- NBA twin towers. Incredible advantage. Kansas's bigs could not do anything at all in the paint against these two beasts. Both are just excellent 'lane' protectors. Luke's extreme length + guard-like timing/anticipation/feel make him a one man zone in the paint. Looks like a Dad dominating the neighborhood kids in the back yard. And Jones's ability to get out on the perimeter on switches and guard like a wing has gone unnoticed by most, but is one of his many NBA level attributes. He's also cleaned the defensive glass this season and Luke's hitting the offensive boards. Luke has had many tip outs that don't register as rebounds. And who would have guessed that Jones would be the one dishing assists to Kornet more than the other way around?
- Our defense, thanks in largest part to the two above, has been really strong. Holding Kansas to 26 in a half is big time. But throttling 4/5 of the other teams has been done with huge runs generated by many strings of consecutive stops. We started the season on a 21-0 run. We started both St Johns and Wake games on pretty stout runs as well. 4 games have allowed tons of minutes for the end of our bench or we'd have won by 50+ points in a few of them.
- Immune to an off night? - not entirely. But it took an elite team to stifle our deep group of shooters. Still, I would not have imagined such a poor shooting performance in any game from this crew. However, we are closer to immune to a collective "off night" than probably in team in the country. AND we are not, NOT, a 'live by the three/die by the three' team thanks to our strong interior defense, our big time offensive post talent and WB's ability to get to the rim. It took a very ON night from one Kansas dude to beat us. Woulda thought that?
- Justice is fantastic and far more than just a shooter. He's a fast, rugged, focused defender as well. He just ripped the ball away from a Kansas dude for one steel. Then on another (yes another steal by freshman Justice away from number 4 Kansas) he streaked down the court with a fleet of Kansas guys in full stride ready to swat his layup away, when Justice (for the second time this year) took it opposite side at the last second and used the 'same' side hand to lay it up effortlessly, using the rim to protect the ball and befuddling the Kansas athletes. Piece of cake. He pulled this unique move from the left in a previous game. Really complex and unique move made effortlessly by Mr. Justice. He's the first to the floor for loose balls. He has displayed absolute unselfishness. And he's got some real juice in his ball handling skills.
- Our defense, thanks in largest part to the two above, has been really strong. Holding Kansas to 26 in a half is big time. But throttling 4/5 of the other teams has been done with huge runs generated by many strings of consecutive stops. We started the season on a 21-0 run. We started both St Johns and Wake games on pretty stout runs as well. 4 games have allowed tons of minutes for the end of our bench or we'd have won by 50+ points in a few of them.
- Immune to an off night? - not entirely. But it took an elite team to stifle our deep group of shooters. Still, I would not have imagined such a poor shooting performance in any game from this crew. However, we are closer to immune to a collective "off night" than probably in team in the country. AND we are not, NOT, a 'live by the three/die by the three' team thanks to our strong interior defense, our big time offensive post talent and WB's ability to get to the rim. It took a very ON night from one Kansas dude to beat us. Woulda thought that?
- Justice is fantastic and far more than just a shooter. He's a fast, rugged, focused defender as well. He just ripped the ball away from a Kansas dude for one steel. Then on another (yes another steal by freshman Justice away from number 4 Kansas) he streaked down the court with a fleet of Kansas guys in full stride ready to swat his layup away, when Justice (for the second time this year) took it opposite side at the last second and used the 'same' side hand to lay it up effortlessly, using the rim to protect the ball and befuddling the Kansas athletes. Piece of cake. He pulled this unique move from the left in a previous game. Really complex and unique move made effortlessly by Mr. Justice. He's the first to the floor for loose balls. He has displayed absolute unselfishness. And he's got some real juice in his ball handling skills.
