Boot camp begins today.
“Coach Brown said these will be the hardest three weeks we’ll ever experience. He said we’re gonna have two-a-days, that we’ll practice like hell,” Kansas guard Scooter Barry said Monday night.
The Jayhwaks had just finished an uninspiring 73-62 win over Appalachian State at Allen Fieldhouse.
“He said we’ll play the way he wants us to play. And the only way to do it is to make us fear him,” Barry added.
Facing a break in the schedule – Kansas will play two games in the next 12 days – the 5-2 Jayhawks will be put through the proverbial ringer by an unhappy Larry Brown.
“We’re going to be running,” said Barry, who scored a career-high 10 points and dished out five assists while playing 30 minutes.
“It’ll be a rough week for us,” noted forward Chris Piper, who scored nine points with five assists. “We made our own bed. I don’t want to sleep in it, but we’ll all have to.”
One Jayhawk who might not be taking part in the upcoming war-drills is guard Otis Livingston.
The junior college transfer, who had three points and five assists in Saturday’s resounding 63-54 win over St. John’s , is in danger of being booted.
He was lifted in favor of Barry with 4:35 left in the first half – a substitution made because Livingston talked back to Brown after Brown scolded him for an on-court error.
The irate Kansas coach yanked Livingston and, as the guard prepared to take a seat far down the bench, instructed assistant Alvin Gentry to banish him to the locker room.
Livingston was told to dress and wasn’t seen again. Players said he wasn’t in the locker room at halftime.
“I told him to get dressed, I don’t know if he’ll ever play,” Brown said when asked if Livingston will play against Rider Saturday. “We’ll wait and see. I don’t think there’s much I can say until I sit and talk to him.”
The incident took KU’s players by surprise.
“I don’t know if Otis got hurt or what,” Piper said. “You’ll have to ask coach.”
“I saw a few words said, that’s all,” remarked forward Archie Marshall, who scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Marshall’s two long jumpers, combined with a bucket and two free throws by Barry, hiked KU’s 57-56 lead to a nine-point margin with 3:59 left. That flurry finally put away the pesky Mountaineers.
Yet too little too late for Brown’s tastes. After all, as Barry said, “That’s a team Duke beat by 57 points (actually 110-74) the other night.”
“I’m shocked we won. We won by 11 points. That’s the biggest joke ever. They were just better coached and better prepared,” Brown said of the Mountaineers, now 3-2. “I’m doing a hell of a job coaching Alvin and Ed (Manning), but I’m having a helluva job coaching this team.
“I’ve done a terrible job with this team. I don’t know what I’ve done differently. We don’t even get through to ’em when we have a time out, when to get back on the court.
“We’re not making the extra passes, rebounding or picking up loose balls. We don’t do things that require effort. Danny (Manning) has five rebounds in 37 minutes. We have 23 turnovers against a team that’s applying no pressure at all. The problem is our execution is so bad.”
Superstar Manning did not escape Brown’s wrath.
“We are a horrendous rebounding team,” said Brown. “Danny at the end of last year was getting eight, nine, 10, 12 a game. Now we’re never on the boards. We’re shooting fadeaway jumpers on 6-6 guys.
“Thank God for Archie,” Brown continued, noting the senior’s late-game contribution.
The coach isn’t ready to surrender. Enter General Patton…er, Brown.
“I told ’em we go home after the North Carolina State game (Dec. 19) and will have five to six days (of practice before ECAC tourney the 28th),” Brown said.
“I know my first year here was brutal (two-a-day holiday practices)…The only thing this team understands is discipline and punishment. That’s the only way they’ll become a team. We won’t be embarrassed again in terms of effort and being prepared. We’ll be prepared from now on.
“I told coach (Tom) Apke I’d be proud of ’em if I was him. I’ve said that to a lot of coachecs, to Western Carolina, Tom Davis (Iowa coach, Lou Henson (Illinois) and even Pop (Pomona-Pitzer’s Gregg Popovich). There are times that as a coach it’s nice to respect an opponent, but I’d like to walk in our dressing room and be proud. That’s up to the coach to get it across.
“We haven’t done it. Before the start of the game, I said, “This is an opportunity for you to show appreciation for your teammates.’ I said ‘We can play a lot of guys.’ If you hustle and work early, they all can play.’ I look and see I’ve gotta play Danny Manning 37 minutes.”
Notes
Barry’s dad, Hall of Famer Rick Barry, attended…KU committed 23 turnovers to Appalachian State’s 28…Center Marvin Branch hit all three floor shots and finished with 11 points and seven boards. Milt Newton grabbed six rebounds in 10 minutes…KU has won 51 straight at home…
Box Score
ASU3230-62
KU3736-73
Appalachian State: Ronnie Christian 1-5 6-8 8, Ben Miller 4-8 2-2 10, Sam Gibson 1-6 4-4 6, Kemp Phillips 6-14 4-5 20, Rodney Peel 3-11 4-5 13, Jerry Holmes 1-1 1-2 3, Jimmy Stewart 1-4 0-0 2, Ed Ward 0-0 0-1 0, Sanford Killian 0-0 0-0 0, Bruce Falkner 0-0 0-0 0, Team 17-49 21-28 62.
Three-point goals: 7-14 (Christian 0-1, Phillips 4-6, Peel 3-7). Assists: 9 (Christian 3, Miller 2, Phillips 2, Peel, Ward). Turnovers: 28 (Phillips 7, Stewart 5, Christian 4, Gibson 4, Miller 3, Ward 2, Holmes 2, Peel). Blocked Shots: 3 (Gibson 2, Stewart). Steals: 5 (Gibson 2, Christian, Peel, Holmes).
Kansas: Danny Manning 8-16 3-6 19, Archie Marshall 6-7 2-2 14, Marvin Branch 3-3 5-7 11, Kevin Pritchard 0-5 2-2 2, Lincoln Minor 2-7 0-0 4, Otis Livingston 0-1 0-0 0, Chris Piper 4-4 1-2 9, Scooter Barry 2-4 6-7 10, Milt Newton 0-1 0-1 0, Jeff Gueldner 2-5 0-0 4, Team 27-53 19-27 73.
Three-point goals: 0-4 (Pritchard 0-2, Minor 0-1, Gueldner 0-1). Assists: 19 (Piper 5, Barry 5, Manning 3, Minor 3, Marshall, Livingston, Newton). Turnovers: 23 (Manning 4, Minor 4, Barry 3, Pritchard 3, Newton 2, Marshall 2, Branch 2, Livingston 2, Piper). Blocked shots: 3 (Manning 2, Newton). Steals: 11 (Branch 3, Manning 2, Marshall 2, Pritchard, Minor, Livingston, Gueldner).
Officials: Woody Mayfield, David Hall, Dennis Schmidt.
Attendance: 15,300.
