Ask Gary for December

By Staff     Dec 30, 2001

Hi, Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season and of course KU’s pre-conference basketball season.

May your days be merry and bright and all your Christmases full of good cheer, root beer, reindeer, no fear and TV courtesy of Norman Lear (help me out with some more rhyming words please Jayhawk fans).

Anyhow, Merry Christmas.

And read on.

Q-Gary, I hate Missouri. They look to have an excellent basketball team this year. Please tell me we will beat them 3 times this season. Four if they make the NCAA Tourney. Just say it!

Nancy, Bison, Ks, Pop. 301

A-Great question. My answer will probably depress you, however.

I can’t predict a 3-0 KU sweep.

I’d say Mizzou will beat KU in Columbia and the Jayhawks will win in Lawrence. KU’s crowd will be so fired up for that game it’ll be very difficult for the Tigers here. Vice versa in Columbia for the Jayhawks.

Then the two will likely meet in the Big 12 Tournament finals with KU or Mizzou prevailing in overtime in Kemper Arena.

That game at Kemper actually might hurt both squads as they prepare for the NCAA Tourney.

Do KU and MU really want to play an ultra-emotional game in Kemper Arena right before the Big Dance? I think not. It would/will be a war and really unnecessary heading into the NCAAs.

I think KU and MU should agree to start walk-ons in that game if it indeed takes place this March. Aside from bragging rights, that potential KU-MU contest has disaster written all over it.

p.s. Bison sounds like a heckuva nice town. Was it named after an animal, vegetable or mineral? Just kidding, but the thought of Bison makes me hungry right now as I write this. I may just have to go get a delicious steak before I continue.

Q-Gary,

I keep hearing that KU is depending on a healthy Wayne Simien to bolster the frontcourt. You would have to figure Drew Gooden and Nick Collison will play on average 30 minutes a game, leaving 20 minutes of playing time available. Jeff Carey (who finished ahead of several guards in the ten minute run) is a 5th year senior and very capable of giving 10-15 quality minutes a night at either 4 or 5. Why is he overlooked ? Why would Wayne be rushed into PT when his shoulder is suspect ? It seems that on paper our frontcourt is 2 deep at power forward and center. Your thoughts ?

Unsigned.

A-Please sign your emails. I enjoy seeing who sends them and dislike anonymous e-mail but I digress.

In answer to your question, I really like Wayne Simien. The guy is an animal on the backboards. He rips rebounds down with such ferocity you’d think Karl Malone was on the Jayhawk squad. I think Wayne needs to get a lot of playing time, moreso when his body is completely healed.

Dunno what to tell you about Jeff Carey.

He has had flashes during his career and Roy likes him but I think he’s destined to finish a five to eight minute a game guy unless somebody gets hurt.

Of course nobody wants the Jayhawks to suffer injuries. Those can be hazardous to a team’s health.

Carey is really a classy guy. Very smart student, engaged to be married, knows what he wants in life and will get it. I like him. Don’t fret about Jeff. He’ll do fine.

Q-Gary, Why does Wayne Simien get hurt so much? What can be done to keep him healthy?

A-I actually don’t know how to answer that question. I have no idea why he gets hurt a lot. Stuff happens.

When you play sports, you risk injury.

ESPN or Sports Illustrated recently had an extensive list of all the college basketball players hurt so far this season. It’s a pretty long list. Players are dropping like flies all over the U.S. It’s not just at KU.

I’d say as hard as Simien plays, the risk of injury will always be there.

Q-Gary,

With the recent comments about the lousy sound system in the Field House, doesn’t it seem weird that there wouldn’t be some interest of support from the former KU players now playing in the NBA? Think about this, Raef L, Paul P. Scott P, Greg O, Jacque V, Danny M along with others that I probably missed get together and set aside a little “pocket change” in honor of the place that made them millionaires. If they did, there probably wouldn’t be a problem. thoughts?

Kearney, Nebraska

A-Those players you mentioned could probably donate a million bucks apiece and there still would be sound system problems in Allen Fieldhouse. It’s an old building.

Regarding the question about ex-Jayhawks donating money … that’s an interesting notion, however.

I can see where you are coming from, but to play devil’s advocate so to speak, I don’t think KU can take sole credit for making those guys millionaires. Raef, Paul, Pollard, etc. would still be in the NBA if they attended any of the many other so called basketball factories.

