As I've said before, I think Iowa State is a better team than North Carolina. But I was hoping Iowa State won that game, because it gives us the luxury of rolling with the small lineup - Bazz, Boat, Kromah, Giff, Daniels, with Samuel and Brimah rotating in - that was so successful against 'Nova and in spurts last season. I don't think people quite understand how unpleasant it would have been for Brimah and Nolan to deal with the likes of Kennedy Meeks - he abused Iowa State to the tune of 15 points and 13 rebounds, and given the massive weight advantage he'd possess over all of our big men, I'm guessing his output against us would have been similar. Not only that, but we would have been forced to double him with one of our guards, opening the floodgates for Paige and McDonald to fire away from three. It also would have allowed Tokoto and McAdoo to crash the glass with reckless abandon. Had we played UNC, we probably would have taken a whooping on the glass, yielded a lot of paint points, and potentially struggled to score against a UNC defense that's better than they're given credit for. We still could have won the game because of North Carolina's free throw and perimeter shooting deficiencies, but I'd much rather match strength on strength against Iowa State than weakness on strength against North Carolina.
My best bet is you'll see Kromah draw the bulk of the assignment on Kane. Kromah certainly has the foot speed and strength to make Kane work for his points, and the fact that he had so much success defending Sean Kilpatrick - a similar player - is encouraging. I'm a bit weary of sticking Napier on somebody like Naz Long. Napier, and Boatright, to a lesser extent, has the tendency to occasionally cheat on his man and play rover out there.
I'm more concerned with the way we match-up with Melvin Ejim. He's the type of player who is capable of rendering Nolan and Brimah non-factors in this game if they are unable to match his quickness on the perimeter. Blunt as it sounds, I wouldn't be opposed to Nolan DNP'ing in this game. He's done some nice things in our two tournament games, but this just isn't a game that calls for his skill set. He's a little bit lacking in the foot-speed department, and he's not exactly lock-down city when it comes to post defense, either. Much like the disastrous Oriakhi cameo against Iowa State in 2012, I fear that Nolan could be exploited on the defensive side of the ball, and I don't think he's refined enough yet to take advantage of any smaller Iowa State post defenders. If I'm Ollie, I would start Brimah, see if he can bother Ejim with his length and recovery speed, and then go to Giffey if it doesn't work out. I imagine Brimah will be serviceable against Ejim, but that it won't be long before he's designated to the bench with foul trouble. Daniels on Hogue is key - if DeAndre is unable to guard him, that could be trouble.
Ultimately, I like our chances in this game. For all the talk about how dangerous Iowa State is from three, UConn can be pretty f'in lethal themselves when they spread the floor with Giffey, Daniels, Kromah, and Boatright. We completely eviscerated 'Nova with that five, and by any statistical measure they have a far better defense than Iowa State. If the Cyclones have played anybody like Shabazz this season, it was probably Juwan Staten of WVU. Staten lit them up the first time, and Iowa State surrendered 102 points in a 25 point rout. The second time, Staten still played reasonably well, but Iowa State contained him and they ended up winning fairly comfortably. These two teams are kind of redundant in a lot of ways, and I'm sure the game will come down to the final couple minutes. When it does, I'll take my chances with the better defensive team and the home crowd advantage.
Oh yeah, and we may be watching a coaching match-up of the future unfold in Hoiberg vs. Ollie. In my mind, these are the two best >45 coaches in America (I'm not sure how old the guy from UVa is), and I'd be shocked if they didn't turn out to be two of the best of their generation. They mirror each other in more ways than one (personable, developers, smart basketball minds, etc.) and I imagine they'll battle to something close to a stalemate in the x's and o's match. Can't wait. It's been a very long time since I've been this excited for a basketball game.