UNCW Takeaways
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Instead of adding to the gameday post… thought it was worth it to start a more in-depth discussion on last night’s game.
In my 60-year experience with Jayhawk basketball I can’t recall another game where we came out so fast! We would even put Roy’s teams to shame with the open-court speed. It never took us more than a few seconds to get a shot up.
We also showed some full court pressure! Bravo!
I know it is pre-conference play and my guess is that Self is just mixing things up to see what happens. However… it excited me to see our boys run! How many teams have we had in the past that was deep and full of speed but we never used it? How often have we all mentioned not ever using a press? How many times have we started games slow… falling behind teams, especially low-rated teams, where we have to fight and claw to make a late comeback?
More than anything else… one huge criticism of Bill Self, throughout the years is his unwillingness to specifically strategize a unique game execution based on the other team. Bill has always just run KU’s game and all our opponents always knew exactly what to expect.
X-AXIS BALL - The dream lives on!
I’m not so sure our MVP on this team by year’s end won’t be David Coit! He brings hustle. He brings speed. I wonder if our tempo increase is being influenced by David. What are practices like? Also, I give a lot of credit to Zeke. He definitely could be my MVP this year!
Between Harris, Coit, and Mayo, they dropped in 40 pts! Basically half our scoring from 3 small guys. Granted Mayo is 6’4"… but he moves like a small guy and is the epitome of x-axis ball. For those unfamiliar with “x-axis basketball” it is a term I’ve used in here for years. It is the focus on playing a horizontal game more than a vertical game. Less height and more on speed and using the court to it’s maximum potential.
Team Basketball and a fun year!
It was fun reading the stat sheet this morning. Every player made a contribution! I’m feeling this team is on the path of really coming together well! I think AJ might take a little more patience because he appears to be the “thinker” on the team and he’ll be punished most by a faster tempo.
We are all worried about the defensive potential with this team. Can they pick up the Self philosophy? I saw some pretty good indications in this game that say YES! We had more players just playing and not over-thinking. All our guys brought energy! It was a joy watching us disrupt this opponent’s offense. Our weakside help is starting to show improvement. Everything works better when a team has energy.
Love that offensive play with 14 minutes left in the game. Our 3 veterans… Harris pass to KJ pass to Hunter for the slam! We are starting to see other players figuring out offense, too.
This is so much NOT a typical Self team! I’m very excited to see this year play out!
RCJH!
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Liked your comment on David Coit. Over the years there have been several players who just make me smile to see on the court. Sometimes they were stars (Devonte Graham), sometimes bench players (Kevin Young), but they all played with energy and enthusiasm, but, more importantly, they just seemed to be having great time being on the court. David Coit is becoming one of those guys for me. There’ll be times when his size won’t allow him to excel, but it will never be for lack of effort.
I thought Rylan Griffin started playing like more than just a 3 point shooter in this game. Made some good plays on both ends of the court.
While it wasn’t for long, Zach Clemence came in at an important time and played quality minutes. There are games where that 4th big is needed and hopefully this was the start of good things for him.
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I need to comment as I’m sick and haven’t watched the replay yet but will tomorrow.
D1.5 was D1 based on the box score and game thread. He got downhill and hunted his shot when other guys couldn’t throw it in the ocean. Attacking Juan is my favorite whether he misses his layups or tries to swing it out for a three - HES GOTTA ATTACK
When he plays downhill I won’t complain. Question is can he do it against the duke’s, big 12’s ect (he can just needs bill to nudge him)
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@kuballin10 uncw dared him to score
He looked at his best when we only had one big out there imo
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I can’t believe my lack of awareness of there even being a game. Had some things going on last night. If I’d known they were playing I would have made sure to watch when I got home, but no awareness.
This feels like a loss. I fell like I some how metaphysically let down Jayhawk and bucketeer nations both by my lack of attentiveness. I’ve been on a major roll starting game threads and someone else had to take the chance starting it and just hoping we’d pull out the W. I’m sure there were some raised eyebrows as people realized I wasn’t starting it.
But I promise I won’t let us down again. I’m glad we survived.
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I’m excited for this team. Guys like David come in with so much energy. Zeke has a lot of that same energy, but on a bigger frame. Yes, guys like Kevin Young made big impacts, probably more on the rest of the team than on any given play.
Self mentioned that we are seeing a “turned up” Juan this year. He mentioned part might be because he’s a senior and seniors play more all out. He also mentioned the reduction of Juan’s minutes. Juan played 29 minutes. That will make a big difference, not only in that particular game but will mean less wear-and-tear on Juan as the season progresses.
I’m pretty sure it won’t be long before teams stop doing that. Juan has led us in scoring at least twice now in our 4 games (4 games, right?). Juan hasn’t always “taken what the defense gives” but I think he will this year. I’m not sure how he calculates when to shoot and when to pass. It’s part of his basketball IQ, something obviously supported by Self.
Buddy… you better get with the program! lol It’s going to be an exciting year of basketball for us! We have some new league challenges and it will be fun to watch this team progress. I believe this team will show us regular progress as the year goes on. It’s not always been that way with our teams, but I think this team has enough depth and guys with multiple skill sets to continually show us new opportunities. I’m positive this is not a year where you want to sleep through any games!
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@wissox you are getting old buddy… trying to keep track of the Badgers and hawks wears on a guy lol
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@kjayhawks LOL, especially during November when both football and basketball are going concurrently!
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@drgnslayr Yes, I’ll start paying attention!
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Almost fainted reading this. I recovered and forgive you. Soon you will be thinking about the next game days before its here
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I have no idea if this is a championship-caliber team yet. But what I do know is this is a team with a plethora of fun pieces! I’m going to have a ball watching regardless of April expectations!
Surely we will have other games where our guys tie their laces extra tight and go out there and run like stallions!
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We don’t know yet indeed. The Duke game will be a carryover game either way. A high and watch out for the let down game next or a spanking that we will get to see how this team reacts.
This group of Dukies has three 6’11" to 7’2" players. Nine guards of 5’8" (1), 6’5" (1), 6’6" (6) and 6’9" (1). They are long and athletic and smothered Arizona from end to end. Very physical and our two big guards of 6’6" Griffen and 6’7" Storrs and will be pushed to fouls or greatness who knows. Griffen will stand his ground I’m confident and Storrs, who was touted to be our next lock down defender at some point, may foul out early so he should make them count and hit five 3’s before he goes. Or two high flying dunks and three 3’s.
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We better not think we can go toe-to-toe in a game based on height.
I’m hoping we try what we did in our last game and get out and run. We should be willing to try several things to see what works. This Duke team is crazy talented and tall. Not sure their weaknesses. I would think our best shot is to try to control the tempo and find a tempo we do well at and they struggle.
Our on-ball and ball screen defense has to be energetic and pesky to disrupt their offense.
I know one thing… Self better have stressed rebounding this past week. It’s the key to controlling tempo and possessions. KJ! Come on, brother! Get in there and fight!
