Which ranked team has been the biggest disappointment so far this season?
While UCLA fans making their annual call for Steve Lavin’s neck might disagree after the Bruins lost to San Diego and then Duke to start another soap opera season in Westwood, here’s a vote for No. 14 Kansas.
The team that usually finds a way to blow games in March is doing it early, too.
After a couple of easy victories at home, the Jayhawks deflated faster than a Thanksgiving Day float against North Carolina in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden, then came out just as flat and got beat by Florida in the consolation game. Talk about an expensive trip to New York.
“The guys are down. There are a lot of expectations here, some of them unrealistic,” Kansas coach Roy Williams said. “I’m not the guy who put us No. 2 in the country. Some other guy did. I thought we had some reservations and I still think we have some reservations.”
Is that hotel reservations or restaurant reservations? Kansas still might make some for New Orleans and the Final Four this season – the last time the Jayhawks lost back-to-back games this early, they wound up winning the national championship in 1988 – but will need one of its key players to emerge from an early-season slump.
While most of the Jayhawks have lived up to expectations, sophomore point guard Aaron Miles has started the season handling the ball poorly and shooting it worse. He was badly outplayed in New York and will face one of the nation’s top point guards today in Oregon’s Luke Ridnour.
“Aaron really had a very consistent preseason of practice for us and when we started playing the games, he hasn’t played as well,” Williams said. “I still have total, 100 percent confidence in him. The ball just hasn’t gone in the basket for him and he hasn’t made quite as good decisions as I think he needs to make.”
Miles made only six of 26 shots in his team’s first four games (23.1 percent) before making six of 12 in Wednesday’s 97-70 home win over Central Missouri. What’s equally disturbing for a player who broke Jacque Vaughn’s freshman assist record is that Miles has turned the ball over 18 times to partially negate his 31 assists.
Speaking of expectations, they’re never as high for the Texas basketball team as they are for the football team. The Longhorns have put together a solid program in recent years, but their fans have never worked themselves into a frenzy for basketball.
That is why Texas reaching No. 2 in this week’s rankings – the highest ranking ever for the basketball program – barely registered in Austin.
Rick Barnes, who left Clemson because it was too much of a football school, has become a little more understanding of the mentality with the Longhorns.
“Expectations for our football program are incredible. I don’t think I can compare our football and basketball programs in that way,” said Barnes, whose team will play George Washington as part of the BB&T Classic doubleheader today at MCI Center in Washington. “The fact that we won three national championships in football, that is what is expected.”
Which ranked team has been the biggest disappointment so far this season?
While UCLA fans making their annual call for Steve Lavin’s neck might disagree after the Bruins lost to San Diego and then Duke to start another soap opera season in Westwood, here’s a vote for No. 14 Kansas.
The team that usually finds a way to blow games in March is doing it early, too.
After a couple of easy victories at home, the Jayhawks deflated faster than a Thanksgiving Day float against North Carolina in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden, then came out just as flat and got beat by Florida in the consolation game. Talk about an expensive trip to New York.
“The guys are down. There are a lot of expectations here, some of them unrealistic,” Kansas coach Roy Williams said. “I’m not the guy who put us No. 2 in the country. Some other guy did. I thought we had some reservations and I still think we have some reservations.”
Is that hotel reservations or restaurant reservations? Kansas still might make some for New Orleans and the Final Four this season – the last time the Jayhawks lost back-to-back games this early, they wound up winning the national championship in 1988 – but will need one of its key players to emerge from an early-season slump.
While most of the Jayhawks have lived up to expectations, sophomore point guard Aaron Miles has started the season handling the ball poorly and shooting it worse. He was badly outplayed in New York and will face one of the nation’s top point guards today in Oregon’s Luke Ridnour.
“Aaron really had a very consistent preseason of practice for us and when we started playing the games, he hasn’t played as well,” Williams said. “I still have total, 100 percent confidence in him. The ball just hasn’t gone in the basket for him and he hasn’t made quite as good decisions as I think he needs to make.”
Miles made only six of 26 shots in his team’s first four games (23.1 percent) before making six of 12 in Wednesday’s 97-70 home win over Central Missouri. What’s equally disturbing for a player who broke Jacque Vaughn’s freshman assist record is that Miles has turned the ball over 18 times to partially negate his 31 assists.
Speaking of expectations, they’re never as high for the Texas basketball team as they are for the football team. The Longhorns have put together a solid program in recent years, but their fans have never worked themselves into a frenzy for basketball.
That is why Texas reaching No. 2 in this week’s rankings – the highest ranking ever for the basketball program – barely registered in Austin.
Rick Barnes, who left Clemson because it was too much of a football school, has become a little more understanding of the mentality with the Longhorns.
“Expectations for our football program are incredible. I don’t think I can compare our football and basketball programs in that way,” said Barnes, whose team will play George Washington as part of the BB&T Classic doubleheader today at MCI Center in Washington. “The fact that we won three national championships in football, that is what is expected.”
