Tigers’ Snyder under fire again

By Gary Bedore     Mar 5, 2005

Missouri men’s basketball coach Quin Snyder came out roaring on his weekly “Tiger Talk” radio show Thursday night.

Asked about Sunday’s 1 p.m. MU-Kansas University Border Showdown in Columbia, Mo., Snyder said defiantly, “We need to make the game about trying to kick their (butts).”

Snyder, whose comment received plenty of airtime on WHB’s “Between the Lines” radio show Friday, appeared on the radio to clarify his remark.

“I didn’t realize I started such a stir,” Snyder said. “I was joking around a lot on my show last night.

“I talked about getting an enema, too, right?” he added with a laugh.

Yes, he did, adding comments asking MU’s cheering section — The Antlers — to show good sportsmanship and not dial the phone numbers of KU’s players this week.

Yet, Friday he didn’t back down from the fact the Tigers (14-15, 6-9 Big 12 Conference) will be focused while playing KU (22-4, 12-3).

“We haven’t beaten them in a while,” Snyder said of the Jayhawks, who have won four in a row and nine of 10 in the series. “I know how much the game means to our fans. I’d hope they’d want us thinking that way. I maybe used an improper word to describe it. We’ve got to be unbelievably competitive.”

KU coach Bill Self, who has known Snyder for many years, was not insulted by the coach’s comment.

“I think every coach tells their team that without telling the media that,” Self said. “I don’t think that will really provide extra motivation for them because I think they feel that way anyway.

“I guarantee we’ll feel the same way whether we say it or not. I don’t think it’s him trying to do anything other than state the obvious. I don’t see anything very negative in that. I won’t read into it very much.”

Same goes for KU senior Michael Lee.

“As a coach, you have to find a way to motivate your players,” Lee said. “Whether I heard it or not, you would expect a coach to say something like that anyway.”

What Lee and the Jayhawks are not thrilled about is the fact the Antlers have not heeded their coach’s request and have been calling the KU players. Lee fielded a call between 8 and 9 p.m. Thursday.

“They asked for Aaron. I picked up and told ’em I was Aaron,” Lee said of roommate Aaron Miles.

What did the Antlers want?

“Nothing,” Lee said. “They just want to take the time and say stupid things. The don’t even make sense half the time. It’s what they do.”

Miles said the Antlers call “all the time. It’s part of it. I enjoy that sometimes. I’ve not had a chance to talk to them.”

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Giddens seeks hot streak: KU’s J.R. Giddens enters the Missouri game in a 4-of-22 three-point shooting slump the last four games.

“It’s coming back. The Missouri game, they are going to fall, they are going to fall,” he said.

They might be falling as points provided off the bench. Self said he hadn’t decided whether he’ll start Giddens or Lee on Sunday.

“It can’t matter to me. If I let it matter to me then I won’t be focused,” Giddens said. “It’s up to coach. If he thinks he (Lee) is the better man for the job, then as a man I’ve got to take it and keep trying to help the team.”

Lee, who hit four of nine threes the last two games, said: “I just want to play and be on the court. Whether I start and play 20 minutes or come off the bench and play 15 or 20 it’s not much difference.”

Self said the decision would be made tonight or Sunday after he talked to the players.

“I’d ask J.R., ‘What are you thinking, bud? Did you feel more comfortable last game (coming off bench).’ What it could do is it might take some pressure off where he could sit and watch before going in there. I would not put J.R. on the bench to motivate because he is a motivated youngster. To me it’s not a big factor who starts, it’s more important who finishes.”

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NBA talk: Giddens was unavailable for comment on Senior Day, so he was asked Friday if it’s possible the K-State game was his last home game in a KU uniform. Self, who has said he felt Giddens would benefit by returning for his junior season, has said he’ll talk with Giddens about the player’s future after the season.

“You see how I’m playing right now. You think I’m ready for the NBA?” Giddens said, concluding an interview, the implication he’s not playing well enough at this time to make such a jump.

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Recruiting: KU coaches attended a game of Chicago Westinghouse’s DeAndre Thomas last weekend. The 6-6, 270-pound high school senior said he’s interested in KU, Illinois, Miami, Seton Hall and Georgetown. KU currently has no scholarships available in recruiting.

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