No. 6 Kansas will face one of its biggest tests of the season on Tuesday night. The final game of the Champions Classic features No. 6 Kansas vs. No. 7 Duke. Now, if you go back and look at the first two games of the regular season, neither team was tested during that two-game stretch. Kansas defeated Omaha, 89-64, and North Dakota State, 82-59. Duke, on the other hand, defeated Jacksonville, 71-44, and USC Upstate, 84-38.
Heading into the Duke game, three players, Jalen Wilson (20), Gradey Dick (17.5), and MJ Rice (10.0) average double digits in scoring, while Kevin McCullar, Jr., and Dajun Harris aren’t far behind with an average of 8.5 points per game. The stats and numbers are great and all, but here’s one of the questions I have before tipoff between No. 6 Kansas and No. 7 Duke: Is Kansas ready for this matchup?
Kansas, for the first time this season, will face a major test on the hardwood. Is Kansas ready for the bright lights that the Champions Classic will offer later tonight? Everything about today and tonight, travel to and from the arena, pregame, walkthrough, etc., will be different. There will likely be some distractions along the way, so how will Kansas handle those distractions? When the game tips, how will this year's Kansas team respond to the first 7-10 minutes of the game? Will Jalen Wilson, Dajuan Harris, or Kevin McCullar, Jr., take charge, or will someone like Gradey Dick, KJ Adams, or MJ Rice step-up and take some pressure off this team?
Some of these guys that returned from last year's team have little to no experience in these types of games. Bobby Pettiford, Jr., Joseph Yesufu, Kyle Cuffe, Jr. (out), Zach Clemence, and KJ Adams played limited minutes a season ago. A couple of these guys might be called upon to play extended minutes tonight, and if that’s the case, will they be ready? I’m also interested to see how Kansas handles any adversity they may face early on or late in the game against Duke. I mean, this is a big-time matchup and a game, I’m assuming, where both teams have big runs during the game.
For Kansas, guys like Dajuan Harris, Jalen Wilson, and Kevin McCullar, Jr., they’ve experienced this before, but for a guy, let’s say, like Gradey Dick, everything about tonight, or most everything, will be different.
Just looking over Duke’s roster, Dariq Whitehead (6-7), Dereck Lively (7-1), Jeremy Roach (6-2), Tyrese Proctor (6-5), Jaden Schutt (6-5), Christian Reeves (7-1), Mark Mitchell (6-8), and Kyle Filipowski (7-0), and the Blue Devils clearly have some size. I mean, long and athletic for sure.
Kansas, goes Gradey Dick (6-8), Jalen Wilson (6-8), MJ Rice (6-5), Kevin McCullar, Jr. (6-6), Zach Clemence (6-10), Ernest Udeh, Jr. (6-11), JK Adams, Jr. (6-7), and Zuby Ejiofor (6-9).
The Jayhawks also have Bobby Pettiford, Jr. (6-1), Joseph Yesufu (6-0), and Dajuan Harris, Jr. (6-1).
Kansas will be given every opportunity to use its size against a long and athletic Duke team later tonight. Yes, Kansas does have some size, but the Jayhawks also have some amazing speed in the backcourt. For me, I want to see what happens when/if things don’t go KU’s way early on against Duke. If that’s the case, how will Kansas respond? This team hasn’t faced much adversity if any at all, but Kansas, obviously, is playing a completely different animal tonight.
How will Kansas respond to not playing with a lead? How will Kansas respond if down by double-digits? How will Kansas respond if the shots aren’t falling? How will Kansas respond if the calls aren’t going their way? What happens, for instance, if Kansas labors to score? What happens if guys that experienced nothing but success the first two games of the regular season struggle to get anything going against Duke on Tuesday night?
A lot of questions that won’t get answered until later tonight.
Duke, with a new head coach (Jon Scheyer), is extremely young, but also extremely talented. Kansas, without its head coach, returns two starters from last year’s National Championship team, along with a starter, Kevin McCullar, Jr., from another team.
I’m not sure how the minutes will be distrusted tonight, and I’m guessing much of that will depend on any number of situations, but I’m assuming the starting five will remain the same.
Dajuan Harris, Jr.
Kevin McCullar, Jr.
Gradey Dick
Jalen Wilson
KJ Adams, Jr.
Bench: Bobby Pettiford, MJ Rice, Ernest Udeh, Jr., Joseph Yesufu, Zach Clemence
Obviously, it's early on in the season and, aside from bragging rights, I’m not sure if this game really means anything. However, I think Kansas has a big opportunity to make a statement with a win over No. 7 Duke on Tuesday night.
The one thing I keep thinking about is the experience these guys have from last season. Aside from Jalen Wilson and Dajuan Harris, Jr., not many of the returners logged a ton of minutes, but they saw firsthand what it takes to win at the highest level.
