As the days of 2001 dwindle down to a precious few and the light at the end of the college basketball tunnel is nothing more than a pinprick, if that, it looks like Kansas, thanks to that season-opening loss to Ball State, is sitting pretty.
Yes, yes, I know Roy Williams hates like the dickens to lose any game, any time, anywhere, but sometimes a loss, particularly in November, isn’t so bad.
If the Jayhawks had somehow defeated Ball State and they lost by only two points in the Maui Invitational when everybody but the student managers cramped up they would undoubtedly be ranked No. 2 in the nation today behind you-know-who.
By the way, did you know Ball State leads the nation in three-point goals made per game? The Cardinals wouldn’t have defeated Kansas in Hawaii if they hadn’t had a great night shooting from beyond the arc. In fact, I don’t think anyone will defeat Kansas this season if it doesn’t make a high percentage of three-pointers.
Kansas leads the nation in scoring at 89.5 points per game and it’s not a fluke. Few teams possess the combination of inside strength and transition power of the Jayhawks. So most teams will have to shoot the three against KU and hope they have a Ball State-like night.
Princeton tried the three-point route the other night, but the Tigers had a Small State-like night, hitting only eight of 26. To beat Kansas, an opponent will need to make 13 or 14 treys, maybe more. Arizona made 13 and it wasn’t enough.
I’ll be surprised if Kansas doesn’t give up more three-point goals than any school in the country during the 2001-2002 season because it’s the only real option an opposing coach has. The way KU likes to overplay and trap on defense often leaves a player open from long range so you might as well shoot it as most teams have already.
In case you haven’t noticed, Kansas is in one of those cruise control stretches of its schedule with South Carolina State on tap tonight and a trip to North Dakota a week from today. No sense playing a powerhouse during finals or before Christmas.
After Christmas, the Jayhawks will meet Tulsa in the annual Kemper Arena game, then play their first game of 2002 on the day after New Year’s against Valparaiso.
Improved Colorado (6-1) could be the Jayhawks’ next real test. That’s on Jan. 5 at the Coors Events Center in Boulder where half the crowd is usually composed of KU fans who drive up from the Denver suburbs and where the Jayhawks (7-1) win most, but not all, of the time.
Kansas does have one potentially damaging 16-day stretch in January. It starts will a visit to UCLA on Jan. 12 and ends with a home game against Missouri on Jan. 28. Nestled in that sandwich are Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Only the OU contest is in Allen Fieldhouse. As you know, KU’s recent trips to Stillwater and Ames haven’t been bundled in joy.
KU’s February schedule, while difficult, is a cakewalk compared to that brutal January stretch of four tough road games and two home games against legitimate Big 12 Conference title contenders.
At this point, it looks like Williams has the deepest and most talented team he has had since the Paul Pierce-Raef LaFrentz 1997-98 club that stumbled unexpectedly into a flurry of Rhode Island three-pointers in the NCAA Tournament and settled for a 35-4 season instead of a trip to the Final Four.
Three-point hailstorms in November cause tiny dents. In March, they’re crushers.
As the days of 2001 dwindle down to a precious few and the light at the end of the college basketball tunnel is nothing more than a pinprick, if that, it looks like Kansas, thanks to that season-opening loss to Ball State, is sitting pretty.
Yes, yes, I know Roy Williams hates like the dickens to lose any game, any time, anywhere, but sometimes a loss, particularly in November, isn’t so bad.
If the Jayhawks had somehow defeated Ball State and they lost by only two points in the Maui Invitational when everybody but the student managers cramped up they would undoubtedly be ranked No. 2 in the nation today behind you-know-who.
By the way, did you know Ball State leads the nation in three-point goals made per game? The Cardinals wouldn’t have defeated Kansas in Hawaii if they hadn’t had a great night shooting from beyond the arc. In fact, I don’t think anyone will defeat Kansas this season if it doesn’t make a high percentage of three-pointers.
Kansas leads the nation in scoring at 89.5 points per game and it’s not a fluke. Few teams possess the combination of inside strength and transition power of the Jayhawks. So most teams will have to shoot the three against KU and hope they have a Ball State-like night.
