Giddens unusually silent

By Ryan Wood     Mar 29, 2004

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo
Kansas' J.R. Giddens (15) and Nick Bahe celebrate Giddens' game-tying three-pointer with 16.2 seconds left in regulation.

? For once, J.R. Giddens was at a loss for words.

The Kansas University basketball freshman, probably the most outspoken of all the Jayhawks, apologized more than once to reporters for being speechless in response to several simple questions.

Even after nailing an enormous three-pointer with seconds to play in regulation, after dropping a team-high 15 points on Georgia Tech and capping a solid debut in the NCAA Tournament, the bottom line was all that mattered to Giddens. And it was hardly anything to gab about: Georgia Tech 79, Kansas 71.

“Obviously, they wanted it more than us,” Giddens said, his face unusually lacking any expression. “That’s what happened. They got the victory.”

KU (24-9) was battling uphill throughout the contest, and Georgia Tech (27-9) had a seven-point lead with less than four minutes to play. But an 8-1 KU run was capped by Giddens’ three-pointer with 16.2 seconds left that tied the score at 66. The Yellow Jackets couldn’t win it in regulation, but outscored the Jayhawks 13-5 in overtime to advance to their first Final Four since 1990.

“I just shot the ball, man,” Giddens said of the game-tying trey. “Nothing to it. I had to shoot the ball. I shot it, and it went in.”

It’s not so simple, of course. Not when Giddens is a freshman, not when a Final Four is at stake and not when 30,648 fans held their breath as he unleashed the shot.

There’s more color to it, but Giddens wasn’t in the mood to be colorful.

“He has never made a bigger shot in his life than what he made tonight when we were down three,” KU coach Bill Self said. “He is going to be a heck of a player. He has a lot of things going for him.”

Self spoke with the team afterward, but it was almost as if the freshman didn’t remember what was said.

“Nobody’s really said too much of anything,” Giddens said. “He just told us to keep our heads up.”

Giddens sat in the corner of the cramped locker room, looking at nothing, doing nothing, saying next to nothing.

He wasn’t the only stunned, quiet player, but his rare silence definitely was the loudest.

“I’m not much of a talker right now,” he said. “Sorry.”

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