Gooden big on boards

By Gary Bedore     Nov 3, 2000

Earl Richardson/Journal-World Photo
Drew Gooden pulls down one of his 14 rebounds during the Jayhawks' men's basketball exhibition opener. KU defeated the California All-Stars, 98-80, Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Scoring wasn’t on Drew Gooden’s mind during pre-game warmups on Wednesday night.

Visions of rebounds danced through the head of Gooden, Kansas University’s 6-foot-10, 230-pound sophomore forward from Richmond, Calif.

“When I first came out for the game I was thinking, ‘I’ve got to get 15-plus boards tonight,”’ Gooden said after grabbing 14 rebounds in Kansas’ 98-80 exhibition basketball victory over the California All-Stars. “I wanted every rebound out there.”

Gooden totaled 12 rebounds while playing 15 minutes the first half. He had two rebounds in 10 minutes the second half.

“The first half it seemed I was doing the job. The second half, I got fat and happy,” said Gooden. He scored eight points on 4-of-8 shooting the first half and six points on 3-of-6 shooting the final 20 minutes.

He described his rebounding technique:

“Just anticipate where the ball is going to be and watch the flight of the ball,” he said. “Get a feel for my man and make sure he’s not crashing the boards and I’m there first.

“They were not really crashing the boards,” he added, referring to the California All-Stars.

Senior Eric Chenowith led the way with 15 rebounds in 19 minutes.

“I’d say about 12 or 13 of those were off hustle,” Chenowith said. “A couple of those just fell in my lap.”

Like Gooden, Chenowith is placing a great emphasis on rebounding this season.

“It’s what I’m trying to do, to be aggressive on the boards,” said Chenowith, a 7-1, 270 pounder out of Villa Park, Calif. “Coach says you can never have too many rebounds.

“I thought I rebounded pretty well. I thought I was a presence inside where they missed some layups. They didn’t really box out or run back, so you can get a lot of hustle plays off a team like that.”

KU coach Roy Williams has made rebounding a big point of emphasis.

“A major concern is depth in the backcourt. The second is rebounding,” Williams said. “With Luke (Axtell) and Kenny (Gregory) at the 3 (small forward), neither one of those guys are big-time rebounders. We’ve got to get Nick (Collison), Drew and Eric to make sure they are on the boards.

“When they step out, we have to make sure Kenny and Luke (Axtell) help on the boards.”

Collison grabbed four boards, while Gregory and Axtell had three apiece as KU outrebounded the All-Stars, 56-32, Wednesday.

The Jayhawks, who had a day off practice Thursday, will meet Emporia State at 8:05 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. Both teams are taking advantage of a new NCAA rule that allows NCAA Div. I schools to play Div. II squads in preseason exhibition contests.

The Hornets are without their best player senior Benny Theriot who had surgery Thursday to repair a broken foot. The Hornets’ tallest player is 6-9 junior Brad Emme. ESU has a familiar face in point guard T.J. Brown, who has transferred from Texas A&M.

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