For instance, if Manning had picked North Carolina, he’d still be in the NBA. If Pollard had picked Arizona, he’d still be in the NBA. If Jacque had picked UCLA, he’d also still be in the NBA and on and on. Yes KU and Roy helped a lot, but I think you’d agree they’d still be in the NBA had they gone elsewhere.

I think it’s great when individuals give back to their universities. Those that give … more power to ’em. It’s great to be generous. It’s fantastic to share.

To those that don’t, more power to them also. It’s an individual decision. Maybe they prefer giving to the poor, etc. Or to New York disaster relief. Or their churches.

To each his/her own as far as giving.

Players receive no money during their college careers so I’d think many are reluctant to give once they get out. They might have a bad taste in their mouths.

The NCAA has its jillion dollar contract with CBS. The players see none of that money so why should they be ultra manganimous when they get out of school? That is the question.

Feel free to send me your opinions. I don’t claim to be Mr. Know It All regarding this topic.

Q-Hi Gary

It seems Roy Williams is really striking out in recruiting. Many top center and power forwards have already committed. Is a sign that he is in trouble is the fact that he is looking at Juco help. Looks like Missouri has become the better recruiter these days. Are younger coaches Synder and Alford relating better in recruiting. Or is not making it to the Big Dance starting to hurt. Mike in Florida.

A-Kansas had a top five recruiting class last year and definitely missed on many prize targets this year.

I don’t think much has changed in regards to KU recruiting. KU has always struggled in recruiting. I didn’t say always failed. I said always struggled.

Roy generally has to work his butt off to eventually land top players. He has his share of recruiting successes and failures. He’s done pretty darn well considering his wins vs. losses.

Players win games and he’s won a lot of games.

I wouldn’t say Snyder is out-recruiting Roy, not on a consistent basis. Is Alford doing that well in recruiting??

I wouldn’t say the signing of juco player Jeff Graves was a desperation move. Graves is originally from the area and a strong power forward prospect. Of course Roy would prefer signing high schoolers. So there probably were some guys ahead of Graves on his master wish list.

As far as Moulaye Niang, who also signed with KU … the gurus think he’s a great prospect but would probably benefit from a red-shirt season.

I will go through some of the recruits that didn’t pick KU and make a few comments.

Brad Buckman -No way KU was going to steal him away from Texas. He was UT bound the entire time though he did make two trips to North Carolina.

Shelden Williams-It had to be disappointing to Roy that Shelden Williams didn’t give KU a hard look. Duke pretty much can pick and choose right now and Oklahoman Williams fell in love with Duke early. He never considered KU.

Bernard Cote-Canadian Cote canceled his visit to KU because of the Sept. 11 tragedy. He simply wouldn’t get on a plane to fly here and picked Kentucky. Tough break for Roy. If he’d visited KU prior to the tragedy and had the UK visit scheduled later, it woulda been vice versa.

Shav Randolph-No way he was ever coming to KU. It was Duke all the way for this Carolinian.

Hassan Adams -His commitment to Zona had to be a bitter pill for Roy to swallow. KU had a shot at him and lost. There was talk Adams was crushed Drew Gooden wasn’t here for his campus visit and that’s why he didn’t pick KU. There also was talk KU didn’t pay enough attention to Adams his junior year of high school.

Give me a break. Those weren’t the reasons he picked Zona over KU.

Ever been to Tucson? It ain’t a bad place to play basketball, either. Weather is pretty frickin nice to copy a word from a guy we all know.

Andre Iguodala-Arkansas was the leader from the start. KU made great strides but couldn’t make up enough ground. Another bitter pill for Roy cause he could have used the athleticism of Adams or Iguodala.

Kevin Bookout-Dunno what to say about his recruitment. Kevin can’t be too sold on the Oklahoma schools or he’d have already with signed with one of ’em rather than waiting til spring. I think KU could still land Bookout if the Jayhawks pursued. He really likes KU’s track program but with KU already bringing in two big men in basketball, he probably isn’t interested in coming here for hoops.

The Jayhawks would have to show him a lotta love to get re-involved. I do know KU has a heckuva track throws coach in Doug Reynolds and Bookout likes him a lot.

Chris Booker-I don’t know how hard KU recruited this juco product. I know he has a buddy going to Purdue and that made the decision pretty easy for him when KU wouldn’t offer right away.

