KU vs. WVU - guards....

We don't host WVU until the 24th, and don't play there until 2/13, but something occurred to me over the weekend that I thought I'd throw out to the collected brain power of the board.

Conventional logic has KU, WVU and Baylor as the top contenders for the Big 12 championship. Frankly, I like our guys vs. Baylor because despite some great players on Baylor, I think Bill Self has Scot Drew's number and can coach circles around him. Not saying I'm not worried about Baylor, but I do think that we'll do ok there.

WVU is a scarier proposition not only based on talent, but more due to their style of play. The full court 40 minute badgering style shows up in the stats with almost every team having their worst turnover line of the season vs. WVU. I also think that WVU at home gets an even bigger advantage and is allowed to play even more "aggressively" (i.e. fouling like crazy) than they do when they go on the road.

Nevertheless, I'm wondering if our 4 guard lineup might be a difference maker this year. I trust Frank and Devonte implicitly when it comes to handling the ball. Svi and Josh, however, seem to add to this. Imagine last year, you had Frank, Devonte and Wayne charged with breaking the press, with Perry and Landon not really tasked to do so. Now, put in Svi (probably as decent with the ball as Wayne was) and throw in Josh who also has speed and a good handle. Will we actually have an EASIER time with WVU this year due to our smaller, guard-heavy lineup?

To me, it all comes down to Josh. Svi has seen this before, as have Frank and Devonte. If Josh can keep from panicking I'm thinking that the WVU press will be only mildly annoying this year. Am I crazy (in reference to this only, please)?

exactly, Not O. i havent lobbed in on these computer rankings as theres not much point this time of year but the eye test on west va does not concern me. not only do we use 4 gusrds who will neutralize the press but two of them have lots of experience playing against west va. the two who dont are relatively fearless in their approach and have great basketball IQs. plus landon is smart as the release if they over play. one important element of our consistency has been consistently playing well enough to win and thats because we have 3 starters with the eye of the tiger ( frank, dvonte and josh) and three more ( svi, legerald, landon) who also want it badly ( carlton being the enigma who coach self has to remove often one or two possessions after inserting him). since the computer models use relative scoring margin as the primary predictor they cant capture this notion of playing well enough to win ( which is also what that 2008 team did). am i as confident as i was before doke got hurt? no. but i still think we have the best team and the best coach in our conference. my only concern is staying healthy. if we lose even one player now for two games or more the run, im afraid, is over.

At least here and there KU could go 5 guards and use Josh or Svi to post up. It'd be fun to Josh pass out of the post.

It's funny, I think I'm more concerned about Baylor. Their size is gonna be a huge problem for this Kansas team. I agree, Self can outcoach Drew any day of the week, but I don't know how he's going to counter the height and length the Bears possess.

Also nice to see Bragg sealing more on the block, as opposed to playing just his outside 10-15 footer role. Along with Landen and the soft baby hooks and other makes, this was a very good night for KU inside

Think the postgame discussion on the radio mentioned something like 52 points in the paint tonight. That and the +17 against the smaller line up would confirm that perception. Nice to see.