Princeton tried the three-point route the other night, but the Tigers had a Small State-like night, hitting only eight of 26. To beat Kansas, an opponent will need to make 13 or 14 treys, maybe more. Arizona made 13 and it wasn’t enough.
I’ll be surprised if Kansas doesn’t give up more three-point goals than any school in the country during the 2001-2002 season because it’s the only real option an opposing coach has. The way KU likes to overplay and trap on defense often leaves a player open from long range so you might as well shoot it as most teams have already.
In case you haven’t noticed, Kansas is in one of those cruise control stretches of its schedule with South Carolina State on tap tonight and a trip to North Dakota a week from today. No sense playing a powerhouse during finals or before Christmas.
After Christmas, the Jayhawks will meet Tulsa in the annual Kemper Arena game, then play their first game of 2002 on the day after New Year’s against Valparaiso.
Improved Colorado (6-1) could be the Jayhawks’ next real test. That’s on Jan. 5 at the Coors Events Center in Boulder where half the crowd is usually composed of KU fans who drive up from the Denver suburbs and where the Jayhawks (7-1) win most, but not all, of the time.
Kansas does have one potentially damaging 16-day stretch in January. It starts will a visit to UCLA on Jan. 12 and ends with a home game against Missouri on Jan. 28. Nestled in that sandwich are Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Only the OU contest is in Allen Fieldhouse. As you know, KU’s recent trips to Stillwater and Ames haven’t been bundled in joy.
KU’s February schedule, while difficult, is a cakewalk compared to that brutal January stretch of four tough road games and two home games against legitimate Big 12 Conference title contenders.
At this point, it looks like Williams has the deepest and most talented team he has had since the Paul Pierce-Raef LaFrentz 1997-98 club that stumbled unexpectedly into a flurry of Rhode Island three-pointers in the NCAA Tournament and settled for a 35-4 season instead of a trip to the Final Four.
Three-point hailstorms in November cause tiny dents. In March, they’re crushers.
As the days of 2001 dwindle down to a precious few and the light at the end of the college basketball tunnel is nothing more than a pinprick, if that, it looks like Kansas, thanks to that season-opening loss to Ball State, is sitting pretty.
Yes, yes, I know Roy Williams hates like the dickens to lose any game, any time, anywhere, but sometimes a loss, particularly in November, isn’t so bad.
If the Jayhawks had somehow defeated Ball State and they lost by only two points in the Maui Invitational when everybody but the student managers cramped up they would undoubtedly be ranked No. 2 in the nation today behind you-know-who.
By the way, did you know Ball State leads the nation in three-point goals made per game? The Cardinals wouldn’t have defeated Kansas in Hawaii if they hadn’t had a great night shooting from beyond the arc. In fact, I don’t think anyone will defeat Kansas this season if it doesn’t make a high percentage of three-pointers.
Kansas leads the nation in scoring at 89.5 points per game and it’s not a fluke. Few teams possess the combination of inside strength and transition power of the Jayhawks. So most teams will have to shoot the three against KU and hope they have a Ball State-like night.
Princeton tried the three-point route the other night, but the Tigers had a Small State-like night, hitting only eight of 26. To beat Kansas, an opponent will need to make 13 or 14 treys, maybe more. Arizona made 13 and it wasn’t enough.
I’ll be surprised if Kansas doesn’t give up more three-point goals than any school in the country during the 2001-2002 season because it’s the only real option an opposing coach has. The way KU likes to overplay and trap on defense often leaves a player open from long range so you might as well shoot it as most teams have already.
In case you haven’t noticed, Kansas is in one of those cruise control stretches of its schedule with South Carolina State on tap tonight and a trip to North Dakota a week from today. No sense playing a powerhouse during finals or before Christmas.
After Christmas, the Jayhawks will meet Tulsa in the annual Kemper Arena game, then play their first game of 2002 on the day after New Year’s against Valparaiso.
