Kansas
Former University of Nebraska basketball coach Doc Sadler is expected to soon be named director of basketball operations at Kansas University.
Sources told the Journal-World on Tuesday that Sadler, who has been on campus this week to interview with KU coach Bill Self, has been offered the job. It’s believed he has accepted or will accept and replace Barry Hinson as KU’s director of basketball operations.
…Sadler on Tuesday morning told the Omaha World-Herald he indeed was in Lawrence and there could be discussion with Self about a job. Sadler told the paper it was unlikely anything in the way of any new job would happen before July. He said he has other situations to explore, including TV and the NBA.
LJW
Julian Wright believes an ultra-successful season in the NBA Developmental League has resurrected his basketball career.
The No. 13 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft — who played sparingly for New Orleans and Toronto during his first four seasons in the NBA — averaged 15.1 points and 8.0 rebounds a game for the 2012 NBADL champion Austin (Texas) Toros.
More importantly, the 25-year-old former Kansas University forward was the team’s leading scorer in the playoffs. Wright averaged 19.8 points (off 60.5 percent shooting) and 7.8 boards while logging 31.7 minutes a game in nine playoff games.
Former Jayhawk Julian Wright talks about his first ring (an NBDL title) and also says he's confident he can play in the NBA during an interview on Tuesday, June 12, 2012.
“For myself, it was comforting to know I have skills and have what it takes. It’s all about hopefully getting in the right situation to show it,” said the 6-foot-8, 240-pounder, who has accepted an invitation to play for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets in the Orlando Summer League in early July. “It was my first time in a while just being aggressive while scoring and being a guy they could count on.
“I was hoping for a call-up (to the Toros’ affiliate, the San Antonio Spurs), but in hindsight I was glad I was able to get those minutes rather than getting called up and not playing as much.”
…“I’m going back to school,” he said. “I need about 50 hours to graduate. I’ll take online courses, correspondence to earn my degree in the summer of 2013 probably. I’ve taken a few small classes at UCLA, but I said to myself, ‘I can’t get a degree from UCLA,” he exclaimed, noting he’s a Jayhawk forever.
LJW
As scores of NBA Finals media members poured onto the Chesapeake Energy Arena court on Monday, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Nick Collison was reminded of his experience with the Kansas Jayhawks during the 2003 Final Four.
It’s not a pleasant memory. During an 81-78, national championship loss to Syracuse, Collison was 3-of-10 on free throws. Overall, Kansas was 12-of-30 at the foul line. Otherwise, Collison was great – 8-of-14 from the field, 19 points, 21 rebounds.
“I wasn’t a very good free throw shooter. In that game, it hurt us,’ Collison said. “I worked on it, but I wasn’t very confident with it. I’m much more confident with it now.”
For the Thunder this season, Collison has been a 71 percent shooter at the foul line.
At the age of 22, Collison came up short in his bid for a title. Now, at 31, he gets a second chance at a grand prize – the NBA championship.
The Syracuse disappointment “is always with you. It’s always with me, anyway,” Collison said. “The physical pain you feel in your gut – I’m over that. Every March, it’s difficult. It’s always in the back of my mind, for sure. Playing here in the Finals, it’s on my mind. I’ve wanted a championship for a long time.
“I think it was a good experience, going through that in college. It’s a similar stage in terms of media and all that. It’s easier to handle at this age. I’m more secure with myself as a player and a person.”
Tulsa World
Nick Collison, as we’ve known for a long time out here in Big 12 Country, was born ready. Oklahoma City’s 105-94 victory in the NBA Finals opener Tuesday proved that, again.
The conditions couldn’t have been more perfect.
A mild case of Big Stage fright got Oklahoma City off to a low-energy start.
So Brooks went smaller, went with the 6-10 Collison at center, and stayed with him for the most part.
Only Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Thabo Sefolosha played more minutes that Collison in the second half, when the Thunder outscored Miami 58-40.
“We came out, I think we were a little tight,” Collison said. “They took away some of our energy. It didn’t seem like us in the first half defensively.
