Team meets press at media day

Thursday, October 18, 2007

The first half of last year’s Big 12 season couldn’t have gone much worse for Kansas.

Kansas started 0-9 in the conference before a 70-68 overtime victory against Colorado turned things around. The Jayhawks followed that game with four more conference wins, including a Big 12 tournament upset against Oklahoma State.

That late-season surge is the reason for so much optimism around this Kansas team. On Tuesday, the players and coaches had the chance to share their hopes for the season at the Big 12 media day in Kansas City, Mo.

Coach Bonnie Henrickson, accompanied by senior forward Taylor McIntosh and sophomore guard Danielle McCray, spoke to the media about the difference in this year’s team.

“We have some young talent from last year that’s improved, putting in the time and effort to individually improve, it will help us be a better basketball team,” Henrickson said.

Henrickson was forced to cut nearly half of the playbook last year because her young players couldn’t remember everything.

She’s excited to get some of that back.

“I do feel more comfortable and confident about how we want to play and what we might want to run,” she added.

The team has had only a few practices, but McIntosh already likes the wide-open look of the offense.

“This year we want to run and push the ball and whoever scores, scores,” McIntosh said.

She added that the team’s improvement has opened more scoring options than last year, with McCray and sophomore forward Sade Morris leading the way.

McCray also pointed to Morris as an offensive threat.

“Sade has been playing really well. She’s more confident than ever before,” McCray said.

As for that feeling of success at the end of last year, the players haven’t let it slip from their minds.

“Knowing the good things that we’ve done pushes us and motivates us to not fall back down,” McCray said. “We just need to start from the end of last season.”

The Jayhawks’ strong finish didn’t do much to convince the Big 12 coaches that they are for real. Kansas was picked to finish 10th in the conference this year.

“It is what it is, there’s nothing I can do to control that,” Henrickson said. “Would I have picked us there? No.”

What Kansas can control is where it finishes the year, and the Jayhawks plan on turning a few heads along the way.

-Edited by Luke Morris

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