European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 21, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday March 21 2007 stars and stripes Page 29 Nam y Kentucky Bobby Perry left and Jodie Meeks right Battle Kansas Mario Chalmers for a Loose Ball during the second half of sundays game in the Mcaa tournaments West regional Kansas the top seed in the Region beat no 8 seed Kentucky 8876 to Advance to the round of 16 next week against Southern Illinois gof a question ask ust j we Hel mom school be club se7 my is in Mil in jul time a to spouse facts Send your questions to debuts april 1 with your weekly scene stars stripes self Kansas has the Talent but it takes More than a roster of Aba candidates to win Mcaa talented teams Are a Given with Bill self he lucked into them taking Over jobs at schools like Tulsa Illinois and his latest Stop Kansas but self never leaves a Bare cupboard behind either the Man knows How to re Cruit and if the National championship was decided on letter Ofin tent signing Day he might already have that elusive title that so tantalizingly within reach this year self possesses the quickest arguably deepest most Aba ready squad left in an Mcaa tournament that is running very close to form by the close of business sunday no double digit seeds had advanced into the round of 16 something that happened Only once before since the Field expanded to 64 teams in 1985 say what you want about Talent trickling Down to the mid major ranks in recent years but the Aba age minimum forced a few Impact players to show up for their freshman seasons and Treyve made their presence Felt with some of the name programs College basketball May never be As much a coach game As it was when self started in the business at Oral Roberts in 1994 no pro Gram can stockpile the kind of Tal ent the Dukes arizonans and Connecticut of the world did year after theres some Evi Dence the to the Aba Rush that devastated North Carolinas National championship roster two years ago May be slowing defending Champ Florida returned All its underclassmen and gators coach Billy Donovan int the Only member of the profession with a Chance to do some real teaching Kansas two studs Julian Wright and Brandon Rush Are both sophomores As is do every thing guard Mario Chalmers but freshman Sherron Collins is the first backcourt player off the Bench and classmate Darrell Arthur already 69 and 230 Usu ally int too far behind in a Testa ment to their development As a squad the Jay Hawks pounded Kentucky into submission 8876 by mastering a trick even self was Uncertain they Learned from an offensive stand Point he said that was Proba Bly As Good As weve looked play ing in a Hal court game with All that Talent Wright is projected As a lottery pick Rush a first round pick and As Many As five current Jay Hawks could eventually land in the Aba opponents rarely choose to run against Kansas Kentucky Tubby Smith certainly didst want to no doubt remembering How Bradley and Jim Litke Bucknell parlayed patience and experience into first round up sets against Kansas the last two sea sons and if foul trouble haunt forced him to Bench guard Ramel Brad Ley for a stretch in the opening half the wildcats might have reached the intermission trailing by even less than 3630 but barely 3 minutes into the second half Kentucky big Man Randolph Morris went to the Bench with his third foul Rush started raining Down threes he was 4for4 in the half and 6for7 for the game and Kan Sas lured the wildcats into an Upan Down game faster and better at finishes it didst take the Jay Hawks Long to crack the game open after that self teams Are going to win just about every matchup decided by Talent but the Knock on him has Long been that his teams Arent Tough enough and still standing Between self and the National title that eluded him in the past Hes taken Tulsa Illinois and Kansas to the regional finals is a North Carolina team that might be As talented As Well As deep Florida and Urcla squads with a big Edge in big game experience each team is different in How they play you Southern Illinois self said about his next opponent will be totally different from the Way Kentucky played us self acknowledged he had plenty to learn about the Salukis in the coming Days but added i know enough to know they make it hard to score Chicago want an easy Stop for the Jay Hawks with Illinois Cam pus Only a Short ride Down the interstate and so Many alumni still bitter Over his departure for Kan Sas in 2003 so while there might have been a bit of added satisfaction Over shedding his first round loser Label Here the Contentment that crackled through his smile Likely had More to do with his teams stubborn defense and willingness to grind when that was the Best available option Smith would have liked to try forcing Kansas hand in a wide open game but he knew bet Ter a handful of thin recruiting classes made it impractical Jim Litke is a National sports columnist for the associated press write to him at