Improved Colorado (6-1) could be the Jayhawks’ next real test. That’s on Jan. 5 at the Coors Events Center in Boulder where half the crowd is usually composed of KU fans who drive up from the Denver suburbs and where the Jayhawks (7-1) win most, but not all, of the time.
Kansas does have one potentially damaging 16-day stretch in January. It starts will a visit to UCLA on Jan. 12 and ends with a home game against Missouri on Jan. 28. Nestled in that sandwich are Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Only the OU contest is in Allen Fieldhouse. As you know, KU’s recent trips to Stillwater and Ames haven’t been bundled in joy.
KU’s February schedule, while difficult, is a cakewalk compared to that brutal January stretch of four tough road games and two home games against legitimate Big 12 Conference title contenders.
At this point, it looks like Williams has the deepest and most talented team he has had since the Paul Pierce-Raef LaFrentz 1997-98 club that stumbled unexpectedly into a flurry of Rhode Island three-pointers in the NCAA Tournament and settled for a 35-4 season instead of a trip to the Final Four.
Three-point hailstorms in November cause tiny dents. In March, they’re crushers.
As the days of 2001 dwindle down to a precious few and the light at the end of the college basketball tunnel is nothing more than a pinprick, if that, it looks like Kansas, thanks to that season-opening loss to Ball State, is sitting pretty.
Yes, yes, I know Roy Williams hates like the dickens to lose any game, any time, anywhere, but sometimes a loss, particularly in November, isn’t so bad.
If the Jayhawks had somehow defeated Ball State and they lost by only two points in the Maui Invitational when everybody but the student managers cramped up they would undoubtedly be ranked No. 2 in the nation today behind you-know-who.
By the way, did you know Ball State leads the nation in three-point goals made per game? The Cardinals wouldn’t have defeated Kansas in Hawaii if they hadn’t had a great night shooting from beyond the arc. In fact, I don’t think anyone will defeat Kansas this season if it doesn’t make a high percentage of three-pointers.
Kansas leads the nation in scoring at 89.5 points per game and it’s not a fluke. Few teams possess the combination of inside strength and transition power of the Jayhawks. So most teams will have to shoot the three against KU and hope they have a Ball State-like night.
Princeton tried the three-point route the other night, but the Tigers had a Small State-like night, hitting only eight of 26. To beat Kansas, an opponent will need to make 13 or 14 treys, maybe more. Arizona made 13 and it wasn’t enough.
I’ll be surprised if Kansas doesn’t give up more three-point goals than any school in the country during the 2001-2002 season because it’s the only real option an opposing coach has. The way KU likes to overplay and trap on defense often leaves a player open from long range so you might as well shoot it as most teams have already.
In case you haven’t noticed, Kansas is in one of those cruise control stretches of its schedule with South Carolina State on tap tonight and a trip to North Dakota a week from today. No sense playing a powerhouse during finals or before Christmas.
After Christmas, the Jayhawks will meet Tulsa in the annual Kemper Arena game, then play their first game of 2002 on the day after New Year’s against Valparaiso.
Improved Colorado (6-1) could be the Jayhawks’ next real test. That’s on Jan. 5 at the Coors Events Center in Boulder where half the crowd is usually composed of KU fans who drive up from the Denver suburbs and where the Jayhawks (7-1) win most, but not all, of the time.
Kansas does have one potentially damaging 16-day stretch in January. It starts will a visit to UCLA on Jan. 12 and ends with a home game against Missouri on Jan. 28. Nestled in that sandwich are Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Only the OU contest is in Allen Fieldhouse. As you know, KU’s recent trips to Stillwater and Ames haven’t been bundled in joy.
KU’s February schedule, while difficult, is a cakewalk compared to that brutal January stretch of four tough road games and two home games against legitimate Big 12 Conference title contenders.
At this point, it looks like Williams has the deepest and most talented team he has had since the Paul Pierce-Raef LaFrentz 1997-98 club that stumbled unexpectedly into a flurry of Rhode Island three-pointers in the NCAA Tournament and settled for a 35-4 season instead of a trip to the Final Four.
Three-point hailstorms in November cause tiny dents. In March, they’re crushers.
