Ames, Iowa ? Between 10 and 20 pro scouts normally show up for marquee Kansas University men’s basketball games.

They’re not on hand to check out the seniors — those are guys they can poke and prod during individual workouts before the NBA draft.

The impeccably dressed talent evaluators receive credentials to inspect underclassmen — guys like athletic KU sophomore J.R. Giddens, who one scout said had the most NBA potential of any of those players competing in Sunday’s KU-Kentucky game at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.

“You kind of think about it every game,” Giddens said Tuesday, referring to the scouts on press row. “At the same time, I’m out there to win a ballgame. I know they are there. If they like me, they like me; if they don’t, they don’t.”

It’s been speculated that the 6-foot-5 Giddens, who is 0-for-12 from behind the three-point arc the past two games heading into today’s 7 p.m. battle at Iowa State, is slumping because his mind is on the 2005 NBA draft instead of the ’04-05 season.

Not so, says Giddens, who has averaged 10 points off 40.4 percent shooting.

“The only time I think about the NBA is when I watch it,” the Oklahoma City native said. “It’d be great, big. Obviously, that’s every child’s dream. If it comes it comes. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

“It isn’t going anywhere. It’ll be there (someday) … I hope,” he said, laughing.

Giddens, who hit seven threes and scored 24 points in a win over ISU last year in Allen Fieldhouse, says his current woes also haven’t been caused by opponents’ defenses.

Kansas University's J.R. Giddens, right, tries to elude Texas A&M defender Dominique Kirk. The Jayhawks won, 65-60, Jan. 5 at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I don’t think it’s (that) anybody’s defensive scheme has been that effective,” Giddens said, his eyes glistening as he concocted an analogy. “I think it’s just J.R. is building a house right now. Hopefully it’ll be like a little garage or a shed and not a mansion or anything.

“I’ve got some construction going on now. I’ve got a hard hat and everything,” he laughed, comparing himself to a bricklayer.

Giddens, who has made 23 of 70 threes for 32.9 percent compared to his 47.5 percent mark a year ago, is not stressing over his slump.

“Maybe I need a ritual,” he quipped, “or grow the curls back.”

KU coach Bill Self says Giddens is just now learning how to handle being the focus of other teams’ defenses and, maybe more importantly, the focus of pro scouts.

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The two have “talked about that a ton,” Self said of the NBA distraction. “Knowing J.R. personally as well as we do, he needs to be focused on everything that’s happening right here with blinders on as opposed to having full vision.

“It’s probably your guys’ fault,” he said, referring to the media, “and the NBA people that throw these things out there. You guys have to report on what they say even if it’s not 100 percent accurate. He’s a good player, a good prospect, all those things. If he plays well for Kansas, he’ll please everybody else.”

Self remembers during his high school days wondering what college scouts were in the stands.

“If you are worried about who comes watch you play, you are not focused on what you are there to do,” Self said. “Just play. I think he’s starting to understand that. It’s difficult to grasp when you first walk through it. I think it has been a little weight bearing on him.”

Experts say Giddens needs to take the ball to the hole effectively before he can think about thriving on the pro level.

“I get a kick out of commentators saying, ‘He’s married to the three,”’ Self said. “He’s also trying to do some other things. The more people that say he needs to expand his game, he’s got to drive it, now what’s he thinking at practice? He’s thinking, ‘I need to drive it.’ He just needs to play, shoot it if open, if not open drive it past him. He’s going through a learning phase now.”

Giddens said, “I’m a little more aggressive this year, stepping up defensively. I try to go to the basket. If it flows in the offense I do (drive). If it doesn’t I don’t.”

Tonight, Iowa State will use zone defenses, which sometimes provide open looks for three-point bombers.

“Like coach says, I just need to focus on getting it done,” Giddens said.

For 11-0 KU to win, he likely will need to drill threes versus the 8-4 Cyclones, who are 25-1 at home the last two years.

“I don’t even think J.R. is in a slump,” point guard Aaron Miles said. “He’s missed a couple shots. We believe in him. I believe in him.”

“I just need to be confident,” Giddens said. “In a game, I’ll be like, ‘I just made 50 in a row the other day. Why am I missing?’ I’ve just got to step up and shoot it like, ‘This is going in.’

“I’m gonna keep shooting it, but if I miss seven or eight in a row, I’m not gonna be like, ‘Hey, let’s calm down on the trigger, kid.’ My teammates tell me to keep shooting. My coach tells me to keep shooting, and that’s a lot of confidence on my side. I think that if the law of averages balances out, I’m about to get pretty wet pretty soon.”