Guys like Pettiford, Jr., Yesufu, Clemence, and Adams, Jr., didn’t see as much action as they wanted to last year, but they put in the work and experienced everything.
Heading into the Duke game, three players, Jalen Wilson (20), Gradey Dick (17.5), and MJ Rice (10.0) average double digits in scoring, while Kevin McCullar, Jr., and Dajun Harris aren’t far behind with an average of 8.5 points per game. The stats and numbers are great and all, but here’s one of the questions I have before tipoff between No. 6 Kansas and No. 7 Duke: Is Kansas ready for this matchup?
Kansas, for the first time this season, will face a major test on the hardwood. Is Kansas ready for the bright lights that the Champions Classic will offer later tonight? Everything about today and tonight, travel to and from the arena, pregame, walkthrough, etc., will be different. There will likely be some distractions along the way, so how will Kansas handle those distractions? When the game tips, how will this year's Kansas team respond to the first 7-10 minutes of the game? Will Jalen Wilson, Dajuan Harris, or Kevin McCullar, Jr., take charge, or will someone like Gradey Dick, KJ Adams, or MJ Rice step-up and take some pressure off this team?
Some of these guys that returned from last year's team have little to no experience in these types of games. Bobby Pettiford, Jr., Joseph Yesufu, Kyle Cuffe, Jr. (out), Zach Clemence, and KJ Adams played limited minutes a season ago. A couple of these guys might be called upon to play extended minutes tonight, and if that’s the case, will they be ready? I’m also interested to see how Kansas handles any adversity they may face early on or late in the game against Duke. I mean, this is a big-time matchup and a game, I’m assuming, where both teams have big runs during the game.
For Kansas, guys like Dajuan Harris, Jalen Wilson, and Kevin McCullar, Jr., they’ve experienced this before, but for a guy, let’s say, like Gradey Dick, everything about tonight, or most everything, will be different.
Just looking over Duke’s roster, Dariq Whitehead (6-7), Dereck Lively (7-1), Jeremy Roach (6-2), Tyrese Proctor (6-5), Jaden Schutt (6-5), Christian Reeves (7-1), Mark Mitchell (6-8), and Kyle Filipowski (7-0), and the Blue Devils clearly have some size. I mean, long and athletic for sure.
Kansas, goes Gradey Dick (6-8), Jalen Wilson (6-8), MJ Rice (6-5), Kevin McCullar, Jr. (6-6), Zach Clemence (6-10), Ernest Udeh, Jr. (6-11), JK Adams, Jr. (6-7), and Zuby Ejiofor (6-9).
The Jayhawks also have Bobby Pettiford, Jr. (6-1), Joseph Yesufu (6-0), and Dajuan Harris, Jr. (6-1).
Kansas will be given every opportunity to use its size against a long and athletic Duke team later tonight. Yes, Kansas does have some size, but the Jayhawks also have some amazing speed in the backcourt. For me, I want to see what happens when/if things don’t go KU’s way early on against Duke. If that’s the case, how will Kansas respond? This team hasn’t faced much adversity if any at all, but Kansas, obviously, is playing a completely different animal tonight.
How will Kansas respond to not playing with a lead? How will Kansas respond if down by double-digits? How will Kansas respond if the shots aren’t falling? How will Kansas respond if the calls aren’t going their way? What happens, for instance, if Kansas labors to score? What happens if guys that experienced nothing but success the first two games of the regular season struggle to get anything going against Duke on Tuesday night?
A lot of questions that won’t get answered until later tonight.
Duke, with a new head coach (Jon Scheyer), is extremely young, but also extremely talented. Kansas, without its head coach, returns two starters from last year’s National Championship team, along with a starter, Kevin McCullar, Jr., from another team.
I’m not sure how the minutes will be distrusted tonight, and I’m guessing much of that will depend on any number of situations, but I’m assuming the starting five will remain the same.
Dajuan Harris, Jr.
Kevin McCullar, Jr.
Gradey Dick
Jalen Wilson
KJ Adams, Jr.
Bench: Bobby Pettiford, MJ Rice, Ernest Udeh, Jr., Joseph Yesufu, Zach Clemence
Obviously, it's early on in the season and, aside from bragging rights, I’m not sure if this game really means anything. However, I think Kansas has a big opportunity to make a statement with a win over No. 7 Duke on Tuesday night.
The one thing I keep thinking about is the experience these guys have from last season. Aside from Jalen Wilson and Dajuan Harris, Jr., not many of the returners logged a ton of minutes, but they saw firsthand what it takes to win at the highest level.
Guys like Pettiford, Jr., Yesufu, Clemence, and Adams, Jr., didn’t see as much action as they wanted to last year, but they put in the work and experienced everything.
