2005 Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Preview

2005 Kansas Jayhawks Team Preview

The Kansas Jayhawks are involved in a youth movement, which translates into players with potential who need time to mature. Time to mature does not equal wins in the Big 12 and that probably means last year’s first place finisher in the conference will end up in the middle of the pack.

The Jayhawks and Coach Bill Self have been winning since Self took over two years ago (47-16). Kansas, a perennial March Madness participant, has not missed the NCAA post season since 1989. However this year may be a tough one for the team.

Guards J.R. Giddens, Keith Langford, and Aaron Miles are gone and so too are their collective 33.8 PPG, 11.3 RPG, and 11.4 APG. The team’s leading shooter and man off the glass, forward Wayne Simien, is also gone. Can one returning senior, two starting second year players and a tandem of freshmen make up for the forward’s 20.3 PPG and 11.0 RPG?

The problem for the Jayhawks is that despite the fact that they do possess talent; they can’t make up for their lack of experience. Forward Christian Moody has started for the club but his stats are less than impressive. One thing he can do for such a young team is offer much needed leadership.

Freshman point guard Mario Chalmers possesses enough talent to start immediately and first year swingman Julien Wright comes in as the player with the most versatility and potential. Of course nobody knows if he can fulfill that promise.

Sophomores Christian Moody at forward and Sasha Kaun at center showed ability and talent in 2004-05; now they have to be able to sustain quality fulltime minutes. Can they along with one senior and two first years insure the Jayhawks’ string of sixteen NCAA tournament berths remains unbroken? No, none of them can do that. All they can do is work hard, learn from every game, and continue to improve. The rest will simply take care of itself.

We have also listed the link to the official Kansas Jayhawks athletic site, for those that would like more info on the 2005 Kansas mens basketball team. If not continue on below to more of the individual big 12 schools.