I like the match up. We've struggled with disciplined offenses. Theirs is not one. We will see.
When referring to unknowns, right now both teams have a lot of them. They have seen flashes of some players beyond Powell and Baker because guards typically get the bulk of the shots of handle the ball the most.
If Baker and Powell get hurried into bad shots or feel the need to carry the workload, what happens when options 1 and 2 are focal points??
If Powell forces up shots, can his teammates provide the support??
Will Eugene continue to feel like he has to score each time he touches it, or will he get back to moving the ball, and letting the flow of the game allow the ball to get back to him??
What happens if McKnight and Nelson are assigned to shut down Baker and their offense suffers because of it??
Who draws the assignment of chasing Peter Kisa?? Is it Powell, thinking he can coast on defense...?? Will Kiss take the ball into traffic and draw contact to get Powell into foul trouble?? Same with Mathis, if he has Powell on him....can he attack the basket and get fouled??....Powell guarding Baker won't make much sense, he needs to save his energy for running and trying to get loose to score.
Can RU own both backboards or will the refs call a lot of ticky tack fouls??
There's 3 stages to any rebuild and the hardest one is winning when favored. Not a 15 to 20 point mismatch when you're clearly better, but games when the opponent is similar in size and quickness.
Winning when favored or expectations rise is difficult for young teams. Seton Hall has had 2 opportunities and lost both this year vs St. Louis and again vs Louisville. One can argue that St. Louis is a favorite to win the Atlantic 10 and Louisville is not Louisville this year because of all the turmoil this past offseason and Chris Mack replacing Pitino.
But in both games, SHU didn't play well and both programs sent waves of length and defenders at Powell. In the Kentucky game, Powell made tough shots but its something to night in and night out, be the focal point of teams and score at will anyway.
SHU is a solid favorite yet again...if they win, it will be expected but playing Kentucky when maybe an upset isn't unexpected is fine.
The real test for RU occurs when they start playing consistently close games as an underdog...breaking through every other 3 to 4 games and springing upsets, then raises expectations that they're getting better....how does RU in the next 40 to 50 games this year and next year, play well when you're suddenly perceived to be getting better??....
There's a lot of built in storylines that can be explained away by the winner and loser in Saturday's matchup and all of them would be factually correct.