How should Jay attack the find a way boys?
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Self has got to drill D’Tae on staying out of Foul Trouble.
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If they drive, it’ll be to get Doke and Silvio in foul trouble and force Mitch into the game. That would be a nightmare scenario for KU. I’m honestly not that worried about our guards getting in foul trouble.
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This game comes down to offensive rebounding and 3 point shooting %/ 3 point defense. Both teams play a similar style of drive and kick to open shooters. Surprisingly they shot terrible against Tech from 3 (17%) but still won because they played great defense and limited their second chance points. Nova’s defense does scare me a bit if I’m being honest, they shut down Perry a few years ago but we have a much bigger and stronger big in Doke. I’m not sure anyone can guard Doke within 3 feet of the basket, him getting looks early and often as well as staying outta foul trouble will be big factors. If I’m them I try to foul out Doke and hope we aren’t hitting from outside.
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i don’t think we can stop them playing man to man. We have to play zone.
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@KUSTEVE YA, ok - - lol - - good luck with that. - you know & I know Coach playing more then 2-3 possessions of zone is about as likely as me winning the lottery lol. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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I’m calling it now, Lightfoot will help on defense this game.
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I hope we get a ton of shots up in the Dome. Our defense has been good enough to get stops when we need it. It’s the offense that needs to be clicking. Offense is what got us to the Final 4 and what will get us to the Championship game
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@KUSTEVE are you sure? With 5 player shooting 40% plus from three? Sounds like zone killers to me
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Nova would destroy a KU zone.
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@BShark So, what do you think they’ll do to our man to man?
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@Blown They flattened Tech’s man to man… the 3rd highest def eff team in all of college bb. I’m not sure any defense will stop them, so i guess i would say …pick your poison.
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It will be interesting to see if Nova uses the 3/4 court press like they did in 2016. That gave us fits. Many times we weren’t even getting into our offense until there were 15-20 seconds on the shot clock.
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Truth is, whoever mans up wins this game. Whatever one team does to counter in this game, the other can do something to make them pay. Whoever wants it more for 40 minutes ends up on top. Rarely will you see a game where teams match-up so well pound for pound, while playing the same style. Comes down to each guy winning their individual matchup.
- DG vs Brunson - Naismith POY matchup, will be fun to watch.
- Newman vs Bridges - Who can hold who to less points? Or rather, who can score those points most efficiently.
- Vick vs Booth- Who will put their stamp on the game more? Can Vick put up 15 points and make Booth disappear? Or do we see B12 Vick and Booth ends up being the Nova savior?
- Svi vs. Paschall - Can Svi rebound two games in a row? Can Svi make them pay for putting Paschall on a perimeter player?
- Doke vs. Spellman - Can Spellman shoot well enough to force us to put a guard and double-team him? Can he pass well enough out of a Double-team? Can he guard Doke?
- Garrett vs. DiVincenzo - Who will be the more impactful sub? Can Garrett force a couple of turnovers? Or will DiVincenzo have a field day from the arc?
I’m pumped to watch each of these small battles within the larger game.
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KUSTEVE said:
@Blown They flattened Tech’s man to man… the 3rd highest def eff team in all of college bb. I’m not sure any defense will stop them, so i guess i would say …pick your poison.
Not sure they flattened Tech, they both shot 33% from the field. They got 40% of their points in the game at the FT line. Tech missed something like 16 layups in the game. The game was ugly and both teams couldn’t hit anything.
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Tech played fine on the D end, they just couldnt make any shots.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 I think Mitch matches up better with 'Nova’s bigs than he did against Duke’s front line. Like, not even close
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@Blown atleast they don’t have Archie, he was so good at playing 2-3 passes away.
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You guys! You have to know that Self will throw some junk zone defenses out there for a few possessions. He does this every post season just to fuck with the other team. He will absolutely not use it as his go to defense. Never has.
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Booth is nursing that hand injury and has seen his shooting %'s go way down since it. Whoever guards him has the advantage.
