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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Kansas basketball notebook

By Gary Bedore

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Russell Robinson, who was hammered twice on intentional fouls, left the game for a spell the second half as a trainer and team doctor tended to a cut lip.

Robinson needed no stitches to close the gash.

"It wasn't deep enough," Robinson said, noting he had no hard feelings against the Rams. "I just felt they were trying to make the hard play. It's just hard competition in a basketball game."

¢ Ouch: Sherron Collins, who had 11 points, including three treys, banged knees with a Winston-Salem State player in the second half.

"It got stiff on me a minute, but it's OK," said Collins, who said he'd been working extra hard on cardiovascular work of late and may have dropped a few pounds. "I feel I'm in pretty good shape."

¢ Kaun feeling better: Sasha Kaun, who missed three games because of a knee injury, missed a couple of practices last week because of a sprained ankle.

"I'm glad that (ankle) healed quickly," he said. "I still get a little sore, but I'm working through it."

He made his first start of the season, with Darrell Arthur coming off the bench but starting the second half for the second straight game.

"Whatever coach thinks is best," Kaun said.

"I'm not sure what I like yet," KU coach Bill Self said of Arthur starting or coming off the bench. "I like Darrell when he's out there. Starting Sasha takes some pressure off him."

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KU vs. Winston-Salem State

¢ Case, Morningstar shine: Jeremy Case had eight points and four rebounds in 15 minutes. He hit two of three threes. Brady Morningstar had four points and three assists in 11 minutes.

"I thought Jeremy and Brady really brought something to the table," Self said. "It's good to get those guys' confidence up."

¢ This, that: The rout tied for the biggest margin of victory in the Self era. KU also beat Dartmouth by 51 points this season. : Assistant Tim Jankovich did not attend the game. He was out of town on a recruiting trip.

¢ Guarantee game: Winston-Salem State received $65,000 guarantee money for playing the game. The game was the last game added to KU's slate, in September. WSSU plays six games at home and 23 on the road as it completes the transition to Div. I.

¢ Peterson planning visit: Jamine "Greedy" Peterson, a 6-6, 210-pound senior forward from Notre Dame Prep School, plans to take an official recruiting visit to KU this season.

Peterson, who hails from Brooklyn, N.Y., tells Rivals.com he also will make official trips to Illinois, Rutgers, Providence and Cincinnati. Maryland, St. John's, and Miami of Florida are also on his list.

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2006-07 Dec. 19 KU-WSS Hoops

Peterson, who is Rivals.com's No. 117-rated player in the Class of 2007, averaged 24 points and 15 rebounds during his junior seasons at Boys & Girls High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. He's currently averaging 27.1 points a game at Notre Dame Prep, located in Massachusetts.

¢ Jones likes KU: Verdell Jones, a 6-4 junior from Central High in Champaign, Ill., tells Copley News Service he favors KU, Illinois, Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Florida over DePaul, Xavier and Southern Illinois.

¢ Legendary coach: Basketball Hall of Famer Clarence "Big House" Gaines won 828 games against 447 losses in 47 seasons at Winston-Salem State.

Gaines, who died on April 18, 2005, at the age of 81, is fifth on the all-time coaching win list behind Dean Smith, Bob Knight, Adolph Rupp and Jim Phelan.

"He was a class guy, and everybody in the coaching profession thought the world of him and the job he did," Self said. "He was there a long, long time. Now they are going through a transition (to NCAA Div. I basketball), and they are off to a rough start. They've got one of the toughest schedules in the country (just six home games all year)."

KU vs. Winston-Salem State

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Comments

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

I was hoping this WSSU team would show a little more character since it was a given that they were the equivalent of the Washington Generals to the KU version of the Globetrotters.

Everyone knew this team (WSSU) was going to be the underdog and I truly expected them to show some class and play hard. I guess that just wasn't the case...

Two technicals and an intentional foul? I was sad to see such thuggish behavior come out in last night's game.

I thought KU was spot-on and showed great sportsmanship in executing against the demands of their coach. A lot of deep bench players got to see the floor and the energy was solid.

Too bad to see the Rams show so little character...

December 20, 2006 at 9:52 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Leprechaunking13 (anonymous) says...

Too bad it was 2 intentionals and 1 technical but nice try. Also the "thuggish" behavior, really wasn't that bad, on 2 of them the guy helped the KU player to his feet. So quit acting like they pulled guns on our players or that it turned into the knicks-nuggets brawl. So how about YOU show some character jayceph and talk about what the teams did well, not how you think this WSSU team is gangsta and full of thugs.

December 20, 2006 at 10:27 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhawklifer (anonymous) says...

Bill, I like Darrell when he's out there, too. But if he's performs better of the bench, by all means, keep starting Cold War.

Case may be a key glue/leadership guy if he can establish himself in the rotation. Where does this leave Stewart if Case and Morningstar are out there for their perimeter skills?

Self's going to wish he had a chemistry degree before the season's over. Rock Chalk.

December 20, 2006 at 10:30 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

LepperKing, if all you want to read about is sunny days and rainbows, you might want to go back to gradeschool.

I was looking at this squad (WSSU) from the same vantage point as I did the other overmatched teams that came into Allen this season and played hard... but with class and character. Emporia State, Northern Arizona, Towson, Tenn State, and Dartmouth all were well composed and good competitors that showcased the textbook definition of good sportsmanship.

I don't care if they helped the KU players off the floor after they put them there. That's like saying that the abusive alcoholic is a good guy for picking up the shattered dishes off the floor... AFTER they threw them at the wife and they smashed against the wall. Get real. Classless...

I was saddened by their quality of play since it centered on being boorish. It wasn't necessary. They knew they were going to be out-worked and still chose to dive into thuggy behavior.

December 20, 2006 at 10:48 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

Furthermore, I was looking at KU from the same angle. Since they were the favorites to win the game, I wanted to see if they were going to show-boat and be braggards or just play hard and do what the coach asked of them.

I was happy to see a KU squad that played hard and didn't even get bent at the fact that the team they were playing decided to regress into crass behavior. Not even RussRob got out of character when we was being attended to for a split lip.

That's class and character.

Rock-chalk Rudolph!

December 20, 2006 at 10:51 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

FlaHawk (anonymous) says...

I can remember Tennesse A&I playing WSSU in the good old days back in the 50s and 60s. Coach Gaines vs Coach McLendon (KU grad from Hiawatha and one of tghe greatest coachesto come out of KU). They both would have been ashamed at the rough play by WSSU last night.

December 20, 2006 at 7:54 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

JayCeph, I have to disagree with you. I thought WSSU played hard, physical basketball, and a couple of times in trying to block a shot or steal the ball they were a little too aggressive. At no point did I feel like they were behaving with a lack of class or like thugs.

I'm encouraged by the recruiting news. I think a player named "Greedy" could be quite beneficial to this KU team.

December 22, 2006 at 9:49 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

JayCeph (anonymous) says...

Actorman, regardless of our opinions, I respect your tone. Thank you for your open (yet civil) retort.

Thuggish or not, their play wasn't always about the game. They made it personal a little too often. They just didn't, in my estimation, play with the same character that those other teams did.

On to another team though. Here comes BC...

December 22, 2006 at 3:02 p.m. ( | suggest removal )