MSU KU Predictions



  • Duke 73, Kentucky 68

    . . . . heh



  • KU 75, MSU 66

    In the post game interview Coach Self indicated he was pleased with the way the “starters” played; sounded like he tried several different line ups to experiment but he knows who will be playing and he just did not show up all his cards. Also, in the post game interview the reporter asked Mitch “how watered down was the offense for this game”? And Mitch did not quite answer which would appear to indicate reporters knew KU was holding back. KU coasts to a win.



  • Coach Self stated that they didn’t run a single play total in both of these games – MSU will not , once again will not bet this team by any 15 points Sorry that’s just not happening.

    I’ll say something like KU 78 , Michigan State71.



  • I heard Keegan is leaving the LJW. Retirement or new gig ?



  • @Blown Moving to the northeast.



  • KU should win but can’t replicate last night’s effort if they want to start off the season well. I say we feed Dedric the ball as much as possible and just let things develop around him. He’s so clearly on another level from everyone else



  • BeddieKU23 said:

    KU should win but can’t replicate last night’s effort if they want to start off the season well. I say we feed Dedric the ball as much as possible and just let things develop around him. He’s so clearly on another level from everyone else

    I’m interested to see the rotations. Self always plays everyone in the exhibitions so we can’t take anything from that. My hope is that only 8 guys mostly play against MSU.



  • BShark said:

    BeddieKU23 said:

    KU should win but can’t replicate last night’s effort if they want to start off the season well. I say we feed Dedric the ball as much as possible and just let things develop around him. He’s so clearly on another level from everyone else

    I’m interested to see the rotations. Self always plays everyone in the exhibitions so we can’t take anything from that. My hope is that only 8 guys mostly play against MSU.

    I’m really shocked how bad KJ has played so far. He just needs to settle down, reminds me of Newman last year



  • I’ll take KU by 8. I think we have the advantage everywhere except PG. I think Nick Ward will have his hands full with Doke on both ends. I think Dedric owns the Goins/Tillman matchup. I like Vick guarding Langford. I like Garrett guarding McQuaid. The only matchup I don’t like is against Winston.

    Bench-wise, I’ll take Grimes, Dotson, KJ and Mitch over Tillman/Goins and whatever 100+ ranked freshman MSU brought in this season.

    We are just as experienced and at least as talented in the starting lineup (if not more), but our bench is significantly better. I think as long as Grimes and Dotson both make a positive impact on the game, KU wins.





  • KU: 150 MSU: 95 😊



  • KU 76 MSU 73.



  • People read way too much into exhibition games. Ballard even mentioned it last night about how hard it is to get guys up for games like that. He mentioned his times at KU and what the locker room was like before those games. KU’s intensity and focus will be on a whole different level come Tuesday and the rotation will be much shorter which will help the guys get into a rhythm.

    I will take KU 74 - 63



  • @Gorilla72 Am I reading that they essentially lost by 18 to Gonzaga?



  • @Kcmatt7 yes, they “held their own”, and lost by 18.



  • Offensively, KU needs to use Doke as a third or fourth option, not a primary or secondary option.

    Doke just isn’t a skilled enough passer to hurt teams when they double him. Dedric is much better in that capacity. Offensively, the pecking order should be D.Lawson, then Grimes, Vick, PG X (Moore or Dotson), Doke, K.Lawson, Garrett, Big Man X (Silvio, Big Dave, Mitch). KU is much more dangerous that way.

    As for MSU, I say KU by 9, pulling away late 68-59.



  • Woodrow said:

    People read way too much into exhibition games. Ballard even mentioned it last night about how hard it is to get guys up for games like that. He mentioned his times at KU and what the locker room was like before those games. KU’s intensity and focus will be on a whole different level come Tuesday and the rotation will be much shorter which will help the guys get into a rhythm.

    I will take KU 74 - 63

    Exactly. Not only that but Coach Self tried all kinds of combination that we will likely never see again.



  • KU 72 - MSU 63

    UK 85 - Duke 75



  • justanotherfan said:

    Offensively, KU needs to use Doke as a third or fourth option, not a primary or secondary option.

    Doke just isn’t a skilled enough passer to hurt teams when they double him. Dedric is much better in that capacity. Offensively, the pecking order should be D.Lawson, then Grimes, Vick, PG X (Moore or Dotson), Doke, K.Lawson, Garrett, Big Man X (Silvio, Big Dave, Mitch). KU is much more dangerous that way.

    As for MSU, I say KU by 9, pulling away late 68-59.

    Doke will serve his purpose. He is too efficient to cut him out of the offense. He scores at a rate better than a team hitting 50% of their 3 pointers can match. As ugly as it looks sometimes, the ball finds it’s way into the basket at the highest rate in all of NCAA D1 basketball. I don’t think we should play through him the entire time he’s out there, but he needs the ball.

