Collison impressed by rookie

By Richard Brack     Nov 8, 2001

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo
FORMER KU FOOTBALL COACH Terry Allen laughs as an EA Sports player lands at Allen's feet. Allen sat right behind the KU bench as a guest of Jayhawk basketball coach Roy Williams.

No one was any happier than Nick Collison after Wayne Simien dominated EA Sports Central All-Stars in Simien’s Kansas debut.

Simien entered Wednesday night’s exhibition basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse after Collison picked up three fouls in the first five minutes. Simien, a Leavenworth freshman, sparked KU with 25 points and eight rebounds in a 98-77 victory.

Collison, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, praised the 6-9 newcomer for his efforts.

“Obviously, Wayne did a great job,” Collison said. “It’s good we’re deep there. Wayne and Jeff Carey did a good job.”

Despite limited playing time, Collison led KU with nine rebounds, and the Jayhawks finished with a 43-36 advantage on the boards.

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo
Kansas freshman Michael Lee goes for a rebound. Lee had four points and no boards in seven minutes in his collegiate debut.

Kansas outrebounded its opponents in 27 of 33 games last season, but that might be tougher this year in KU’s revamped three-guard lineup.

“It’s really important that everybody boxes out,” Collison said. “When guys are crashing the boards like that, if we can box out it doesn’t matter how tall we are.”

Collison’s height wasn’t doing him any good in the first half. He picked up his first foul with 17:09 remaining and later picked up two fouls nine seconds apart and went to the bench with 15:13 left in the half.

“It’s frustrating for him because he wanted to do more things,” coach Roy Williams said. “He had a bad night and he still has 12 points and nine rebounds, and he only played 20 minutes.”

Collison, who also had a blocked shot and an assist, did return to the court before halftime, but finished the period with four points in nine minutes.

“I was pretty frustrated,” said Collison, who fouled out of four games last season. “I can’t be getting stupid fouls.”

Things went better for the junior in the second half.

EA Sports cut a 17-point KU lead to seven and was within 70-61 when Collison fed Simien for a dunk. Collison hooked up with Simien again on the Jayhawks’ next possession for a three-point play.

Collison finished with five of KU’s 28 assists. Five Jayhawks had at least four assists.

“It’s a team that really likes playing together, and we don’t have any trouble fitting together,” he said.

After Simien’s three-point play, Collison took a charge at the other end of the floor. Then he scored on two of KU’s next three possessions as the Jayhawks stretched their lead to 81-64 with 8:04 remaining. Collison later gave KU its biggest lead, 91-68, with 3:51 to play.

“I played all right when I finally got in there,” he said of the second half.

With four newcomers in the mix, Kansas still has plenty to work on before it meets Fort Hays State in next Tuesday’s exhibition game.

While KU’s offense might have looked good to the casual fan, Williams said the Jayhawks only executed one set play properly Wednesday.

“They all did a good job,” Collison said of freshmen Simien, Michael Lee, Aaron Miles and Keith Langford. “They all need to learn how to execute better, but that’s to be expected. There’s so many new things.

“We have a week before our next exhibition game. We need a lot better execution in the next game. We’re at a point we can make a big improvement in a week.”

Then again, EA Sports forward Marek Ondara said KU executed better than the five other teams the All-Stars had played so far.

“The two main things that really hurt us were Kansas’ transition game, and we could not get any second-chance points,” said EA Sports coach Phil Bryant, whose team was coming off victories over Arkansas State and Arkansas. “They are just good at everything.”

Collison impressed by rookie

By Richard Brack     Nov 8, 2001

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo
FORMER KU FOOTBALL COACH Terry Allen laughs as an EA Sports player lands at Allen's feet. Allen sat right behind the KU bench as a guest of Jayhawk basketball coach Roy Williams.

No one was any happier than Nick Collison after Wayne Simien dominated EA Sports Central All-Stars in Simien’s Kansas debut.

Simien entered Wednesday night’s exhibition basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse after Collison picked up three fouls in the first five minutes. Simien, a Leavenworth freshman, sparked KU with 25 points and eight rebounds in a 98-77 victory.

Collison, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, praised the 6-9 newcomer for his efforts.

“Obviously, Wayne did a great job,” Collison said. “It’s good we’re deep there. Wayne and Jeff Carey did a good job.”

Despite limited playing time, Collison led KU with nine rebounds, and the Jayhawks finished with a 43-36 advantage on the boards.

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo
Kansas freshman Michael Lee goes for a rebound. Lee had four points and no boards in seven minutes in his collegiate debut.

Kansas outrebounded its opponents in 27 of 33 games last season, but that might be tougher this year in KU’s revamped three-guard lineup.