Denham Brown-I don’t think Roy wanted the Canadian guard/forward for whatever reason.

The killer was losing both Adams and Iguodala and not getting Cote.

Those are my opinions solely. I don’t pretend to be in the know. Roy simply won’t discuss recruiting with the media.

Q-Hi Gary, I’m writing from Arlington, TX. I’m from Kansas and a big Jayhawk fan. I heard (while watching the Princeton game tonight) that the Hawks and Roy Williams wentto the Celtics game last night to see Paul Pierce. I was looking for some sort ofstory on that – – -did you write anything on that – -and did I miss it?

Thanks,

Debbie Bishop

A-I mentioned the Jayhawks went to see Pierce play but I didn’t do a full story on it. The guys said they enjoyed watching Pierce and his Celts beat the Knicks in overtime. I interviewed Paul last summer. He remains a great guy. I am so glad he recovered from those stab wounds. Paul Pierce is a very very nice guy and to think some idiots almost killed him just a year and a half ago is terrible to re-live. He may be one of the top five players in the NBA.

Q-Hey gary, it seems to me that this may well be the smallest men’s b-ball squad that coach williams has assembled here at ku. is it possible to quantify that by looking at the other rosters, and figuring ave height and weight?

A-It’s Roy’s smallest team since he started three guards in 89-90 — Terry Brown, Kevin Pritchard and Jeff Gueldner to go with Calloway and Mark Randall. Randall was the tallest that year at 6-9.

Q-Hi Gary,

As a UVa grad who lived in Kansas for 12 years (’82-’94) and then returned to Virginia, I’d love to see a KU v. UVa matchup. I attended many a KU game and they became (and still are) my second favorite team. The 1995 NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen game, won by UVa, was tough for me at first, but I had to go with my roots and pull for Virginia. I still root for Kansas, though, and figured, if the Hawks can play Wake Forest of the ACC, why can’t they play Virginia? Any thoughts on such a matchup if we meet in the Tournament? With Roger Mason outside and Travis Watson inside, we have a pretty good inside-out combination. By the way, thank goodness Roy did not go to UNC. You may not be aware of this, but Carolina really is the Evil Empire!

Keep up the good work,

Cavalier/Jayhawk Larry

A-KU played Virginia a lot during one stretch as you might recall. Virginia beat KU in the ’95 NCAA Tourney in Kansas city, then KU won at the 1995 Great Eight and won the next November at the Maui Invitational. Since then the two teams haven’t played. I think KU-Virginia would be a great game in the NCAAs.

Q-Gary,

Have the Jayhawks won the Big XII since the original “Beware of the Phog” banner was removed from Allen Field House? If not, perhaps fans should start a lobby to get it back in there. It looked so much better than the current one does. Bob Frederick had said it was falling apart…but it seems that it wouldn’t be too difficult to repair it.

Thanks,

Cody

Kansas City, MO

A-Very perceptive of you. You are right. KU has not won the league since that banner disappeared. But it was falling apart so it had to be replaced. I don’t think that banner exists anymore. Maybe KU officials should have burned the banner and spread the ashes in the building so as to not kill the karma.

Q-In the early 90’s KU was known for its full court press. In later years Roy said the team was too big with the likes of Pollard and later Ostertag. My question is now with the “overall team speed that dictactes our new up tempo offense” as Roy put it, do we not run that press?

A-KU has the press in its repertoire but Roy prefers regular man to man and trapping. I know during the triplets’ freshman year KU pressed and the press was torched. I think KU can bring out the press, but it’s not Roy’s favorite defense.

Q-I am from Dickinson North Dakota. My wife and I both graduate from KU as did our oldest son. I graduated from Law School at KU as well. We have flown all over the United States following the Jayhawks Basketball in tournament play. Now they are playing in North Dakota I cannot get tickets from the University or anywhere elsel HELP !!!

A-I’d call 1-800-34-Hawks and see if they have any suggestions. I don’t have any tickets. You might have to play the scalper game. It seems like at every game I’ve ever been at, somebody’s selling tickets outside the arena.

Q-Hello Gary,

I have moved to Chicago recently, and will most likely to miss all KU games except the ones on ESPN. Do you know how I can get those games on video tapes? Thanks

A-Man, that’s a good question. I’d go to one of the Internet bulletin boards and ask fans to tape ’em for you. There are some great great fans out there that would probably tape and sell ’em to you.

