Basketball Articles
Kansas Preview: Shock the World
Posted by Boo Radley on January 25th, 2010 under Basketball
Okay we know they are good. In the dump that is Allen Fieldhouse they are really good.
Xavier Henry and Cole Aldrich are likely lottery picks. When he is not fat Sherron Collins is probably one of the top five guards in the country. When they are not shooting old ladies with pellet guns, the Morris twins are tough inside are a hell of a lot better than I thought they would be. When he is not bitching about his playing time or “point plankn”, Tyshawn Taylor is a pretty solid player. Throw in Brady “DWI” Morningstar and Tyrel Reid, and I picture Adrian Balboa yelling at Mike Anderson “You can’t win!”
If the Tigers are going to win, this is how it is going to play out.
1. This is one of those games where if we don’t cause 25 turnovers, we have no chance. We just have to hope that with only day to prepare that KU comes out and struggles against the press. CMA is going to dial up the pressure when he needs to and wear Collins and the guards down. Think back to the game in Columbia last year and how poorly Collins, Taylor, Morningstar, and Reid played against the pressure. Anderson just needs to mix it up, and I would suggest getting physical with Collins the entire game. Make the kid work at both ends of the floor. If they can control Collins, they can win the game. If he plays well, Tigers have no chance.
2. CMA also needs to mix up the half court defense. Zone and zone traps will be the order of the day. If Collins and the guards handle the pressure, then we have to hope they have one of those cold shooting nights from the outside. I would expect more zone from the Tigers tonight than we have seen this year. Baylor stayed in the game the other night by making KU make shots from the outside. Of course Baylor’s front line matches up with KU much better than Bowers, Safford, Ramsey and Moore. If Collins and Henry make threes, we have no chance.
3. Get Aldrich in foul trouble and hope the Morris twins have one of those games where they decide they don’t really want to play tonight. Look, we don’t match up well with these guys inside. No way to sugar coat it. Aldrich kills us. Too big, too tall, too athletic. Bring on Stevie Moore. He needs to use his five fouls to try and get some fouls on Aldrich. I don’t see Bowers, Safford or Ramsey doing much damage in the paint. If Aldrich is not in foul trouble and the twins play well, we have no chance.
4. Tigers will need to shoot lights out from behind the arc and hope JT Tiller does not shoot. Come on Kimmie its time to put all that time in the gym to good use. We are going to need Denmon, Taylor and Dixon to really make some shots tonight. If that doesn’t happen, we have no chance.
So basically, if none of that happens, Adrian will be right. Well guess what? Adrian was wrong. Rocky beat the Russian. Of course that was just a kick ass movie during the Cold War but what is the one thing that movies have taught us: Good always triumphs over evil.
Why the hell can’t that also happen in real life? Time to shock the world.
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Chet Gristler said:
January 25th, 2010 at 11:12 am
We have a very small chance of winning this game but I do like playing in Lawrence first. In past years, after we squeak out a tremendous upset in Columbia, KU always comes out focused and wanting to stomp our collective colon. Perhaps the animosity won’t be there, the crowd will be loud but not frenzied, and we can hang around. If we hang around and one of the guards gets hot in the last five minutes we could slip out with a win.
Triston27 said:
January 25th, 2010 at 11:54 am
Think back to the game in Columbia last year and how poorly Collins, Taylor, Morningstar, and Reid played against the pressure.
That was ugly, but was also the first game they saw any full-court press I believe. This year, they saw it early against Memphis. Seeing that stuff in a real game is much different than just seeing it in practice. Now that they’ve gone against it, it becomes much easier to adjust to it. Much like they adjusted the 2nd time around when playing mu last season. Should be a fun night.
Phenomenal Smith said:
January 25th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Should be a fun night.
For you.
Boo radley said:
January 25th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
I agree Triston, just hoping that having only one day of prep helps us.
Triston27 said:
January 25th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
It absolutely does, Boo. But I also believe we’ve been lightly practicing against it since the Memphis game, and heavily against it since Thursday. Not that HCBS would overlook ISU, but let’s face it, this game is more important and offers more unique challenges. And I don’t mean it to sound like having played against the Memphis press gives us an advantage. I just think it puts us at less of a disadvantage than it did last year.
DocNice said:
January 25th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Boo, I love your previews. You clearly know way more than me about both basketball and our opponents. That said, I think you’re too pessimistic. This game, in my mind, comes down to one thing: Keep Sherron Collins from penetrating.
If he penetrates, or if we have to double team at the top of the key to keep him from penetrating, then KU rotates the ball too well and will certainly get open 3 point looks and dunks. How we keep him from penetrating could come from good man defense or from pressure trapping, but that is the number one key in my mind.
Look back to last year for evidence. In the first game, we kept him mostly out of the paint and they became stagnant. In the rematch, he was unstoppable. Why we couldn’t stay in front of him, I don’t know, but it certainly is discouraging for our prospects.
The rest of it simply doesn’t matter. Hot shooting and turnovers can win or lose any game, but they rarely decide the outcome over the course of a full game, even for Mizzou. Adrich will dominate for stretches. Like you said, lottery pick. But he can’t win this game by himself. And the Morris twins must have gotten a lot better since last year. I mean, they have some talent, but last year and in the bits I’ve seen of KU this year, they seem like role players. I like our athletic front line against them. I also think they’re susceptible to our pressure defense.
No, I think this one comes down to Collins.
Trips Right said:
January 25th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Collins is the bellcow, but Reed and Tyshawn Taylor will play a huge factor in the press breaker this game as secondary ballhandlers. Also, Xavier Henry gives the Hawks a tremdous ballhandler at the 3 and sometimes even 4 spot in this ballgame a pressure release.
If I’m Anderson, I’d press and fall back into a zone when one or both of the Morris bro’s was on the floor along with Aldrich. It would help conserve energy and give you some answers to Aldrich underneath. It would be tough to board out of, but that’s the poison I’d pick.
DocNice said:
January 25th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Boo, I guess that’s why you write them and not me. Collins is playing like crap and Mizzou is still down 20 at halftime. I knew Aldrich would cause problems as a defender, but I’m surprised we can’t get at least an on-balance jumper. Lack of scoring certainly hurts our defense as well. And I nearly posted earlier about the importance of rebounding, but I didn’t since that’s important every game. But KU is demolishing us on the boards. We’d be down by 8 or 10 if we just kept them off the offensive glass.
Boo Radley said:
January 25th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
I cannot recall a player that has completely dominated in this series like Aldrich does right now. There have been great players on both teams through the years, but at no time do I think any of them have dominated the games like he does against us right now. We don’t have anyone even close to his talent level on the inside. He completely controls the glass and changes every shot in the paint. Granted our system is not made for a seven footer, but unless we attack the glass repeatedly, we can’t beat them. Those guys were scared to death to go inside, and when you settle for that that many jump shots, it’s not going to be pretty. Cole, please leave soon.
DocNice said:
January 25th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
No kidding. It’s not even about what he does on offense. There’s a 10 foot perimeter around the basket that the other 4 KU players don’t have to defend. We did better attacking him in the second half, but he still changes the game. It’s shocking to see how much more effective our offense is with him out of the game.
Hiphopotamus said:
January 26th, 2010 at 7:47 am
If Aldrich is not in foul trouble and the twins play well, we have no chance.
Very prescient comment.
Oread Boom Kings — Blog — No Soup for Mizzou! said:
January 26th, 2010 at 9:06 am
[...] on the inside and we exploited it heavily. Nothing should excite you more. Our enemies over at Atomic Teeth opined prior to the game, “If Aldrich isn’t in foul trouble and the twins play well, we have no chance.” [...]