FOR LAVIN AND WILLIAMS, FOCUS RESTS ON JAYHAWKS.Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of - Steve Lavin Steve Lavin (born September 4,1964), a San Francisco, California native is a former college basketball coach and current ABC and ESPN TV analyst. As UCLA head basketball coach from 1996-2003, Lavin compiled a record of 145-78. watched Roy Williams Roy Williams may refer to any of several individuals: Sports
After 12 seasons as coach at the University of Kansas The University of Kansas (often referred to as KU or just Kansas) is an institution of higher learning in Lawrence, Kansas. The main campus resides atop Mount Oread. , Williams was offered the head-coaching job at the University of North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. , his alma mater and where he got his first job as an assistant under Dean Smith. Tonight's matchup between the Jayhawks and Lavin's UCLA Bruins in the opening game of IKON's Coaches for Cancer Tournament at Madison Square Garden Current arenas in the National Hockey League Western Conference Eastern Conference is the first for Williams since he made the difficult decision to remain at Kansas. Lavin and Williams are good friends. Both are active in the fight against cancer after facing it in their own families. Williams lost his mother, Lallage, in 1992, and Lavin's father, Cap, survived prostate cancer prostate cancer, cancer originating in the prostate gland. Prostate cancer is the leading malignancy in men in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in men. three years ago. And though Lavin isn't expected to run back to old Chapman College soon, he understands Williams' coaching anguish. ``You're torn because he had a chance to go home to North Carolina and coaching there was something he dreamed about,'' Lavin said. ``But now he's carved out a new home in Kansas with the current players he has, the former players and the community there. That was probably as difficult a decision as a coach can face. Obviously, you have to go with your heart and do what's going to make yourself happy.'' During a pretournament news conference Wednesday at the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. , Williams wanted to focus more on the four-team tournament that also includes heavyweights Kentucky and St. John's. He reluctantly addressed the issue that consumed college basketball last April after Smith's replacement, Bill Guthridge, resigned as Carolina coach. Notre Dame coach and Former Tar Heel coachMatt Doherty got the job. Williams was more concerned with the severely sprained right ankle of forward Luke Axtell, his leading scorer during the exhibition season, injured Tuesday before the team left for New York. Axtell remained in Kansas and will not play. ``On Oct. 14, when we were able to start practice, it was kind of a release,'' Williams said. ``It gave us all a chance to move ahead instead of having to relive the past.'' Williams acknowledged he knows the questions will keep coming, but he said it is more important to focus on the Bruins, who are rated 19th in the country by Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN. ``The most important thing will be establishing our defense and seeing how we play without Luke,'' said Williams, who has the Jayhawks ranked sixth in both polls. ``We have a good team but have not had a good defensive team the past three years. And if you remember, we had a first-round NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= pick signed to play for us.'' Fresno high school shooting guard DeShaun Stevenson was ready to go to Kansas before opting for the draft and winding up with Utah. The Jayhawks front line, however, could make the difference. Senior center Eric Chenowith is 7-foot-1. He averaged 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds last season and was in double figures during two exhibition games. The two others are Nick Collison and Drew Gooden. Without Axtell, Kansas is supposed to rotate just six players. UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX senior point guard Earl Watson has a sprained pinky on his right (shooting) hand but will play. Jason Kopono, a 6-8 sophomore forward, returns after leading the Bruins in scoring (16.0 ppg) last year as a freshman. The biggest challenge for the Bruins, who qualified for the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament the past two years, will be finding help up front after the loss of sophomore forwards Jerome Moiso (first round, Boston) and JaRon Rush (CBA See Capital Builder Account. ). Center Dan Gadzuric (6-11) started 23 of 33 games last year and the Bruins think he can be one of the top big men in the country. Kansas will be a good test. ``What we need to do is get everyone involved on defense,'' Lavin said. ``We have to get everyone back to help out.'' UCLA vs. KANSAS Time: 3:30p.m. Madison Square Garden. TV/Radio: ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network 2; KXTA-AM (1150). Matchup: UCLA leads this series 8-2, but Kansas has won the past two meetings, 85-70 during the 1995-96 season in Lawrence and 96-83 at Pauley Pavilion in 1996-97, Steve Lavin's third game as Bruins coach. The schools in this tournament have a combined 23 national championships (UCLA 11, Kentucky 8, Kansas 4). . . . The Bruins have not played in New York since 1992-93 when they lost to Seton Hall in the preseason NIT A measurement of luminance. One nit is equal to one candela per square meter (1cd/m2). Ten thousand nits are equal to one stilb. See candela. . Lavin was asked about playing so many tough teams this early and pointed out that Stanford won the tournament last year with two victories and was bumped in the first weekend of the NCAA's. Duke lost both of its games last year, won its next 18 to reach No. 1 and reached the Sweet 16. - Matt McHale CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: (color) EARL WATSON UCLA's floor general has a sprained pinky on his shooting hand, but he will play tonight. Box: UCLA vs. KANSAS (see text) |
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