I know The boilermakers have a big frontline with the addition of Swanigan, But I give the edge to the IU guards.
Indiana vs Purdue break it down..
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I give it t Purdue because good interior play usually beats good perimeter play
Solid, consistent defense is nearly always the best predictor of head to head match ups. Purdue has the decided advantage at every spot on the floor.
You guys just need to change up your strategy from last year big time, defensively that is. If you can hit from outside that should be ok for you but if not, it will likely be similar to last year. Your big man could be valuable right from the get-go.
There is only one game at IU I think. I missi the days of playing every team home and away.
Considering you're always wrong about Purdue it's basically guaranteed that we'll win now.
Well you're right about last year. I was wrong when I thought Purdue wasn't a top half of the league team, but I didn't consider their weak B10 schedule. I was wrong about Purdue losing at IU. And I was wrong about Purdue beating Cincinnati in the tournament. I should have known they would fold to an average team like Cinci. I guess I drank the kool-aid at the end of the year. I won't be doing that again.
Cinci an "average" team? You really don't understand defense do you? You should probably buy a book or something.
You don't understand how not having a center would impact a teams defense do you? Again, I've shown you how a legit big man CAN impact a team that is otherwise pretty solid. You just refuse to believe it's possible.
Once we added Zeller, we went from the 143rd in adjusted defense down to 28th in two years. I'm not saying this is going to happen this coming year, I'm simply stating that it's happened before and there are similarities that point to it being absolutely possible again.
Williams, Holt, Morgan. I would assume Williams gets the first crack at it. That matchup doesn't really scare me too much. I can say the same for Swanigan, who is he going to guard?
Swanigan would have a tough time guarding Williams but I think the exact same could be said about Williams guarding Swanigan. Williams wouldn't be able to guard him close to the bucket IMO.
Agreed. I would assume whoever is on offense would have the advantage. It would be interesting to see given how much bigger (weight) Swanigan is than Williams, but how Williams athleticism/length could disrupt Swanigan.
Come on 1987, I know you don't think that Purdue is just going to steamroll IU this coming year. It should be another great game, down to the wire, if you ask me. I personally think IU will pull it out. I just don't agree with Pete who thinks that any center in college basketball will piss himself when having to go up against AJH and Haas....
Yep. Do you think JBJ will ever be an above average defender? Random side note but curious to hear your take.
Not sure on above average. I am hopeful he can get to average, though. He was just a freshman last year. Add in the fact that defense was a note (IIRC) he got back from the NBA on things to work on so I would assume that would be a focus.
That kind of leap would put you at about 100 or so and would have to happen in one season. Even if it did happen, that wouldn't be in the range you're hoping for.
You are also comparing two lottery picks who had better players defensively to start with. Once again, not even close to an equal comparison.
I assume since you didn't address Cinci being average that you have backed off that statement.
Perhaps catch some middle school games and sit close enough to where you can hear coach and listen closely. You will get it eventually.
Good God. I've said over and over, I don't think the improvement is going to be exactly the same. I don't think Bryant is Cody Zeller. I think the situations are similar and I wouldn't be shocked to see a vast improvement in the defense, just like we did once we got Cody. The team that was ranked 28th in adjusted defense had the same players still making most of the contributions. Did they just decide to not play defense in 2011 and only started in 2013? Nope. Those players got better (imagine that) and we added a big man. Same situation this coming year. I expect our players to get better and we added a legit big man. Add in Crean's historical adjusted defensive rankings and it's really not hard to see (to anyone who's not a complete moron) that last year was by far our worst team and improve is likely and it could be a big increase. Disagree if you want but the numbers suggest different than what you are hoping for....
Nope. Cincinnati was an average team. They beat a few good teams, but nothing crazy. I get they beat you, so you automatically think they are the Chicago Bulls from the 90's and you also think that defense is the only thing that matters in college basketball so....
And once again, you're assuming nobody on IU gets better from last year. Funny how you only think Purdue players will get better or how Purdue freshman can contribute right away and the same won't happen with other teams. Weird. I think you've been drinking the Kool-Aid too much over on the circle jerk that is GBI. I really hope you'll come back around after this upcoming season. I don't think you will. I suspect your tail will be between your legs...
