February 9: News Headlines Digest
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Also see our Daily Threads, February 9, and the News Digest for Yesterday, February 8, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, February 8 ####
###Saturday success irrelevant to KU in Sunflower Showdown buildup###Kansas’ 83-69 win over West Virginia was barely an hour old by the time the conversation shifted.
A chilly Saturday afternoon had turned into night at Allen Fieldhouse, and the topic was Monday. Round two against Kansas State. A trip west down I-70 and an 8 p.m. clash at Bramlage Coliseum.
####** Andrew Wiggins’ defense helps KU basketball secure win against West Virginia **####
While this wasn’t Andrew’s most efficient night offensively — his 19 points came on 14 shot attempts with an 0 for 3 night from 3-point range — his bigger impact came defensively where he shut down West Virginia’s Eron Harris.
####** Black, Traylor give KU much-needed minutes, physicality **####
Black and Traylor created a reputation as Kansas’ two hustling big men who routinely come off the bench encouraging contact, gargling rebounds and scoring tough baskets inside.
Thus the nickname: Bruise Brothers.
####Keegan: Kansas depth too much for talented WVU to overcome####
West Virginia brought so many winning qualities into Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon, midway through the Big 12 season.
The Mountaineers had a winning road record, a veteran coach (Bob Huggins) who knows how to motivate his men to play their hearts out and, most significantly, relentless guard Juwan Staten. He put Naadir Tharpe on his hip and took him wherever he wanted to take him.
###### Also see our Daily Threads, February 9, and the News Digest for Yesterday, February 8, as well as Daily Threads for Yesterday, February 8
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On a different thread a lot of fans were pointing out Tharpe’s shortcomings. Fans were asking questions like “Can We Get More” from Tharpe. While it is OK to ask more from every player I have one question for Tharpe’s critics? What would be our record without Tharpe’s contribution to this team?
I saw below from Jesse Newell Blog today that summarizes Tharpe’s contribution very well:
Stat of the Day
“Win share” is an advanced statistic on Basketball-reference.com that attempts to measure how many wins a player contributes to his team through his offensive and defensive contributions. In KU’s 10 Big 12 games, the team leader in win share is not Wiggins (1.3), Embiid (0.9) or Perry Ellis (1.2) … instead it’s Naadir Tharpe at 1.5. In conference play, Tharpe has made 63 percent of his 2s (19 of 30), 51 percent of his 3s (18 of 35) and 88 percent of his free throws (21 of 24).
Just imagine the scenario if Tharpe had not developed into a solid PG like he has done over the last two years. Some folks are saying that Mason is a better PG that Tharpe. I disagree 100%. If Mason was a better PG Bill Self would be starting him over Tharpe. Self did give the keys to Mason for a few games earlier in the season when he thought Tharpe was not doing enough and we had seen how did that change turn out, not too good. Mason is not a creator PG. He has a scorer mentality like Tyshawn. I admit that Mason has amzing speed and he has the ability to become a solid PG but right now Tharpe is the better option. Mason is looking to score first rather than making plays for his teammates like Tharpe does. He drives into heavy traffic and most of the times his shots are either blocked or he misses them. Tharpe had taken over in crucial games when he had realized that he had to, other guys were not scoring.
Come on folks, enjoy the ride with what we have in our point guard.
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Thanks for the shoutout, AsadZ. Found that fascinating as well.
BTW … for the season, Spradling is K-State’s leader in Win Share. Who’d have thought.
Live blog is here for those who want to join in …
