KU gets 'A' for adversity

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Mar 5, 2003 by Ric Anderson Capital-Journal

Jayhawks battle through numerous injuries en route to Big 12 title repeat

"We don't want a share of the title. We want it all to ourselves."

KU GUARD AARON MILES

By Ric Anderson

The Capital-Journal

LAWRENCE --- The ring will feel good on Keith Langford's finger, but what will feel better is knowing how it got there.

"We handled so much adversity this year," the 6-foot-5 Kansas guard said after the Jayhawks clinched at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title Monday night at Texas Tech. "We've won the Big 12 playing without one of the top five power forwards in the country."

The forward in question is Wayne Simien, of course, who might take exception to being left out of the equation since he did contribute to three of KU's conference victories before bowing out with a dislocated right shoulder.

But the gist of Langford's sentiment bears weight.

Compared to last season, when the Jayhawks swept through the conference undefeated with little more than the occasional floor burn, this year has been a night at a Toughman competition.

Two broken noses, one for Langford and one for Bryant Nash. A broken thumb for Nash that will require surgery in the offseason. A strained lower back that cost Kirk Hinrich a game.

A confidence crisis of Chernobyl proportions in New York City, where KU lost in the semifinals and consolation round of the Preseason NIT and saw its ranking fall from No. 2 to as low as No. 20.

Throw in Simien's injury and a shallow bench that KU coach Roy Williams cited during the preseason as the reason he wouldn't have picked his own team to win the league, and you get the idea.

"I think our team has faced adversity well and has continued to compete and continued to play," Williams said. "And that's something we're proud of."

After No. 6-ranked KU's 65-56 win at Tech, that pride was bubbling over.

Senior Kirk Hinrich said this year's Jayhawks were as mentally tough as any team on which he'd played, including last season's Final Four version.

Nick Collison said that although KU was still far short of its ultimate goal of winning a national title, the team had taken strong steps toward that destination in coping with Simien's absence.

"It hasn't been the smoothest year," he said. "It's been great, but it hasn't been the same as last year. But we showed some toughness."

Now comes what may be the stiffest challenge yet. At 13-2 in the Big 12 approaching Sunday's regular-season finale at Missouri, the Jayhawks need a victory to repeat as outright conference titleists.

KU point guard Aaron Miles said he and his teammates would be driven by a primal motivation. Greed.

"We don't want a share of the title," he said. "We want it all to ourselves."

Ric Anderson can be reached at (913) 796-6352 or randerson@cjonline.com

To the wire

KU can clinch the Big 12 regular-season title outright with a victory on Sunday at Missouri but also could also seize the crown if Oklahoma falls to Texas in Saturday's game in Norman. Kansas hasn't shared a league title since 1991, when it tied with Oklahoma State atop the Big Eight. Here's a look at KU's other co-champion seasons since the Big Six was formed in 1928-29.

- Big Eight: 1959-60 (KU, Kansas State).

- Big Seven: 1953-54 (KU, Colorado), 1949-50 (KU, K-State, Nebraska).

- Big Six: 1941-42 (KU, Oklahoma), 1940-41 (KU, Iowa State), 1939- 40 (KU, Missouri, Oklahoma), 1936-37 (KU, Nebraska).