“It’s really important that everybody boxes out,” Collison said. “When guys are crashing the boards like that, if we can box out it doesn’t matter how tall we are.”

Collison’s height wasn’t doing him any good in the first half. He picked up his first foul with 17:09 remaining and later picked up two fouls nine seconds apart and went to the bench with 15:13 left in the half.

“It’s frustrating for him because he wanted to do more things,” coach Roy Williams said. “He had a bad night and he still has 12 points and nine rebounds, and he only played 20 minutes.”

Collison, who also had a blocked shot and an assist, did return to the court before halftime, but finished the period with four points in nine minutes.

“I was pretty frustrated,” said Collison, who fouled out of four games last season. “I can’t be getting stupid fouls.”

Things went better for the junior in the second half.

EA Sports cut a 17-point KU lead to seven and was within 70-61 when Collison fed Simien for a dunk. Collison hooked up with Simien again on the Jayhawks’ next possession for a three-point play.

Collison finished with five of KU’s 28 assists. Five Jayhawks had at least four assists.

“It’s a team that really likes playing together, and we don’t have any trouble fitting together,” he said.

After Simien’s three-point play, Collison took a charge at the other end of the floor. Then he scored on two of KU’s next three possessions as the Jayhawks stretched their lead to 81-64 with 8:04 remaining. Collison later gave KU its biggest lead, 91-68, with 3:51 to play.

“I played all right when I finally got in there,” he said of the second half.

With four newcomers in the mix, Kansas still has plenty to work on before it meets Fort Hays State in next Tuesday’s exhibition game.

While KU’s offense might have looked good to the casual fan, Williams said the Jayhawks only executed one set play properly Wednesday.

“They all did a good job,” Collison said of freshmen Simien, Michael Lee, Aaron Miles and Keith Langford. “They all need to learn how to execute better, but that’s to be expected. There’s so many new things.

“We have a week before our next exhibition game. We need a lot better execution in the next game. We’re at a point we can make a big improvement in a week.”

Then again, EA Sports forward Marek Ondara said KU executed better than the five other teams the All-Stars had played so far.

“The two main things that really hurt us were Kansas’ transition game, and we could not get any second-chance points,” said EA Sports coach Phil Bryant, whose team was coming off victories over Arkansas State and Arkansas. “They are just good at everything.”

Collison impressed by rookie

By Richard Brack     Nov 8, 2001

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo
FORMER KU FOOTBALL COACH Terry Allen laughs as an EA Sports player lands at Allen's feet. Allen sat right behind the KU bench as a guest of Jayhawk basketball coach Roy Williams.

No one was any happier than Nick Collison after Wayne Simien dominated EA Sports Central All-Stars in Simien’s Kansas debut.

Simien entered Wednesday night’s exhibition basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse after Collison picked up three fouls in the first five minutes. Simien, a Leavenworth freshman, sparked KU with 25 points and eight rebounds in a 98-77 victory.

Collison, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, praised the 6-9 newcomer for his efforts.

“Obviously, Wayne did a great job,” Collison said. “It’s good we’re deep there. Wayne and Jeff Carey did a good job.”

Despite limited playing time, Collison led KU with nine rebounds, and the Jayhawks finished with a 43-36 advantage on the boards.

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo
Kansas freshman Michael Lee goes for a rebound. Lee had four points and no boards in seven minutes in his collegiate debut.

Kansas outrebounded its opponents in 27 of 33 games last season, but that might be tougher this year in KU’s revamped three-guard lineup.

“It’s really important that everybody boxes out,” Collison said. “When guys are crashing the boards like that, if we can box out it doesn’t matter how tall we are.”

Collison’s height wasn’t doing him any good in the first half. He picked up his first foul with 17:09 remaining and later picked up two fouls nine seconds apart and went to the bench with 15:13 left in the half.

“It’s frustrating for him because he wanted to do more things,” coach Roy Williams said. “He had a bad night and he still has 12 points and nine rebounds, and he only played 20 minutes.”

Collison, who also had a blocked shot and an assist, did return to the court before halftime, but finished the period with four points in nine minutes.

“I was pretty frustrated,” said Collison, who fouled out of four games last season. “I can’t be getting stupid fouls.”

Things went better for the junior in the second half.

EA Sports cut a 17-point KU lead to seven and was within 70-61 when Collison fed Simien for a dunk. Collison hooked up with Simien again on the Jayhawks’ next possession for a three-point play.

Collison finished with five of KU’s 28 assists. Five Jayhawks had at least four assists.

“It’s a team that really likes playing together, and we don’t have any trouble fitting together,” he said.

