Mayer: Kansas must improve its ball-handling skills

If three 2004 Jayhawk starters can become much better halfcourt ball-handlers, a year from now the Kansas University basketball team will reign as champion for the regular season, king of the postseason tournament and can be a solid contender for the NCAA Final Four.

There’s much yet to be accomplished this season, and improved skills by Aaron Miles, Keith Langford and J.R. Giddens could further the immediate cause. But for KU to measure up fully to its vast potential for 2005, these guys need to get better with the leather.

Miles still tends to dribble too much and distribute too little, for all his glossy assist-to-turnover ratio. He could boost his stock about 25 percent by driving, pulling up and popping some 10-to-15 footers the way Oklahoma State’s John Lucas has been doing. Aaron could take driving lessons from the writhing, twisting Langford. Both need to avoid horning into congested thickets where they either get the ball stolen or have it blocked (not to mention drawing charging fouls that so many of the current referee crop seems locked-in to calling on Kansas guys).

As a senior, a more versatile Aaron could quarterback a national-title contender. Certainly he has innumerable athletic skills and will have the ultimate three years of combat experience.

For all their abilities, Langford and Giddens are too lazy or careless with the ball while working on the wings. Their floaters back to the point invite super-quicks like OSU’s Lucas or Tony Allen to step out and go solo to the opposite hoop. Telegraphed dishes to the post also need to be better-disguised. Shooters, drivers, rebounders, thieves and blockers Keith and J.R. may be, but there’s vast room for improvement in their protecting the ball in non-break situations.

And, naturally, everybody can always get better on defense, and should be by next winter.

Even though lots of new thrills could light up our lives yet this year, it’s also easy to coo and gurgle over what the Jayhawks might achieve next season.

First off, six full- or part-time starters return, a year wiser and better-acclimated to coach Bill Self’s format. Miles, Langford, Giddens and Wayne Simien are the staples. David Padgett has been a starter when Jeff Graves was in an on-and-off roller-coaster mode, and Mike Lee has started games after early physical problems.

There’s no limit to what Simien can do as a senior. A beefed-up Padgett with all his dedication and intensity could develop as a Raef LaFrentz-type before he’s through. If Lee can keep healthy and go all-out from start to finish, he’ll add a lot to the exciting mix.

KU's Keith Langford makes a fadeaway shot against Rickey Paulding.

A highly regarded freshman three-pack next fall will give the squad considerably more than the current senior trio of Graves, Bryant Nash and Brett Olson have provided.

Russian wonder-boy Sasha Kaun, at 6-11 and 245, could join Simien, Padgett, Moody and Moulaye Niang to give Kansas a crew that might do a nifty paint job against any college foe. The steadily improving Kaun has had a notable season in Florida. There’s also high regard for 6-8 Darnell Jackson out of Midwest City, Okla. He, at 235, also has bulk and muscle to contribute to the cause.

All we can hope is that referees who’ve seemed committed to calling fouls against Jeff Graves just for being there, and to some extent Padgett, will have an athletic epiphany. Maybe it’s finally KU’s turn for more breaks from the zebras. What the heck did they have against Graves? Jeff could be a bricklayer, sure. But how often did he leap straight up while the opponent lowered a shoulder or switchbladed an elbow and Jeff would be whistled the villain?

Red-hot Russell Robinson, the touted point and shooting guard out of New York, could spell Miles at quarterback and get timely pokes from the wings with Giddens, Langford and Lee. Robinson also has created some glistening reviews with his defense.

Several guys on this year’s roster have emerged as continuity-killers to whom a coach might say: “If you aren’t pretty sure of a good shot, throw it out of bounds so we’ll have more time to set up on defense.” Some short-termers have had frustrating moments like that. There should be ample chances for everyone to escape from Ham-Handed Haven.

Most expect Jeremy Case and Omar Wilkes to provide a lot more help than they have as freshmen. Nobody should give up on these guys, the way some dolts did at one point on the ailing Padgett. Man, was I glad to see that kid come out of the Missouri victory with such a positive rush. We haven’t begun to see how forceful D-Pad can be. Those clowns who have been comparing him to the tiptoeing Eric Chenowith already are having to choke down some words.

Another good sign. More often than not, KU no longer is a free-throw disaster in the clutch.

Anybody notice anything unusual here?

Jeff Graves is the only junior-college product on the current KU roster. Barring last-minute signing, next year there won’t be one. Oklahoma State’s Eddie Sutton brilliantly assembled a juco-transfer contingent that produced the school’s first clearcut league title in 39 years — guys like Lucas, Allen, Daniel Bobik and Joey Graham. Look at the jucos in the Big 12. Yet KU’s Self could shoot the moon next season with a freshman-senior sequence which is increasingly rare in the modern college game.

KU drops three journeymen from its 2004 roster and gains three nifties who could contribute enough to spark another national-championship run. Add a seasoned six-man starting corps of considerable note and if the ball-handling can get substantially sharper, Lawrence might need to organize a victory parade such as it staged in 1988, and 1952 before that.