By the way I am from Chicago originally. Where do you live?

I grew up on the South side and attended Brother Rice HS then moved to suburbia and on to Benet Academy where I graduated.

Rice was a football power/Benet a hoops juggernaut at the time.

That’s probably a lot more info than you wanted to know.

Q-KU seems susceptible to a hot shooting 3 point team – such as Ball State was. It seems this been a pattern over the past few years – is my memory correct and is it related to the type of defense KU plays?

Mike Ardis

m_ardis@yahoo.com

A-Sure, KU has been burned by the three. KU likes to gamble and go after the ball. With crisp passing by the opposition, somebody can be open. Unless KU turns to a zone it likely will always give up some threes.

You just have to force turnovers and guard as best you can.

gary, is it the types of players coach williams is recruiting or does it come from his days at north carolina where the tar heels were mostly skinny and finesse teams…it just seems KU is not physically and mentally tough…Eustacy owns Williams simply because his teams are more mentally and physically tougher than KU…one more thing, why does it seem like a lot of williams players do not improve much over their years at KU??? Examples: Chenowith and Ostertag were much better as freshmen than as seniors…if Sutton had either one of those guys, they would have improved their games greatly…I think Eddie Sutton gets more out of his players than Williams…KU seems to always get these blue chippers, but they can’t even get to the Final Four…one last tidbit, why doesn’t Williams recruit more impact JUCO players…Eustacy, Sutton and Sampson always seem to do this…if your classes don’t line up well, you are going to be stuck losing a bunch of seniors with nowhere to turn to the next year……Gary at grigriggs@kjrh.com

A-You ask a lotta questions. In order no, yes, no, no, yes, yes.

Just kidding.

I disagree that KU is not tough. Hinrich, Colly, Gooden, Simien, et. all are tough. Get in a fight with Hinrich or Simien and you will be pummelled.

Eustachy has had a nice run at Iowa State. Can he keep it up? The Clones are off to a shaky start this year.

I don’t look at ISU’s roster and see a lotta stars.

As far as improvement … I don’t think you can just pick two players and say they didn’t improve. That’s not fair.

Chenowith and Ostertag were better as seniors than they were as freshmen by the way.

Sutton is a heckuva coach. I wouldn’t argue if you say he’s better than Roy. Eddie is great and has proven it over the long haul. Eustachy still has a lot to prove.

Those who complain about Roy would complain about any coach. All coaches have flaws folks. None of em are perfect.

Roy is flawed; Pitino is flawed; Izzo is flawed; Calipari is flawed.

All coaches have good points and warts, too, folks. There are no perfect coaches just as there are no perfect writers.

Q-Gary, One would assume that any player offered a basketball scholarship at a big-time basketball school like Kansas would be an outstanding player or at least show the potential to become one. So please explain the mundane play of Bryant Nash. Terms like “a project in the works,” get thrown in too often. And granted, not everyone can be a Gooden or Collison. He no doubt is a nice young man with some degree of talent, but I have yet to much on the court that indicates his potential, especially against Ball State.

St. Louis Crimson & Blue

A-Roy’s spring signees have certainly not been as talented as his fall signees throughout the years. Some of the guys he’s landed in April have not been too spiffy.

Like you said not everyone can be a Gooden or Collison.

Bryant isn’t a Gooden or Collison.

What you need in a program is eight or maybe nine guys who can really play and the rest guys happy to be on board who will contribute now and again. Nash is athletic who may eventually play some minutes. I mean so far he hasn’t panned out. I see no reason to sit here and blast him. He might only contribute Jeff Carey-type minutes. We shall see.

He is who he is.

Let’s see if he can contribute in the future. Right now I’d agree he has not brought a lot to the table. He’s not being paid a salary so I’ll give him some slack.

I’d like to see him try the high jump or long jump in track also. He looks like he could really sky in the long jump.

Q-We are having some controversy at our office as to who the first “recruited” player of Roy Williams to be drafted into the NBA. Thanks. Bob Harvey. rharvey999@aol.com

A-Adonis Jordan.

