ESPN, Talking Heads
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If Duke gets healthy they are rightfully the odds on favourite. I’m beating a dead horse here but agree with @BeddieKU23 re: Kentucky.
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I guess we will find out soon enough. The KU-Duke and UK-MSU games should answer a lot of questions…heck, the KU-Indiana game will answer many questions for us…
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Yes these early games will be interesting. Nobody has a leg up on anyone, although some big injuries make it seem like KU might have an advantage in the Duke game. We don’t, we don’t have a 20 point scorer like they do and KU lost its Champions classic last year because 1 player could take the game over. As much as I dislike Allen, he is a tough matchup for KU. Our advantage will have to come from fundamentals-defense, rebounding etc.
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If KU beats Duke I will be very happy and surprised.
We are probably going to see a foul fest in KU IND.
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The match up withe Grayson Allen will be key. Coach Self might choose to let him go wild and control the other players; it would not be the first time an opponent has had a career day but his team lost anyway. If I were a betting man I would say we beat Duke somewhat comfortably and likely lose to UK…they will be wanting payback for last season’s loss and they will have the crows all ginned up. If KU wins both games it will become the odds on favorite, not something I would want so early in the season, although the UK game is till ways away.
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I think the Duke matchup is a toss up, and we all know Coach K’s influence on the ref’s. Will the guys take to the bright lights? That would be a game for Jackson to show us why he has gotten so much praise. The last time we were in MSG Mason was pretty good for an unknown freshman, remember him having ice veins in that one. I feel like Mason will be key in that matchup.
I’m hoping we can win tomm and tuesday. Certainly no cupcakes like we are used to early
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ESPN also had a list of the hardest non-con schedules out.
KU #1 and it’s not even close.
The Jayhawks begin the season in Honolulu on Friday, where they will face Indiana in the Armed Forces Classic. Four days later, they will play Duke at Madison Square Garden. There’s also a road game on Jan. 28 at Rupp against Kentucky. Toss in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City – where KU will open with UAB (favored to win C-USA) and then get either Georgia or George Washington. The slate also includes: Stanford, Nebraska, Davidson, Long Beach State, Siena and a road game at UNLV. There’s just one true cupcake on the schedule: the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
UNC #2
The Tar Heels play three road games – Indiana, Hawaii and Tulane (at Smoothie King Center). The Heels are also in the Maui Invitational, and they face Kentucky in Las Vegas. Coach Roy Williams also has a quality home slate with the likes of Chattanooga, Long Beach State, Davidson, Tennessee, Northern Iowa and Monmouth.
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We know what it is like to have some big weapons but no floor general.
And are they hungry to win? How long ago was it when they won a NC? Uh… they didn’t win last year.
There should be around 400 other D1 schools carrying a bigger chip.
It will take a monumental job by K to pull this off.
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I hope we aren’t looking past IU tonight. Who scheduled these games? I like playing big games but this is a tough situation and how will we be rested for Duke?
Have we had any prep for Duke yet? Pretty hard to do when IU is in front of us.
Guess we will see how tough our guys are. I think it will be pretty impressive if we can pull off two victories.
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@BShark your probably right, going to be very interesting I think on how we contain Bryant. - -One thing is at least we do have fouls to give at the 5 - - Lucas, Udoka, Dwight, maybe even Mitch huh? - - Another player they talk a lot about on the Indiana board is their guy I think is called OB something like that, surpose to be pretty good, talking about him matching up on Josh. - -Can’t wait to get this baby rolling been too long. - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@drgnslayr Very hard games indeed. Of couse we all know that KU has never backed down from stiff competition, - -but your right these 2 right out the gate, not sure exactly how rested we will be flying back from Hawaii and facing them after flying to New York. What they get back here in the States sometime tomorrow, then take off for New York like Sunday - -maybe Monday? I dunno we shall see. Still not sure which or how many of the 3 frosh super studs for Duke will play Tuesday Giles, Bolden, Tatym ? Anyways the season is here, play one game at a time and let the cards fall as they may. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@jayballer54 said:
@BShark your probably right, going to be very interesting I think on how we contain Bryant. - -One thing is at least we do have fouls to give at the 5 - - Lucas, Udoka, Dwight, maybe even Mitch huh? - - Another player they talk a lot about on the Indiana board is their guy I think is called OB something like that, surpose to be pretty good, talking about him matching up on Josh. - -Can’t wait to get this baby rolling been too long. - - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
OG Anunoby. Kid is a beast. Crean does it again with a big time ditr.
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@jayballer54 They are flying straight from Hawaii to NYC. That is one long flight, but not as bad as going to So. Korea!
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@RockChalkinTexas For me, flying east is harder to overcome than flying west.
