centralbucksfan;642614 wrote:I thought Kansas was playing better ball without Selby early in the season.
Not saying this is right or wrong, but look at Kansas' schedule without Selby...their only tough game was against Memphis.
centralbucksfan;642614 wrote:As for depth...Kansas obviously has it. But I am not sure that is that big of an advantage. I'd rather have 2/3 guys off the bench then trying to rotate 9/10 as Kansas does. You can only play with 5 at a time. And I think many times, those teams that stick with 7/8 have better chemistry.
Bill Self has been quoted as saying he has only coached one team with better chemistry than this team, and that is his national championship team. If you look at last year's team, you can really tell they had absolutely no chemistry at times. There has not been a game this season where there was a KU player who didn't understand his role on the team and try to go above and beyond his limitations.
Obviously, all teams are different; and OSU's rotation with 7-8 guys is definitely advantageous to their team. However, I do not believe KU's starting 5 is as good as OSU's starting 5, so I think the extra 2-3 guys off the bench for KU is a very good thing. With OSU, like someone already pointed out, even if Lighty or Sullinger or whoever aren't playing well, they are experienced enough where Matta can leave them in and trust that they will pick it up. With KU, is Selby isn't shooting well (and he hasn't been lately, hence his diminishing minutes), Self has the advantage of putting in Releford, Reed, Morningstar, Johnson, or even Taylor if he isn't in the game already. One of those guys will be playing well and will get the minutes. If you look at KU's box scores throughout their season, you will see that a player like Johnson will get 5 minutes in one game, then 20 in the next...and the team won't lose a beat (good chemistry).
centralbucksfan;642614 wrote:Obviously Kansas is right there with a few other teams, no question. And I don't believe any of those teams are head and shoulders above the rest. I think we will see a rotation of #1 rankings as the season goes on through conference games.
Definitely agree with this. I fully expect the #1 seeds to be OSU, KU, Duke, and one of the Big East teams (pitt, cuse, uconn?), however I see all these teams tripping up along the way in conference giving us a rotation of #1's throughout the season.