I am currently wondering whether KU played poorly, or Davidson is really that good. It does concern me that even though we knew who their main scorer was (Curry) and could key on him, yet he was still able to drop 25 points on us. It reminds me a lot of another team who really only had one scoring threat (Beasley and Kansas State), but we couldn't stop him either.
But I digress, it is time to focus on the positives:
-KU had a close game and gutted it out. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win. I liked seeing that kind of fight in them. It was close to seven minutes remaining when there was some anxiety brewing amongst the team, but a Chalmers steal and layup quickly calmed their nerves and they were able to focus the rest of the game. It felt real good to see them go toe to toe with a team bent on upset, emotionally charged, with a lot of backing from the stands, and see them come out on the other side in good shape.
-Brandon Rush couldn't buy a bucket. In a previous post, I was concerned about the 'Hawks settling for jump shots. The struggled from outside the arc, they struggled from inside the arc, yet they still pulled off a victory. I find it unlikely to see him have another night of poorer shooting. Get the bad one out of the way now.
-Sasha Kaun had the break out game of his career tonight. He played like a senior. That is essentially 20 fouls (Arthur, Kaun, Jackson, Aldridge), and 4 legitimate scoring threats we could throw at Tyler Hansborough. Besides, whose to say that KU can't get him in foul trouble next week. Kaun and him both have a similar skill set and game style...it should be a good match up. Kauns a brusier, without as much finesse as Hansborough, but how dainty can you get rebounding over a guy and dunking on someone. (I officially now retract my statement of three years ago, that Kaun was to be the next Eric Chennowith).
-KU will get a more familiar style next week against the fun and gun Tar Heels. Each like to push the ball; both have proven that they can win in the sixty point range, but both would rather see it in the 80's. KU might need all 5 of their guards next week to keep that pace; my guess is that Carolina's 4 guards (but Lawson will have to play the whole game) can't handle the pace for 40 minutes. Davidson wanted a slow game, not allowing KU to get into transition. Carolina will want to run with them...that makes for high scoring, high turnover, fun to watch basketball.
-I am apt to neglect some of the defensive struggles that raised their ugly head midway through the game because they were throwing junk defenses (box in one) at Davidson's Curry. You don't practice those in practice, so the missed assignments are forgivable.
-KU showed how athletic they really were. Blocked shots, running their few fast breaks. Against Davidson, they showed they were the more athletic team. I think they are more athletically gifted than every other team in the Final Four not named Memphis.
I now resign to anxious anticipation in awaiting next weeks basketball games.
Beak'em Hawks!
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