Surviving sans Simien

By Gary Bedore     Jan 3, 2005

Thad Allender/Journal-World Photo
Kansas' Christian Moody (34) scores in the lane against Georgia Tech's Anthony McHenry (left) and Ra'Sean Dickey. Moody collected eight points and 10 rebounds against the Yellow Jackets in KU's 70-68 overtime victory Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

It doesn’t look like injured Kansas University senior Wayne Simien will be making a miraculous appearance in Sunday’s nonconference contest at Kentucky.

“It’s very wishful thinking, but I don’t think it’s a possibility,” KU coach Bill Self said Sunday, asked about Simien’s status 14 days after the power forward’s left thumb surgery.

“He hasn’t even got the cast off yet. I wish it was the case, but we’re still going with four to six weeks. We’ve been told it takes that long for the ligament to reattach to the bone.”

After Saturday’s 70-68 overtime victory over Georgia Tech, Simien expressed hope he’d be able to return against UK at Rupp Arena after missing Wednesday’s 8 p.m. home battle against Texas A&M.

Today, he will have his hard cast removed and replaced with a soft cast.

“It will allow him to get more involved with the guys without having contact,” Self said.

Simien, who shot during warmups Saturday and has been shooting on the side daily at practice, already has been fitted for splints to wear during future practices or games.

Several big guys contributed Saturday to help the Jayhawks (9-0) improve to 2-0 without Simien.

Christian Moody scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 32 minutes, while C.J. Giles, who started next to Moody, had two points, two blocks, three boards and five fouls in 11 minutes.

Moody, in particular, drew Self’s praise.

“Christian is technically a walk-on, but he didn’t play like one,” Self said. “He is just an amazing kid. He’s done a great job, and hopefully his confidence will grow and grow.”

Junior Moulaye Niang was the surprise first big man off the bench and responded with two boards and an assist in seven minutes.

Freshman Sasha Kaun had a bucket and two rebounds in 10 minutes, while freshman Darnell Jackson, who started the Wisconsin-Milwaukee game, missed a shot in four minutes.

“This is huge for our confidence level. Even though we already had a game without him, I think everybody had nerves at first wondering what it was going to be like playing a team like Georgia Tech without Wayne,” Moody said.

Moody gave a sigh of relief after the Jayhawks rallied from a 16-point deficit to remain undefeated.

“I don’t know if we’re trying to prove anything right now. We’re trying to get better without him so when he comes back we will be much stronger,” Moody said.

Self said he had the Georgia Tech game circled on his calendar “a long time, but we didn’t anticipate playing without Wayne.”

In retrospect … “it was an unbelievable game,” he added of the New Year’s Day classic. “It was a great atmosphere in the fieldhouse.”

Was it the loudest he has heard in an arena?

“I don’t know that,” he said, “but it was loud. I made the decision there’s no reason to yell at the guys because they can’t hear you anyway.”

He didn’t want to yell much at the Jayhawks anyway.

“I am so proud of our guys because I have been telling them we have to be tougher and play harder,” Self said. “I think these guys showed they were tough and played with a lot of courage. I don’t know if I have ever been around too many games like this.”

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More on pads: To stress the importance of physical toughness, Self on Wednesday had his players practice 30 minutes in football helmets and pads in Horejsi Center.

“I got mad at the guys for not playing tough. I told them, we’re practicing in pads if we didn’t have the best practice of the year. We didn’t have the best practice of the year, so I got the pads out. I think it was an attention-getter.

“I was just trying to make a point. I wasn’t trying to kill them, but it did make me feel better.”

The Jayhawks wore KU football pads and helmets.

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Signee loved game: KU signee Julian Wright and his mother attended Saturday’s game.

“Kansas just kept fighting and got the job done,” Wright told Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com. “They didn’t take their first lead until overtime, but they weren’t about to lose the game. It was definitely the perfect game to attend.”

Wright, a 6-foot-8 swingman from Homewood-Flossmoor High in the Chicago area, said fans shouldn’t worry about his heading to the NBA.

“Kansas is definitely where I want to be until I am completely ready for the NBA. There is no doubt I’ll be playing for Kansas next year,” he said.

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