Five months from now if Kansas University’s men’s basketball team is in New Orleans for the NCAA Final Four Monday night’s exhibition game against EA Sports East will be about as memorable as yesterday’s bean dip.
Preseason games don’t mean squat. KU coach Roy Williams has forever referred to them as “glorified practices.”
And yet, if you look closely, you can spot a few seeds that might germinate and identify caterpillars that may never turn into butterflies.
More than one college basketball pundit has opined Kansas may have the best starting five in the country, but its bench is suspect.
It IS suspect if that opinion is based on comparisons to last year’s bench, or linked to the notion that Drew Gooden, the fourth player selected in the 2002 NBA Draft, and Jeff Boschee, the Jayhawks’ all-time three-point shooting leader, are gone and coach Roy Williams didn’t so much reload the roster as add bodies.
No doubt the Jayhawks’ reserves don’t match the quality of last year’s Final Four team. With Wayne Simien and Keith Langford, classic relief pitchers in 2001-2002, moving into the vacated Gooden-Boschee starting slots, the bench couldn’t help but be weaker.
Honestly, it is unreasonable to believe any team could be blessed with a bench combo like Simien and Langford year after year.
For example, this year’s non-starters are a lot better than the virtually empty bench Williams had two years ago when, during the NCAA tournament, his backcourt consisted entirely of Boschee, Kirk Hinrich and walk-on Brett Ballard.
After watching Monday night’s 111-94 victory against EA Sports, it seems while Williams may not have the quality he would like, at least he has quantity and Williams has done quite well in the past with deep if not overly talented reserves.
Midway through the second half on Monday night, I couldn’t help but notice how Bryant Nash, Moulaye Niang, Jeff Hawkins, Jeff Graves and Michael Lee were playing like starved barracudas on defense, at once disrupting and wearying the veteran players wearing EA Sports togs.
Defensively, I thought the reserves wreaked some havoc. Offensively, the five combined for 31 points an average of about six points apiece and that’s not bad. Still, I’m sure Williams would rather have had two or three players combine for those 31 points instead of five.
It’s probably safe to say Williams is most concerned about the lack of a three-point shooter to complement Kirk Hinrich, one of the most accurate long-range bombers in the country. Basically, Hinrich is it and one three-point shooter simply isn’t enough.
When Kansas falls behind during the 2002-2003 season, Hinrich can expect automatic double-teaming because opponents will realize he’s the Jayhawks’ lone long-range threat.
Perhaps Keith Langford will develop into a three-point shooter, but he’s more of a one-on-one, in-your-face type of player. Bryant Nash nailed a couple of treys on Monday night, but the 6-foot-6 junior was wide open both times. Stand-still distance shooters are OK in the middle 20 minutes, but not at crunch time.
Will sophomore point guard Aaron Miles, by necessity, have to shoot threes? That’s a strong likelihood. Miles wasn’t a good shooter as a freshman, but then again neither was Hinrich.
A bench full of one-trick barracudas is OK if you have a couple of multi-talented dolphins to go with them, but if that isn’t the case, then you use what’s in the net.
“The fact of the matter is,” Williams said Monday night, “I can’t trade anybody.”
And the NCAA doesn’t have a waiver wire, either.
Five months from now if Kansas University’s men’s basketball team is in New Orleans for the NCAA Final Four Monday night’s exhibition game against EA Sports East will be about as memorable as yesterday’s bean dip.
Preseason games don’t mean squat. KU coach Roy Williams has forever referred to them as “glorified practices.”
And yet, if you look closely, you can spot a few seeds that might germinate and identify caterpillars that may never turn into butterflies.
More than one college basketball pundit has opined Kansas may have the best starting five in the country, but its bench is suspect.
It IS suspect if that opinion is based on comparisons to last year’s bench, or linked to the notion that Drew Gooden, the fourth player selected in the 2002 NBA Draft, and Jeff Boschee, the Jayhawks’ all-time three-point shooting leader, are gone and coach Roy Williams didn’t so much reload the roster as add bodies.
No doubt the Jayhawks’ reserves don’t match the quality of last year’s Final Four team. With Wayne Simien and Keith Langford, classic relief pitchers in 2001-2002, moving into the vacated Gooden-Boschee starting slots, the bench couldn’t help but be weaker.