Q-Gary,

The Chris Booker tease really disappoints me. First he is a great jucu bball player whom KU was hot in pursuit of, and not against hot competition. Purdue and W-State ? Come on, we had to be, and it was often reported that we were a leader to gain his services. All of the sudden he drops KU, claiming they haven’t offered a scholarship. He left open the possibility KU might re-enter the picture (assuming we offer). How did this go so badly so quickly ? His game sounds alot like Drews, and would be excellent backup or replacement for Drew if the NBAs tug grows too strong.It kills me that Bobby Knight is now in the running and has offered a scholarship. Can you fill in any of the gaps above that may help me understand and know what I am grieving about ?

A-I don’t know the specifics as Roy won’t discuss recruiting publicly. But I think it’s safe to say Booker was on Roy’s B list. If Roy couldn’t get certain high school players he’d turn to guys like Booker and Jeff Graves. Booker obviously didn’t want to wait to see how it all played out and took the offer from a fine Purdue coach.

Graves should be a good addition. He’s another Simien-like big guy.

Q-Why do you always criticize the Internet message boards and call people Internet Idiots? therabbitisdead.

A-I have no problem with the Internet message boards and radio talk shows. I just think people who print rumors and other inflammatory statements should be willing to sign their real names instead of having monikers like “SlamminSalFromKokomo.” Or “KnowItallMadman fromManitoba.”

It’s easy to print outlandish stuff when you print under a nickname. It’s a lot more difficult to print rumor, innuendo, inflammatory material when you are responsible enough to use your real name and occupation.

Like it or not the Internet and talk shows will never be credible until fans are forced to use their real names.

NCAA schools will not award Internet sites press credentials for that reason. True, newspapers like the J-W also have message boards, etc., where fans can print under pseudonyms but newspapers also have writers who write articles with their real names.

Until the Internet addresses this problem it will be considered second tier.

The Internet message board community is great.

For example I like to read and even contribute on White Sox message boards cause I follow the Sox closely but as long as SlammySalFrom Kokomo and FlaminBill From Buffalo get to print their comments without their real names, the Internet will not be credentialed by the NCAA.

I do realize some people are willing to put their real names and they should be commended. By and large, I love the Internet.

Fans are great. Their enthusiasm is spectacular. I love ’em.

Q-Who is the best player on KU’s team?

A-Good question. I’d say Kirk.

Q-Can KU make the Final Four?

A-Sure. Will KU make the Final Four? I have no idea. The team must stay healthy and catch a break with the pairings and sites, just like every year.

Q-Do you think Roy was out of line criticizing Al Bohl for replacing Terry Allen with three games left to be played?

A-No. I had to cover that ethics conference that Roy attended in KC where administrators, coaches, presidents, etc., all made some important ethics proposals. One proposal was to not fire coaches with games remaining on the schedule.

Roy woulda been a hypocrite to sign off on that legislation and not be critical of Bohl for not letting Terry finish the season.

It was wrong of Bohl to not let Terry finish the season.

You can’t tell me it would have hampered KU’s coaching search to wait a couple weeks. KU still could have looked and landed a top coach.

That said … I was very impressed with Bohl’s selection of Mark Mangino. Mangino impressed a lot of people, including Roy, at his press conference the one in which he said his faith and family were most important to him. He’s not a slimy “win at all costs” slick guy who will cheat to win.

Mangino like Williams said is a “Program Guy.” He will build a program the right way.

Now it will probably take him at least 3-4 years to win.

Will KU fans wait that long? Will Bohl wait that long? We shall see.

There are no quick fixes involving KU football, folks.

As far as Terry Allen, some fans have blasted the media for supporting him just because he’s a “nice guy.”

What’s wrong with that?

He is a great guy. And we all wish him the best. Sure he failed here, but it’s tough to find many who have succeeded with KU football. Terry was doomed after the SMU game two seasons ago. KU fans who trekked to Dallas and there were many many who did so were furious the Jayhawks couldn’t punt the football without screwing up and were down two or three touchdowns in the early going. It was an embarrassing loss and Terry lost the legions right there.

Everybody is rooting for Mangino and everybody is hoping Terry finds another good job.

Terry Allen is a good man. It may pain some to read that, but it is true. And it appears Mark Mangino is also a good man.

Congrats to Al Bohl for not hiring some slick guy who believes in winning at all costs. Bohl won a lot of supporters with the hire of Mangino.

Well that’s it for now. Take sports less seriously, folks. It’s not life and death.To those of you who enjoy the games, congrats. To those of you who demand perfection and only perfection … consider smelling the roses. KU has a good team, good program and good coach. Enjoy.

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year.

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