“Second half, we just relaxed and played. We were more physical, more aggressive. We started getting into ball handlers. We didn’t have as many breakdowns either. I just think we calmed down and were more comfortable in the second half.”
Ask any Thunder fan: Collison can have that effect on you, on a game. He played all but 29 seconds of a fourth quarter the Thunder led all the way, and the results were spectacular.
Twice he came up with key offensive rebounds on tips — the kind of tips Tyson Chandler made a career out of. Both tips produced big baskets.
Westbrook tossed a cross-court pass to Fisher, who worked off a vintage Collison screen. When the Heat came to help, Fisher fed Sefolosha for a layup. Thunder 78-73.
Later in the fourth, Collison tipped out another miss to Durant for one of his patented step-in 3-pointers and the Thunder led 87-81.
In between those tips, Collison had a steal to trigger Durant’s breakaway dunk.
His final line: eight points on 4-of-5-shooting — three dunks and a tip-in. Of his 10 rebounds, five were offensive.
The Oklahoman
Mario Chalmers saw two different sides to the game Tuesday night.
Of all the stars on the court in Oklahoma City; perhaps none had a better first half than Chalmers.
The third-year floor general out of Kansas, who entered averaging 11.6 points and nearly four assists per game in the 2012 NBA Playoffs; had 10 points and five assists in the first half but was held scoreless in the second until a layup in the middle of the fourth quarter pushed his total to 12.
Often relegated to the playing the off-ball guard spot because of LeBron James’ ability to the play point-forward; Chalmers was able to get his teammates going early; usually finding them standing wide open at the three-point line, where the Heat hit 6 of 10 in the first half.
Chalmers’ defense also took a hit after the first 24 minutes, where he played stifling man-to-man on Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook — whom most figured to pose the biggest matchup problem for the Heat.
Chalmers forced Westbrook to go 3 of 10 in the first half for only nine points. But in the second half, Westbrook was able to get around Chalmers and to the free throw line as he scored 10 points in the third quarter and eight in the fourth, with seven of those coming from the line.
Miami Herald
Wayne Simien kept constant vigil on his cell phone.
With his wife, Katie, expecting to give birth to the couple’s fourth child any day, Wayne, a two-time All-American at the University of Kansas and 2006 NBA champion with the Miami Heat, knew that one phone call was all it would take for him to be forced to leave the 40 campers at the Called To Greatness basketball camp at Osawatomie High School on June 6-7 and drive to Lawrence to be with his newborn.
“There will not be any tweets, texts or words with any of my friends,” he told the campers. “You see, my wife is about to give birth to our fourth child at any time. So, if I get a call, I will have to bolt.”
The baby has yet to arrive.
Teaching the game of basketball to 40 area youths became his focus.
Standing at center court in the auxiliary gymnasium at OHS, Simien outlined the plan for the first day of the event to the 20 campers in third through sixth grades who participated in the morning session.
There were 20 campers in seventh- through 12th grades in the afternoon session.
“There are three things that you need to do to have fun at the camp: one, have a great attitude in the drills and meeting new friends. Two, give great effort. Try your hardest in every single thing you do. Three, be great listeners. When myself or the other coaches are talking, stop what you’re doing and give good eye contact,” he said.
http://www.kccommunitynews.com/osawatomie-graphic-sports/31184153/detail.html
Sources told the Journal-World on Tuesday that Sadler, who has been on campus this week to interview with KU coach Bill Self, has been offered the job. It’s believed he has accepted or will accept and replace Barry Hinson as KU’s director of basketball operations.
…Sadler on Tuesday morning told the Omaha World-Herald he indeed was in Lawrence and there could be discussion with Self about a job. Sadler told the paper it was unlikely anything in the way of any new job would happen before July. He said he has other situations to explore, including TV and the NBA.
LJW
Julian Wright believes an ultra-successful season in the NBA Developmental League has resurrected his basketball career.
The No. 13 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft — who played sparingly for New Orleans and Toronto during his first four seasons in the NBA — averaged 15.1 points and 8.0 rebounds a game for the 2012 NBADL champion Austin (Texas) Toros.