After Simien’s three-point play, Collison took a charge at the other end of the floor. Then he scored on two of KU’s next three possessions as the Jayhawks stretched their lead to 81-64 with 8:04 remaining. Collison later gave KU its biggest lead, 91-68, with 3:51 to play.

“I played all right when I finally got in there,” he said of the second half.

With four newcomers in the mix, Kansas still has plenty to work on before it meets Fort Hays State in next Tuesday’s exhibition game.

While KU’s offense might have looked good to the casual fan, Williams said the Jayhawks only executed one set play properly Wednesday.

“They all did a good job,” Collison said of freshmen Simien, Michael Lee, Aaron Miles and Keith Langford. “They all need to learn how to execute better, but that’s to be expected. There’s so many new things.

“We have a week before our next exhibition game. We need a lot better execution in the next game. We’re at a point we can make a big improvement in a week.”

Then again, EA Sports forward Marek Ondara said KU executed better than the five other teams the All-Stars had played so far.

“The two main things that really hurt us were Kansas’ transition game, and we could not get any second-chance points,” said EA Sports coach Phil Bryant, whose team was coming off victories over Arkansas State and Arkansas. “They are just good at everything.”

Collison impressed by rookie

By Richard Brack     Nov 8, 2001

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo
FORMER KU FOOTBALL COACH Terry Allen laughs as an EA Sports player lands at Allen's feet. Allen sat right behind the KU bench as a guest of Jayhawk basketball coach Roy Williams.

No one was any happier than Nick Collison after Wayne Simien dominated EA Sports Central All-Stars in Simien’s Kansas debut.

Simien entered Wednesday night’s exhibition basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse after Collison picked up three fouls in the first five minutes. Simien, a Leavenworth freshman, sparked KU with 25 points and eight rebounds in a 98-77 victory.

Collison, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, praised the 6-9 newcomer for his efforts.

“Obviously, Wayne did a great job,” Collison said. “It’s good we’re deep there. Wayne and Jeff Carey did a good job.”

Despite limited playing time, Collison led KU with nine rebounds, and the Jayhawks finished with a 43-36 advantage on the boards.

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo
Kansas freshman Michael Lee goes for a rebound. Lee had four points and no boards in seven minutes in his collegiate debut.

Kansas outrebounded its opponents in 27 of 33 games last season, but that might be tougher this year in KU’s revamped three-guard lineup.

“It’s really important that everybody boxes out,” Collison said. “When guys are crashing the boards like that, if we can box out it doesn’t matter how tall we are.”

Collison’s height wasn’t doing him any good in the first half. He picked up his first foul with 17:09 remaining and later picked up two fouls nine seconds apart and went to the bench with 15:13 left in the half.

“It’s frustrating for him because he wanted to do more things,” coach Roy Williams said. “He had a bad night and he still has 12 points and nine rebounds, and he only played 20 minutes.”

Collison, who also had a blocked shot and an assist, did return to the court before halftime, but finished the period with four points in nine minutes.

“I was pretty frustrated,” said Collison, who fouled out of four games last season. “I can’t be getting stupid fouls.”

Things went better for the junior in the second half.

EA Sports cut a 17-point KU lead to seven and was within 70-61 when Collison fed Simien for a dunk. Collison hooked up with Simien again on the Jayhawks’ next possession for a three-point play.

Collison finished with five of KU’s 28 assists. Five Jayhawks had at least four assists.

“It’s a team that really likes playing together, and we don’t have any trouble fitting together,” he said.

After Simien’s three-point play, Collison took a charge at the other end of the floor. Then he scored on two of KU’s next three possessions as the Jayhawks stretched their lead to 81-64 with 8:04 remaining. Collison later gave KU its biggest lead, 91-68, with 3:51 to play.

“I played all right when I finally got in there,” he said of the second half.

With four newcomers in the mix, Kansas still has plenty to work on before it meets Fort Hays State in next Tuesday’s exhibition game.

While KU’s offense might have looked good to the casual fan, Williams said the Jayhawks only executed one set play properly Wednesday.

“They all did a good job,” Collison said of freshmen Simien, Michael Lee, Aaron Miles and Keith Langford. “They all need to learn how to execute better, but that’s to be expected. There’s so many new things.

“We have a week before our next exhibition game. We need a lot better execution in the next game. We’re at a point we can make a big improvement in a week.”

Then again, EA Sports forward Marek Ondara said KU executed better than the five other teams the All-Stars had played so far.

“The two main things that really hurt us were Kansas’ transition game, and we could not get any second-chance points,” said EA Sports coach Phil Bryant, whose team was coming off victories over Arkansas State and Arkansas. “They are just good at everything.”

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