Bridges is big time. This isn’t guarding Grayson Allen if Newman or Vick draws the assignment. Bridges gave us fits 2 years ago and all he’s done is turn himself into a 1st round pick.
Divincenzo is the matchup I’m most worried about. He was the one guy in the Tech game that had that “it” factor. Big fan of how he plays and can really hurt you in a lot of ways.
Brunson vs Graham is as good as it gets. 2 POY players going Head to Head. It’s bound to bring out the best in both. They play completely different styles playing the same position.
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Can’t imagine him using a zone, their starting 5 all shoot 3’s
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I again call on @stupidmichael. Where are you when we need you?
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Lost to Nova 59-61 on a last second shot 2013 Battle of Atlantis
Lost to Nova 59-64 in 2016 (duh, blown)
Mason could have tied it with a three at the end, but he didn’t even get a shot up.
Who thinks this game will be played in the 60’s?
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I think the other game will be played in the 60’s.
I see this being a higher scoring game of the two with KU having the higher score after 40 minutes
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@Crimsonorblue22 I’m very happy to not have to see Archie diagjdowjdnciejdjpolos play again.
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@Lulufulu He is going to have to change it up, imo. maybe he pulls a triangle in two, maybe a zone…who knows??? But, almost nobody beats Bill after beating him two times in a row.
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@Eric-san Actually they cloned him and renamed him Donte Devincenzo.
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@KUSTEVE Nova shot terrible against Tech’s man defense, the only reason they won was because they had 20 offensive rebounds. Not sure how shooting 33% from the floor and 17% from 3 classifies has shredding anything. I think a zone could work for stretches but they could easily shoot us outta it.
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@kjayhawks Nova shot terrible, yet they still completely dominated them offensively the entire game. They beat the number 1 rated defense in the b12, and the 3rd ranked def in the country. We’re ranked 42nd. So, i think we’re going to have to mix it up.
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@KUSTEVE Would you like to bet on the primary defense played? You can’t zone a team with their shooting numbers.
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@BShark Sucker’s bet. Primary will always be man to man. Even when he plays zone.
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We saw, the last time we played them, what they did to our hand-offs. Because of that, I don’t think we’ll see the weave that much. How about a payback foul against Nova for the horrible one called on Devonte last time we met… There will be a lot of chips on our shoulder’s. but for Svi and Devonte, it’s time for payback.
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@KUSTEVE We are a markedly better defensive and rebounding team ever since the Baylor loss. I like us going M2M on them. I would have been a proponent of a junk defense against Duke, as they were physically imposing matchup that I wasn’t sure we could handle conventionally. I was proven wrong.
This game, I want to play M2M. Perhaps we throw a junk or Zone D out there out of a timeout or something. But I want this game to be on our guys to perform. Whoever mans up deserves to win the game. We owe Nova one. 3 of the starters know how that game felt. They should be wanting payback.
To me, this is one of those games where you just roll the ball out there and play.
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@KUSTEVE I’ll agree to disagree how a team Dominates anything offensively shooting like that and scoring 71 points, 29 of those points came at the line and 6 or 8 came in the final minute and a half with Tech fouling to extend the game. You have to shoot well to dominate the game offensively, open looks mean nothing if you can’t hit them.
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Nice thread. I’m not an X’s and O’s guy, (although I love hugs and kisses!) but I really hope that Bill doesn’t get outcoached like he did two years ago. My memory was Jay threw a little soft press at us that just slowed us down and we never found a rhythm offensively. We might have a little more speed than two years ago as demonstrated by beating WVU three times this year and not having a ton of trouble with their press.
I do like the idea, but it’s probably stupid to run two bigs out there because nova is small. I’m not sure how they’re gonna stop Doke except try to get him fouled up.
