Giddens’ game coming on

KU sophomore makes strides on offense, defense

While Kansas University sophomore swingman J.R. Giddens was playing Saturday at Nebraska, a poster caught his attention.

Held in the air by a Cornhusker fan, the drawing depicted Giddens dancing around, wearing a skirt and sporting long hair.

“That was hilarious,” Giddens said. “I kind of wanted to go up there and sign it for them. That was pretty creative. I clapped for them, like ‘Hey, good job.'”

He’s enjoying basketball again — something he wasn’t doing just a few weeks ago. In consecutive games against Texas A&M and Kentucky, Giddens was in a shooting slump. He was just 3-of-17 from the field and 0-for-12 from three-point range.

Before leaving for the next game at Iowa State, Giddens stressed he was a firm believer in the law of averages and, by his calculations, he was bound to get “wet” from the field sooner or later. He was right.

More important, though, has been his overall improvement.

A good example was the Jayhawks’ 78-65 victory in Lincoln, Neb. Giddens contributed just seven points, but he compiled four assists, three rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

“He’s become a pretty good defender,” KU coach Bill Self said of the player who takes a 10.5 scoring and 4.0 rebound average into today’s 2:30 p.m. home game against Colorado.

“He’s got long arms, and he’s sliding his feet well. His defense and his intangibles are improving so much. He’s much more active in getting deflections and blocks, things like that. He’s taken a lot of pride in his defense.”

Kansas sophomore J.R. Giddens (15) shoots over Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Ed McCants, left, and Jason McCoy on Dec. 22 in Kansas City, Mo. Since struggling against Texas A&M and Kentucky earlier this season, Giddens has improved on offense and defense.

Always athletic and blessed with shooting ability, Giddens didn’t need to concentrate on defense while he was in high school in Oklahoma City.

“They used to tell me to play defense, and I played defense maybe a couple of trips down (the floor),” Giddens said with a smile. “I was just trying to go down there and dunk on somebody or shoot a jumper and get my 30 points. I wasn’t really worried about defense in high school unless it was crucial.”

A year ago, Giddens never could have frustrated a player like Nebraska’s Joe McCray, as he did Saturday. McCray, NU’s leading scorer, wound up with just seven points and spent most of the second half on the bench.

“I used to sit in the locker room before the games and say, ‘Man, I gotta guard this dude,’ and I didn’t have confidence in my feet, and then they’d take advantage of me,” Giddens said. “Now, hopefully, coaches are like, ‘Oh, he’s guarding him, and it’s not going too good.'”

The little differences in Giddens’ game are popping up all over the stat sheets. Even though his scoring is down about half a point from last year, his rebounding average has gone up half a board.

Giddens has recorded 26 assists in 20 games this season. He had 28 in 33 outings last season. He also is on pace to surpass his freshman totals in blocks and steals.

His maturation is evident in his attitude and approach.

“If I’m not making shots, I’ve got to contribute some way,” Giddens said. “Every time I step on the court, I want coach to be like, ‘Man, J.R. really helped us out in this situation.’ I just want to be the player where coaches are like, ‘Man, we need somebody like that on our team.'”

Self certainly has been impressed by Giddens’ ability to see the big picture.

“J.R. has had a better year to date than he had last year,” the KU coach said, “and he finished the season great last year. He’s a better defender, a better ball-mover. He’s taking care of the ball better, putting it down better. I’m pleased the way he is playing.”