UNC Matchup Friday Night
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Going to be a really interesting test for the Hawks on the road this early. We had a road game already which should help in that aspect, but we’ll see how they handle adversity this early. It can’t hurt that they already played somewhere other than Allen & it’s going to be a big test for some of our newcomers.
As far as the matchup goes it’s going to be a bit of a challenge for our front court. UNC started a ton of size in their first game against the #347 team via Kenpom (Green Bay is #334) for reference. They started 3 big’s in Caleb Wilson (star freshman), Jarin Stevenson (Bama transfer) & Henri Veesaar (Arizona transfer) who are all 6’10 and taller. That’s a lot of size for KU to deal with since White and Rosario are 6’6/6’7. Will they adjust to more traditional lineup based on our matchup or stick with it. Will be interesting to see what they throw at us. The matchup of White on Wilson is perhaps the biggest one. I think Tiller is going to play a bunch of minutes in this game at both the 4 and 5. We’ll likely see if Mbiya can provide us anything based on the matchup.
Their backcourt isn’t elite by any means but does include some guys we are very familiar with. Kyan Evans was someone we targeted in the portal and is their lead guard now. Seth Trimble is back another year & he had a big game against KU in Allen last year (19 pts). Jonathan Powell (transfer from West Virginia) had a good game against us in Allen last year as a freshman (11 pts). They have another international freshman who was playing pro ball in Luka Bogavac. I’d say on paper this is a mid-tier backcourt, not nearly as good as UNC has had in the past and hopefully that’s where our advantage lies. I’d imagine Trimble will be guarding Peterson based on similar athletic profiles because I can’t imagine Evans has much of a chance of guarding him.
I see KU is favored. I can see that. If we can limit Wilson that’s probably a good recipe to winning this. Rebounding as a team seems like a big deal.
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I think we need to do some full court pressing and we also need to force their bigs into mismatches on the perimeter
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They will beat us again at some point, would rather it be regular season than tournament
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Prefer it to happen another year tho
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Three pointers to open up the lane a bit. White and Tiller could hit some deep shots and Rosario I can’t figure out yet he’s shot air balls from three and on drives is he a great defender?. We made ten treys last game at about a 35% clip with 4 of those pretty late in the game. Tiller is a frosh and we will ask a lot of him along our transfers who are going to have to step it up all season. Jamari and Elmarko will need to produce more and more. Are we really that good defensively that kept a top team like Louisville at bay at arms length? Council, White, Tiller, Peterson and Flory are athletic enough to not get embarrassed. Jamari was hard nosed in going to the boards his first year and he will heave a few up too. If we are having to play Jamari and Elmarko at the same time I just don’t know. We seem like a seven to nine deep team on paper including Mbiya. Cross and Calderon are 6’8" guys who would help things alot. The flash’s I’ve seen from Ngala left a good impression. He’s really fast like a water bug. By the time Christmas gets here we might have a better understanding going into this crazy good conference grinder. I mean holy freaking cow. I have come to realize how being stressed out the last two years is how I’m still feeling.
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@BeddieKU23 This type of game is what we need to see what we are made of. It will be geez guys, okay, what was that, hey Flory you keep on keeping on, we should practice our free throws, Tiller I can see you becoming a Jayhawk favorite. (I would never name a dog or horse Jayhawk or say I miss Jay Bilas or Fran. This is based on shouting would you shut the eff up.).
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Per Jamari…can somebody tell me what his skills are? It’s been a few years and i’m still not sure what he does as a basketball player.
That’s no disrespect, but ya know how you can see a guy play, and know what he does well? I still don’t know with him.
Just seems like a body.
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@rockchalkjayhawk My take on Jamari is that he gives good effort on both defense and the boards. But most importantly doesn’t often take on more than he can chew. He’s not out there hunting his own shot but if you leave him open he will actually shoot it and can make a three every now and then. He and Elmarko have been with Self for a few years now and so have a good understanding of the system and an eye not just for where they should be but their teammates as well. I’ve seen more of that from Elmarko tbh but it sometimes is important to have a guy who generally knows where he is supposed to stand on offense and where the next move is (pass, dribble, fake, etc.) when he catches the ball. He’s a decent enough ball handler that he can be a 3rd option to help break pressure (though I don’t love him catching it near the inbound line…). He’s fairly reliable and can be counted on to not fall completely apart when Self rips into the team or even him individually for lackluster play which is a big unknown with a lot of new comers. While it sounds good to have 5 scorers on the floor at all times, with a guy like DP, who needs the ball in his hands a lot, a guy who knows he’s not “the man” and is perfectly comfortable with that, can have some value on the floor.
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Jamari looks more comfortable out there and see effort from him on both ends so far. I saw a play where he got switched onto their big on Monday and he completely boxed the guy out from getting to a spot to get the board.
On offense you see him moving the ball and generally just staying out of trouble. Takes an open shot when in the flow of the offense.
I have no idea if he’s going to play actual minutes as we get further along unless injuries happen but if he does I’m not sure what we are getting.
I will say this about Jamari and Elmarko, neither has ran from adversity and its year 3. They both generally seem to love where they are and I keep thinking at some point that’s going to pay off. They are here and working their tail off.
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Agreed. I think its a winnable game as I think UNC has a weird mix of guys but their length in the post is going to be a challenge. Caleb Wilson has been terrific so far, was the #5 recruit in the last class. There’s a ton of impact freshman this year and he’s absolutely in that top tier along with Peterson and is a matchup issue for us. Hopefully the difference is that we have Peterson and nobody else does. It’s going to be a team effort to win but I have this feeling DP will be out to prove a point early in the season. Kid has a poise and maturity to him that I haven’t seen in a KU jersey in my lifetime.
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@BeddieKU23 If Peterson stays healthy, we’re going to have a very good year. He’s the real deal. I haven’t been this excited about a freshman since Danny Manning. (Although, unlike Danny, there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that he’ll ever be a senior)
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It will be interesting to see the match up because of the size advantage they have. Normally I’d say bring them out and make them guard the perimeter but I’m not sure we have guys that can do that.
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We just need to run!
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@BeddieKU23 said in UNC Matchup Friday Night:
On offense you see him moving the ball and generally just staying out of trouble.
Yea, that pretty much sums it up. Not an Alpha. Not involved. Not sure how helpful that is. I personally think all that hair is holding him back!
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As someone who lives in Fort Collins, CO and watched a chunk of Colorado St last season…the UNC point guard who came from CSU (Kyan Evans) really got paid because of two good NCAA tourney games. Perhaps he’s gotten better in the off-season, but if he’s guarding DP…well, I like KU’s chances with that. He’s also pretty slight of frame so physical play can affect him when he has the ball.
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@focojayhawk good insight!
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Nice, that’s why I see Trimble guarding Peterson on Friday but they are open to try the Evans experience if they want. DP is going to have a size advantage against just about every PG we play but this matchup specifically is advantageous for him if that were to happen.
Evans had 15 in their opener. He’s one I’m watching to see what improvement he made from Soph to Jr year based on how KU was on him in the portal for a bit. He wasn’t a great fit here and I’m glad we got Council.
