The Kansas basketball team got butchered at Wake Forest and though it didn’t seem that way at the time, KU got at least two benefits from the 84-53 humiliation.
The Jayhawks have learned they didn’t get rag-dolled by some offshoot of the Little Sisters of the Poor, that they might not be quite as bad as they looked that night. And by now they should have a good idea of the kinds of floggings they face if they don’t improve a lot.
I’m not talking about NCAA tournament play, either. There are at least three Big 12 teams which could bar the path to a better-than-fourth KU finish in the conference. Kansas will get better, we should think, but so will Missouri, Texas, Iowa State and Oklahoma, which already are pretty darn good.
First, the Wake Forest embarrassment. The undefeated, No. 4-rated Demon Deacons rolled over previously unbeaten Virginia (No. 9) on Wednesday and are bona fide contenders for the title in the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference.
Lithuanian Darius Songaila got 27 points and ruled the paint against Virginia. Against Kansas, Songaila settled for 10 points and eight boards, but Kansas’s towering Eric Chenowith scored only a single point and nailed only five boards while the other Deacons were carving up the Jayhawks. KU didn’t lose to any pansy. WFU will beat a lot of good teams.
The point is, Wake has won 17 in a row and it’s no sin to be beaten by the Deacons, although not as badly as Kansas was. The Jayhawks have had a painful look at what it’s going to take to win a league title and go more than two games into the NCAA meet. They shouldn’t need a carrot any bigger than that on the end of the stick.
Kansas’s sophomore Triplets Terrific are on track to get better and better; that’s doggone good. Drew Gooden, however, is like a cow you milk. You get the bucket filled, then she kicks it over spilling quite a bit. Gooden got 16 points and 10 boards at Ohio State but his turnovers (eight in all) led directly to at least 12 Buckeye points 24-point swing. Drew’s gotta spend less time in space and more minutes plugged in on earthly duties. He’s as good an offensive board man as I can recall, even if he periodically loses focus.
Senior Kenny Gregory has rebounded from his stress fracture to offer great promise and senior Luke Axtell is a couple weeks ahead of where I thought he’d be. That leaves senior Chenowith and junior Jeff Boschee as currently the flattest wheels on the carriage.
These two veterans must deliver big time, consistently rather than in spurts, for Kansas come even close to its potential. If they don’t, the Tigers, Longhorns and Sooners are licking their chops at any sign of weakness. If Iowa State can keep point guard Jamaal Tinsley out of trouble with the law, the Cyclones again can go 2-0 against KU in Big 12 northern division warfare.
It gets more treacherous by the day for Kansas, early record be damned. But the Wake Forest experience should have taught the Jayhawks what it takes to win big-time. That game could be the defining experience of the season good or bad.
l Loved it the other night when Florida footballers hot-dogged against Miami and got penalized for taunting. About time such calls were made, and let’s have more. They hurt the ‘Gators, even if Miami was better. Refs were eager to de-fuse hard feelings that might have emerged from an earlier clash of players in New Orleans. But the no-taunt crackdown is marvelous.
Then give controversial ‘Gator coach Steve Spurrier credit for facing up to the loss: “We got what we deserved. Miami is better . . . They’re tougher. They’re more disciplined. They’re smarter. They’re better-coached.”
Didn’t even slam his legendary visor to the ground, upset as he was. More class than usual.
