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Conference predictions out.

dbmhoosier

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Nov 23, 2005
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Seems accurate with Woody being our coach but probably a few spots too high. I think we finish 4-5. But easily the most talented roster.

 
Personally I think we should be competitive for the conference. Doesn’t mean we win it, but we should be in the mix late in the season. Don’t want it to be early February and we have no chance.
This is where I'm at. Within a game or two well in to February. AND with the team on an upward trajectory heading in to March.

Another factor though...what's the rest of the conference look like? If we finish 3rd, are a game or two out...that sounds nice...but what if that's 12-8, winners at 14-6. And we get a 5-6 seed? Not nearly as good...

In general though, top 2-3...Top 4 seed in NCAAs...Sweet 16 or better... And just an overall improvement in consistency. That'd be a season to give some optimism for a Woodson program going forward.
 
so they pick PU to win, but with only one 1st teamer and two at the bottom of the also-mentioned list?
They are placing a lot of Smith's shoulders this year.
Purdue is impossible to predict this year. Basically no way to know how they'll play without Edey.

Smith and Loyer have looked VERY average when good teams chose not to double Edey, and guard them more straight up. But in their defense, pretty much everything that Purdue ran the last couple years had the intention of getting Edey the ball on the block.

Smith will figure it out, I'm sure. Loyer, not so sure. And then guys like Colvin and Heide, who are essential to their success... relying on them to step up and become top of the conference starter level players...kinda like IU relying on guys like Bates and Gunn. Painter probably is more likely to make it happen for them. But they've got quite a lot of question marks.
 
so they pick PU to win, but with only one 1st teamer and two at the bottom of the also-mentioned list?
They are placing a lot of Smith's shoulders this year.
Yeah, I just don't see it for PU. I think they'll be good, but Smith, Loyer and TKR are all gonna find it tougher sledding as defenses can focus on them and not have to cheat in on Edey. I think Smith will score more, but have more TOs and lower shooting %. Greg from Sleepers predicted IU and PU would have a similar conference record but predicted IU to sweep PU and win by that margin (he also predicted we'd win the league by 3 games, so that doesn't quite jive, but clearly thinks we have the best roster). Personally, I'm really looking forward to our guards vs Smith and Loyer and on their posts trying to stop Ballo and Reanu. I like the sweep prediction.

I like for us to have expectations and we should be pushing to win the conference.

PS, I thought Bozich predicted us 4th a couple months ago?
 
Yeah, I just don't see it for PU. I think they'll be good, but Smith, Loyer and TKR are all gonna find it tougher sledding as defenses can focus on them and not have to cheat in on Edey. I think Smith will score more, but have more TOs and lower shooting %. Greg from Sleepers predicted IU and PU would have a similar conference record but predicted IU to sweep PU and win by that margin (he also predicted we'd win the league by 3 games, so that doesn't quite jive, but clearly thinks we have the best roster). Personally, I'm really looking forward to our guards vs Smith and Loyer and on their posts trying to stop Ballo and Reanu. I like the sweep prediction.

I like for us to have expectations and we should be pushing to win the conference.

PS, I thought Bozich predicted us 4th a couple months ago?
Rick Bozich?
 
At this point all I can do is go by past data and tendencies, so I say...

4th. 13-7.

That would give them their best conference record in 9 years and also put them about 2 spots below predictions, because I haven't seen any evidence that Woodson is in a hurry to win games.

Most years, either a transfer or an upper classman emerges from 1-4 teams to make the all-big ten teams fairly obvious.

I doubt Braden Smith will end up POY. The only chance he has is if he is the best player on the best team, and I don't think he will be.

Ballo was impressive with shooters around him at AZ. I don't know if that transfers here like Marco Killingsworth. Maybe.

I do like the guard and wing depth finally.

But Indiana is in trouble if either Ballo or Reneau goes down because guarding bigs in the B1G is not trivial. I expect Mgbako to be stronger in post defense this year, but it takes time.

Every year there are a few individual surprises. The Domask kind of guys that just show out all of a sudden. Happens every year. And most of the time freshmen are not quite consistent enough to be 1st or 2nd team. Some do. Not alot.
 
This is where I'm at. Within a game or two well in to February. AND with the team on an upward trajectory heading in to March.

