Absence makes the heart grow hungry—for a championship: Wayne Simien's career as a Kansas Jayhawk is expiring faster than a 35-second clock. He'd like to play overtime

Mike DeCourcy

Think of all of the time he has missed. Think of it purely in cold, mathematical terms. Since Wayne Simien arrived at Kansas, the Jayhawks have played 32 basketball games without him. That's 32 games in which Simien sat on the bench, adorned in one of his snazzy suits and a nasty brace or cast.

Now, think of what Simien has missed from an emotional standpoint. Competing in the Maul Invitational. The chance to play Kentucky at Rupp Arena. Two KU-Missouri rivalry games. Most painful of all, the 2003 Final Four. If he had played all of those games and produced at his career average of 13.9 points per game, he would be on his way to a position among KU's top five all-time scorers.

No matter how you account for it, there is one sure way to atone for it.

Make this season last forever.

The Jayhawks can play only until April 4, the championship game of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. But if they reach that night--and win--there will be no need for Simien to look back with regret. He will have matched KU All-Americans Clyde Lovellette and Danny Manning in the most important statistical category.

"I think about it a little bit, especially as the home games are really winding down," Simien says. "Everything around here is almost a special occasion to me. Being from Kansas, watching them since childhood, I'll be a part of a great legacy. And I'm hoping to leave one of the greatest legacies--hopefully win a championship."

Simien missed four games this season with torn ligaments in his thumb. When the Jayhawks dissected Texas last Saturday, he still was wearing a small protective cast that caused him to fumble a pass or two. But Simien never was better.

A 6-8 power forward, Simien excels at scoring in a 10-foot radius around the basket, whether on the block or on short turnaround jumpers. He was the principal reason Texas' attempt at a 2-3 zone defense disintegrated within eight minutes. He scored eight points before Texas coach Rick Barnes switched to man-to-man. But Barnes could find no one to stop Simien, who was happy to sit down with about two minutes left, a season-best 27 points richer and his team near completion of a 90-65 victory. This was the closest Kansas has come to validating its selection as preseason No. 1 in The Associated Press poll.

"We still are a team that has yet to play its best ball," coach Bill Self says. "And that doesn't bother me at all. We put in more time learning how to win games when he was hurt--and then when he came back, we didn't know how to play. We were like hunting and pecking on a typewriter."

If last season taught us anything, it's that a team with the material to build toward a championship needn't complete the job before Christmas. Or, for that matter, Valentine's Day. Connecticut did not truly find the formula to dominate until coach Jim Calhoun sat All-American Emeka Okafor during the early games of the Big East Tournament. That forced his teammates to become more aggressive (Ben Gordon), confident (Rashad Anderson) and precise (Taliek Brown). It helped Okafor not to have to play three consecutive days with an aching back.

Similarly, Kansas' development was accelerated because of Simien's absence. Freshmen big men Sasha Kaun and C.J. Giles saw their minutes and responsibilities increase. Kaun is rapidly improving, though Self still could afford to trust him more often, and Giles was becoming a defensive force before he went down with a foot injury. He could be back in a week, giving him plenty of time to reassert his importance.

Without Simien, the Jayhawks had to abandon their high-low offensive system. Self installed a drive-and-kick scheme, emphasizing perimeter shooting. That was sporadically effective, so the team wouldn't want to rely entirely on playing that way. But, as point guard Aaron Miles says, "It was a new dimension we added to the playbook."

Entering the week, Simien had five games left at Allen Fieldhouse. That's how rapidly this is closing on him. In the 50 years they've called Allen home, no Jayhawk selected as a consensus All-American was a native Kansan. Simien could change that, but it's not as important as playing as many games as possible before changing out of his uniform for the final time.

speed reads

It's not big news that Dan Monson will continue as Minnesota's coach. Those close to the program have been saying so all season, though Monson's fine work this year makes it an easier sell.

Pete Gillen has done his best work where he could recruit the best players in his league. He did it consistently at Xavier and for at least one year at Providence. It's not possible at Virginia. The Cavs can get their state's best; Duke and Carolina will get the nation's best.

Sorry to say, we will not see a better game than this: Georgia Tech 102, Wake Forest 101 (OT).

Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli is the quintessential Philly guy, but he might not be able to watch the Eagles play in the Super Bowl. Martelli long ago scheduled a practice for 7 p.m. on Sunday, shortly after kickoff. Forget about whether he should tinker with his practice plans. Where was his faith when he set this up?

INSIDE DISH

Texas has not given up on the possibility 6-11 freshman C LaMarcus Aldridge will return from his hip injury. Some reports suggested he was done for the season, but Aldridge is traveling with the team and is limited primarily when he tries to pivot to his right. Aldridge was making tremendous progress, averaging 12.7 points and 9.0 rebounds in his last three games before getting hurt. If Aldridge returns, Texas coach Rick Barnes will consider deploying him in a big frontcourt that includes 6-9 Jason Klotz and 6-8 Brad Buckman. The Longhorns have been playing more zone and could use those three as a protective wall along the baseline. > Pittsburgh C Chris Taft gets along too well with backup Aaron Gray for the Panthers to use the threat of playing Gray more as a means of motivating Taft. But they can hope Gray's effort in running the court, diving for loose balls, setting screens and fighting through fatigue serves as an example of how Taft should be playing. A gifted big man with NBA potential, Taft did not work hard enough to improve during the offseason and has been disappointing as a sophomore. Although he is an excellent passer, Taft has only 12 assists in 17 games. However, after Pitt essentially had to take him out to defeat UConn, Taft delivered one of his steadiest, most consistent efforts in the comeback victory against Syracuse. > Oklahoma State's opponents will tell you that even though the Cowboys returned four starters from the 2004 Final Four team, the loss of wing Tony Allen has made a huge difference. Allen was comfortable scoring from both sides of the floor, which caused stress for opposing defenses. Joey Graham has been productive in Allen's spot but has struggled in several big games in which the opponents employed zone defenses. > The unbalanced schedule in the first year of the expanded Atlantic Coast Conference has altered the nature of the regular-season race, but North Carolina coach Roy Williams still places more value in that championship than the prestigious ACC Tournament. "But I'll take any of them," Williams says. "Anybody that can win an ACC championship, they won't care about any changes that were made" > Kansas freshman G Russell Robinson's decline of an offer to play in the closing moments against Baylor was not as big of a deal as it seemed. Robinson didn't refuse to enter, which would have been a major issue. But his passing on an opportunity to play did reveal there are problems. Robinson had a long meeting with KU coach Bill Self the day after the Baylor game. His minutes have declined because he has been sloppy with the ball, and his confidence has waned. If he recovers, the Jayhawks can make good use of the spark his quickness provides.

Although he has functioned as a catch-and shoot wing for most of his career, Louisville senior G Larry O'Bannon has become better with the ball and is more dangerous as a result. O'Bannon now can shoot accurately off a one-dribble move, freeing himself by feigning a drive and then pulling back into the shot. "I've practiced it so much, so if I get into a situation in a game, I just do it," he says. O'Bannon insists he always has been capable of driving the ball and that he limited himself to jump shots because he got so many openings as defenses collapsed to contain team-mates Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean. O'Bannon scored a career high 30 points in a victory against Marquette last week.

decourcy@sportingnews.com

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