I'll try to keep this brief, though that's not my normal style...
1. kansas is good. Like top 5 good. There's a handful of teams in America that will be better. They may get upset in March, but make no mistake, they're deserving of their ranking. Graham is a legit NPoY candidate.
2. kansas played 8 guys primarily. Mizzou played 12 by my count (didn't see Smith, though I may have missed him). ku's top 8 are a lot better than our bottom 5-6. But our guys got on the court and got a taste, some for extended periods. When Mizzou was down 13 with 5 minutes or so, I looked out and saw ku's top 5 on the court, Mizzou had Nikko, Van Leer, Harris, Puryear and Barnett. That's not going to happen in games that count.
3. I wanted to win...mostly for the statement of beating an impressive team. Personally don't care much about losing an exhibition, no matter the opponent...but there's a lot of good things to take from the game. Mizzou now knows they have the talent to beat a top 5 team for 35 minutes. They also know that they'll lose if they don't play the other 5 minutes.
4. Porter had a "quiet" game. One where you look up and see that he has 20 and 8 when it's all told. That's the sign of a good player.
5. Tilmon, Barnett and Robertson are all legit. They each have weaknesses, but those are the type of guys that you need as difference makers if Porter is off or keyed on. That's important.
6. PG is a concern. Harris seems to be the leader by default. Phillips and Geist are what I remember...guys who can't contain the ball on the perimeter.
7. Defense. Hard to tell with an exhibition...but hoping Cuonzo's stomach can't handle much more of that, regardless.
8. Weren't facing an opponent with impressive size, but our length is going to get us a lot of extra opportunities on offense. That's a hallmark of Martin's teams and he has the horses to really excel at that.
Summation: Impressive effort. Lot to like about this year's team. Some areas to work on. Came out of it healthy. Gonna be a long 3 weeks.
1. kansas is good. Like top 5 good. There's a handful of teams in America that will be better. They may get upset in March, but make no mistake, they're deserving of their ranking. Graham is a legit NPoY candidate.
2. kansas played 8 guys primarily. Mizzou played 12 by my count (didn't see Smith, though I may have missed him). ku's top 8 are a lot better than our bottom 5-6. But our guys got on the court and got a taste, some for extended periods. When Mizzou was down 13 with 5 minutes or so, I looked out and saw ku's top 5 on the court, Mizzou had Nikko, Van Leer, Harris, Puryear and Barnett. That's not going to happen in games that count.
3. I wanted to win...mostly for the statement of beating an impressive team. Personally don't care much about losing an exhibition, no matter the opponent...but there's a lot of good things to take from the game. Mizzou now knows they have the talent to beat a top 5 team for 35 minutes. They also know that they'll lose if they don't play the other 5 minutes.
4. Porter had a "quiet" game. One where you look up and see that he has 20 and 8 when it's all told. That's the sign of a good player.
5. Tilmon, Barnett and Robertson are all legit. They each have weaknesses, but those are the type of guys that you need as difference makers if Porter is off or keyed on. That's important.
6. PG is a concern. Harris seems to be the leader by default. Phillips and Geist are what I remember...guys who can't contain the ball on the perimeter.
7. Defense. Hard to tell with an exhibition...but hoping Cuonzo's stomach can't handle much more of that, regardless.
8. Weren't facing an opponent with impressive size, but our length is going to get us a lot of extra opportunities on offense. That's a hallmark of Martin's teams and he has the horses to really excel at that.
Summation: Impressive effort. Lot to like about this year's team. Some areas to work on. Came out of it healthy. Gonna be a long 3 weeks.
