Waco, Texas ? There wasn’t much for Kansas University’s basketball players and coaches to do, except talk, while snowed in at Philadelphia’s Downtown Marriott on Saturday night.
So the Jayhawks, who dropped to sixth Monday in the Associated Press poll, did some soul-searching after their 83-62 loss at Villanova.
“Emotions got aired out. Now we’re good to go,” KU senior Wayne Simien said, referring to tonight’s 6:30 p.m. contest against Baylor at Ferrell Center.
“We’re fired up getting back to conference play now and trying to win a championship.”
Who knows, if the Jayhawks (14-1 overall, 4-0 Big 12 Conference) do win league and national titles this season, a snowy weekend in Philly might be cited as a turning point.
“Usually when you lose, you get on a plane, get off the bus and go your separate ways,” KU senior point guard Aaron Miles said. “By losing and having to stay there, it allowed us to all stay together, have a meeting, watch tape and talk about some things. Being able to talk about it was good for us.”
There was plenty of give and take during a film session held after dinner.
“I said, ‘Saturday’s been a bad day, let’s make it miserable, watch it (Villanova game tape) all together so when Sunday rolls around we don’t have to mention it again,'” coach Bill Self said of the ‘Nova loss.
Some talk centered on the veterans not being “energized” for the opening tip.
“It’s not the reason we lost to Villanova, but I do think our seniors can play with much more energy. It’s something we’ve addressed,” Self said, noting “last year when we didn’t play well, energy was our biggest problem.
“It’s hard to put finger on it except guys had experienced so much success in the past and with a couple of lottery picks next to them, things came easy.”
Miles admits there are times the Jayhawks, for whatever reason, don’t come out with fire in their eyes.
“I do think it occurs sometimes. I’ve noticed it even in myself, sometimes not having as much energy as I should,” Miles said. “It’s something you’ve got to work on.”
He doesn’t think emotion will be a problem tonight against Baylor (9-6, 1-3).
“Just because we lost, it makes us feel we have to make a statement, to come back and play better,” Miles said. “Had we beaten Villanova we probably would think they are the Baylor of old and not so good, but they have a really good team this year.
“We know we’re not invincible. We got blown out. We’ve got to come out and play with unbelievable energy at the start of games.”
Some experts said the Jayhawks needed a setback after 14 victories, many of them close calls.
“I don’t believe in the whole ‘We had to lose, we didn’t have any losses.’ We’ve lost enough here in the first three years to understand what losing feels like,” senior Keith Langford said.
“It’s just another quirk in our season. Just something we haven’t dealt with this year with this team. Obviously, the guys who this is their first time losing here, now they know how to deal with it.”
“There’s not an exact timetable,” Self said.
Giles, who did not make the trip to Waco with the rest of the team Monday, said he hurt his foot when he put back a Langford miss for a dunk at Kentucky.
“I came down on it wrong,” said Giles, who wears a boot at all times except when sleeping.
“I’m going to spend my time shooting and lifting, trying to get to 260 like I wanted to,” the 235-pounder added.
Giles said he wants to return for the Missouri game Monday.
“But probably it’ll be the game after that,” he said of a Feb. 5 game at Nebraska.
Alex Galindo, who injured his groin 10 days ago, has been limited because of the injury. Self said the freshman should be able to play tonight. Moulaye Niang is over his recent flu-like symptoms and practiced Monday.
“He’s really good. I didn’t know how good until I studied tape,” Self said of Bruce, who tops all Big 12 freshmen in four categories — scoring, field goal percentage (49.7), three-point percentage (41.7) and free-throw percentage (88.5).
“He definitely doesn’t have any fear,” second-year Baylor coach Scott Drew said of the 6-3, 190 pounder, who led his native country to the gold medal in the 2003 junior world championships.
“He grew up playing Australian rules football which is like rugby. He’s someone with a lot of international experience, playing against the top players in the U.S.A. and the rest of the world and done very well against them.”
“They play primarily all zone,” Self said. “They’ll have a short possession offensively then long possessions. They get you playing at their pace. Then, all of a sudden, here’s a quick hitter, and they score again.”
“I think it’s why we play a whole season. You have some ups and downs. You look for consistency,” Drew said. “The other 14 games they won, and they looked good. I expect that performance more than at Villanova. Villanova hit some very difficult shots that game.”
“We’re in the middle of planning now,” KU associate AD Jim Marchiony said, noting videos will be shown at the invitation-only reception. It will be held Friday because the teams will need the building Saturday and CBS will need to set up Saturday for Sunday’s KU-Oklahoma State game.
“We think it’ll give everybody a great opportunity to get together and talk, another highlight of the 50th anniversary season.”
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