Jayhawks await Big 12

By Gary Bedore     Jan 2, 2001

Always a tough taskmaster, Roy Williams gives his Kansas basketball players high marks for their efforts during the nonconference season.

“What are we, 11-1? You have to be pleased with that,” Williams said, assessing the squad’s performance heading into Saturday’s Big 12 opener at Texas Tech.

“Of course I wish we played better in Winston-Salem (84-53 loss to Wake Forest) to say the least. I’m pleased with the record, particularly with the caliber of opposition we’re playing.

“At the same time, I’m looking for having that 40 minutes of basketball you need once you get into conference play. You can be happy about 11-1, but we’ve got to be able to do it for a 40-minute period.”

Let the record show the 2000-01 Jayhawks went 11-1 including a 6-0 mark at Allen Fieldhouse during the nonconferece season. That compares favorably to last year’s 11-2 season-opening showing. Last year’s squad later dropped a third nonconference game to Iowa in February.

“I’m really excited for Big 12 play. I’ve not started a conference season with one loss since my freshman year,” senior center Eric Chenowith said.

Indeed, the Jayhawks who won a pair of tournaments, went 16-1 during nonconference play Chenowith’s rookie season.

That squad went 35-4 overall 15-1 in the Big 12 and 3-0 in the league postseason tournament. KU has dropped 10 games overall the past two seasons, with 11-5 conference marks.

So are the Jayhawks potentially better than 11-5 and fifth in the Big 12 this year?

An emphatic “yes,” says sophomore forward Nick Collison.

“We have some lapses where we lose concentration, but offensively and defensively we are doing things coach wants us to do a lot better than last year,” Collison said.

“We are playing a lot better. If we maintain our concentration on the road, we are a much better team.”

Cold, hard stats back Collison’s contention the Jayhawks are improved.

KU averages 84.3 points per game the team’s best mark since scoring 84.6 ppg in 1997-98. KU averaged 78.8 and 72.1 ppg, respectively, the past two seasons.

KU has hit 52.4 percent of its shots, compared to 46.0 percent last season. It’s KU’s best shooting percentage since 53.3 percent in 1989-90 when the Jayhawks went 30-5.

The Jayhawks last hit 50 percent or better in 1992-93 (.515).

KU is hitting 40.8 percent of its threes, its first time over 40 percent since 1992-93 (.403). That squad went 29-7 and reached the Final Four.

KU is hitting 64.3 percent of its free throws, a tad worse than last year’s 65 percent. KU has hit 70 percent once in Williams’ first 12 seasons 71.8 in 1992-93.

The Jayhawks possess a plus-11 rebound margin, the best mark in the Williams era. KU had a plus-10.4 margin in 1996-97. KU’s rebound margin dipped to 8.3 last year and 3.9 two seasons ago.

KU is averaging 21.3 assists against 17.3 turnovers. The Jayhawks have averaged 20 assists once in the Williams era 21.8 in 1989-90.

KU’s opponents are hitting 37.2 percent of their shots, thus far the best defensive effort under Williams. The 1994-95 Jayhawks held foes to 37.8 percent shooting. Opponents are averaging 67.5 ppg, fifth best mark in the Williams era.

Individually:

Kenny Gregory, who led the team with a 12.8 scoring average on 57.7 percent shooting last year, is up to team-leading marks of 17.2 ppg on 64.8 percent shooting. He’s hit 13 of 29 (.448) free throws compared to 36 of 86 (.419) a year ago. The 6-foot-5 leaper averages 7.2 rebounds per game, up 2.8 boards from his junior season.

KU’s three second-year players have avoided the sophomore jinx. Collison has averaged 13.0 ppg on 63.7 percent shooting. He averaged 10.5 points at 49.7 percent shooting in 1999-00. He’s dipped to 5.9 boards per game compared to 6.9 last year.

Point guard Kirk Hinrich’s assist to turnover ratio is 7-3 compared to 3.6-2.6 last year. He’s made 21 of 36 threes for 58.3 percent, after hitting 25 of 80 all last year (.313). His scoring is up five points a game (10.5) and he’s grabbing 2.3 more boards per contest (4.7).

Forward Drew Gooden is averaging 15.8 ppg, compared to 10.6 a year ago. Gooden has made 53.8 percent of his shots, compared to a chilly 45.1 percent last year. Gooden, who had 36 assists all of last year, has 27 assists against 35 turnovers. He had 71 turnovers last season.

Junior guard Jeff Boschee, who made a team-leading 81 threes in 195 tries (41.5 percent) last year, has made 14 of 52 for 26.9 percent.

Boschee has made 23 two-point baskets compared to 29 two-pointers all last season. His assist-error ratio is 4-1.5 compared to 2.9-2.3 last year.

Boschee has won the defensive player of the game award several times and had a big defensive stop to help preserve a one-point win at Ohio State.

Senior pivot Chenowith is averaging 12.0 ppg and 9.3 rebounds, compared to marks of 8.6 ppg and 5.6 boards his junior season.

Chenowith leads the team in rebounds 111 to Gooden’s 101. Last year, Chenowith was third on the squad in boards just 27 ahead of the 6-6 Nick Bradford.

Senior guard Luke Axtell, who has played in six of 12 games, has averaged 8.8 ppg, close to last year’s 7.7 mark.

It may seem as if junior forward Jeff Carey is playing less minutes, but he’s actually averaged 8.4 mpg, while playing in all 12 games. He participated in 24 games a year ago, averaging 5.5 minutes.

Carey has hit 6 of 7 shots and junior forward Chris Zerbe 10 of 12.

“I like our chances,” Boschee said. “Last year we were extremely young. Kirk, Nick and Drew have more experience going in. They know what to expect. I think we’ll be ready. Wake Forest taught us a lesson. We know we have to be ready every night, especially on the road. If we come ready to play every night, we will be all right.”

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