Post by MizzouTiger on Feb 25, 2008 23:02:02 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/165/story/503991.html
Who’s the man, K-State’s Beasley or former Longhorn Durant?
By BLAIR KERKHOFF
The Kansas City Star
Debates about greatest teams rarely are settled, but there is one where everybody else in history plays for No. 2.
It can be stated unequivocally that the Prince Georges Jaguars of Maryland in 2000 were the greatest 11-year-old team ever assembled.
With Michael Beasley and Kevin Durant suiting up for the recreation squad, it had to be.
They play at different levels today, but in a unique way, these Washington, D.C.-area natives are rivals.
As in, who is better, based on their freshman seasons: Beasley, Kansas State’s remarkable forward, or Durant, the rookie sensation with the Seattle Supersonics who starred at Texas last year?
Tonight, as the Longhorns visit Kansas State in a monster Big 12 showdown, seems the appropriate time to ask.
Just don’t quiz their coaches.
“They’re two different players,” Wildcats coach Frank Martin said.
But similarities are startling, beginning with the numbers.
Beasley ranks fourth in the nation in scoring at 26.1 points, and is one day removed from a Big 12-record 44 points in a loss to Baylor. He leads the nation at 12.5 rebounds, and his 23rd double-double of the season recorded against the Bears allowed him to surpass Syracuse’s Carmelo Anthony for the freshman record.
Until Beasley came along, nobody had seen anything like Durant, who averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds. He led the Big 12 in both categories, as Beasley does this season.
Beasley is listed at 6 feet 10 and 235 pounds. Durant was listed last season at 6-9 and 225 pounds, though there looks to be more of a weight gap between the players.
They’ve arrived at the same place, but Martin insists they took different paths.
“They’ve had two different frames of minds,” Martin said. “Kevin was more wired to score as a high school player. Mike has started to accept being more of a focal point offensively over the past year.”
With gusto. Beasley has shown incredible versatility, powering to the hole, flicking in a soft midrange jumper or stepping beyond the three-point arc, where he buries 39.4 percent.
Durant also went strong to the basket, but range is what made him most dangerous. Durant hit 40.4 percent on threes — 50.5 percent in Big 12 games — and only four players in the conference attempted more long-range shots than him.
But Durant was versatile in his own way. He led the league in blocked shots and was fourth in steals.
“People gave him a lot of credit for shooting the ball,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “But he was a much better rebounder, shot blocker and could play around the basket a little more than people thought.”
Beasley, like Durant, attracts multiple defenders, when teams aren’t playing zone. Saturday, Baylor tried different tactics. But Beasley and Bill Walker combined for 75 points. It marked the fourth time this season Beasley has topped 40 points.
Although the Wildcats lost, Beasley delivered in a road game, which had been a criticism this season. In losses at Missouri, Texas Tech and Nebraska, Beasley had averaged 16.3 points, hitting 19 of 47 from the field, including one of 10 on three-pointers.
Baylor coach Scott Drew said he couldn’t remember a similar performance and was added to the list of coaches singing Beasley’s praises.
“He’s about as balanced a college player as I’ve ever seen,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Inside, outside, passing, and he gets easy baskets. That’s the sign of a great player. They run stuff for him, but he also scores when they don’t run stuff for him.”
Plus, Beasley helped end his program’s 24-year losing streak to the Jayhawks in Manhattan earlier this season.
A year ago, Self was tossing similar bouquets to Durant, who had two terrific games against the Jayhawks. In Lawrence, Durant scored 25 in the first half and finished with 32. In the Big 12 tournament final, Durant matched his career best with 37.
After the season, it was no stretch to conclude Durant was the best player to have played in the Big 12. Although the conference had produced national players of the year, Durant was the first to sweep the major awards.
No conference player had been selected higher in the NBA draft when Durant was taken No. 2.
Beasley could go No. 1 this June, assuming he declares for the draft after this season. He is believed to be more physically ready for the NBA than Durant, who should be a shoo-in for rookie of the year.
As for the national awards, Beasley figures to be a finalist for all of them, battling the likes of North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough, UCLA’s Kevin Love, Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody and Texas’ D.J. Augustin. He’s a cinch to become the school’s second consensus All-American, after Bob Boozer in 1958 and 1959.
Beasley has said he’s not interested in that kind of hardware, just the team stuff. After the Baylor loss, he didn’t talk about his conference-record output or freshman-record double-double.
“Obviously, I didn’t score enough,” he said.
It would have taken 51 for K-State to win. Don’t put it past Beasley to have that kind of outing before the season ends.
