Year
Endings
Iowan Player of
Week
Kansas' Nick
Collison was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Tuesday after leading the
Jayhawks in a pair of wins over DePaul and Tulsa. The 6-foot-9 native of Iowa
Falls, Collison shot 74 percent from the floor to help lead the No. 9-ranked
Jayhawks to a 9-1 record. The sophomore forward dropped in a career-high 23
points against the Blue Demons, followed by 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting against
Tulsa.
What a BB Night!
I spent Thursday
evening switching back and forth from the Duke-Stanford game to the
Missouri-Illinois game, both of which were cliffhangers.
#3 Stanford made a dramatic comeback from 14 down to beat No. 1 Duke by
one point. The MU game went into
overtime, but Brian Cook, the son of Norm Cook (KU ‘74-‘76), one of KU’s
former All-Americans, took control and led the Illini to the win.
Both were great games to watch, but I couldn’t help but wish that KU
had been able to land Cook.
Then, ESPN had some
great coverage of the Celtics win over the Knicks, with Paul Pierce (KU
’96-’98) scoring 31 points.
Big Saturday
Coming Up
After winning the
first two games, the Cyclones finish their three-game stint at the Pearl Harbor
Classic on Saturday. KU plays Ohio
State in Columbus, with the game aired on CBS at 3:15pm.
The Western Illinois Leathernecks travel to Des Moines to take on the
Drake Bulldogs in the Knapp Center at 7:05pm.
At the same time, the Iowa Hawkeyes travel to Manhattan to take on the
K-State Wildcats. Can’t wait!!
Real Justice
The tables have
turned on Kentucky, which is now 4-5 and who avoided their worst start since
1927 by beating Indiana Friday night. I’ve
always been dismayed that the Wildcats been allowed to continue to play
basketball, given their historic record of cheating.
At least once each decade since the 40’s, Kentucky has been caught and
punished (usually too lightly) for a wide range of transgressions.
(p.s. they did get the death penalty twice, missing two seasons as a
result). The program seems to now
be falling apart, with three recent transfers and reports now that starting
center Marvin Stone is also considering leaving.
Two other players have been dismissed because of DUI convictions.
Little Bits
Hawkeye fans had to
be concerned about the first half of Iowa’s game against Centenary Tuesday
evening. Boy, nothing was working.
However, “Double-Double” Reggie Evans led the way to a convincing
72-52 win. Reggie’s now leading
the country in rebounding.
Cyclone backup guard
Brandon Hawkins left the team after Coach Eustachy told him that he couldn’t
start in place of All-American Jamaal Tinsley.
I guess it’s no big loss, as he’s obviously from another planet and
freshman Jake Sullivan has come on strong.
Freshman guard Luke
McDonald is leading the Bulldogs in scoring with 12.8 ppg, and he’s only
started one game.
Three Jayhawks could
be in the lineup Saturday after missing several games.
Senior forwards Kenny Gregory and Luke Axtell appear to have recovered
from leg injuries and freshman guard Mario Kinsey has recovered from the flu.
Season Stats
Below are links to pages showing cumulative statistics for
our favorite teams:
KU:
http://www.rockchalk.com/seasons/stats.sht
Iowa:
http://www.hawkeyesports.com/bball/2001/stats/stats.htm
Then
click on ‘Cumulative”.
ISU:
http://cyclones.fansonly.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/iast-m-baskbl-CumulativeStats.html
Drake:
http://www.drakebulldogs.org/
Click on the above URL, then click on ‘Athletics’, click on ‘Men’s Basketball’, and finally click on ‘Statistics’.
Happy Christmas
and Merry New Year