February 27: News Headlines Digest
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Also see our Daily Threads, February 27, and the News Digest for Yesterday, February 26, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, February 26
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###**Tait: **What if Andrew Wiggins never came to Kansas?###
By now, it seems as if most Kansas University basketball fans have given up the stance — if they ever took it — that KU freshman Andrew Wiggins has been underwhelming.
At this point, Wiggins has produced enough, both offensively and defensively, and on a consistent enough basis to be classified as this team’s best player.
###**Bedore: **Justin Wesley relishes positive reviews###
Nobody has yet reserved a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for budding actor Justin Wesley.
Yet the Kansas University senior basketball power forward from Fort Worth, Texas, has certainly received local acclaim — from the 10,000 or so individuals who attended showings of the movie “Jayhawkers” Feb. 14-16 in the Lied Center.
###**Chase: **10 amazing facts about Kansas’ 10 straight Big 12 Championships###
Kansas clinched its 10th straight Big 12 conference championship on Monday night. How remarkable is the Jayhawks streak? Consider these 10 facts.
###Titus’s top 12 NCAA power rankings###
If you still aren’t impressed, consider this: In the last 10 seasons, Syracuse, Duke, Kentucky, and UConn have combined to win nine conference championships. Every Kansas fan could put a statue of Bill Self in their front yard and I’d still think they’re taking him for granted.
###### Also see our Daily Threads, February 27, and the News Digest for Yesterday, February 26, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, February 26
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@approxinfinity THANKS for using my Message of the Day Quote!
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Coach was on the Tim Brando show yesterday. I listened to this on College Sports Nation channel 91 on Sirius rebroadcast this morning on my way into work. Classic HCBS! Also, on the Mark Packer show yesterday afternoon he had Clark Kellogg on and they both spent a good deal of time talking about our streak and said it was just unfathomable in this day and age that Coach had put this together and that it just hadn’t gotten that much airtime. Clark said “Well we just did and a lot of people listen to your show so hopefully they appreciate him now.”
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@RockChalkinTexas Bill Self is scheduled to be on Mike & Mike radio program this morning between 7:00-7:30 EST
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@Saguaro_Jayhawk Self should be on live at 08:15 Kansas time, today Feb 27th.
URL here to listen – [http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?s=espn](link url)
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Slow news day I could only find a few new articles. Guess I’ll have to work instead…
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@Saguaro_Jayhawk Thanks for letting me and others know. I just saw it but did find it and am listening now.
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@RockChalkinTexas I really like this quote, also a big fan of EJ!
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Good analysis on Andrew. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1963424-andrew-wiggins-proving-its-foolish-to-write-him-off-as-future-nba-star
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I really like Titus. He is hilarious. Under the Kansas paragraph, Loved the way he casually inserted Travis Ford’s name in the sequence of legendary coaches. I literally LOL’d.
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##Drew Gooden signs 10-day contract with Wizards##
AP 1:38 p.m. EST February 26, 2014
Drew Gooden signed a 10-day contract with the Wizards
The Wizards will be the 10th team that Gooden has played for in his career
WASHINGTON (AP) — Drew Gooden has signed his 10-day contract with the Washington Wizards.
The veteran forward joined the Wizards at Wednesday’s practice and will be available for Thursday’s game against the Toronto Raptors.
Gooden agreed to the deal Tuesday. The Wizards were in need of frontcourt depth after losing forward Nene to a sprained left MCL.
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Loved the way he casually inserted Travis Ford’s name in the sequence of legendary coaches. I literally LOL’d.
@FarSideHawk I got a good chuckle out of that also.
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@RockChalkinTexas Gooden was a guy that, while he has had a nice career and made some serious Doe-Re-Me, I always thought he could have done better in the pros. He always looked like he could have worked on his body / conditioning and been a potential all star. But, I’m not an NBA scout (nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night), so what do I know.
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@RockChalkinTexas It was a great quote. Of all the players that have played for Self, EJ is the one I really wish had made it to the NBA. Releford and Sherron, Langford and Miles (if you count Roy’s guys) are the next tier.
