[kywldcat01]

I project Holmes having their way with them. With Purvis not being 100% and Holmes' athleticism, GRC will struggle.

Holmes is the type of team that exposes GRC's weaknesses. GRC's only hope is to keep it a half court game, if this happens, they could do the same thing that Boone Co. did to Holmes twice last season. Pack it in and make them shoot from the perimeter and limit their penetration.

GRC has the bodies to rebound with Holmes, all they have to do is limit their scoring (sounds obvious but that is what Boone Co. did). Holmes is beatable if the the opposing team has the bodies to keep the Holmes trio off the offensive boards. They don't shoot that well from the outside and their strength is slashing to the basket and hitting the boards strong when they miss a shot.

I don't know about Holmes having their way with GRC, but I agree they should be too much for them because of their athleticism and length both offensively and defensively.

Holmes is a better perimeter team than you're giving them credit for though. Rico, JJ, Pittman, and Arnold all shot over 30% from the arc last year. That's pretty solid considering they're all 6'5 or taller. I agree though that if you force them to play a half court game it will benefit you, but as you saw in the Boone game, when they packed it it, Holmes KILLED them on the glass. Teams don't try to zone Holmes much because they always get burnt on the offensive glass and when you have a kid like Pittman down low with 86 inches of wingspan, it makes it kinda tough, regardless of how much size you have down there.

GRC reminds me a lot of Franklin Co from last year and Holmes absolutely torched them on the offensive glass and from outside. They just don't match up well with Holmes because of the ability of all 5 players to be able to handle the rock. I'd expect to see these match ups:

(Assuming Avery doesn't end up at Holmes...nobody knows what he's doing yet)

6'0 Mayfield v 5'9 Kendred
6'5 R. Johnson v 6'4 Stenzel
6'5 J. Johnson v 6'4 Rogers
6'6 Rice v 6'6 Purvis
6'8 Pittman v 6'9 Zollo

Zollo, IMO, will be in a world of trouble if he has to guard Pittman...he just isn't quick enough to guard him off the dribble.