Honestly, it is unreasonable to believe any team could be blessed with a bench combo like Simien and Langford year after year.
For example, this year’s non-starters are a lot better than the virtually empty bench Williams had two years ago when, during the NCAA tournament, his backcourt consisted entirely of Boschee, Kirk Hinrich and walk-on Brett Ballard.
After watching Monday night’s 111-94 victory against EA Sports, it seems while Williams may not have the quality he would like, at least he has quantity and Williams has done quite well in the past with deep if not overly talented reserves.
Midway through the second half on Monday night, I couldn’t help but notice how Bryant Nash, Moulaye Niang, Jeff Hawkins, Jeff Graves and Michael Lee were playing like starved barracudas on defense, at once disrupting and wearying the veteran players wearing EA Sports togs.
Defensively, I thought the reserves wreaked some havoc. Offensively, the five combined for 31 points an average of about six points apiece and that’s not bad. Still, I’m sure Williams would rather have had two or three players combine for those 31 points instead of five.
It’s probably safe to say Williams is most concerned about the lack of a three-point shooter to complement Kirk Hinrich, one of the most accurate long-range bombers in the country. Basically, Hinrich is it and one three-point shooter simply isn’t enough.
When Kansas falls behind during the 2002-2003 season, Hinrich can expect automatic double-teaming because opponents will realize he’s the Jayhawks’ lone long-range threat.
Perhaps Keith Langford will develop into a three-point shooter, but he’s more of a one-on-one, in-your-face type of player. Bryant Nash nailed a couple of treys on Monday night, but the 6-foot-6 junior was wide open both times. Stand-still distance shooters are OK in the middle 20 minutes, but not at crunch time.
Will sophomore point guard Aaron Miles, by necessity, have to shoot threes? That’s a strong likelihood. Miles wasn’t a good shooter as a freshman, but then again neither was Hinrich.
A bench full of one-trick barracudas is OK if you have a couple of multi-talented dolphins to go with them, but if that isn’t the case, then you use what’s in the net.
“The fact of the matter is,” Williams said Monday night, “I can’t trade anybody.”
And the NCAA doesn’t have a waiver wire, either.
Five months from now if Kansas University’s men’s basketball team is in New Orleans for the NCAA Final Four Monday night’s exhibition game against EA Sports East will be about as memorable as yesterday’s bean dip.
Preseason games don’t mean squat. KU coach Roy Williams has forever referred to them as “glorified practices.”
And yet, if you look closely, you can spot a few seeds that might germinate and identify caterpillars that may never turn into butterflies.
More than one college basketball pundit has opined Kansas may have the best starting five in the country, but its bench is suspect.
It IS suspect if that opinion is based on comparisons to last year’s bench, or linked to the notion that Drew Gooden, the fourth player selected in the 2002 NBA Draft, and Jeff Boschee, the Jayhawks’ all-time three-point shooting leader, are gone and coach Roy Williams didn’t so much reload the roster as add bodies.
No doubt the Jayhawks’ reserves don’t match the quality of last year’s Final Four team. With Wayne Simien and Keith Langford, classic relief pitchers in 2001-2002, moving into the vacated Gooden-Boschee starting slots, the bench couldn’t help but be weaker.
Honestly, it is unreasonable to believe any team could be blessed with a bench combo like Simien and Langford year after year.
For example, this year’s non-starters are a lot better than the virtually empty bench Williams had two years ago when, during the NCAA tournament, his backcourt consisted entirely of Boschee, Kirk Hinrich and walk-on Brett Ballard.
After watching Monday night’s 111-94 victory against EA Sports, it seems while Williams may not have the quality he would like, at least he has quantity and Williams has done quite well in the past with deep if not overly talented reserves.
Midway through the second half on Monday night, I couldn’t help but notice how Bryant Nash, Moulaye Niang, Jeff Hawkins, Jeff Graves and Michael Lee were playing like starved barracudas on defense, at once disrupting and wearying the veteran players wearing EA Sports togs.
Defensively, I thought the reserves wreaked some havoc. Offensively, the five combined for 31 points an average of about six points apiece and that’s not bad. Still, I’m sure Williams would rather have had two or three players combine for those 31 points instead of five.
