vaughn (San Antonio), Raef LaFrentz (Portland) and Wayne Simien (Miami) in the league.

photo

Photo by Mike Yoder

Kansas University men's basketball coach Bill Self, left, slaps hands with Kent Beisner, Lawrence, before the start of Self's benefit golf tournament. The tourney was held Monday at Alvamar Country Club. Also pictured is Lawrence's Chad Roesler.

"Any time you get your name out there in any way, shape or form, it helps," Self said. "You talk about the marketability of the premier players in the league, we have two of most marketable guys in Paul and Kirk.

"Nick and Drew are close. Scot and Jacque are hanging on and doing a great job, as well as Raef. Of course Wayne : his time is coming," Self added of Simien.

"Aaron (Miles) has a great chance to make a team this year. I'm really proud of our alums, but Kirk and Paul have kind of taken the alum level to a new level.

"Who knows? Maybe one of these young guys (on KU's current team) may play to that level one of these days pretty soon."

Self's 2006-07 Jayhawk squad has several players with NBA potential, including the sophomore contingent of Brandon Rush, Julian Wright and Mario Chalmers.

"We may have one or two guys on our team who have a chance to play at that level before it's all said and done," Self said.

The current Jayhawks have been taking part in two hours of individual workouts per week in accordance with NCAA rules.

photo

Photo by Mike Yoder

KU basketball coach Bill Self, left, and Doug Wilson, Lawrence, approach the No. 10 hole during Self's benefit golf tournament. The event was Monday at Alvamar Country Club.

"We still have seven weeks to go. We're excited," Self said of days leading up to the season-opening Late Night in the Phog (Oct. 13, Allen Fieldhouse).

"We're going to have a fun, athletic group. Hopefully, we'll be unselfish and share it, and our thoughts will be unselfish. If that's the case, we'll be pretty good. If it's not, we'll labor like all teams labor. I suspect these guys are pretty focused."

Of incoming freshmen Darrell Arthur, Sherron Collins and Brady Morningstar, he said: "They look like freshmen. They have their moments where they tease you, and moments where you think, 'These guys are a little behind.' I don't know if there's been a freshman come through here, even the great ones, where you didn't think, 'This guy has a long ways to go.'

"Certainly there's some talent there."

Asked if any players had starting spots wrapped up, Self grinned and said: "There are not guaranteed starters. If I was a betting man, I would think there's a couple who have a great shot at it, but there's nobody guaranteed anything. Hopefully, we'll have enough depth to put some pressure on folks to perform on a daily basis and be responsible, because I think we could go eight, nine deep real easy."

Self puts golf skills to use for charity.

¢ For a good cause: Self is happy to lend his support to the Boy Scouts.

"Boy Scouts has affected so many youth in this area in a positive way," said Self, whose team took second of 27 teams with 108 golfers participating. "In Douglas County alone, there are 1,200 Scouts. This is an opportunity to enhance that and get even more out of what leaders are already doing. To me this is an important deal. To have so many business people and community members want to be part of it is impressive."

¢ Assist foundation being set up: Self is in the process of putting together his own foundation to benefit area youth.

"It will be called, 'Assist,''' Self said. "We'll get that tipped off around the Late Night weekend. Hopefully, we'll raise some money. Just giving back to the community. Certainly, this is a worthy cause, and there are so many worthy causes out there. Hopefully, we can make this place even a little bit better for our youth in Lawrence."

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Comments

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

Yikes. Kind of a veiled slam on the incoming guys... "I don't know if there's been a freshman come through here, even the great ones, where you didn't think, 'This guy has a long ways to go."

I wonder who he's talking about. It must be pretty significant because I can't remember Self taking such a stand so early, especially with regard to their level of readiness and ability to play at this level. Normally, he washes over the flat spots and talks up the good points 'till he's had a chance to really work 'em over.

August 29, 2006 at 9:46 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

b_asinbeer (anonymous) says...

Please, give me a break...don't read into things too much. We all love KU basketball, but what you're doing is knit-picking at the microscopic level. Besides, it's still August and regular practice has NOT even started yet.

August 29, 2006 at 10:48 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

I doubt it is nit-pickety when he could've talked about anything else and he chose to hone in on the fact that,'These guys are a little behind.'

It's like saying, "Don't think of an elephant' and then trying not to. Why bring it up if it isn't an issue?

August 29, 2006 at 11:59 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

oldalum (anonymous) says...

I suspect he is trying to protect the newbies from the unrealistic expectations of people like you.

August 29, 2006 at 12:30 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

I don't remember placing any expectations on the diaper dandies. It seems as though my comments are related to the ones Self has placed on them (These guys are a little behind).

If you wanna flame someone, enjoy. (flamer)

I'm just trying to figure out why this comment was made in lieu of something else more innocuous...

August 29, 2006 at 1:34 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jayhawk3 (anonymous) says...

I don't think it was a slam. At first it may seem like it, but I think he was just pointing out the obvious. Most newcomers into a higher level of play need time to adjust and learn new things. There's not many Lebron James type players that are expected to play right away. 99.9% of players need time to learn. You don't see many freshmen playing on varsity in high school. You don't see many freshmen starting in college (with the exception of KU last year, but Chalmers and Wright didn't start early on, and the team was really young anyways.) You also don't see many rookies starting in the NBA except for the poor teams who basically need them to get experience quickly. Self was not slamming them. He was merely saying that they are young and need to learn the college game.

August 29, 2006 at 4 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

I agree with oldalum and don't see it as flaming at all--in fact to call him a flamer is ludicrous and calls into question your credibility. A flamer is someone who swears, insults everyone, uses a lot of capital letters and/or says things that are way over the top. I would not use any of those terms to describe oldaum.

As to Self's comments, he was basically going through his entire team and analyzing their capabilities. I would much rather he be honest than try to sugarcoat things; in fact, his honesty and straightforwardness are among his best qualities and probably two of the reasons he's such a good recruiter.

Also, note that he didn't say something like, "These freshman are having a more difficult time than usual ..." THAT would have been a veiled comment. To simply say, "I don't know if there's been a freshman come through here ..." is to say that virtually all freshmen struggle, which most people would agree with.

To quote oldalum, "regular practice has NOT even started yet." That means the freshmen have not been taught a SINGLE thing yet from Self. How can anyone, including Self, possibly know at this point how quickly they'll advance? He clearly was just giving his very early opinion.

August 29, 2006 at 4:06 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

frompekka2sasha (anonymous) says...

I still can't believe that a guard like Chalmers is really on the NBA radar. How many guys have been drafted that are 6' 1" (if he really is that tall) guards? He won't be a hot commodity IMO and that will surely benefit KU, and himself, when he comes back for his junior season.

August 29, 2006 at 5:37 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

KanKu (anonymous) says...

Chalmers is quick and athletic, and can score from the outside and the on the drive. He has NBA potential but won't leave KU early because of his old man, and still has to polish his game.

August 29, 2006 at 9:37 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ColfromColorado (anonymous) says...

Let's see...Self has some top quality juniors & sophomores. He doesn't have to play freshmen until they earn their spot. He has more good talent coming in from good recruiting. This good talent already has experienced good talent starting before them.

August 30, 2006 at 10:53 a.m. ( | suggest removal )