Joining the Pierce Corps

No Jacque Vaughn and hardly any home games, but Kansas is the No. 1 team in the nation, 6-0 and flying.

Who’s providing the fire, the points and the freelance magic for the Jayhawks as they barrel into Saturday’s game at Pauley Pavilion against UCLA?

Who’s hearing Coach Roy Williams shout, “JUST TAKE HIM!” from the sidelines, as the rest of the Jayhawks conduct their usual precise offensive movements away from the ball?

It’s 6-foot-7 forward Paul Pierce, the Inglewood High product turned sophomore sensation who spurned a chance to play for the Bruins and opted for peace, love and understanding in Lawrence, Kan.

With Vaughn, the All-American senior point guard from Pasadena Muir, sidelined at least until January because of a wrist injury, the Jayhawks’ other top Southern California product has stepped up from an inconsistent freshman season to become a pivotal player through Kansas’ wearying first month of play.

In the share-the-ball Kansas system, Pierce suddenly is a player calling for the ball, and getting it.

“We have two youngsters, [6-11 forward] Raef LaFrentz and Paul, that have the ability to score,” Williams said. “So why shouldn’t we try to devise things to give them the opportunities to score?

“Paul’s much more confident this year, and his intensity level is much more consistent, and if we can keep that part of it going, I think he can be even better as it goes along.”

Williams said that when he tells Pierce to break down the defense on his own, it’s following a tradition of former Jayhawks who have had the ability to operate on their own within the Kansas offense.

“I think we did that with Kevin Pritchard,” Williams said. “Rex Walters was able to do that, Steve Woodberry did that some. But Paul, maybe because he’s bigger than those guys, he can go on his own against both small guys and bigger guys.

“There is room for that here. We encourage that, just as long as we move it a little, move the defense, and then get somebody the ball in a position where he can do something.”

So far, Kansas has won at Santa Clara, beat Louisiana State, California and Virginia to win the Maui Invitational, beat San Diego in Lawrence and Cincinnati in the Great Eight at Chicago.

A brutal schedule, exacerbated by the absence of the inspirational Vaughn. In his place at the point is sophomore Ryan Robertson, who has been steady through the first six games.

“When we did the schedule, we did not know anything was going to happen to Jacque,” Williams said. “When I made out the schedule, I thought we were probably going to be doggone good, and I wanted to find out how good; I wanted to find out what our strengths and weaknesses were going to be early.”

And, what has Williams found out about his team so far?

“We’re not handling the ball nearly as well as we should,” he said. “We’re turning the ball over way too much. On defense, we’re doing some nice things, but we’re not able to pressure people up the court as much as we’ve wanted.”

Last year, Kansas was considered a Final Four-caliber team, but barely missed, losing to Syracuse in the West Regional finals in a game that exposed the Jayhawks’ erratic shooting and highlighted the need for someone to provide more reliable scoring from the post and in the mid-range.

Pierce, considered Kansas’ most talented recruit since Danny Manning, started all but one game in his freshman season, averaging 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds, and was the co-Big Eight freshman of the year, with Colorado’s Chauncey Billups.

But, Pierce and Williams agree, Pierce, who was used to running up and down the court as the dominant player in his high school days, took some time to get used to collegiate basketball.

He shot only 41.9% last season, only 30.4% from behind the three-point line. So far this season, averaging about three more shots a game, Pierce has made 53.9% of his shots and 41.7% of his three-pointers.

“I think Paul’s biggest thing last year was that his intensity level was not very consistent,” Williams said. “He did sort of sit back and watch other guys not just try to score but how they attacked the game and how they prepared.”

Said Pierce: “I think my first year was more of a learning process. After being here a year, I’ve learned a lot. I know what Coach expects out of me and this year I’m more comfortable under our system.

“Without Jacque, I know I have to pick it up a lot more. And even if he was here, I feel I would have had to elevate my game in order for this to be a better team than we were last year.”

Pierce might have played his most complete collegiate game Wednesday night, when he lifted his obviously weary teammates to a huge comeback over No. 4 Cincinnati, scoring 15 of his 17 points in the second half and grabbing nine rebounds.

UCLA guard Toby Bailey, who played against Pierce in high school, said he has noticed that Pierce looks far more at ease on the floor this season.

“I think last year he had some people like Jacque and some other players who were the men on the team and had the first priority on the shots,” said Bailey, who may end up with some of the defensive duties on Pierce. “This year, he has to step up and he has to be the man.”

This season, Pierce is averaging a team-leading 18.3 points, and 6.2 rebounds.

“It shows he has a lot of confidence in me this year,” Pierce said of Williams’ calling his number. “He knows I’m a lot better than I was last year. He has a lot more confidence in my ability this year, he sees that I’m taking better shots than I have in the past.

“I think I’m going more to my pull-up [jump shot] this year than I have in the past. I did a lot of studying tapes this off-season, and I saw holes where I could have pulled up and shot the jumper and instead tried to take it all the way and got a charge or something.”

Pierce said UCLA was his second choice in the recruiting process, but said that he went to Kansas because he wanted to get away from home and to play in a program in which he could play a key--but not starring--role right away.

“I felt I needed to get away from distractions, from friends,” Pierce said. “And I just felt it was better situation for me to come in right away and play a lot.”

About 50 or more of Pierce’s friends and family will be at Pauley Saturday, he said.

“This is one of the few times I get to play in front of a lot of my family, and it’ll be special for me,” Pierce said. “Too bad I can’t get tickets for all of them.”