Wednesday at 8 p.m. - Bartow Arena
KenPom Numbers:
UAB - 62
WKU - 150
The Hilltoppers are 9-6 and 1-3 on the season. Last Saturday they went to San Antonio and got their third road victory, 74-64. UAB has 0 road victories.
Their best win, by far, was over Tulane (87), 71-65. Worst loss was at Louisville (287), 94-83. Louisville only has 2 wins.
North Texas (56) only beat WKU by 4.
KenPom has it UAB 83 - WKU 71.
Will be very interesting to see how our team, and 2 players especially, respond to adversity.
Got two tickets if anyone wants them
WKU has had a wtf start to the season. Lots of talent but haven’t been able to put it together yet (sounds familiar) Still very dangerous though, have to be ready. Jemison will have his hands full with their 7’5 center.
(01-10-2023 11:13 PM)TT32 Wrote: [ -> ]WKU has had a wtf start to the season. Lots of talent but haven’t been able to put it together yet (sounds familiar) Still very dangerous though, have to be ready. Jemison will have his hands full with their 7’5 center.
Jamarion Sharp is 7’5” 235#, Senior. He has 18 blocks in the first 4 conference games. He is a blocking machine. He had 7 blocks against Tulane. Last season Sharp had 10 blocks against Alabama A&M.
(01-11-2023 12:56 AM)KevMo4UAB Wrote: [ -> ] (01-10-2023 11:13 PM)TT32 Wrote: [ -> ]WKU has had a wtf start to the season. Lots of talent but haven’t been able to put it together yet (sounds familiar) Still very dangerous though, have to be ready. Jemison will have his hands full with their 7’5 center.
Jamarion Sharp is 7’5” 235#, Senior. He has 18 blocks in the first 4 conference games. He is a blocking machine. He had 7 blocks against Tulane. Last season Sharp had 10 blocks against Alabama A&M.
He’s projected to go second round in this years draft. Lots of potential when you have a guy who’s that tall
But he's not good at basketball. I don't know if he's miraculously improved from last year, but he was devoid of most basic basketball skill and talent when I saw him play last season. He was also soft, timid, and got boxed out by our guys regularly (if you've seen our guys rebounding and hustle stat skills this year you'd realize that's an insult). But of course, you can't teach 7'5". Pretty much the only thing he offered on the court was the ability to block shots.
(01-11-2023 06:54 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote: [ -> ]But he's not good at basketball. I don't know if he's miraculously improved from last year, but he was devoid of most basic basketball skill and talent when I saw him play last season. He was also soft, timid, and got boxed out by our guys regularly (if you've seen our guys rebounding and hustle stat skills this year you'd realize that's an insult). But of course, you can't teach 7'5". Pretty much the only thing he offered on the court was the ability to block shots.
Manute Bol wasn't good at basketball either, but he turned that 7'7" height into a 9ish year NBA career. Irrelevant trivia: Manute Bol is tied with Gheorge Muresan as the tallest players ever in the NBA. Both started their NBA careers with the Washington Bullets.
(01-11-2023 09:18 AM)BlazerFromMD Wrote: [ -> ] (01-11-2023 06:54 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote: [ -> ]But he's not good at basketball. I don't know if he's miraculously improved from last year, but he was devoid of most basic basketball skill and talent when I saw him play last season. He was also soft, timid, and got boxed out by our guys regularly (if you've seen our guys rebounding and hustle stat skills this year you'd realize that's an insult). But of course, you can't teach 7'5". Pretty much the only thing he offered on the court was the ability to block shots.
Manute Bol wasn't good at basketball either, but he turned that 7'7" height into a 9ish year NBA career. Irrelevant trivia: Manute Bol is tied with Gheorge Muresan as the tallest players ever in the NBA. Both started their NBA careers with the Washington Bullets.
Manute might’ve had more actual basketball skill than Sharpe..
Bol bol has incredible basketball talent for his height. He and sharpe are light years apart in basketball talent, for comparison.
I can tell you one thing, Gaines and Jelly are going to have to be very smart on how they attack the lab because shots will be swatted tonight
(01-11-2023 09:44 AM)Golden-Ticket Wrote: [ -> ]I can tell you one thing, Gaines and Jelly are going to have to be very smart on how they attack the lab because shots will be swatted tonight
Reduced driving the lane might be a good thing for Jelly who seems to get swatted (or, at least, disputed) quite a bit inside.
I hope to be pleasantly surprised but I don’t think we match up well with WKU. They are big. Their guards are big. They do stuff we really struggle defending. They have a big man who can take away our guards’ drives and neutralize our big men. They have the potential to make us one-dimensional and put pressure on our guards to make good decisions. They are sort of built to face us.
Their problem isn’t talent. They can match us there. Their problem is continuity, consistency and chemistry.
The Hilltoppers’ starting lineup typically goes 6’1”, 6’5”, 6’8”, 6’8”, and 7’5”. Four seniors and one junior.
The smallest guy, 6’1” Dayvion McKnight leads the team at 17.0 points/game.
We may actually see a shake up in the starters for a Butta, both brewers, buffen, Trey lineup
(01-11-2023 03:11 PM)Golden-Ticket Wrote: [ -> ]We may actually see a shake up in the starters for a Butta, both brewers, buffen, Trey lineup
I would be fine with that. Send a message. The effort from last weekend was unacceptable.
I would be surprised if there isn’t a change in the starting five. I think we will see at least two new starters. But who starts is not the main thing. Who gets the most playing minutes is what matters the most.
Are y'all suggesting that Jelly not start but come off the bench?
(01-11-2023 04:25 PM)randy22263 Wrote: [ -> ]Are y'all suggesting that Jelly not start but come off the bench?
It’s going to be interesting to see what AK decides to do. I’m just saying, a change is a coming.
(01-11-2023 04:23 PM)KevMo4UAB Wrote: [ -> ]I would be surprised if there isn’t a change in the starting five. I think we will see at least two new starters. But who starts is not the main thing. Who gets the most playing minutes is what matters the most.
Yep even AK said he wish people would stop pushing starting lineup media at the beginning of the game because it's mainly about the whole team and matchups.