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Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Self orders players to rest

Arthur, Kaun banged up in Sunday's win

By Gary Bedore

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After claiming three victories in three days and working overtime Sunday, Kansas University's basketball players were awarded a day of rest Monday.

"Today was a day to get their batteries recharged," said KU coach Bill Self. He had a busy day with media obligations, including his weekly Big 12 media conference call and hourlong Hawk Talk radio show.

"We'll get refocused and hungry this week. Last year after we won the (league) tournament, the guys weren't as hungry at practice.

"We may not play well, nothing guarantees success (in NCAAs), but it won't be because of that," the coach of the Big 12 regular-season and postseason tournament champs added.

Two banged up Jayhawks - Darrell Arthur and Sasha Kaun - received treatment for injuries incurred in Sunday's 88-84 overtime victory over Texas.

Arthur, who was kneed in the groin area by D.J. Augustin, suffered a bruised pubic bone early in the second half. He tried to return, to no avail, and spent most of the second half and OT icing the bone.

Sasha Kaun fell hard on his back while hustling for an offensive rebound during the second half. Kaun was able to continue playing, but had major discomfort once his back stiffened after the game.

'"Shady' is doing much better today," Self said of Arthur. "He was hurting quite a bit yesterday. I asked him if he could go (against Texas) if he had to. He said, 'Coach I can't run.'''

Self said Arthur "would be getting four or five treatments a day over the next few days. Hopefully the soreness will go away. He wasn't himself after he got hit. Watching the tape late last night ... he took a pretty good shot there."

Of Kaun, Self said: "In the game I didn't realize it was that hard of a fall. If he wasn't tough, he wouldn't have gotten up. I respect him for that. It's a bruised back. He was really sore today."

Self thought Kaun would be able to practice and Arthur may be able to go today as the team begins preparations for the NCAA Tournament. KU won't learn its foe for a 6:10 p.m. Friday game in Chicago until after tonight's play-in game between Florida A&M and Niagara in Dayton, Ohio.

Self said he'd watch the game on TV. It's against the rules to scout in person.

"We've got tape on both teams," Self said, noting more tapes were to arrive early Monday night. "I've talked to coaches and have scouting reports coming in. The coaches will begin preparations for both teams, but the reality is our players are not preparing for either until Wednesday. Tomorrow we practice a lot on Kansas and start breaking stuff down Wednesday on the winner of that game."

Jayhawks ordered to rest until their first round opponent is revealed

Upon earning the #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, the Jayhawks must await the results of a 'play-in' game to determine their first round match-up.

¢ Arthur faces adversity: Freshman power forward Arthur has "had a run of bad luck," Self indicated, noting the 6-foot-9 Dallas native also has been recovering from a virus that hit him hard eight days ago.

"We didn't make a big deal out of his virus. It was a little more nervous situation than we led everyone to believe, not that his health was in immediate danger. It was a scary episode in that the virus in his chest affected his lungs and how he felt in the chest."

Indeed, Arthur told reporters Sunday he felt he might have had a heart attack after awakening with shortness of breath Monday, but quickly learned after heading over to KU's training room and the hospital he had no such attack.

"They did a battery of reps. He cut back on his reps at practice. He's a terrific talent. We need a low-post scorer. We need to do a better job scoring inside," Self said.

¢ Expansion inevitable?: Self was asked if he'd be in favor of expanding the NCAA Tournament to make sure teams like Kansas State, Missouri State and Syracuse were included.

"If the field is designed to get the best 64 in - and they expanded last in 1985 - from that standpoint you'd think it needs to be modified because there are twice as many good teams today than then because of scholarship limitations from 15 to 13," he said.

"Parity has set in. Guys are leaving (for NBA). There are more good teams today and lesser elite teams. It used to be you could punch in who would be preseason top 10 each year. Now you never know. I think it warrants serious consideration. I think a big player in the deal would be CBS. If CBS could make it work to be advantageous to them, I would think it would expand eventually. If television doesn't want it and they are paying billions of dollars, I think they are calling the shot on the thing for the large part, not totally, but in conjunction with the NCAA. Television will play a huge role in that."

¢ No KSU: Self remains upset Kansas State was denied a bid after finishing 10-6 in the conference.

"I think there's a lot of things we need to address. If the Big 12 Conference is sixth in RPI, why?" he said. "We have the third-best winning percentage in the 11-year history of the league. We may have to do some things, Kansas included, maybe schedule smarter. This year we had six new coaches come in the league. They need to do what's best for their program (in scheduling). Rarely do you have a 50 percent turnover in coaches.

"I think we need to perform well in the tournament," he added of KU, Texas A&M, Texas and Texas Tech. "Kansas needs to do its job, which we haven't done the last two years, and hopefully get everybody talking about the Big 12 going into next year and maybe make some adjustments with our schedule."

