Kansas Game Plan
- Thread starter mplueg
- Start date
Floyd used to do that. There was one guy, David Hickman, whose sole responsibility once an opposing post player began to get into the flow of a game, was to foul him as hard as he could whenever they fed him the ball. The Hitman was what we called him. It was impressive how well it worked. ISU could count on a return call once things got chippy, and refs generally would call it tighter afterward on both ends.
Use Ejim and Niang's outside shooting to pull Embiid out to the arc and then pump fake him off his feet for the easy three free throws. Rinse and repeat until he sits. Let Hogue and Kane pester him until he loses his temper and gets another F1 or F2. Shoot to our average and protect the ball. That's all that's needed.
Yeah, three more threes would have made the difference, but if we would have hit four of our missed layups or dunks in the first game our lack of threes wouldn't have mattered. We might live by the three, but we died by the two.
That is pretty common when facing a good shot blocker. You start hearing footsteps, rushing your shot and altering your shot because you are gun shy about the block. It's not just the ones that he manages to block that end up hurting you...
KU guards haven't handled on-ball pressure very well this year. Villanova, Florida and SDSU all pressured the guards heavy and they choked up a bunch of dumb turnovers as a result. Also, if ISU decides to double on the bigs when they get the ball in the post the guards need to be ready to rotate over to open shooters faster. KU bigs have been improving at passing out of the double team faster and rotating the ball to the open shooter. SDSU did a good job of covering up all the way around the horn and never really gave KU shooters any good open looks. Wiggins refuses to take a contested jumper and Tharpe should hopefully know better by now. Other than that, crash the boards a bit more on offense and take advantage of shots where multiple KU bigs go for the block and leave an ISU player open for an easy put back. Also, hit free throws at a high percentage when you get them. Should be a good game!
Funny hearing ISU fans complain about Self getting technicals on purpose as "poor sportsmanship trying to work the refs" and then wanting ISU players to bait Embiid into a flagrant foul...
Guys need to remember that if someone is set to block their shot, that leaves his man, or someone else on the perimeter, open. Drive and dish, plus take the ball to the hoop strong for the slam, also shot fakes, then up and under...
Its all about getting the kansas bigs out of the lane. If I remember right, last game, most of the blocks were from a defensive man rotating over. Make some outside shots, makes the spacing better. Then Ejim and Georges have more room to work. Harder to rotate when you have to cover more ground..\
I wouldn't move to far from the game plan the last time ISU played KU. For as bad as ISU played, they held KU to 77 points and only lost by 7.
Use a similar game plan, and dont play bad.
Use a similar game plan, and dont play bad.
Agree, those fouls toward Embiid get to the bonus/double bonus and then the hand check fouls later put their guards on the line.
I honestly think one of the things I'd suggest (and this is hard to make "tangible") is not to play hero ball. If KU gets momentum, play smart ball and quiet the crowd, don't force a bad three or a pass to the knees trying to catch up. Some of this comes with CFH using smart time outs here and there, but other times it is about the guys making smart passes, smart shots, knowing when to push the break vs pull back and run an offense.
That.....and make our free throws....especially on 1:1s.
That.....and make our free throws....especially on 1:1s.
Even the very best offensive teams only score 1.2-1.3 points per possession, which is equivalent to what a 60-65% FT shooter would make over a bunch of two shot fouls (Embiid is at 65% right now), so fouling with any sort of consistency is A Very Bad Idea except for extending the game.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
You need to get Embiid out from under the basket when we have the ball. This means we need whoever is matched up with him to hit the 3 ball. If that person can do that, it will lure Embiid out just enough for our players to attack the paint. By luring him out of the paint, it is also easier to get fouls called on him by driving right at him.