I don't think players get better at defense because they get a year older. They get better when the coach teaches defense, when he emphasizes defense, when he demands they work hard at it. Unless that happens, the rest is just talk. Do you think CTC will do those things?
Yup. No question. When you know what your biggest weakness was the prior year, typically a coach will try and make that better. They don't just let it go and not address it.
Defense has been TCs biggest weakness most seasons.....has he ever truly addressed it?
Well looking at where his teams ended ranked in adjusted defense I would say so. Some years more than others.
Not
not counting his first three years, they are the lost years....Outside of one year during each of CZs and DWades careers his defense has been bad...any fluctuations good or bad seem to be more random than focused improvements. I don't see any DWades or CZs on next years teams...
getting to 100 won't help much. That will still be one of the worst defenses in the conference. To be as succesful as you seem to feel we will be, the defense is going to have to be at least 40....maybe top 50 but that's really putting pressure on your offense
Do you honestly feel that we can't go from over 200 to top 50 ?
I have stated clearly many times that the Iu players should improve and Bryant can help that. You are the only one who reads my statements as they won't improve. You say you don't expect them to be as good as the two teams you use as a "this proves it can happen" example. But then you keep going back to those teams when you argue it should happen when the comparisons aren't close. There isn't a single person in this team that has shown they can play defense as well as your sixth man in '13. Not a single one. So to use them as a comparison is silly. Every starter would have to significantly improve to have it even come close to the top 3 finish you expect.
I don't think defense is the only part of basketball. I do realize that it is an equal part and without it, you won't beat good teams. Watch Cincy in their game against UK again and tell me about how average they were. If that's was an average team last year, then Iu was well below average with a ton of stars on the roster.
I expect Iu to finish somewhere on the 4th to 7th range. MSU, Maryland, Purdue in the top teir with a two losses separating 1st from 3rd. Second teir of IU, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio State with 3 to 5 losses separating them from 1st.
The rest I don't care about.
You aren't up there with MSU/UMd.
You guys are expecting too much from your pg. If he is your starting pg you will go into the season with the worst pg in the conference. Maybe he will do better against the B1G than he did against low D1 teams but counting on it is foolhardy.
There isn't a chance in hell Purdue should be mentioned in the same sentence as Maryland or MSU for that matter. Purdue is at best a second tier team along with IU, OSU, Wisky and UM. Nothing you guys did last year would lead any normal person to think you're on the same level as Maryland or MSU. Hell, look at any early season rankings. They pretty much outline exactly what I've just laid out. I literally laughed at your post. There isn't one rational thought in it. Thanks for the entertainment.
lol. Okay. I'm not sure we're talking about the same coach but you can go with that. This IS the same coach that was changing from zone to man and vice versa during the same possession last year........I guess that's his way of making it better. I've brought that issue up in other threads and you've ignored it.
Tom's "deflection" defense depends on having great athletes imo. It worked with Victor and CZ. I think you still have enough athleticism but no one is pushing these guys.
You keep bringing up adjusted defense. I understand what the stat is but it doesn't reflect how the players actually play defense imo. Stop penetration, rotate and help, and play defense with your feet and not your hands and IU might not have to outscore all it's opponents.
I'm guessing you said (or would have said) the same thing last year. We finished 3rd in the B1G. This year we added the same sort of pg PLUS a 5* player. Luckily our offense isn't pg dependent. Its going to be a fun year!
No Octeus was a much more proven commodity. If you had Octeus this year I would put PU up with MSU/UMd...but the guy you got wasn't all that good in a weak conference
Again, it was our biggest issue last year largely due to no defense inside. That being said, you don't just ignore your weaknesses. I don't like Crean more than anyone else and I think he should be gone, but he's not an idiot. He's won in the league. He's had solid defensive teams in the B10. I just think the addition of Bryant and all our guys returning will be reasons our defense will improve. Plus Troy and JBj have told they need to improve their defense if they want to get drafted. I believe that's going to be a focus. Like I said, last years team defense was the worst Crean has had. It's going to be much better next year.
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