Kansas vs. North Carolina starters

As promised, here is the analysis of the starting lineups for Saturday’s nightcap in San Antonio:

Kansas – No. 1 seed from the Midwest Regional
Starters:
G Russell Robinson 6-1 Sr.
7.4 pts.;; 2.8 reb.;; 4.1 ast.
G Mario Chalmers 6-1 Jr.
12.7 pts.;; 3.1 reb.;; 4.4 ast.
G Brandon Rush 6-6 Jr.
13.1 pts.;; 5.1 reb.;; 3.1 ast.
F Darnell Jackson 6-8 Sr.
11.2 pts.;; 6.7 reb.;; 1.1 ast.
F Darrell Arthur 6-9 So.
12.7 pts.;; 6.1 reb.;; 0.8 ast.

Offensively, Kansas is the most balanced of the remaining four in that it doesn’t rely on one specific scorer consistently. The Jayhawks have four starters averaging somewhere between 13.1 and 11.2 points per game, and their other guy, Russell Robinson, could score but works more on distribution and defense. Where North Carolina primarily relies on Hansbrough, UCLA on Love and Memphis on Douglas-Roberts, Kansas poses a threatening riddle to the opposition: How do you stop a group of consistent scorers who each have a latent ability to turn in a dominating, 25-point game? We’ll leave that one up to Roy Williams for now. Chalmers demonstrates this point perfectly. He consistently puts up scoring numbers in the mid-teens, but against Texas in the Big 12 title game, he dropped 30 on D.J. Augustin. Rush is the most talented and versatile in the lineup – a wing player who can slash, score inside and shoot the 3 – and has scored 14 per game in the tournament. Jackson and Arthur are a punishing duo inside, but struggle to get shot attempts in this talented offense. When they are scoring along with the perimeter guys Kansas is extremely hard to beat because it will be in the 80s.

North Carolina – No. 1 seed from the East Regional
Starters:
G Ty Lawson 5-11 So.
12.8 pts.;; 2.7 reb.;; 5.3 ast.
G Wayne Ellington 6-4 So.
16.6 pts.;; 4.4 reb.;; 2.1 ast.
G Marcus Ginyard 6-5 Jr.
7.1 pts.;; 4.5 reb.;; 2.2 ast.
F Deon Thompson 6-8 So.
8.4 pts.;; 4.8 reb.;; 1.1 ast.
F Tyler Hansbrough 6-9 Jr.
22.8 pts.;; 10.3 reb.;; 0.9 ast.

One look at North Carolina’s starting lineup and you understand why it is here. The Tar Heels have all of the ingredients necessary for a successful run in March: The speedy point guard, Lawson, who can get to the basket at will and distribute the ball; the smooth perimeter scorer, Ellington, who can get his shot whenever he wants; and, of course, Hansbrough, the big guy who can score inside and hit the mid-range jumper, and is always (this cannot be stressed enough – always) the most aggressive and motivated player on the floor. The other two guys, Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson, are complementary offensive players but very strong defensively and on the glass. This unit might be better offensively than Kansas – and it can certainly score with Kansas – even though it is less talented, because its roles are so clearly and simply defined in the traditional basketball sense: ball handler, scoring option No. 1, scoring option No. 2 and two conduits to facilitate the process. Just look at how North Carolina broke through Louisville’s vaunted defense, a defense that strangled the life out of Tennessee just two days earlier, to shoot 53.4 percent and score 83 points in the East Regional final.