KU's schedule next year will include games against Arizona and DePaul at home as well as Georgia Tech, Boston College and Southern Cal on the road.

Jayhawks greeted with "Hero's welcome" after winning the Big 12 Conference Title

Late last night, the Kansas Jayhawks returned from Oklahoma City only to be greeted by several happy fans cheering on the victorious 'Hawks.

¢ Home court in OKC: Self remains amazed at the turnout of KU fans at the Big 12 Tournament.

"I may be off a bit, but there had to be 10,000 Jayhawk fans there," Self said. "It was unbelievable. I think it made a difference."

He had several relatives, including his wife and two children, mom, dad, sister and childhood friends, at Sunday's final.

"That was really cool," the Edmond, Okla., native said.

¢ Solid No. 1: The NCAA committee chair says KU would have landed a top seed even if the Jayhawks had lost to Texas on Sunday.

"It'd be more comforting if you knew that going in," Self cracked. "Our game ended literally 20 minutes before the Selection Show started. How can you make adjustments in 20 minutes? I'd say most of the work was done Saturday and they tweaked some scenarios on Sunday. The committee ... that's a tough job. They catch heat every year. At Tulsa we were 29-4 and No. 12 in the country and a seven seed. I know how Nevada (28-4, a seven seed) feels now. It's an inexact science, but one of the things that makes the tournament great, the human element."

¢ It's just practice: KU will hold a light practice open to the public from 4:25 to 5:05 p.m. Thursday at the United Center in Chicago. The Florida A&M-Niagara winner will practice from 5:55 to 6:35 p.m.

¢ Hinrich loves KU: Former KU player Kirk Hinrich of the Chicago Bulls had team ballboys give him updates on KU's win over Texas prior to the Bulls' game Sunday.

"I'm excited," Hinrich told the Chicago Sun Times. He said he can't attend the first-round game, but plans to attend Sunday's game at the United Center if KU advances to a meeting against Kentucky or Villanova.

"They deserve the No. 1 seed. They've won 11 in a row. The bottom line is you are going to have to play good teams. You've got to bring it. Otherwise you are going home."

The Sun Times asked Hinrich if KU coach Self wants him to give a pep talk before the games.

"He's not going to ask me. He knows I have no motivational speaking skills. I'm just going to be there cheering hard," Hinrich said.

Play-in game

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Comments

jaybate (anonymous) says...

warning: the following "Jaybits" happen when I can't keep it together...:-)

"He's not going to ask me. He knows I have no motivational speaking skills. I'm just going to be there cheering hard."--Kirk Hinrich asked if Self will have him speak to the team.

Kirk, just having you in the stands is worth 5 more trips up the floor. Everything you are near goes faster. You ARE an inspiration. You're one of the two greatest guards KU has had. Jo Jo was the other. You're pure Jayhawk. Phil Jackson will pick you up, match you with Kobe, and you'll get a ring. Hang in, Quantum Kirk.

***

"I may be off a bit, but there had to be 10,000 Jayhawk fans there. It was unbelievable. I think it made a difference."--Self on the KU fan turn out in OKC

Let's schedule one game every year in OKC for Coach Self. It seemed to really give him a charge. And we play well there too. :-)

***

"We may have to do some things, Kansas included, maybe schedule smarter."--Self, noting the B12 has the sixth best RPI and it may have kept KSU out

The B12 is caught between a rock and a hard place. The Big East, the B10, the ACC and the SEC have paired up for nonconference season interplay which guarranties these teams a steady diet of high RPI teams. The B12 did what it could by signing up with the Pac 10, but these two leagues interplaying doesn't improve either league's RPI. It just keeps them from getting worse.

What the B12 ought to start doing is niche schedule a B12 Showdown Tournament in NYC during the preseason, or non conference season. The B12 rents Madison Square Garden for three nights in November or December and sends its four best teams to NYC for an eight team tourney. The 4 B12 schools are picked based on a vote of the coaches at the end of the previous season about who will be the 4 best teams next year. The B12 Showdown pits the 4 best B12 teams against the four best preseason picks by coaches of the Big East, ACC, the SEC and the B10 (one from each of these conferences).

Another concept might be to stage a tourney in NYC called the The Big 12 Great Coaches Invitational Tournament. Again, each year the four B12 coaches with the most career wins play an eight team tournament with the winningest coaches of the Big East, the ACC, the B10 and the SEC.

Everyone wins, by getting to play teams that improve their RPI and by playing in a recruiting hotbed at center stage of the media. It only takes three days out of the season.

March 13, 2007 at 7:35 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Chicago_JHawk (anonymous) says...

So Arthur's going to get "4 or 5 treatments per day" for his bruised pubic bone. I wonder what sort of treatments you get for that? I can't think of a more painful sounding injury...

