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The dance is all that is the case

SIU

By Patrick Quinn
March 19, 2007 | 6 comments

The Jayhawks registered an offense efficiency of 134.0 against Kentucky, their second-best offensive performance of the season, trailing only the supernatural 139.1 they logged last month against Nebraska. The defense was less dominating, but that's just another way of saying Kentucky played very well in defeat--indeed they registered an OE of 115.7, the best offensive performance of any KU opponent so far this season. (The previous best was the 113.4 put up by Texas in Allen Fieldhouse.) The Wildcats played well enough to beat almost anyone.

Yes, almost anyone. Heh-heh-heh....

Terrific game. I thought KU looked a little rattled in the early going--Michael Jordan was in the house, and Brandon Rush noted after the game that the Jayhawks were well aware that "Kentucky" was printed on their opponents' jerseys--but the team kept its composure and faced down some excellent first-half D. The Jayhawks' defense was exemplary. Randolph Morris put up 22 points and collected eight rebounds in 31 minutes, but 14 of the points came from the free-throw line.

65 possessions. Not a fast game, although the situational speed displayed by both teams was striking, especially in the first half. But this game will seem as if it were shot out of a cannon compared to what viewers are likely to see on Thursday in the first half of the game against Southern Illinois University. There are 336 college basketball teams in Division I, and all but 23 of them play at a faster tempo than SIU. The Salukis are the most deliberate team in the tournament, playing week-in, week-out at about 60 possessions per game.

Pomeroy has Southern Illinois ranked 27 overall. The Salukis play the epitome of system-based basketball, featuring a reasonably efficient offense (OE 109.2, 81st in DI) and a suffocating defense (DE 86.7, 12th in DI). They take their time on offense and use a lot of the clock on each possession looking for high-percentage shots. Once the ball is in the air they rocket back on defense, often trading the possibility of an offensive board for the certainty of a good defensive set at the other end. The Salukis can play. They are a vy respectable 8-4 against the top 50 and last month they beat Butler, who's preparing to play the defending national champions in the round of 16. The Salukis are models of consistency; they have neither scored or given up 80 points all season.

That's about to change.

KU 84, SIU 61

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SIU, a traditional beacon of hoops excellence, was the fourth participant in the melodramatic coaching carousel that brought Bill Self to Kansas, and took the hardest knocks. After KU hired Self away from Illinois, the Illini hired Bruce Weber away from SIU. SIU elevated assistant Matt Painter to head coach, and in 2003-2004 he led the Salukis to a #15 ranking in the polls and their second consecutive NCAA tournament--whereupon he bolted for Purdue. Stung twice, SIU turned to one of their own. Head coach Chris Lowery was SIU's starting point guard 1990-1994 and led his team to two NCAA tournaments and two NITs.

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Pomeroy on Monday morning: "Kansas has become the team with the best chance to win it all."

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