Wichita State

[justinhub2003]

That is the part I like the most. Keith is a gamer and doesn't shrink in the moment. That deep 3 he hit with the shot clock running out was huge! With how close our games have been every nice play or shot that gets made gets magnified as a big play. It could be a block, a three, a FT, a steal...doesn't matter. Any play can change the momentum of a close game.

I just wish we didn't have to sweat them all out. My heart is getting a workout lately...LOL!

The bright side is that this team is learning how to win close games.


Last season we lead the country in Scoring margin. This year, we have to fight for every win. But its weird in that I think I trust this bearcat team in a single elimination tourney more than I'd trust a lot of other teams. In huge games, you need player who can over come good defense and just get you a bucket.

We lost to Nevada because good offense beats good defense. And they had bucket getters who can over come the defense. I believe Keith and Jarron are both bucket getters and when Cane is rolling, he can get you a bucket too.

But in SK's year, he was a bucket getter, but the issue was, he was the only reliable scoring option. Justin Jackson was an effort player but not a guy your going to go to in the last 2 minutes.

Obviously, we have an insanely tough stretch of games to play from here on out. So there will be ups and downs, but so far, we've managed to win despite our god awful 3 point defense. And now that we have a few days to actually practice, I'm hoping we can correct the issues.




One thing that Jarron has changed and gotten better at throughout the year, is his effort OFF THE BALL. Jarron works his ass off now off the ball to get open, I mean, in some possessions, he's ran all over the court just to finally get an open shot. A lot of credit needs to go to him for his stamina, because he is able to tire out his opponents to the point, they start grabbing his jersey and fouling him off ball.

Mick mentioned this; that Jarron needs to work extremely hard to get open and I think his effort in that regard is outstanding. Our offense may get stagnant at times, but Jarron is always in motion.

 

[indydoug]

Keith is the secondary ISO option.


They literally run the same Elbow plays for Keith that that they do for Jarron. The difference is the way they utilize them.


Cumberland is better when he is working around screens, and then either scoring or playmaking, whereas a lot of Keith's work also starts at the elbow. he just prefers the step back mid range shot (which he is getting pretty good at lately) and doesn't have to use a screen to get around his guy.

Keith is getting plenty of run as a Soph. Jarron is taking 31% of the shots, Keith is taking 25% of the shots. Its just jarron is on the floor more than keith. But when Keith is out there, he's being featured more than evans was as a JR, Jarron as a Soph and so on. He's getting a lot of run and making the most of it.


Keith is now shooting 35% from 3 on the season. He's 38% in conference play.


He and jarron are the 2 dudes who generally play the same on the road and at home.

Which is why I said "at times"