It’s probably safe to say Williams is most concerned about the lack of a three-point shooter to complement Kirk Hinrich, one of the most accurate long-range bombers in the country. Basically, Hinrich is it and one three-point shooter simply isn’t enough.
When Kansas falls behind during the 2002-2003 season, Hinrich can expect automatic double-teaming because opponents will realize he’s the Jayhawks’ lone long-range threat.
Perhaps Keith Langford will develop into a three-point shooter, but he’s more of a one-on-one, in-your-face type of player. Bryant Nash nailed a couple of treys on Monday night, but the 6-foot-6 junior was wide open both times. Stand-still distance shooters are OK in the middle 20 minutes, but not at crunch time.
Will sophomore point guard Aaron Miles, by necessity, have to shoot threes? That’s a strong likelihood. Miles wasn’t a good shooter as a freshman, but then again neither was Hinrich.
A bench full of one-trick barracudas is OK if you have a couple of multi-talented dolphins to go with them, but if that isn’t the case, then you use what’s in the net.
“The fact of the matter is,” Williams said Monday night, “I can’t trade anybody.”
And the NCAA doesn’t have a waiver wire, either.
Five months from now if Kansas University’s men’s basketball team is in New Orleans for the NCAA Final Four Monday night’s exhibition game against EA Sports East will be about as memorable as yesterday’s bean dip.
Preseason games don’t mean squat. KU coach Roy Williams has forever referred to them as “glorified practices.”
And yet, if you look closely, you can spot a few seeds that might germinate and identify caterpillars that may never turn into butterflies.
More than one college basketball pundit has opined Kansas may have the best starting five in the country, but its bench is suspect.
It IS suspect if that opinion is based on comparisons to last year’s bench, or linked to the notion that Drew Gooden, the fourth player selected in the 2002 NBA Draft, and Jeff Boschee, the Jayhawks’ all-time three-point shooting leader, are gone and coach Roy Williams didn’t so much reload the roster as add bodies.
No doubt the Jayhawks’ reserves don’t match the quality of last year’s Final Four team. With Wayne Simien and Keith Langford, classic relief pitchers in 2001-2002, moving into the vacated Gooden-Boschee starting slots, the bench couldn’t help but be weaker.
Honestly, it is unreasonable to believe any team could be blessed with a bench combo like Simien and Langford year after year.
For example, this year’s non-starters are a lot better than the virtually empty bench Williams had two years ago when, during the NCAA tournament, his backcourt consisted entirely of Boschee, Kirk Hinrich and walk-on Brett Ballard.
After watching Monday night’s 111-94 victory against EA Sports, it seems while Williams may not have the quality he would like, at least he has quantity and Williams has done quite well in the past with deep if not overly talented reserves.
Midway through the second half on Monday night, I couldn’t help but notice how Bryant Nash, Moulaye Niang, Jeff Hawkins, Jeff Graves and Michael Lee were playing like starved barracudas on defense, at once disrupting and wearying the veteran players wearing EA Sports togs.
Defensively, I thought the reserves wreaked some havoc. Offensively, the five combined for 31 points an average of about six points apiece and that’s not bad. Still, I’m sure Williams would rather have had two or three players combine for those 31 points instead of five.
It’s probably safe to say Williams is most concerned about the lack of a three-point shooter to complement Kirk Hinrich, one of the most accurate long-range bombers in the country. Basically, Hinrich is it and one three-point shooter simply isn’t enough.
When Kansas falls behind during the 2002-2003 season, Hinrich can expect automatic double-teaming because opponents will realize he’s the Jayhawks’ lone long-range threat.
Perhaps Keith Langford will develop into a three-point shooter, but he’s more of a one-on-one, in-your-face type of player. Bryant Nash nailed a couple of treys on Monday night, but the 6-foot-6 junior was wide open both times. Stand-still distance shooters are OK in the middle 20 minutes, but not at crunch time.
Will sophomore point guard Aaron Miles, by necessity, have to shoot threes? That’s a strong likelihood. Miles wasn’t a good shooter as a freshman, but then again neither was Hinrich.
A bench full of one-trick barracudas is OK if you have a couple of multi-talented dolphins to go with them, but if that isn’t the case, then you use what’s in the net.
“The fact of the matter is,” Williams said Monday night, “I can’t trade anybody.”
And the NCAA doesn’t have a waiver wire, either.
