August was a long time ago. The Pan American games in Indianapolis are a distant memory for most.
But not for Kansas senior All-American Danny Manning. Loath to discuss the U.S. team’s loss to Brazil in the Pan Am finals until recently, he still feels a tinge of regret.
“I took it really hard,” he said. “I was talking to (Kentucky guard) Rex Chapman on the phone the other day about it, and I still can’t believe we lost.”
He knows what happened, though.
“It was tough because everybody just assumed we’d win it,” he said. “When people think of America in international competition, they think of the Olympics not the Pan American Games or the Jones Cup. But those are competitions that other countries take very seriously.
“The Brazilians played a great ballgame. The guys who shot didn’t miss.”
Manning’s next shot at an international title will be the 1988 Olympics. He’s a shoo-in for the U.S. team barring some catastrophe.
And he thinks Georgetown coach John Thompson, who’ll head the U.S. team in the Games, will do things differently.
“We had a lot of talent,” he said of the Pan Am team. “We had a lot of guys who could do a lot of things. But, when I think of it, I think coach Thompson will pick more role players.”
For now, Manning, who shunned the NBA draft last spring to return for his senior year at KU, has a new role of his own. Last season, he spent a lot of time in the paint on a post-poor team, even though he was one of the country’s premier power forwards.
No longer. The Jayhakws now have three other 6-10 men to put at the pivot – an improved Sean Alvarado, juco transfer Marvin Branch and freshman Mike Masucci.
Danny Manning’s new job is to let Danny Manning shine.
“Having more size is going to help out a lot,” Manning said. “We ought to be able to bang a little more in the middle. Marvin is really a force inside.”
In fact, Manning is encouraged about the last Kansas team he’ll suit up with.
“This is probably the most talented team I’ve ever been on at KU,” he said. “Otis (Livingston, guard) passes very well. Mike Maddox can really shoot. Lincoln Minor is extremely quick. We’re going to have to get minutes from the younger guys to do well.”
And the Jayhawks will have Archie Marshall back more than a year after he scrambled his knee against Duke in the 1986 Final Four.
“Archie will just add another dimension,” Manning said. “I think he’s at 90 percent, and once he gets a few games under his belt I think we’ll see the ARchie of old.
“It’s a lot of fun to come out and play against these guys in practice. I see a lot of competition for spots. Nobody wants to sit on the bench. But with the competition you get aggression. Sometimes tempers flare. you hope that that will work toward having a better team.”
He said if anyone can mold the talent, it’s KU coach Larry Brown.
“At the Pan Am practices, you’d make a mistake and cringe like ‘Here it comes,’ and then you wouldn’t hear anything,” Manning said, comparing Louisville coach Denny Crum to the more outspoken Brown. “If you make a mistake up here, you hear about it.
“I hope all the guys here can make an impact. We have to find out who can adjust to coach Brown’s system. Some of the things he does you might not agree with, but in a game it helps. He’s a perfectionist, and he wants things his way.”
Manning will, of course, be a team leader this season, but that’s nothing new. He and graduated point guard Cedric Hunter filled that role last year.
“Early last season Ced and I talked a lot about being leaders. Neither of us were vocal leaders. We thought we were, but we weren’t – not enough for coach Brown. A lot of times coach Brown would say to go out and lead by example, by how we work in drills.”
Now he wants to enjoy his last season at KU just as much.
“I know this is my last go-round, and I want to make it the best possible. The seniors aren’t going to let anything slip past us, even if it takes us getting on all the guys to do it.”