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@Kcmatt7 like your comparison list. I felt pretty good until 6th man. That dude is head and shoulders above Garrett. And he worries me. I just think it is so important we establish Dok, collapse their D and free up our marksmen
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@Fightsongwriter I’m wondering if we will need to bring in Garrett at all this game. I think he’s been able to get some minutes because of his handling skills on O and overall D while Graham has struggled a bit.
It’s not clear to me that Villanova can handle DeSousa or Doke. Although, why was DeSousa so ineffectual against Penn?
As for the guards, I think we’ve got to do a little trial and error on D. Vick/Garrett/Graham on Bridges, Graham/Svi on Brunson, Newman/Graham on the “lesser” guard, Svi/Mitch/Silvio on Paschal, Doke/Silvio on their big.
Can KU successfully guard the 5 out with a big in the lineup? If the answer is yes, I think we should win. We should be able to extend our defense a little farther out and challenge them to drive. If Silvio is inhuman and can be on the floor at the same time as Doke and guard Paschal, I like our chances even more.
Alternatively, we should be looking to put Newman in the pick and roll with Svi and Vick in the corners. I like our chances of drawing fouls against this team.
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@wissox Look at the ball handlers in that game vs this game. Replace Ellis and Selden with Svi and Vick. It will be a different ball game with a more favorable outcome. (Willing it into existence)
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I don’t know about JWright, but the 2008 provided the blueprint to attack JWright…
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Kcmatt7 said:
Truth is, whoever mans up wins this game. Whatever one team does to counter in this game, the other can do something to make them pay. Whoever wants it more for 40 minutes ends up on top. Rarely will you see a game where teams match-up so well pound for pound, while playing the same style. Comes down to each guy winning their individual matchup.
- DG vs Brunson - Naismith POY matchup, will be fun to watch.
- Newman vs Bridges - Who can hold who to less points? Or rather, who can score those points most efficiently.
- Vick vs Booth- Who will put their stamp on the game more? Can Vick put up 15 points and make Booth disappear? Or do we see B12 Vick and Booth ends up being the Nova savior?
- Svi vs. Paschall - Can Svi rebound two games in a row? Can Svi make them pay for putting Paschall on a perimeter player?
- Doke vs. Spellman - Can Spellman shoot well enough to force us to put a guard and double-team him? Can he pass well enough out of a Double-team? Can he guard Doke?
- Garrett vs. DiVincenzo - Who will be the more impactful sub? Can Garrett force a couple of turnovers? Or will DiVincenzo have a field day from the arc?
I’m pumped to watch each of these small battles within the larger game.
And Silvio wins us the game …
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@Eric-san Archie diagjdowjdnciejdjpolos in Ukrainian is Svi Mkiaulakizkiamsanmapi
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@HighEliteMajor It’s within the realm of possibility that Silvio is the key player. Mobile but powerful and a big rebounder. Villanova may be secretly praying that we don’t have Silvio in the game. They may be game planning around him for specific plays to exploit his lack of basketball experience. Can he completelyneutralize Spellman? I think he has the ability.
Anybody else have any scouting report? I’m watching the WVU versus Nova game now. Pressing strategy seems to be a net negative for WVU so far.
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KUSTEVE said:
@Lulufulu He is going to have to change it up, imo. maybe he pulls a triangle in two, maybe a zone…who knows??? But, almost nobody beats Bill after beating him two times in a row.
This is why I think KU is going to win: Self will have a counter for Nova.
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@kjayhawks scoring 29 pts from FT is in a way dominating. It means that the team us driving the lasnes shredding the defense at will.
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@Fightsongwriter Easily the best 6th man in the country. But, Garrett can make his own stamp on this game. If he can make life difficult for whoever he is guarding and get them frustrated and out of rhythm, that is as good of a contribution as anything DiVincenzo can do. Garrett needs to be a warrior on Saturday.
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@betterfireE I think jay jay howard has a scouting report. We ought to ckeck in with him.
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Anything specific your looking for? I’m from the Northeast and have watched a ton of Villanova this year.