March 13, 2007 at 7:36 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

sevenyearhawk (anonymous) says...

personally, I'd love to see K-State AND Wichita State in the tourney, because then maybe the talking heads would start to give our fair state a little more credit/love!

Beak 'em, Hawks!!!

March 13, 2007 at 7:58 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jhwkfan162515 (anonymous) says...

Why didn't KSU get in? Because they wouldn't bring the Nielsen ratings an ACC school would bring, that's why! It's all about the dollar signs!

March 13, 2007 at 8:16 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jaminrawk (anonymous) says...

Mark Mangino agrees, - "That's right, dollar signs."

March 13, 2007 at 9:08 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jackhawk (anonymous) says...

Coach Huggins certainly gained much respect from this Jayhawk fan with his reaction to not getting a bid to the NCAA tournament. Unlike many coaches who spent their time whining about not getting in Coach Huggins simply stated that had his team won more games there would have been no problem. he will have his team ready to play and go deep in the nit. Go CATS!

March 13, 2007 at 9:14 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Shelby (anonymous) says...

Why don't we know what channel the game will be on? This is infuriating to me. What are the chances it'll be on network TV rather than Cable?

March 13, 2007 at 9:35 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jaminrawk (anonymous) says...

NIT first round

¢WHO: Vermont vs. K-State

¢WHEN: 7 p.m. Wednesday

¢WHERE: Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Kan.

¢tv/radio: espnu (on Everest), whb (810 am)

¢tickets: Call (800) 221-2287. So far, more than 4,700 tickets have been sold.

Hopefully "Huggieville" will be full or their fans won't have any legitimate gripe about missing the NCAA Tourney.

March 13, 2007 at 9:39 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

okjhok (anonymous) says...

Shelby, I would hope you're not referring to the KU game, but if you are, all tournament games are on CBS, and have been for, like, the last 20 years or so. Have you been watching?

March 13, 2007 at 9:55 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

okjhok (anonymous) says...

Of course, if you have directv like me, and purchased mega march madness like me, and took thursday and friday off like me, you'll get to see each and every game of the tournament. It's clearly the best sports package on TV. $69 for all those games. I hate to plug, but that's a bargain.

March 13, 2007 at 9:57 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Shelby (anonymous) says...

well why does it say "TBA" on this very site when referrencing the channel the game will be on?

March 13, 2007 at 10 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

okjhok (anonymous) says...

Couldn't tell ya, as I have no affiliation with the World Company, but I'm willing to bet if you turn your knob to 5 or 13, or whatever CBS is there in L-town (if that's where you are) at approximately 6:10 PM CDT, you'll be seeing your beloved Jayhawks.

March 13, 2007 at 10:09 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

frompekka2sasha (anonymous) says...

okjhok- I am buying the package but wonder if that includes HD programming. Do you know? I bought NFL ticket last year and then found out I had to spend another $99 on "Superfan" to get the games in HD.

Go Hawks! I am looking forward to a non-stressful 1st rounder this year.

March 13, 2007 at 10:14 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

thetagger (anonymous) says...

If you arent in an area where the Jayhawks are on local TV, you can watch the game (and all other not-on-TV-in-your-area games) online. Check the CBS Sports web page.

March 13, 2007 at 10:19 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

lalawguy (anonymous) says...

I'm glad that this team is getting some rest, but I hope they are ready for Friday. I have already heard two analysts predict that KU will be the first 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed (one was sort of tongue-in-cheek, but it still stung). They aren't saying KU can't win this game, they just expect a choke like the last two years.

Self and the boys need to take this game as serious as any other game in the tournament. I hope I don't need to say this, but Self needs to pay close attention to Tuesday's play-in game. Both Niagara and Florida A & M rallied from behind to win their respective conference tournaments. Of course, Kansas plays at a whole other level, but I still want them to be ready (especially if Kaun and Arthur are not at 100%).

Also, I don't think that OKC is necessarily a lucky venue for Self. This is also the site where Kansas suffered 1/2 of its 2-year first-round loss streak. I think better luck for Self would be to have a team that shows passion for the game (much like this current team).

March 13, 2007 at 10:43 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

okjhok (anonymous) says...

pekka-
not sure...

March 13, 2007 at 11:02 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

dmoles101 (anonymous) says...

Spent the rest of the half "icing the bone" -That's classic stuff. Isn't that what a "fluffer" is for?

March 13, 2007 at 12:24 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jaminrawk (anonymous) says...

How hard would one's nards need to be smashed to actually bruise the pelvic bone? Poor Darrell.

March 13, 2007 at 12:39 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Shelby (anonymous) says...

similar to "gleaming the cube" maybe.....?

Anyway, can someone explain to me WHY kusports.com insists the channel for the game is To Be Determined rather than channels 5 & 13?