    I think the fact that teams HAVE to double him every time he gets the ball lends to the fact that he is a dominant post player. He will improve passing out of the double-team like he did as the year wore on last season. He needs to get better at realizing when it comes sooner, but I have no doubt that he will.

    Of course we should play through Dedric all season long as the number one option. But I do think if Doke can start reading the double team better that playing through him will open up easy shots for others.

    Two exhibition games in and it’s like everyone forgot Doke just had a season where he shot 77% from the field lol. (and better than that in Conference play)

    I’d take what Doke did against Washburn every single night. His per 40 was like 40 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks and 6 assists lol.



  • @Kcmatt7

    I’m not saying don’t ever give Doke the ball. That would be crazy. But I think he can be even more efficient if he isn’t posting up much and is instead catching on dives to the basket, or lobs and put backs. Those are plays where the other team can’t double him without completely breaking down their defensive integrity.

    Doke in the post is easy to double because he’s stationary. On the move, particularly if you have to also account for Dedric in the post, Doke as a dive cutter is basically either a bucket or a foul every time. You can’t double him on the move, you can’t leave Dedric and Dedric one on one against most anyone is trouble for the other team.

    In some ways this KU offense could look like the Chiefs offense this year. It just stretches you so many different ways that you are bound to get hurt no matter what you do because you have to help in so many different spots.



  • Agree with @Kcmatt7 Doke will figure it out. The game seems to even out for him when he plays guys his size. I would like to see what happens when this team develops chemistry on the court and we run plays specifically to get certain results. The emphasis for Doke should always be on getting him easy baskets. Putting him in situations where he’s going to be doubled is poor awareness.

    Good Teams will try and double Lawson so its a good thing he has such a versatile game and good passing ability. Doke will have a role on this team and I see it happening in game 1



  • Agree with Doke being a big part of the offense, especially if he has improved his free throws. Feeding the post and passing out of the post are two things this team really needs to work on.



  • KirkIsMyHinrich said:

    Agree with Doke being a big part of the offense, especially if he has improved his free throws. Feeding the post and passing out of the post are two things this team really needs to work on.

    Post entry passing has been abysmal, but it’s also November thankfully.



  • @Kcmatt7 - yup. Looks like their first team did pretty well, though against a class opponent. Should be a great game!



  • Not a prediction, but just a little info from the Mich St exi with N Mich:

    Starters:

    44 Nick Ward, JR, 6’9" F, 24 pts., 8/12 and 9 RBS.

    5 Cassius Winston, JR, 6’1" G, 13 pts., 6/8 and 7 assists

    1 Joshua Langford, JR, 6’5" G, 12 pts., 2/8

    20 Matt McQuaid, SR, 6’5" G, 8 pts., 3/6 and 2/4 on 3s

    25 Kenny Goins, SR, 6’7" F, 0 pts. and 8 RBS.

    Bench:

    30 Marcus Bingham, FR, 6’11" F, 12 pts. in 9 min

    23 Xavier Tillman, SO, 6’8" F. 7 pts.

    Coach Fred Hoiberg’s son, Jack is a RS Fr.

    A lot of experience on the Spartans. The freshman Bingham will likely be called into action to deal with our front line. Let’s get it on.



  • As usual, this game will come down to defense, rebounding and turnovers. Win those battles and we will be fine. Get Dok and Dedric established early, good entry passes from the guards and knocking down some timely threes are necessary for a win here.



  • Who is our 2nd best player/Scorer? Dedric + rotating #2’s? or Dedric + ?

    I think we have a ton of 3’s and 4’s with Doke being Doke.

    Once someone grabs the 2 slot I will feel better. But we may be a team with a 1 and lots of 3 and 4 types.

    Note- not by position but by scoring/offensive priority.

    And of course I am hopeful we will average less than 20 some turnovers.

    Who blossoms in Jan/Feb?



  • @JayhawksandChill

    Vick is going to be the second “go to” scorer.



  • I didn’t see the exhibitions, but I don’t put a lot of weight to them anyway. I’ll say we win in a close game. Reason: our effort will be better against tough competition and we will actually run some plays. Self will also tighten up the rotation.



  • I think this game could go either way, I don’t see a blow out happening. It will be interesting to see who starts at the guard spots for us. I honestly think the offense looked better with Moore and Garrett in there. Grimes has yet to impress me, I believe Dotson is better at getting to the hole and finishing at this point. I think losing SDS will hurt us early in the year if Doke and/Dedric get into foul trouble. Mitch is hustling machine that we all love and David has a ton of upside but the way SDS was playing at the end of last season he would be getting a fair share of those minutes. This will be a hard year to Self to get the rotation down to the 8 he likes, it end up being 9 most nights. I’m wait for KJ to show up to one of these days, I haven’t been real impressed with him as well for a guy that averaged in double figures at Memphis. I think MSUs veteran guards could give our young guys a fit at times but I think Doke and Dedric are just too much in the end. KU 74 MSU 69, it will be weird watching us not play small ball and not having to score at least in the 80s to win like the past 3 or 4 years.