On the surface both of these teams are carbon copies of each other. They play 8 guys if they need too. However only 6 guys play a majority of minutes. They will use red-shirt freshman forward Crosby-Roundtree and freshman guard Gillespie outside of their 6th man (DiVincenzo) who is the best in the country IMO.
Villanova statistically has one of the best offenses in the past 15 years, they shoot a high % from the FT line as a team (78%), their defense is good enough although I disagree that its anything like the team from two years ago. I would simply put it as their defense was no better then KU’s during the regular season but they’ve turned it up a notch in the tournament. The various statistical sites out there will tell you Nova’s defense is significantly been better overall. They actually attempt more 3 pointers then we do thanks to starting 5 guys that all shoot the 3 within their offense.
The only major difference between the Nova team that lost in the 2nd round last year and the team we play Saturday is having their C Spellman eligible (he sat last season with academic issues) and a team that developed together over the past year returning a majority of their lineup. They rebound by committee, against Texas Tech all 7 guys who played double figure minutes had 4 rebounds or more. Fundamentally sound, they share the ball well just like KU so the similarities between both teams is easy to spot.
It’s unique that their best low post player is actually their PG and POY finalists Brunson. He’s methodical, crafty and can get his shot backing down anyone, even bigs. Not a great athlete but must be respected because he’s perfected his craft. A very good 3 point shooter when left alone.
The biggest matchup issue for KU is Bridges IMO. Two years ago this kid made an impact on the Nova/KU Elite 8 game off the bench playing great defense and getting rebounds/offensive put-backs against us. He’s now a bonafide 1st round pick in the upcoming draft as he’s shown the ability to punish teams inside/out and also can be their go-to playmaker. He’s a tough cover for us as the assignment likely goes to Vick who’s given up size to Bridges. He’s also an excellent defender who’s going to make life difficult for someone. I hope we are able to be aggressive against him and possibly get him into foul trouble.
For me the key to beating Villanova will be pace and making shots. I look at two games this year, losses to Butler and Creighton as examples of teams that had excellent offenses that could exploit them in an up and down type of game.
KU’s offense is better then both of those teams and we can run and score a lot of points when we have to. Now in a Final 4 setting with so much on the line and playing in a Dome I don’t know if the flow will allow for a high 70’s/low 80’s type game but if KU is hitting shots early I would think its a good sign that we can push the pace into forcing them to make shots.
I hope KU’s defense is able to force Nova into another bad shooting night as Texas Tech did last weekend. Villanova was very fortunate to win that game and a big part of that was getting 40% of their points at the FT line. Reading what Nova fans have said they are hoping their poor shooting game is out of the way. Maybe its a sign though that can be exploited again. I wonder if Self reached out to Huggins and Beard for some tips after Villanova beat both of those teams in the past week.
If there is anything else you want to know about Villanova let me know.
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OK, I’m pumped beyond belief. I know this will be a great challenge, and I’m completely thrilled we’re playing the 3rd weekend. We’re going to win this game against Nova, and then get our revenge against Michigan as well. Not quite sure of the “how”, but we’re due good fortune our next two games, and we’ll somehow find a way.
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I agree, I just feel it, this team will find a way as they have so many times before. Everything is clicking. Beyond thrilled to experience this Final 4
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Anyone think Bridges may cover Devonte? Remember Devonte has shown he struggles with length guarding him. Think Oregon game last year.
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It could happen, Bridges is their best defender from what I’ve seen all year long. His wingspan and size makes it difficult. Villanova switches 1-4, which is what KU does so there could be times he’s covering him even if its not his primary assignment
I think Bridges is more likely to guard Newman because of the hot streak he’s on. That feels like the matchup Nova wants to limit the most you would think. I don’t know though, Malik is playing at a level that is hard to stop no matter who’s defending him. And KU certainly does a great job putting him in catch and shoot & driving situations that have made the game easier for him. At this point I think the only man that can stop Newman is himself.