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Just saw this on the NBC Sports page under the 20 Bold Predictions for the 2016-2017 college basketball season:
Kansas will go 18-0 in Big 12 play: The Jayhawks have a near-impenetrable homecourt advantage and the rest of the league will be down significantly, making their 13th-straight title their most definitive. (Travis Hines)
Texas Tech will finish second in the Big 12: The Red Raiders were a surprising NCAA tournament team last season and they return most of last season’s core. With the rest of the Big 12 outside of Kansas having a significant amount of question marks, Texas Tech has a chance to make a major move. (Scott Phillips)
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It’s like they haven’t seen what happens when KU goes to Morgantown and Stillwater.
Crazy talk about Tech. ISU, UT and WVU are all better for sure.
Oh and yeah, Kentucky can’t shoot threes. Being confirmed tonight. They are a LOAD inside though. Yikes.
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@BShark we got a load too!
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@Crimsonorblue22 said:
@BShark we got a load too!
I like Udoka, but UK has a lot of skill inside to go with their girth. They will be tough for anyone inside I think.
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@BShark I know, but he is a load.
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I don’t think SF Austin had 1 player that was a big as Kentucky’s smallest post player. New coach, new system it sure made Kentucky look better then they might be.
When teams figure out how to zone Kentucky and force them to shoot outside we will see vulnerabilities in that team
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@BeddieKU23 man did they look like studs
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@JayHawkFanToo The timing of the marque matchups with Duke and KY will be great litmus tests for this KU team. Duke is down 2 guys, but they have depth. So its their depth vs ours. Its a wash, by definition, when two top3 teams battle. If Bragg still slumping, Duke beats us, but we have Bill Self’s whole non-conf season to find that efficiency-groove Self requires in the execution of his playstyle.
Now if KY beats KU handily, thats the worst predictor for March, mostly due to the timing. It would be a slap in the face to have 3 glory frosh play 2 mos of college ball, adjust to this level of play, and out-play Self’s 1, 2, 3, 4-year guys. I’m not talking about a single digit loss (that wouldnt predict much), but what I’m suggesting may apply if KU gets dusted by 20+ in Rupp.
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At this point KU is a work in progress. All the pieces are there but they are not fully operational yet. Positioning for rebounds and rebounding in general needs work. No question it is hard to stop a team that is in the zone from the 3, like Indiana was, but there has to be a contingency plan anyway.
The guards are fine but Devonte does not seem to be 100% and the cramping issue apparently has not been resolved. This team will go as far as Mason’s legs take it.
The referring sucked and, from my biased perception, it looked like the critical bad calls went against KU. I cannot recall when is the last time 4 starters fouled out for KU. I suspect we will be seeing more Lightfoot in the future; he was in a very short time but was solid and could give meaningful rest time to the players we need on the court at crunch time.
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Any thoughts on Kentucky? I know some don’t think UK Is very good but after they destroyed Michigan State by 21 points, it is hard not to consider them a legit top 4 team. UK always has top tier talent and you can underestimate them at your own risk; the game at Rupp wil be extremely difficult to win.
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Kinda cool KU, Duke was the most streamed CBB game ever. http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2016/nov/17/ku-duke-draws-espns-largest-ever-college/
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UK is loaded. Probably the only team that can match a healthy Duke up front in terms of talent and depth. Their whole season depends on being able to hit perimeter shots. If they shoot at least a passable percentage from three, they are almost a lock for the Final Four, but they are also the kind of team that could go 2-22 from three in a Sweet Sixteen loss.
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@JayHawkFanToo said:
Any thoughts on Kentucky? I know some don’t think UK Is very good but after they destroyed Michigan State by 21 points, it is hard not to consider them a legit top 4 team. UK always has top tier talent and you can underestimate them at your own risk; the game at Rupp wil be extremely difficult to win.
Tbf MSU had jack all inside. Hopefully they get healthy.
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@justanotherfan and @JayHawkFanToo I watched the entire UK-MSU game. It is clear that MSU is a different team than last year and will really struggle to score, especially if their three point shooting does not improve.
My thoughts on Kentucky -
How they score:
- Transition (listed first for a reason)
- Isaiah Briscoe - still doesn’t shoot well but drives to the basket very well
- Malik Monk’s three point shooting
That right there is UK’s scoring. People gush over their talent but it is practically the same team as last year just replace Murray with Monk and Ullis with Fox. Like last year, they have no inside scoring. Willis and Humphries look the same as last year and Odebayo is raw. Dickie V said it best yesterday - if you can keep Kentucky out of transition, you have a chance to beat them. They are not nearly as good in the half court. Michigan State is not a top ten team right now, so I wouldn’t use that game as a good gauge.
ESPN already has an article about how “Kentucky is in mid season form” and other stupid stuff like that. Their bias is unreal. Yes, Kentucky looked good, but believe me, MSU is not good right now. Its not like they smoked Villanova or Indiana.
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Couldn’t agree more
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