Preview: Kansas at DePaul

December 2, 2006

Kansas at DePaul (Chicago, IL)

PSAN-Related Player Ratings - Cumulative This Season

Explanation of Ratings
Note: ePSAN70 weighs recent games more, but cPSAN70 weighs all games equally

Player Analysis:
(largely based on ratings above)

Having just returned from a trip, I won't get too much into this.  DePaul appears to rely most on contributions from Wilson Chandler and Marcus Heard.  Neither is particularly efficient, however, as you might expect given DePaul's poor performance this season.  Sammy Mejia and Jabari Currie have had the most negative impact, the former mostly because of 4-21 shooting from behind the arc.  Other than that, Mejia actually isn't performing too badly.  The problem is that the last time the senior guard shot anywhere over 30% from three-point land was his freshman season.  Chandler is the consistent scoring threat inside, and he's only a sophomore at 6-8 and 230 pounds.  He may have a rough time because of foul trouble against KU's much deeper front line.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of big bodies for DePaul to challenge KU's inside strength.  Chandler, Heard, and Green will be the major tests for Darrell Arthur and Julian Wright.  It shouldn't be too big a "test" though, as the athleticism for those two should cause matchup problems for the Blue Demons.

KU's backcourt has been coming around a bit more of late.  Robinson has been solid pretty much the whole season, while Chalmers is just now coming into his own in terms of perimeter shooting.  He has also been driving into the lane with success.  Once KU starts facing stronger opponents, the backcourt may have to step up their game more, as inside shots get more and more tough to come by.

A couple of players who have interesting storylines are Rush and Kaun.  Rush has performed below preseason expectations all season long, but his strong work on defense and clutch performance in a win against Florida continue to show his value to the team.  If he breaks through with a strong and efficient offensive game to go with all the other things he's doing, his bandwagon will start to fill up once more.  Kaun has been off ever since his return from a knee injury.  In limited minutes, he has shown very little offense or defense and has missed some easy dunks.  From what Coach Self says, Sasha should be fine after some time to get reconditioned and readjusted.  It will be interesting to see if this game provides that opportunity.

Statistical Strengths and Weaknesses Analysis

Explanation of Terms

NOTE: From top to bottom, the statistics are sorted such that, at the top are the greatest advantages to the team on the left,
and at the bottom are the greatest advantages for the team on the right.

Game Outlook

If there are any clear advantages in this game, they point in the favor of Kansas.  DePaul's best hope is to minimize those advantages for KU, which are:

• KU's shooting from the field
• KU's ability to hang on to the ball
• Keeping DePaul from exploiting the FT line effectively
• DePaul's inability to get second-chance opportunities
• KU's ability to steal the ball from DePaul

Kansas may be poised to have a very efficient offensive game, as they will likely shoot well from the field, not turn it over too often, and have shown a strong ability to grab offensive rebounds all season long.  Too many weapons for Kansas.  The only thing that is the "X factor" here is the venue.  If KU loses poise on the road, anything could happen, but that's not the likely event.

Sports and Numbers Prediction: Kansas wins 79-67.

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