Durant was just as capable.
Who’s the man, K-State’s Beasley or former Longhorn Durant?
By BLAIR KERKHOFF
The Kansas City Star
Debates about greatest teams rarely are settled, but there is one where everybody else in history plays for No. 2.
It can be stated unequivocally that the Prince Georges Jaguars of Maryland in 2000 were the greatest 11-year-old team ever assembled.
With Michael Beasley and Kevin Durant suiting up for the recreation squad, it had to be.
They play at different levels today, but in a unique way, these Washington, D.C.-area natives are rivals.
As in, who is better, based on their freshman seasons: Beasley, Kansas State’s remarkable forward, or Durant, the rookie sensation with the Seattle Supersonics who starred at Texas last year?
Tonight, as the Longhorns visit Kansas State in a monster Big 12 showdown, seems the appropriate time to ask.
Just don’t quiz their coaches.
“They’re two different players,” Wildcats coach Frank Martin said.
But similarities are startling, beginning with the numbers.
Beasley ranks fourth in the nation in scoring at 26.1 points, and is one day removed from a Big 12-record 44 points in a loss to Baylor. He leads the nation at 12.5 rebounds, and his 23rd double-double of the season recorded against the Bears allowed him to surpass Syracuse’s Carmelo Anthony for the freshman record.
Until Beasley came along, nobody had seen anything like Durant, who averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds. He led the Big 12 in both categories, as Beasley does this season.
Beasley is listed at 6 feet 10 and 235 pounds. Durant was listed last season at 6-9 and 225 pounds, though there looks to be more of a weight gap between the players.
They’ve arrived at the same place, but Martin insists they took different paths.
“They’ve had two different frames of minds,” Martin said. “Kevin was more wired to score as a high school player. Mike has started to accept being more of a focal point offensively over the past year.”
With gusto. Beasley has shown incredible versatility, powering to the hole, flicking in a soft midrange jumper or stepping beyond the three-point arc, where he buries 39.4 percent.
Durant also went strong to the basket, but range is what made him most dangerous. Durant hit 40.4 percent on threes — 50.5 percent in Big 12 games — and only four players in the conference attempted more long-range shots than him.
But Durant was versatile in his own way. He led the league in blocked shots and was fourth in steals.
“People gave him a lot of credit for shooting the ball,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “But he was a much better rebounder, shot blocker and could play around the basket a little more than people thought.”
Beasley, like Durant, attracts multiple defenders, when teams aren’t playing zone. Saturday, Baylor tried different tactics. But Beasley and Bill Walker combined for 75 points. It marked the fourth time this season Beasley has topped 40 points.
Although the Wildcats lost, Beasley delivered in a road game, which had been a criticism this season. In losses at Missouri, Texas Tech and Nebraska, Beasley had averaged 16.3 points, hitting 19 of 47 from the field, including one of 10 on three-pointers.
Baylor coach Scott Drew said he couldn’t remember a similar performance and was added to the list of coaches singing Beasley’s praises.
“He’s about as balanced a college player as I’ve ever seen,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Inside, outside, passing, and he gets easy baskets. That’s the sign of a great player. They run stuff for him, but he also scores when they don’t run stuff for him.”
Plus, Beasley helped end his program’s 24-year losing streak to the Jayhawks in Manhattan earlier this season.
A year ago, Self was tossing similar bouquets to Durant, who had two terrific games against the Jayhawks. In Lawrence, Durant scored 25 in the first half and finished with 32. In the Big 12 tournament final, Durant matched his career best with 37.
After the season, it was no stretch to conclude Durant was the best player to have played in the Big 12. Although the conference had produced national players of the year, Durant was the first to sweep the major awards.
No conference player had been selected higher in the NBA draft when Durant was taken No. 2.
Beasley could go No. 1 this June, assuming he declares for the draft after this season. He is believed to be more physically ready for the NBA than Durant, who should be a shoo-in for rookie of the year.
As for the national awards, Beasley figures to be a finalist for all of them, battling the likes of North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough, UCLA’s Kevin Love, Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody and Texas’ D.J. Augustin. He’s a cinch to become the school’s second consensus All-American, after Bob Boozer in 1958 and 1959.
Beasley has said he’s not interested in that kind of hardware, just the team stuff. After the Baylor loss, he didn’t talk about his conference-record output or freshman-record double-double.
“Obviously, I didn’t score enough,” he said.
It would have taken 51 for K-State to win. Don’t put it past Beasley to have that kind of outing before the season ends.
Durant was just as capable.