Gameday Thoughts
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After I saw yours I thought we must have started writing this around the same time! And I agree a lot of good points going into tonight’s game. Big game, I hope these guys play like they know its a big one
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@ralster I’d like to be there if you “talk” to Fran. Might have to hold me back. Fran IS on their level, SMALL! EJ’s game was one of the best single game performances I’ve ever seen. He was in a zone and needed to keep shooting while everyone was showering. Of course it was to dangerous for our players to be there. Hopefully they show respect on MLK day!
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Awesome thread!
I like your thoughts on what it will take to beat ISU.
I put transition defense as #1. We have to slow down their offense and keep it in the half court. I don’t see ISU getting lots of uncontested fast break points, but the real danger is in their secondary break offense.
I think I would put close to the top that we need to stay out of foul trouble.
If you look at us, compared to past years, we really have the right team to dismantle ISU. A 4-guard offense against their pressure and desire to run the ball should be a big help for us.
I think I would generalize around rebounding more and just say “possessions.” If we lose the possession battle we will have a tough time coming out of their with a win. That means we need low TOs and high rebounds. We need to secure at least half of the 50/50 balls, too.
If we show up with 40 minutes of real energy, we should win this game. If we don’t… then I think we are in for another Ames loss.
If we lack energy then we can expect foul trouble, getting beat on the boards, losing 50/50 balls, low or no momentum, perhaps our lowest point total on offense.
Contrary to what many people think… you have to look at our offense carefully when grading it. Yes, the stats say we are one of the better offenses in the country, but the reality is different. In many ways we are starting to fail the eye test. We rely more on one-on-one moves to score, and we have been successful mostly against inferior defenses. What happens when we don’t get secondary break points? What happens when our guards are actually guarded on the perimeter? We don’t really run a lot of set offense,
Tonight I think we need demonstrative leadership on the floor. We need someone keeping our guys on the same page (through a screaming crowd of crazies). We need someone trying to have control on our tempo.
My offensive fears with this team is that we operate really well only at a narrow tempo. We do best when we are at a quick pace from a secondary break. When things slow down, and we are using most of the shot clock, we usually have to get bailed out by a one-on-one move. I like some of that, but I also like to see more team offense. Our assist numbers should be higher.
Funny hearing that out of me. I’m contradicting what I said in past years. But not really. I used to complain because we didn’t have guys that could take over one-on-one. We relied SOLELY on team offense. Now… I wish we had just a bit more of that. Actually, I’d like to see us drive more, but also feed off the drive to an open trey more. In some ways, I feel like our offense is getting less and less aggressive as league play goes on.
Defensively… look at the stat numbers from our past games. We can’t stop ANY big men from scoring! I only put a little of that blame on Landen. I put a lot more blame on our guards. Our guards have been playing HORRIBLE defense! I say that because of my expectations from a Bill Self team. We are not pressuring the perimeter so we allow the easy feed into the post. Or we let guards easily drive into the paint to challenge Landen. Last… our trey defense is really not good. We have been lucky to win these 5 conference games.
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Good point about Landen. I would say that Landen shouldn’t worry about Bowie or Young launching shots outside unless they make one early. I’m sure ISU is going to run pick and roll action with Morris to draw Lucas out and draw in help side defense. Oklahoma St did this and got a lot of those easy looks in the paint off of it. If Landen was quick enough to guard the perimeter I would suggest we switch all screens to negate that option where Morris exploits that pick.
It will also be interesting to see who Vick covers in this game. All of ISU’s perimeter guys are streaky 3 point shooters but Vick has made a habit of helping too much and losing his man who sits in the corner wide open. My biggest fear is that ISU makes enough 3 pointers to negate all the advantages KU has in this game.
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Who guards who?
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Mason- Morris, Graham- Thomas, Svi- Long, Jackson- Burton, Lucas- Bowie
I could see Graham switching on/off Long because Svi has not defended as well recently.
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@BeddieKU23 I might put Svi on Burton, strong not to quick. I’d put DG or Josh on long, he’s their leading scorer. Wonder if Josh on Morris might bother him? Lots of options. Gotta stay out of foul trouble and rebound
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I think we’ll see plenty of our players on other guys as we tend to switch as many screens as we can. It will be interesting to see how we defend their action.
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See the lil man there
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@Crimsonorblue22 Ya, cant wait to hear the littleman gush about the Clones (not). All internet banter aside, of course its different if we were ever face to face with Fraschilla. But man, if I was in the first few rows during a game, I’d be sorely tempted to yell out “Fran Weathermax, how ya doin’? I didnt know Melvin had a brother…” Yup.
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@Crimsonorblue22 great photo-wish 8 o’clock would hurry up
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Guess who’s passing out donuts! I know, I’m obsessed
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They won’t validate your account if it has a KU related name.
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Fran… smh. Man i hope Mason eats Morris’s lunch tonight. I think the winner will be the team that makes the most 3 pointers. Both teams struggle to defend and to rebound. Could be a track meet and end up with a ton of points scored or will one coach put a rabbit outta of a hat and slow the game down to make the other guard in the half court.
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getting ready for the game tonight-replayed the 12/13 ot win. elijah was on FIRE that night. almost felt bad for the clones, we didn’t help them with the 23rd in a row win. never mind-i’m over the sadness!
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I’m nervous about this one. Indiana/Duke nervous. Feels like the team has been stealing wins a bit lately and I think it catches up with them tonight with an L.
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@Crimsonorblue22 are those white tubular sticks (one per each chair) “thunder sticks”?
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Still #2:and they jumped Nova over us. I have no problem with being #2 this time of year Dont want that #1 at all right now. This should challenge the guys to play better, than just because other teams lost.
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Points 3 and 4 will be large for KU.
I would say Landens veteran experince will have to produce rebounds.
The winner will win the boards.
50/50 balls will be priceless.
Clones will be hungry for a key win.
KU will be tested with composure. Mason, Graham, Svi and Lucas must step up in this game.
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You would think Landen will dominate this game, but it may not work out that way.
He was dogged early in the year because our tempo was too fast for him to sync with. ISU will try to keep things running fast and they will be testing him in the paint.
If ever he gets in foul trouble it could easily be this game.
If he does dominate this game I will truly be impressed!
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I keep saying that KU needs to stop spotting the other team a dozen points to start the game. On the other hand, we are following an ACC game so, due to ESPN technical difficulties, we might miss that part of the game anyway.
Best prank ever…those light sticks are fitted with a clock that after 8:00 PM and during the ISU player introduction, start glowing crimson and blue and you cannot turn them off…they would never see it coming and 50 cents of Chinese electronics would do it…oh well…
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@drgnslayr looks like ll has some tape on either wrist or thumb, can’t tell
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Are you at the game?
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@drgnslayr no! Watching pregame
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I hate that. Last game started for me at around the 8-minute mark of the first half. So I missed almost half the game because I was stuck watching two teams I could care less about go into overtime.
Is there any way around this? Or can I usually get the recordings later showing the entire game?
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@drgnslayr should be on time
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I have to go now to help take care of our two sick kids. Both have a fever… so I will play off my dvr.
By the way… I heard Ringling Bros is stopping the circus.
Does that mean no more clones?
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@drgnslayr WatchESPN app has the game when it starts.
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Thanks!
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Unfortunately not the previous game…ESPN called technical difficulties…
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@JayHawkFanToo Ah, I thought it was just a question about the runover issue! The tech difficulties issue is really annoying, indeed.
