Talking Oklahoma State vs. Kansas Round 2 with Joshua Brisco

With OSU facing off against the Jayhawks for a second time, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk about the match-up with Joshua Brisco who helped me preview round one a couple of weeks ago.

Josh covers the Jayhawks (among other Kansas sports teams) as the host of (Almost) Entirely Sports on ESPN Kansas City and is the co-owner and operator of Rock Chalk Blog.

I’ve pulled some highlights from the interview for your reading pleasure. However, if you have I’d suggest listening to the full interview down below. I swear I’m getting better at these things.

Phillip Slavin: My first question. Kansas has already locked up the Big 12 and the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament. Will that impact them on Saturday, or will they be motivated by revenge after the earlier loss or NCAA seeding?

Joshua Brisco: I think it means a little bit that this is a chance for Oklahoma State to sweep Kansas, because Bill Self just doesn’t get swept ever. So I do think that we’ll see Kansas playing this game seriously, maybe not as aggressively as others, but I don’t think that you can focus in too much on the seeding effects this game might have because the NCAA is trying to hold everyone accountable and everything.

If Bill Self just decides that Devonte’ Graham was only going to play 20 minutes in this game and Udoka Azubuike was only going to play 15. I would kind of, at that point, dare the committee to knock Kansas down a line or two. I’m not terribly worried about it, I doubt KU is terribly worried about it either. But I also still expect Devonte’ Graham to still somehow play 40 minutes.

PS: Do you think Kansas will go all in on this game or play it safe?

JB: So here is what I think is most interesting, and it’s less of an answer and more of a theory, I think that KU can only mail it in so far realistically. How far down the bench do you go before you’re being offensive. You can’t give a lot of time to guys seven and eight, because you’re giving minutes to guys who don’t ever see the floor.

Silvio de Sousa gets 30 minutes of game play this weekend, that is an absolute stamp on the letter. You’ve got seven guys you can give actual minutes to. Maybe you get a little bit more Mitch Lightfoot, a little more Silvio de Sousa, then you usually do. But I don’t think Kansas can just mail it in the whole way, because it’s not like they can just play their whole second team. There is no second team.

There are the starters, a couple of guys that might rotate through here or there, and then guys who never see the floor.

PS: If there is one thing KU fans are worried about this weekend and moving forward to Kansas City and March Madness, what would that be?

[USATSI]

If Azubuike ends up in foul trouble, then everything has a chance to come crumbling down. We saw some good minutes from de Souza against Oklahoma, and we’ve seen some good stuff from Mitch Lightfoot here and there, but that’s the thing you still have to be afraid of. If you get some really aggressive big men, to really challenge Azubuike, that’s his best chance to stumble.

He was good against (Sagaba) Konate of West Virginia. He has stepped up to the occasion. This isn’t a vote of un-confidence in Azubuike be any means. If he does get into some trouble, there’s no way to climb back out.

PS: From what you’ve seen of OSU, or by reputation alone, is there one guy on the OSU roster you are concerned about this Saturday?

JB: In general the path for other teams handling Kansas has been size. If you can find, not just the best size on your team, but the consistency down the roster a little bit, that’s where I would end up looking. If I was in Bill Self’s shoes and trying to win this game, that’s where I would be raising my eyebrow the most. Not just the top of the roster. And if you can get Azubuike in foul trouble, whatever mastermind plan you have to do that, it’s more about that result than any individual player.

I’ve seen a lot of individual players try to do something against Kansas. I was worried about Trey Young and then Kansas won by 30, so I don’t think that there are individual players in the conference that can beat Kansas. But if you attack them the right way, you can give yourself the best possible chance.

Really. If you have 18 minutes, take a listen to the interview. Joshua and I talk a lot more about college basketball and the Big 12, including why the NCAA should treat the end of the season more like the NFL does, Brisco compares the Jayhawks to James Bond, we make predictions for Saturday (well… he does).

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