SDSU - only loss is to #1 Arizona
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Fisher has the # 21 team in the country with wins over Marquette and Creighton coming into the Field House still angry about Self stealing Kevin Young away. They are coming off a win last night at Colorado State in front of a crowd which looked to be about 45 people. After coach ranted about our lack of defense against Toledo, he said that we have to be ready for SDS because these will be MEN coming to play. We will have to play much better D and not hope for a good shooting night like last Monday.
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@wrwlumpy defense seems to be a key point this week. Speaking of Kevin Young, miss that high-energy guy and of course “the fro”! Does anyone know what he’s up to? Also, is Brady done w/bb?
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@wrwlumpy…Can I hope for better D AND a good shooting night like last Monday? (beer)
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@brooksmd Thanks!!!
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@wrwlumpy–Copy and paste, lump. Fish’s guys will likely get up and down the floor at a much faster pace than our guys are used to. If Self plays it anyway they want, our guys will be in danger of getting sped up. We are a potentially great transition team that has not yet played a game of real D1 speed ball against a long and athletic; this will be a great experience for our guys–though they might get their butts kicked. We could win handily, if Self were to turn it into a half court game played exclusively through the bigs. But he probably won’t, because that would defeat the purpose of scheduling these guys in the first place. It is growing more and more apparent that Self decided the best way to get a bunch of cocky, talented plebes ready for March was to expose them–not just to good teams–but to good teams that played every kind of basketball our guys might run into down the stretch. I doubt that Self expected that the guys would be so incredibly slow on the defensive uptake, but they do keep taking steps. Inside offense is solid and getting strong. Wing offense is weak, except for Wiggins, but because he can, when asked, turn it on, wing offense is at least a kind of strength. And rebounding is on the upswing.
One of the most under appreciated aspects of the Toledo defensive nightmare was that KU completely overwhelmed the pee wee sized Toledo team on the glass, despite Toledo shooting a high percentage that reduced the number of rebound opportunities for KU. This progress is not to be completely discounted on account of Toledo’s height challenged roster. Short teams have not only given KU defenses fits on chasing shorter guys, but KU defenders giving chase have tended to get out of position to glassvac; this did not happen against Toledo. Maybe they chased so little on defense that they were always near the hoop to catch a carom. Whatever, KU wiped them out on rebounding and that is progress for this team.
I suspect Self will let the guys play reproductive glands to the walls for a little while, so our saplings get some of the cockiness knocked out of them about how great they are in transition; then he’ll slow it down and play half court to get back in the game; then he’ll let them run again until they start getting their butts kicked again, then go half court again to win.
Fish is really going to play for the win, so Self will have to be very careful about how much he lets our green wood run. As I said above, they think they know how to play up tempo, but they don’t–not yet. And play up tempo is about all SDSU does.
Regarding Zona, every year since the Stumpy era began, except for the first season, when Stumpy inherited some guys that did not need coaching up, Stumpy has failed to coach up his green wood. Like Cal, his guys play to talent level, not to coached-up level. It follows that Zona probably beat SDSU with talent alone. What I am stammering out here is: Zona is loaded–a Nike Full Metal Jacket team–like Cal’s UK teams–and that maybe doesn’t tell us much about SDSU. SDSU could be terrific, or so-so. But they will likely get out on the break and run every chance they can.
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I’m thinking that the Field House will whip up the “run first” attitude in the young Jayhawks. If dunks work early, this will be a track meet. After every made shot by SDS, Self will call out a play and as you said, we’ll be back to half court. This will be the toughest test of the year. I think the Mecca of basketball wins this one for the home team.
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I still have our guys in the COLD COLD COLD bracket. They didn’t show enough improvement from the Toledo game to be reclassified.
I’m expecting the unexpected. I don’t have a clue what Jayhawk team will show up. It could be the Duke game Jayhawk team or it could be the Florida game Jayhawk team.
I do expect Self to limit his bench play because he will try to get his top 7 or so to show moments of harmony. Obviously, that can be impacted by potential foul troubles or someone or some playing extremely poor ball.
Maybe Self should lie to all the players and tell them all their parents will be in attendance. Anything to get these guys to dive for a ball…
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4 out of 6 pick KU.
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There are only 3 “experts.” The top table is against the spread and 2 out of 3 pick SDSU. No surprise there since most think it will be a close game. The bottom table is straight up and all 3 picked KU.
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SDSU holds their opponents to 56.4 points per game which ranks 4th out of 351 teams in D1. SDSU holds their opponents to 37.0 % field goals which ranks 7th out of 351 teams in D1. SDSU averages 7.6 steals per game which ranks 47th out of 351 teams in D1.
KU averages 13.8 turnovers per game which ranks 256th out of 351 teams in D1
Kansas really needs to take care of the ball in this game to win. Especially considering that:
SDSU scores 70.9 points per game which ranks 184th out of 351 teams in D1. SDSU shoots 43.4 % field goals which ranks 192 out of 351 teams in D1
Take care of the ball, make SDSU score in the half court. Don’t give up easy transition baskets to a mediocre offensive basketball team.
