Here is how you beat KU:
Lock down on McLemore: He'll of course get his points but you've absolutely got to make some on else beat you.
Get Withey out of the paint: Shane could be big in order to spread the floor.
I'm not all that concerned about Releford or Young. They are both fine role players. Young gets most of his stuff off of cleaning up the offensive glass and doesn't have much confidence shooting the ball anything outside of 12-15 feet. Releford is a pretty good (but streaky) shooter from outside, but I feel like he is their fourth best option offensively.
Angel/Doc/Marty have to be on their A game defensively against McLemore and Johnson. The last three games I've seen, Johnson has been somewhat careless with the ball. With Angel pressuring, big key is without fouling, then I think we can speed him up and turn them over. However, when you speed up the game with KU they can exploit your pressure and break the pressure with lobs over the top. I remember last year in the game at OOD they must have had close to double digit lobs for either dunks or easy layups. Staying in front is key.
I think to beat KU you make Withey and Young beat you. While Withey is a dominant defensive player, his back to the basket game still isn't totally developed. Granted, I haven't seen all of the Big 12 teams play extensively. But I can't think of any other players that are as well equipped to guard Withey as JO. Only issue, is can he play more than 20 minutes without fouling out. Because I'm not sure he can. KU's depth doesn't concern me much at all Tharpe can penetrate as well as shoot a little from outside, but I am not too concerned with him on the offensive end. Perry Ellis and Traylor are the only two bigs that play significant minutes of the bench. Ellis, stealing a term from dlew here, has shown to be an unconfident loser thus far.
Offensively for the Cats, it'll be tough. Gotta get Rod going of course, and Angel needs to be agressive attacking the basket but he can't afford bad decisions. Last year he was awful against KU, not scoring a point and having 7 TOs.
Shane is definitely the straw that stirs the drink offensively this game. If he can open up the middle of the lane for driving and cutting.
Should be a tight game. Could be a top ten matchup (!).
