Kansas v Iowa State

 These games will help Wiggins’ stock for now, but alot of it is going to come down to how he does later in the season and in the tournament.

 These games will help Wiggins’ stock for now, but alot of it is going to come down to how he does later in the season and in the tournament.

 Wiggins looked good. The first Iowa State v Kansas game was when KU lost a few and struggled with zone coverage. They were first starting to really improve how they handled the zone and were okay at it a month ago, so with the improvement that has occured in the past month… Iowa State’s game plan was a little funky. They dared Andrew to shoot three’s and he did so with confidence and tore apart their zone D. He also got in transition, actually dunked, drove and hit some mid-range shots…a lot of what he did against TCU, but against a top 20 team and two strong defenders in Ejim and Houge.

I’m a little things guy, and these were my favorite plays from Wiggins last night. 

1. He ran the baseline. I always thought with his length and in Bill Self’s motion offense, he’d be fantastic running the baseline. Wiggins had a key offensive rebound/put back late in the game doing just that. He was aggressive on the glass on got 7 rebounds. He’s really upped his play in that area in conference play and has been over a 7 rpg player for the past month.

2. He stopped a fast break by himself in the backcourt by the free throw line. Kansas was applying a light press and Wiggins was the lone guy in the back court. He noticed Kane pusing the ball, and did a lateral defensive slide with his arms in the air and cut him off, completely overwhelming a very good/experience college guard and he just stopped pushing and walked the ball up the court. Those little moments  that everyone loves and drives people to "holy crap" …well, that was one for me. 

Embiid did a nice job of staying out of foul trouble. You can see he’s been working on going straight up with two hands when players seek out contact from him. That was a noticable improvement, and he played 30 minutes with one foul…easily his best game in that department all year. He’s also not used to playing that many minutes in a row, and looked a little winded, but that’s not the end of the world.

He did a good job of getting good position down low, and despite getting double teamed every time he touched the ball, he did a masterful job of dribbling out and making the right pass. He had been a high turnover guy a month ago as he was getting used to handling increased pressure, but had just 2 in his 30 minutes last night.

Joel didn’t have a monster game, but he had a very good one 14 points 11 boards and a block on 5-9 and 4-5. I noticed how much better he was at handling the double and committing dumb fouls. Even if he doesn’t have an 8 block game or do a dream shake ( although he had a nice baseline turnaround ) he gets better, and that’s what I love so much about him as a prospect. He fouled out and had 7 TO’s the first time he played the Cyclones and dealt with a double team every time and guys going at him… a month laster he had 1 foul and 2 TO’s…he’s a really quick study.

 Wiggins looked good. The first Iowa State v Kansas game was when KU lost a few and struggled with zone coverage. They were first starting to really improve how they handled the zone and were okay at it a month ago, so with the improvement that has occured in the past month… Iowa State’s game plan was a little funky. They dared Andrew to shoot three’s and he did so with confidence and tore apart their zone D. He also got in transition, actually dunked, drove and hit some mid-range shots…a lot of what he did against TCU, but against a top 20 team and two strong defenders in Ejim and Houge.

I’m a little things guy, and these were my favorite plays from Wiggins last night. 

1. He ran the baseline. I always thought with his length and in Bill Self’s motion offense, he’d be fantastic running the baseline. Wiggins had a key offensive rebound/put back late in the game doing just that. He was aggressive on the glass on got 7 rebounds. He’s really upped his play in that area in conference play and has been over a 7 rpg player for the past month.

2. He stopped a fast break by himself in the backcourt by the free throw line. Kansas was applying a light press and Wiggins was the lone guy in the back court. He noticed Kane pusing the ball, and did a lateral defensive slide with his arms in the air and cut him off, completely overwhelming a very good/experience college guard and he just stopped pushing and walked the ball up the court. Those little moments  that everyone loves and drives people to "holy crap" …well, that was one for me. 

Embiid did a nice job of staying out of foul trouble. You can see he’s been working on going straight up with two hands when players seek out contact from him. That was a noticable improvement, and he played 30 minutes with one foul…easily his best game in that department all year. He’s also not used to playing that many minutes in a row, and looked a little winded, but that’s not the end of the world.

He did a good job of getting good position down low, and despite getting double teamed every time he touched the ball, he did a masterful job of dribbling out and making the right pass. He had been a high turnover guy a month ago as he was getting used to handling increased pressure, but had just 2 in his 30 minutes last night.

Joel didn’t have a monster game, but he had a very good one 14 points 11 boards and a block on 5-9 and 4-5. I noticed how much better he was at handling the double and committing dumb fouls. Even if he doesn’t have an 8 block game or do a dream shake ( although he had a nice baseline turnaround ) he gets better, and that’s what I love so much about him as a prospect. He fouled out and had 7 TO’s the first time he played the Cyclones and dealt with a double team every time and guys going at him… a month laster he had 1 foul and 2 TO’s…he’s a really quick study.

 Heres Wiggins highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ6fW66w7mg

 Heres Wiggins highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ6fW66w7mg

 Embiid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LylX8M7UHMg

 Embiid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LylX8M7UHMg

About Embiid that turn-around jumper he showed for his first points is going to be his greatest weapon in the league. Because he can shoot the ball so well his floor is very high. At worst he’s a Hibbert, Marc Gasol level defender with a jump shot. What he has shown by way of post moves though is what makes his potential crazy high and him #1 on my draft board. How well he handles the double team though is so impressive.

Will be interesting to see how he does in the NBA when he gets touches damn near every time down the court with no double or triple team coming each time. 

About Embiid that turn-around jumper he showed for his first points is going to be his greatest weapon in the league. Because he can shoot the ball so well his floor is very high. At worst he’s a Hibbert, Marc Gasol level defender with a jump shot. What he has shown by way of post moves though is what makes his potential crazy high and him #1 on my draft board. How well he handles the double team though is so impressive.

Will be interesting to see how he does in the NBA when he gets touches damn near every time down the court with no double or triple team coming each time.