More importantly, the 25-year-old former Kansas University forward was the team’s leading scorer in the playoffs. Wright averaged 19.8 points (off 60.5 percent shooting) and 7.8 boards while logging 31.7 minutes a game in nine playoff games.
Former Jayhawk Julian Wright talks about his first ring (an NBDL title) and also says he's confident he can play in the NBA during an interview on Tuesday, June 12, 2012.
“For myself, it was comforting to know I have skills and have what it takes. It’s all about hopefully getting in the right situation to show it,” said the 6-foot-8, 240-pounder, who has accepted an invitation to play for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets in the Orlando Summer League in early July. “It was my first time in a while just being aggressive while scoring and being a guy they could count on.
“I was hoping for a call-up (to the Toros’ affiliate, the San Antonio Spurs), but in hindsight I was glad I was able to get those minutes rather than getting called up and not playing as much.”
…“I’m going back to school,” he said. “I need about 50 hours to graduate. I’ll take online courses, correspondence to earn my degree in the summer of 2013 probably. I’ve taken a few small classes at UCLA, but I said to myself, ‘I can’t get a degree from UCLA,” he exclaimed, noting he’s a Jayhawk forever.
LJW
As scores of NBA Finals media members poured onto the Chesapeake Energy Arena court on Monday, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Nick Collison was reminded of his experience with the Kansas Jayhawks during the 2003 Final Four.
It’s not a pleasant memory. During an 81-78, national championship loss to Syracuse, Collison was 3-of-10 on free throws. Overall, Kansas was 12-of-30 at the foul line. Otherwise, Collison was great – 8-of-14 from the field, 19 points, 21 rebounds.
“I wasn’t a very good free throw shooter. In that game, it hurt us,’ Collison said. “I worked on it, but I wasn’t very confident with it. I’m much more confident with it now.”
For the Thunder this season, Collison has been a 71 percent shooter at the foul line.
At the age of 22, Collison came up short in his bid for a title. Now, at 31, he gets a second chance at a grand prize – the NBA championship.
The Syracuse disappointment “is always with you. It’s always with me, anyway,” Collison said. “The physical pain you feel in your gut – I’m over that. Every March, it’s difficult. It’s always in the back of my mind, for sure. Playing here in the Finals, it’s on my mind. I’ve wanted a championship for a long time.
“I think it was a good experience, going through that in college. It’s a similar stage in terms of media and all that. It’s easier to handle at this age. I’m more secure with myself as a player and a person.”
Tulsa World
Nick Collison, as we’ve known for a long time out here in Big 12 Country, was born ready. Oklahoma City’s 105-94 victory in the NBA Finals opener Tuesday proved that, again.
The conditions couldn’t have been more perfect.
A mild case of Big Stage fright got Oklahoma City off to a low-energy start.
So Brooks went smaller, went with the 6-10 Collison at center, and stayed with him for the most part.
Only Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Thabo Sefolosha played more minutes that Collison in the second half, when the Thunder outscored Miami 58-40.
“We came out, I think we were a little tight,” Collison said. “They took away some of our energy. It didn’t seem like us in the first half defensively.
“Second half, we just relaxed and played. We were more physical, more aggressive. We started getting into ball handlers. We didn’t have as many breakdowns either. I just think we calmed down and were more comfortable in the second half.”
Ask any Thunder fan: Collison can have that effect on you, on a game. He played all but 29 seconds of a fourth quarter the Thunder led all the way, and the results were spectacular.
Twice he came up with key offensive rebounds on tips — the kind of tips Tyson Chandler made a career out of. Both tips produced big baskets.
Westbrook tossed a cross-court pass to Fisher, who worked off a vintage Collison screen. When the Heat came to help, Fisher fed Sefolosha for a layup. Thunder 78-73.
Later in the fourth, Collison tipped out another miss to Durant for one of his patented step-in 3-pointers and the Thunder led 87-81.
In between those tips, Collison had a steal to trigger Durant’s breakaway dunk.
His final line: eight points on 4-of-5-shooting — three dunks and a tip-in. Of his 10 rebounds, five were offensive.