  • I’m going with -

    KU 83 Duke 69

    Duke wants us so bad they are going to have their staff attorneys bring it to district court and bump out MSU and replace them.



  • @drgnslayr

    I see what you did…I like it. 👍🏽



  • 70-45 KU



  • Kansas 61 MSU 59



  • wissox said:

    Kansas 61 MSU 59

    This would be about right for a Self Izzo game.



  • We’re favored by 5 1/2. Tucky is favored by 1 over dook.



  • @KUSTEVE That Dook, UK game will be interesting. Zion is being billed as god himself at this point but UK actually has some experience for a change.



  • Do you think ESPN roles out a Zion tracker in game 1? Or wait a few?

    Maybe a dunk tracker?

    Does he have his own channel yet? Reality TV show on Facebook?



  • 5 1/2 seems like a lot and I don’t think its very accurate

    Hopefully we show up with effort, toughness and make shots. Everything else will work itself out



  • @BeddieKU23

    To ESPN, Zion is this year’s version of Trae Young. They will build him up and then spit him out.



  • JayHawkFanToo said:

    @BeddieKU23

    To ESPN, Zion is this year’s version of Trae Young. They will build him up and then spit him out.

    Yup and they won’t even build up the best player on Duke’s team.

    Oh well, I think Zion is used to it though, as opposed to Young who didn’t have the personality or brand to handle all that comes with daily media coverage.



  • Read where , the Championship has been continued through 2022. with being played in Chicago - – Indiana - -Chicago - -& NY.

    KU - Duke in NY – 2019 - - KU - Kentucky in Chicago 2020 - - -KU- - Michigan St - 2021- - -KU - Duke in Indiana 2022

    Glad to see it’s being continued. - -ROCK cHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY



  • Key to the game: Do not ever, ever, leave #20 open. NO help D



  • @BeddieKU23 Or Winston for that matter.



  • BShark said:

    @BeddieKU23 Or Winston for that matter.

    I’d assume since he’s the PG we’ll guard him. But McQuaid has one job and he always does it well against KU



  • @BeddieKU23 It’s basically all McQuaid does well. Not a rebounder, not a guy that you ask to make plays and is maybe average on defense.



  • BShark said:

    @BeddieKU23 It’s basically all McQuaid does well. Not a rebounder, not a guy that you ask to make plays and is maybe average on defense.

    Yup, he’s exactly as advertised. He’s a just a pain in the butt for KU. I know we read scouting report but literally guys should know don’t even leave him he’s not going anywhere



  • So I would expect Michigan St has around an 9 man rotation. I haven’t dived into their exhibitions or seen what they expect starts/plays so I’m going by memory.

    Starting 5:

    PG- Winston Jr

    SG- McQuaid, Sr

    SF- Langford, Jr

    PF- Tillman, So

    C- Ward, Jr

    Rotation, Goins, Sr PF, Bingham Jr, FR, PF/C, Loyer, FR, PG, Brown/Henry, FR/FR, SF’s.

    Outside of Goins they will have freshman in the rotation off the bench. Bingham has a lot of upside but is likely to be flashes for a while. Loyer will be a solid PG. KU has a big advantage if we can get any of their starters in foul trouble and they have to rely on different combinations against us. I expect a majority of the offense for Michigan St to revolve around Ward then Winston/Langford. KU just has to contain them from having 50+ as a trio and we’ll be in good shape



  • Talking to MSU fans, they seem to have absolutely no confidence in their backcourt outside of Cassius Winston. They think their advantage will be in the frontcourt.

    Nick Ward vs Doke honestly feels like a wash to me. Their stat-lines from last season are pretty much identical and Doke is 2 or 3 inches taller and 30-40 pounds larger. Nick Ward doesn’t shoot 3’s. Neither does Xavier Tillman, who is 6’8, 245.

    Dedric is going to have a huge matchup advantage over Goins or Tillman (whichever one starts).

    The matchup that scares me the most is Winston vs whoever KU throws at him. I feel like it would be worth starting Marcus Garrett at the point in this game just to put some size and experience on Winston.



  • @BeddieKU23 This looks right. All the Michigan St fans seem pretty down on Goins so I wouldn’t be surprised if Tillman started. Bingham Jr. only got 9 minutes against Northern Michigan but had 12 points and 4 rebounds and he can shoot the 3-ball. He worries me a bit. I’ve also been hearing really good things about Aaron Henry.


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