Match-up: Withey Vs. Osby & Mbaye

[Chaser728]

I was listening to Scott Drew after Baylor's loss to KU, last Monday, and he said that they were pretty dumb for trying to go inside at KU. Obviously this is due to Withey's presence.

So here is my question: Do Osby & Mbaye pose any kind of threat to him? (Taking into account their ability to extend the Bigs & His Shot Blocking ability.)

Either way, I think this one is going to be fun. I live in KS, so I am praying for a W. How awesome would that be? And I think, that this match-up will really be the story.

 

[zeptrey]

Then make Withey guard Osby and/or M'Baye further away from the basket. Both show pretty decent looking jumpers that will open up the shots around the basket. Get Osby the ball regardless I say.

 

[campbest]

Have to get Osby touches regardless. I would have him work outside-in, which allows Romero to go into the shot-blocker, create contact and hopefully get some fouls. The best part of Withey's defensive presence is he rarely picks up a cheap foul...hell, he rarely fouls period. I don't have a problem with OU's frontcourt trying to extend KU's defense with jump shots, but they can't fall in love with them. This team has enough jump shooters to begin with, no success will be achieved by firing another 15-20 shots outside the paint.

Osby won't have an explosion like he did last night, but 15 and 7 is very reasonable and the bare minimum of what OU needs to possibly get a win. M'Baye is the one who is going to have to step-up and take pressure off the rest of the team, this needs to be his breakout game. We have heard over and over how polished he is, NBA potential, etc. This is the type of game where he earns that future paycheck.

 

[Chaser728]

What about this match-up when we are in our Man Defense to present a mismatch in our favor on the Defensive end:


Cam on Mclemore?


I have been giving this some thought, and i would love to see Coach start Cam over Pledger for this game only and put him on Mclemore. Pledger can come off of the bench and be a spark for us offensively, but Cam's job is just to solely defend the Freshman Phenom. Anything he does on the Offensive end is just gravy.

 

[JBaker]

What about this match-up when we are in our Man Defense to present a mismatch in our favor on the Defensive end:


Cam on Mclemore?


I have been giving this some thought, and i would love to see Coach start Cam over Pledger for this game only and put him on Mclemore. Pledger can come off of the bench and be a spark for us offensively, but Cam's job is just to solely defend the Freshman Phenom. Anything he does on the Offensive end is just gravy.

My guess is we'll start Buddy on McLemore.

 

[KBaden145]

My guess is we'll start Buddy on McLemore.

This would be my pick.

 

[WTSooner]

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that OU puts much emphasis on defending specific players, with specific defenders. And even if they start on a guy, we switch all screens, so they could get Hield, or Cam, or whoever, off McLemore if they wanted to.

The best way to defend him is going to be with good team defense, anyways. Keeping him out of the lane, and knowing who we can help off of. Make him earn everything he gets, no easy hoops.

 

[Chaser728]

This would be my pick.

I think Buddy would do a great job as well, but I guess my thought would be that Cam could devote 100% of his effort to stopping (not sure if that is even close to the way I should say it) Mclemore and it would allow Buddy the opportunity to have even more when on the Offensive side of the ball. I think running around with Mclemore would cause a drop off on the offensive side of the court.

And, WT, I agree about the team defense... I know you are right about the switching on screens... And we all know that KU likes that kind of "Weave" offense, but I thought maybe for one game it might catch the Hawks off guard and would be an XFactor. Just my own opinion, and of course that is why LK is paid the big bucks.

 

[KBaden145]

I think you might see Cam on him some but, since Cam is playing more 4 and get can get difficult to find an offensive player to guard that isn't guarding you during the flow of the game. We definitely need to throw multiple defenders at this guy. Got mad game...

 

[Chaser728]

I think you might see Cam on him some but, since Cam is playing more 4 and get can get difficult to find an offensive player to guard that isn't guarding you during the flow of the game. We definitely need to throw multiple defenders at this guy. Got mad game...

He does have mad game... And after watching him some more tonight, dude has a pure shot.

 

[cowboysooner]

I think we have a decent chance against KU doing just what we have been doing.

Kruger's defense is fairly unique. We switch far more than other teams and in a little different way. The first time you see it, it can keep you off balance for a while.

I think the key will be minimizing turnovers, rebounding and shooting a decent percentage from the 3. Bill's teams get after you defensively and you can pretty easily find yourself routinely taking bad and guarded shots.

Can we stay aggresive offensively without turning it over too much? This is the question.

 

[Dr Sleep]

I don't think it is a good idea for one guy to devote 100% effort on defense solely as we would then being playing 4 on 5 on the offensive end. I want all my guys giving 100% effort all the time while in the game. Then they can rest on the bench and during timeouts where they only have to give some mental effort which would be about 30%.

 

[Chaser728]

I have really liked watching us switch between man and zone and other defenses. That's why I think LK will dial something up for them this game which will help make us successful.

 

[KCRuf/Nek]

I'm not sure how far Whitey will come out. Their defense isn't built around him being 15 feet from the basket. If we could draw him out that would be great as it would open up the lane for others. It would also cut down on their break which, IMO, is, no matter who is the coach, is their deadly weapon. McLemore gets several baskets a game on the break. I'm not really sure what you do against him in the half court. Maybe throwing different defenders at him is the answer. I do know that we need to do a better job of not giving up open looks. If we can't do that it might be a long day. I think if we cut down their opportunities to run it will greatly help our chances. If we play like we did in the first half against Tejas we can board the bus after the first ten minutes.

I'd be very interested to know how Kruger is approaching this game - what his plan is. I always remember Billy saying he didn't really worry about who he was playing. He coached his team. I would love a win. There's nothing better than a KU loss taking the air out of this city. I remember going to the game in norman in maybe 2002 when we won. The next week or two was heaven on earth. :ed