 | | ULTIMATE CBB SPOT VS. BETTER TEAM MATCHUP | Views: 250 | Posted by AndrewL | Replies: 2 | A lot of great discussion in the posting forum over the last week about spot/situational plays vs. Team A flat out better than Team B. How about tonight's Kansas-Oklahoma State game?
On Saturday, KU trailed Missouri 19 in the second half at home and rallied back to win in OT AND clinch its eighth straight Big XII title. They are already talking about the Big XII Tournament title game rematch. Oklahoma State is sub-.500, final home game for Page (who should take 20 threes and go out like a champ). Cowboys have proven themselves with home wins over Missouri and Iowa State. Hard not to take a look and the underdog in this one in my opinion even though OSU may have to play Travis Ford to fill out a starting lineup.
http://www.sportsmemo.com/blogs/view/?name=Big-XII-Betting-N otes:-Short-turnaround-for-Kansas-after-emotional-win&bl og_id=9369 | Reply by jm0329 |
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like the thought but my original idea was to play osu the first half. they will come out charged, kansas will still be hung over from saturday's win and the motivation is slim to none for the jayhawks here. they might wake up second half and play more inspired ball to overtake a short handed cowboy squad.
by the way i have never witnessed a kansas team shut it down the way they did in college station last week. at times it looked like they were just hoping the clock would run out and could care less about the final score. that might be their attitude tonight as well tonight for the entire game.
| Reply by Rob_Veno |
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This is one of those where you can argue each side with a lot of validity. Obviously the overall situation weighs in Ok State's favor but there is a slight motivational angle for Kansas too since they are right on the cusp of a #1 NCAA tournament seed. With Mich State and Duke having potential losses remaining on their regular season schedule, KU could sneak in if they avoid the slip up. The loss of Le'Bryan Nash is huge in this contest fundamentally as KU on paper should win the rebounding battle by 15+. Also, without Nash, Page becomes a marked man and OSU with a seven man rotation that has 4 freshman and a sophomore might not be deep enough with scorers to help. Jayhawks C Jeff Withey is one guy who should be fresh as he only spent 9 minutes on the floor Saturday due to foul trouble and a rolled ankle (it seems fine for tonight). Line looks to be in the right spot now as my power ratings have KU a 7.5 point favorite if OSU was at full strength. The current number at -9 shows it is 1 1/2 points heavy due to the absence of Nash. Tough game to call, but could see both sides of reasoning.
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