Best takeaway from Bahamas games

[IUNorth]

How we controlled both games from start to finish…and never really gave up any big runs.

I don’t think Woodson and his staff have had the time to completely change how our guys play defense…or how they play offense. We struggled shooting…familiar. We missed free throws in the second half…familiar. We were solid defensively…to be fair, also familiar.

But what we didn’t do, and I absolutely think Woodson and his staff are the reason for it, is go brain dead for long periods of time. When we needed a bucket, we got good looks. When we needed stops, we dug in.

If Archies teams had been able to right the ship…he’d have won 4-5 plus more games a year, and would still be here.

The defensive and offensive differences will become more evident when the season starts, after the staff has had a few more weeks to work with them. But the mood and game management appears to already be much better.

 

[Sobchak_Security]

Let’s also not discount the talent level of this team is much better than any group Archie had. To Coach Woodson and staff’s credit, they went and got some guys. They have some players to work with that are both seasoned and talented. Not to mention Xavier Johnson and Miller Koop seem to have added a leadership dimension that we have seemed to lack in recent years.

 

[ORG]

How we controlled both games from start to finish…and never really gave up any big runs.

I don’t think Woodson and his staff have had the time to completely change how our guys play defense…or how they play offense. We struggled shooting…familiar. We missed free throws in the second half…familiar. We were solid defensively…to be fair, also familiar.

But what we didn’t do, and I absolutely think Woodson and his staff are the reason for it, is go brain dead for long periods of time. When we needed a bucket, we got good looks. When we needed stops, we dug in.

If Archies teams had been able to right the ship…he’d have won 4-5 plus more games a year, and would still be here.

The defensive and offensive differences will become more evident when the season starts, after the staff has had a few more weeks to work with them. But the mood and game management appears to already be much better.

I feel the defense this weekend was already way better than it was the last few years . . . The pack-line never seemed to work on a consistent basis.

 

[T.M.P.]

I feel the defense this weekend was already way better than it was the last few years . . . The pack-line never seemed to work on a consistent basis.

We really didn't play true pack line the last two years, it was more of a hybrid where the wing would extend on certain players and sometimes both. If the wing is extended, it's not really a packline.

fwiw - whatever it was it worked when the players bought in, nothing works when you lose the team.

Miller's failings weren't x and o or ability related. They were failures in people skills. He lost the team and lost their buy in. Never had it the first year, lost it every year following.

The name of the defense had very little to do with it and is not the difference, The difference is the current players trust their coach and are listening to him. Hopefully that continues until April and onward.

 

[The Vid]

12 and then 5 turnovers committed
+3 and then +8 rebounding margin

27! and then 12 turnovers forced

A lot of Knight in those numbers. To get through the first two games with a new roster and only 17 total turnovers is incredibly encouraging.

One glaring deficiency is they need to be attempting more free throws. BC mega shot more both games. But, maybe Woodys offense scheme is predicated on more pace and space = less free throw attempts. I’m looking forward to watching games in November.

 

[BusdriverE]

Beat takeaway from the Bahamas? Cavanaugh has really stepped up his video game, came thru when network didn't and gave the rest of us a glimpse of the team

 

[BusdriverE]

*Cavanagh* my bad, autocorrect

 

[kkott]

How we controlled both games from start to finish…and never really gave up any big runs.

I don’t think Woodson and his staff have had the time to completely change how our guys play defense…or how they play offense. We struggled shooting…familiar. We missed free throws in the second half…familiar. We were solid defensively…to be fair, also familiar.

But what we didn’t do, and I absolutely think Woodson and his staff are the reason for it, is go brain dead for long periods of time. When we needed a bucket, we got good looks. When we needed stops, we dug in.

If Archies teams had been able to right the ship…he’d have won 4-5 plus more games a year, and would still be here.

The defensive and offensive differences will become more evident when the season starts, after the staff has had a few more weeks to work with them. But the mood and game management appears to already be much better.

For the games themselves, I agree, that resiliency to push through mistakes and tough patches is huge and often began the death spiral in games last year. But, I think the best takeway is that it happened and seemed to accomplish exactly what you'd want out of a trip like this: a positive step and reward from the hard work the last couple months. I think with a new scheme, staff and several new faces, the trip, games, extra practices and evaluation opps were invaluable. It also gave the new guys exposure to Hoosier Nation. I would think guys like XJ, Durr, Kopp, Stewart, and Bates have to be impressed and recognize that interest isn't there with every program.

 

[Chicago-bound Hoosier]

resiliency to push through mistakes and tough patches is huge and often began the death spiral in games last year.

that's a clear sign of a coach who has lost him team. Whether it's a 6 min span in a game where we couldn't score a single point, or a 6 week span of a season where we couldn't win a single game. CAM's teams never bought into his system and, for the most part, looked miserable on the court.

Hell we held Purdue to forty-some points and Edwards shot something like 4 for 28 in a game...and we managed to lose....at home. Then the next yr, we finally get RMK to make his long-awaited cameo, and then the team comes out of the tunnel and plays uninspired ball (again, against Purdue).

I saw none of that through Cav's camera this weekend. Baby step indeed but a good sign.

 

[Champs1976]

One positive might actually be the offense doing as well as it did in spite of Woody admitting that he has spent very little time coaching it or players practicing it. Woody has accomplished so much with the defense with his initial focus, imagine what he will be able to do when he focuses on offense! I disagree with the earlier statement that this defense was something seen before with Archie's teams - it wasn't in the sense that the oftentimes near total collapse of the defense in streaks (Rutgers dunkathon) wasn't seen in either of these two games. I think with focus, coaching and practice the offense will be smoother and more efficient when meaningful games start getting played.

 

[T.M.P.]

One positive might actually be the offense doing as well as it did in spite of Woody admitting that he has spent very little time coaching it or players practicing it. Woody has accomplished so much with the defense with his initial focus, imagine what he will be able to do when he focuses on offense! I disagree with the earlier statement that this defense was something seen before with Archie's teams - it wasn't in the sense that the oftentimes near total collapse of the defense in streaks (Rutgers dunkathon) wasn't seen in either of these two games. I think with focus, coaching and practice the offense will be smoother and more efficient when meaningful games start getting played.

You realize that Miller's defense while at IU was often in the top 5% to 10% nationally, right? It topped out at 10th last year just before he lost the team, again. It was in the 20's the year before and the 30's year before that. and again each year saw higher efficiencies earlier in the season, when te players were locked in, while dropping off late in each season as he lost the buy in.

Is this some kind of revisionist history based on bias where you try to rewrite what really happened by cherry picking one or two game examples while ignoring the greater body of work that disagrees with your POV....

If so, stop doing that. you're not fox news ..

 

[rikki-tikka-tava]

If so, stop doing that. you're not fox news ..

You don't know that. He might be, and they were plenty pissed at Justice Barrett's dismissal of the lawsuit against IU's vaccine policy...

 

[kkott]

Well, crap, we got this little taste of bball in August and now we're gonna be stuck in the doldrums for 3 months. i hope they'll be able to do Hoosier Hysteria this year, I would think the excitement would be big and will have a great crowd.