Keegan: NBA still in future for Giles

By Tom Keegan     Jan 20, 2006

NBA scouts salivate when they see 6-foot-11 sophomore C.J. Giles block a shot at one end and sprint to the other to receive a lob pass that he stuffs home, as he did against Colorado. The talent evaluators love his natural timing and expressiveness on blocked shots.

Enough ingredients are there to make it easy to picture Giles one day earning big paychecks. Yet, to watch him on a game-to-game basis is to fear he’s trying to rush matters and might rush himself right out of a career.

What is he doing out there so far away from the basket launching jumpers, prematurely auditioning for the NBA?

“I did have that in the back of my mind early, and that got me off of my focus,” Giles said before Thursday’s practice. “I’ve got to be able to think about now, think about this season more than anything.”

Giles said he didn’t know how long he’d be at Kansas University and didn’t rule out anywhere from a full four years to just two.

“It depends on how fast I get better,” he said. “I’m not trying to force my way into the NBA. The NBA is always going to be there.”

It’s going to be there unless, that is, a player with potential makes the mistake of leaving too early, stunts his growth as a player and never gets good enough to make it. If you’re going to jump in a pool of sharks, you better be sure you swim fast enough to avoid getting bitten.

Giles has a high ceiling and a long way to get there. He has to work his way back into a prominent role for KU before he worries about playing for pay, and he seems to be grasping that.

“The NBA is more of an individual thing, and here it’s more a team thing,” Giles said. “Things are structured here to help you get better. The coaches tell you when you have to work out with weights. They make sure you work on all the little things you need to make yourself better. In the NBA, you have to do it on your own. College is a lot better place to become a better player. That’s why I tell kids that unless you’re a like LeBron (James) and can come into the league and be a beast right away, you’re much better off going to college.”

Giles and Sasha Kaun have been in something of a funk of late and have been losing minutes to Darnell Jackson and Christian Moody.

Giles has the most potential of KU’s big men, so for the Jayhawks to be as good as they can be, he has to be their best performer among the post players. He hasn’t been that on a consistent basis.

Against California, Giles threw Leon Powe off his game and scored 17 points to go with nine rebounds and five blocked shots. He hasn’t come close to duplicating that performance in the eight games since, though he played pretty well against Kentucky.

A slumping Giles is bad news for KU. In the six losses, Giles averaged 5.7 points, five rebounds and 1.2 blocks. In the 10 victories, he averaged 8.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.

KU coach Bill Self said the key for Giles breaking out of his funk would be to get back to focusing on playing defense and rebounding.

“I need to get down and dirty in the paint instead of stepping outside so much,” Giles said. “I’m more of a finesse player than a banger, and I need to become a finesse player and a banger at the same time.”

It’s either that or he’ll continue to be a spectator much of the time.

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