The Oklahoman
Mario Chalmers saw two different sides to the game Tuesday night.
Of all the stars on the court in Oklahoma City; perhaps none had a better first half than Chalmers.
The third-year floor general out of Kansas, who entered averaging 11.6 points and nearly four assists per game in the 2012 NBA Playoffs; had 10 points and five assists in the first half but was held scoreless in the second until a layup in the middle of the fourth quarter pushed his total to 12.
Often relegated to the playing the off-ball guard spot because of LeBron James’ ability to the play point-forward; Chalmers was able to get his teammates going early; usually finding them standing wide open at the three-point line, where the Heat hit 6 of 10 in the first half.
Chalmers’ defense also took a hit after the first 24 minutes, where he played stifling man-to-man on Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook — whom most figured to pose the biggest matchup problem for the Heat.
Chalmers forced Westbrook to go 3 of 10 in the first half for only nine points. But in the second half, Westbrook was able to get around Chalmers and to the free throw line as he scored 10 points in the third quarter and eight in the fourth, with seven of those coming from the line.
Miami Herald
Wayne Simien kept constant vigil on his cell phone.
With his wife, Katie, expecting to give birth to the couple’s fourth child any day, Wayne, a two-time All-American at the University of Kansas and 2006 NBA champion with the Miami Heat, knew that one phone call was all it would take for him to be forced to leave the 40 campers at the Called To Greatness basketball camp at Osawatomie High School on June 6-7 and drive to Lawrence to be with his newborn.
“There will not be any tweets, texts or words with any of my friends,” he told the campers. “You see, my wife is about to give birth to our fourth child at any time. So, if I get a call, I will have to bolt.”
The baby has yet to arrive.
Teaching the game of basketball to 40 area youths became his focus.
Standing at center court in the auxiliary gymnasium at OHS, Simien outlined the plan for the first day of the event to the 20 campers in third through sixth grades who participated in the morning session.
There were 20 campers in seventh- through 12th grades in the afternoon session.
“There are three things that you need to do to have fun at the camp: one, have a great attitude in the drills and meeting new friends. Two, give great effort. Try your hardest in every single thing you do. Three, be great listeners. When myself or the other coaches are talking, stop what you’re doing and give good eye contact,” he said.
http://www.kccommunitynews.com/osawatomie-graphic-sports/31184153/detail.html
Big 12/College News
1) Dec. 29 - Kentucky at Louisville
2) Nov. 27 - North Carolina at Indiana (ACC-Big Ten)
3) Nov. 13 - Kentucky vs. Duke, Champions Classic (Atlanta)
4) Nov. 13 - Kansas vs. Michigan State, Champions Classic (Atlanta)
5) Dec. 22 - Kansas at Ohio State
CBS Top Non-con games for 2012-13
2012-13 Early Season Events List
2) Nov. 27 - North Carolina at Indiana (ACC-Big Ten)
3) Nov. 13 - Kentucky vs. Duke, Champions Classic (Atlanta)
4) Nov. 13 - Kansas vs. Michigan State, Champions Classic (Atlanta)
5) Dec. 22 - Kansas at Ohio State
CBS Top Non-con games for 2012-13
2012-13 Early Season Events List
Recruiting
Brannen Greene (@b_greene14)
6/12/12 10:25 AM
Flight at 8:45 tomorrow MORNING for NBA Top 100 Camp! Earliest flight of my ever so young life.
Spring/Summer Event Schedule
adidas Grassroots schedule
Nike EYBL Schedule
Check here for the NCAA Recruiting Calendar
My 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, KU Alumni games, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos and more now on Youtube
6/12/12 10:25 AM
Flight at 8:45 tomorrow MORNING for NBA Top 100 Camp! Earliest flight of my ever so young life.
Spring/Summer Event Schedule
adidas Grassroots schedule
Nike EYBL Schedule
Check here for the NCAA Recruiting Calendar
My 2011-12 Border War, Legends of the Phog, KC Prep Invitational, KU Alumni games, & Jayhawk Invitational Videos and more now on Youtube
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