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Hey guys- Doing a chat at noon in case you’d like to submit questions. We’re due for a Q&A on this site soon as well …
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Basketball is a game of match up in more ways than one. Gooden had the misfortune of playing for the wrong teams at the wrong times. His last stint with Milwaukee was the worst. He was starting to play very well and then management and coaching changes sent him to the bench and just about ended his career. He still has some BBall left on him and since the Wizards are going to the playoffs, it could help him revive his career.
Chalmers fell in the best possible situation, and now he starts for the current champions and has two NBA rings, Had he gone somewhere else, he might not have had the success he has had with the Heat so far.
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@JayHawkFanToo Very True. But his body looked like it needed work. No telling if that might have helped him.
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@approxinfinity This is for today’s news headlines. From ESPN. Forget the Big 12 record. Dismiss the seven-game losing streak and the three-game suspension of Marcus Smart and the losses that occurred without him in the lineup.
Oklahoma State’s season has begun anew with two tune-up wins over Texas Tech and TCU in advance of Saturday’s showdown with Kansas, a Big Monday home finale for Smart against Kansas State and a final road game against surging Iowa State on March 8.
If you want to know when the Cowboys fate will be decided then look no further than the next eight days. Sure, Oklahoma State will have opportunities in the Big 12 tournament, but some advance work must be done before arriving in Kansas City, Mo.
Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford knows the stakes. He told his team the Texas Tech game was “a must-win game. We didn’t have a choice. We had no choice but to band together, rely on each other. We got away from that.”
Ford said the Cowboys have suddenly embraced the desperate situation they’re in at this point in the season. In the past two wins, Ford said, the team was less “disjointed,” the defense has tightened and the assists have gone up.
Smart was allowed to practice during his suspension. His numbers since his return scream of a player who is locked in like never before: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals at TCU; 16 points, 3 rebounds, 10 assists and 6 steals in the win over Texas Tech.
“He came back doing all the things that made him one of the best players in the country in filling out the stat sheet,” Ford said. “I started to see a difference when he was sitting out. He had some of his best practices of the year when he was on the scout team. He had a really, really good mindset. You could see how motivated he was.”
This has been a turbulent season for Oklahoma State and Smart, to say the least. The season started fresh with a 39-point performance from Smart and a drubbing of Memphis. Losing to Memphis two weeks later in the Orlando Old Spice Classic hurt, but didn’t really do any damage. The hurt came when the top big man Michael Cobbins went down with an Achilles injury before the Big 12 opener at Kansas State and a backup guard Stevie Clark was arrested on marijuana possession and later dismissed. The Cowboys lost that game and then sputtered along, despite winning four of their next five. That run preceded the seven-game losing streak.
“When we lost Cobbins, we had no adjustment, we had to prepare so quickly,” Ford said. “That was tough. That’s when we got disjointed and everyone was thinking about them. We’ve come together pretty good. We had no choice. Everyone has a little more of a smile on their face when they’re playing. The guys aren’t concerned with the individual game. They’re only worried about the team.”
Ford is not naive about Saturday’s game against Kansas. It will take an “incredible effort,” to beat the reigning Big 12 champs, who are peaking at the right time.
“We’ll have to play our best basketball game of the year,” the Cowboys coach said. “They legitimately have a chance to win the national title. Every guy must bring their best game. We can’t pick and choose. They took it to us in the first half [when the Jayhawks were up 17 before winning by two at Kansas].”
Ford, however, isn’t sweating his team’s bid just yet. The RPI/BPI is solid, despite a 6-9 conference record. He is convinced the selection committee will look at the season as a whole, which includes a win over Colorado when the Buffaloes had Spencer Dinwiddie, and the losses without Smart, two of which were on the road.
“I still feel we’re in good shape if we win some games,” Ford said.
But this season, like no other, has worn on Ford.
“There’s no question,” he said. “We went through a tough stretch. We had injuries, had to dismiss a player, and a suspension. Those three or four weeks take years off your life. I’m proud how our team handled it. Every game came down to the last possessions and literally two games down to the last minute and one to the last 30 seconds. That takes a toll. I’m proud of this team. They continued to fight and had a great attitude sticking together. But it does take a toll on you.”
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