March 13, 2007 at 12:43 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jayhawk86 (anonymous) says...

Pekka and ok, I have the directv package also. This year there will be 2 channels that show games in HD. there is also gonna be a channel that splits into 4 screens and has 4 games at once.

March 13, 2007 at 1:33 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

landon_2003 (anonymous) says...

go hawks

March 13, 2007 at 1:45 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jay0407 (anonymous) says...

ku is going to do great this year... they have a awesome team and have a good chance to win the National Championship!!! knock on wood... go ku
beak 'Em HAWKS

March 13, 2007 at 2:54 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Lebowski (anonymous) says...

I always get extremely irritated about people complaining about not getting in. I think the NCAA should just knock it down to 32 teams for a few years to get everyone a taste of what that would be like. Then maybe they'd appreciate how legitimate of a shot every team in the nation has of making the tournament.

It's not just a humble statement by Huggins... it's the truth. If you lose 10-15 games, you're going to be at the mercy of human judgement, and there's no one to blame but yourself. The best solution is in fact "win more games".

March 13, 2007 at 3:21 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JNgohawks (anonymous) says...

anyone notice that if click on any and all of the sports sites there are hardly no articles about KU. I thought earning a #1 seed would also earn exposure?

March 13, 2007 at 4:03 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

karmaxs3 (anonymous) says...

Our cable provider (cox) teamed up with CBS to have a multicast of all games at once. They have four channels available, and you can pick which game you want to watch. They did it last year too, and it was awesome. They say 20 cities across the country are doing it~it's free for cable subscribers. Much better deal than DirecTV...

March 13, 2007 at 4:14 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

filmhawk (anonymous) says...

i noticed that too jn - it's like we're totally under the radar - if that's possible to do as 1 seed. obviously, florida is easy to talk about because they're defending - ohio state has star power - georgetown because they're from new york - ucla because they once had a coach named wooden - and carolina because i hate carolina. i'm hoping people will be talking ku in april.

March 13, 2007 at 7:35 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

LAJayhawk5 (anonymous) says...

Anyone know what time we'll be playing on Sunday?

March 13, 2007 at 8:34 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Brunswickboy63 (anonymous) says...

LAJayhawk5.....TBA! Go Hawks.

March 13, 2007 at 9:12 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

hawker00 (anonymous) says...

Georgetown is in D.C.

March 13, 2007 at 9:33 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kevbo (anonymous) says...

I like Huggins. Good for the league and the state...I think he'll "win more games" next year, but...not at the expense of this team. Holllllllller.

March 13, 2007 at 10:38 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

scootja32 (anonymous) says...

G'town isn't from NY

March 13, 2007 at 11:17 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

scootja32 (anonymous) says...

Probably around the same time Sunday. later game

March 13, 2007 at 11:20 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

jayhawkcafefan57 (anonymous) says...

karmaxs3, I have cox cable; when KU played TEX (at phog), cbs didn't start the broadcast here until 30 mins after the game began; some kids slumber party, CAKE, was shown. The only thing I've read in the local rag about ncaa/nit bdcsts is the local college's game tomorrow will be shown on cox's cable's channel as a simulcast with ESPNU, as the local cox cable provider doesn't have ESPNU. Would bet my cox provider will not be one of the 20 cities doing a multicast with four channels. I'll be happy just to get the KU game "live" fri and SUN and not pre-empted for 30 mins.

KU will win both their games this weekend by 15 pts or more.

rock chalk, jay-hawk, ku-u-u-u-u-u-u-u

March 14, 2007 at 2:23 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

coolhawk (anonymous) says...

I am not a K-State fan. I am for KU - graduated from there and proud of it. However, I do think it is a travesty that K-State did not go dancing. You win 22 games, go 10 and 6 in a power conference, have a quality win against a top 15 team and the best player in the country - Texas and Kevin Durant, finish the season strong and you can't get in? I detect a major lack of respect from the committee toward the Big 12. There is no way the ACC should have 7 teams in the tourney. They are not worthy. It's official. I'm rooting against the ACC teams. Go Big 12!

March 14, 2007 at 5:33 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

jross1972 (Joe Ross) says...

Coolhawk, Im kinda split on that one.

I spend all the regular season rooting against our conference foes; then in the tournament I end up rooting for them. With KState, though, I dunno. I think I generally tend to root against them in all circumstances, and I have to be honest in saying that even though they probably deserved to go to the NCAA, I dont feel a sense of loss that theyre not there. In the old days, KState was the bigger rivarly between them and Mizzou so maybe I have a little animosity still penned up. Suffice it to say I'm not shedding any tears that the Cats have been omitted.

go hawks!

March 14, 2007 at 5:04 p.m. ( | suggest removal )