Preview:
Having gotten our 1st round warm up out of the way, we now face a team that is far more of a legit threat. Kansas is 29 by Massey, 38 in NET, and is 21-9 having just beaten a well regarded Georgia Tech. Kansas is a well balanced team that inhibited Georgia Tech by playing a close defense on their guards. They also shoot 75% of their free throws, so watch out if the game turns into a free throw shooting contest. They make about 5 or 6 treys a game--fewer than their opponents, and are about average with turnovers and rebounding compared with their opponents. But their defense and offense are good enough to give them a +7.7 scoring margin on the year.
The top Kansas scorer is Holly Kersgieter, a 5'11" junior guard playing the 2. She is well rounded--shooting 51 treys on the year at 38%, 79% of her free throws (she has made 100!), and 14 ppg.
The Kansas point guard is Zakiyah Franklin, a 5'8" junior guard scoring 12 ppg and with a 3:2 assist to turnover ratio. She takes a few treys but has more than a hundred free throws at 85%. She also has made exactly 100 free throws. It looks a lot as if these two guards are prolific slashers who get people in foul trouble.
Kansas also has some height. Their third leading scorer is Ioanna Chatzileonti, a 6'3" sophomore forward from Greece--I imagine she knows Elena Bosgana since she is one year ahead of her and also from Athens. She scores 10 ppg.
Taiyanna Jackson is their 6'6" junior center. Jackson shoots 61%, has not taken a trey, and averages 9 ppg. She leads the team in rebounding and has a whopping 92 blocks on the season. That is nearly 20 more than Brink.
Kansas plays 8 players in double digit minutes, so they have depth. As the announcers said when looking forward to a potential Stanford matchup--Kansas plays sound defense and has the height and length to match up with us. I do not think they are as talented in as many positions as we are--but they are not to be taken lightly. The stats have them as a better team than UCLA or Washington State and in the ballpark of a Colorado or Gonzaga.
According to the post-game presser, the Kansas gameplan on offense against Georgia Tech was to work inside-out. To penetrate and only if there was not a clear lane or a short pull-up to then pass back out. That sounds like their MO for the year based on the foul shooting patterns. Their coach indicated that "we don't have a star" or an MVP candidate--but they have a lot of good players who play together well, make the extra pass. etc. The Kansas coach also said that Stanford's championship run after being off campus last year was one of the great achievements in sports. He also indicated that they had recruited Kianna Williams and had been rooting for her last year.
Kansas finished the season with a gauntlet of top teams playing 3 teams in the top 10, losing a competitive game by single digits to Baylor, losing by 10 points to Texas, and splitting with Oklahoma. Based upon those games, they will also be competitive against us. I am trying to remember a 2nd round game we have had against an opponent this good. We will need to play well.
Having gotten our 1st round warm up out of the way, we now face a team that is far more of a legit threat. Kansas is 29 by Massey, 38 in NET, and is 21-9 having just beaten a well regarded Georgia Tech. Kansas is a well balanced team that inhibited Georgia Tech by playing a close defense on their guards. They also shoot 75% of their free throws, so watch out if the game turns into a free throw shooting contest. They make about 5 or 6 treys a game--fewer than their opponents, and are about average with turnovers and rebounding compared with their opponents. But their defense and offense are good enough to give them a +7.7 scoring margin on the year.
The top Kansas scorer is Holly Kersgieter, a 5'11" junior guard playing the 2. She is well rounded--shooting 51 treys on the year at 38%, 79% of her free throws (she has made 100!), and 14 ppg.
The Kansas point guard is Zakiyah Franklin, a 5'8" junior guard scoring 12 ppg and with a 3:2 assist to turnover ratio. She takes a few treys but has more than a hundred free throws at 85%. She also has made exactly 100 free throws. It looks a lot as if these two guards are prolific slashers who get people in foul trouble.
Kansas also has some height. Their third leading scorer is Ioanna Chatzileonti, a 6'3" sophomore forward from Greece--I imagine she knows Elena Bosgana since she is one year ahead of her and also from Athens. She scores 10 ppg.
Taiyanna Jackson is their 6'6" junior center. Jackson shoots 61%, has not taken a trey, and averages 9 ppg. She leads the team in rebounding and has a whopping 92 blocks on the season. That is nearly 20 more than Brink.
Kansas plays 8 players in double digit minutes, so they have depth. As the announcers said when looking forward to a potential Stanford matchup--Kansas plays sound defense and has the height and length to match up with us. I do not think they are as talented in as many positions as we are--but they are not to be taken lightly. The stats have them as a better team than UCLA or Washington State and in the ballpark of a Colorado or Gonzaga.
According to the post-game presser, the Kansas gameplan on offense against Georgia Tech was to work inside-out. To penetrate and only if there was not a clear lane or a short pull-up to then pass back out. That sounds like their MO for the year based on the foul shooting patterns. Their coach indicated that "we don't have a star" or an MVP candidate--but they have a lot of good players who play together well, make the extra pass. etc. The Kansas coach also said that Stanford's championship run after being off campus last year was one of the great achievements in sports. He also indicated that they had recruited Kianna Williams and had been rooting for her last year.
Kansas finished the season with a gauntlet of top teams playing 3 teams in the top 10, losing a competitive game by single digits to Baylor, losing by 10 points to Texas, and splitting with Oklahoma. Based upon those games, they will also be competitive against us. I am trying to remember a 2nd round game we have had against an opponent this good. We will need to play well.