Another factor though...what's the rest of the conference look like? If we finish 3rd, are a game or two out...that sounds nice...but what if that's 12-8, winners at 14-6. And we get a 5-6 seed? Not nearly as good...

In general though, top 2-3...Top 4 seed in NCAAs...Sweet 16 or better... And just an overall improvement in consistency. That'd be a season to give some optimism for a Woodson program going forward.
The regular season already meant way less with the unbalanced schedule... and then we added 4 teams. Hate it, because the conference title was everything when each team played the others twice, but at this point the conference tournament champion is the champion in my mind. Akin to class basketball in IN. Yuck.
 
Yeah, I just don't see it for PU. I think they'll be good, but Smith, Loyer and TKR are all gonna find it tougher sledding as defenses can focus on them and not have to cheat in on Edey. I think Smith will score more, but have more TOs and lower shooting %. Greg from Sleepers predicted IU and PU would have a similar conference record but predicted IU to sweep PU and win by that margin (he also predicted we'd win the league by 3 games, so that doesn't quite jive, but clearly thinks we have the best roster). Personally, I'm really looking forward to our guards vs Smith and Loyer and on their posts trying to stop Ballo and Reanu. I like the sweep prediction.

I like for us to have expectations and we should be pushing to win the conference.

PS, I thought Bozich predicted us 4th a couple months ago?
Purdue still has a lot of shooters, IU only a few! Purdue will be better prepared for BT play because of their non-conf schedule is one of the best again in the country! IU non-conf is ????, lets just say the National TV won't be lining up for those telecasts! IU does have an easy road in the B10 compared to Purdue! I really like Illinois and Michigan. their squad make-up is really good. IU's front court depth is a big question mark, that and the ability to make the 3!
 
Purdue still has a lot of shooters, IU only a few! Purdue will be better prepared for BT play because of their non-conf schedule is one of the best again in the country! IU non-conf is ????, lets just say the National TV won't be lining up for those telecasts! IU does have an easy road in the B10 compared to Purdue! I really like Illinois and Michigan. their squad make-up is really good. IU's front court depth is a big question mark, that and the ability to make the 3!
so basically your posting could be reduced to PU good, IU bad.... got it!

You do have good shooters, but guess what: shooting is a lot harder when you can be defended and don't have 2 perimeter guys cheating in to deal with a behemoth NPOY. That's how UConn beat you: they didn't cheat down, played Edey 1 on 1 and (finally!) defended everyone else. How'd your good shooters do in that game? Now, they won't be defended by UConn level defenders all year, but they will be defended and they won't get nearly as many open shots. If your 3 pt shooting, with largely the same shooters, doesn't drop, I'll think Painter is an even better coach than I already do. It's the same reasoning as why I predicted Galloway's 3 pt shooting would drop last year and he went from like 45 to 25%.
 
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so basically your posting could be reduced to PU good, IU bad.... got it!

You do have good shooters, but guess what: shooting is a lot harder when you can be defended and don't have 2 perimeter guys cheating in to deal with a behemoth NPOY. That's how UConn beat you: they didn't cheat down, played Edey 1 on 1 and (finally!) defended everyone else. How'd your good shooters do in that game? Now, they won't be defended by UConn level defenders all year, but they will be defended and it they won't get nearly as many open shots. If your 3 pt shooting, with largely the same shooters, doesn't drop, I'll think Painter is an even better coach than I already do. It's the same reasoning as why I predicted Galloway's 3 pt shooting would drop last year and he went from like 45 to 25%.
"I predicted Galloway's 3 pt shooting would drop last year and he went from like 45 to 25%."

plz predict his shooting % will go back to 45% this season!
 
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so basically your posting could be reduced to PU good, IU bad.... got it!

You do have good shooters, but guess what: shooting is a lot harder when you can be defended and don't have 2 perimeter guys cheating in to deal with a behemoth NPOY. That's how UConn beat you: they didn't cheat down, played Edey 1 on 1 and (finally!) defended everyone else. How'd your good shooters do in that game? Now, they won't be defended by UConn level defenders all year, but they will be defended and it they won't get nearly as many open shots. If your 3 pt shooting, with largely the same shooters, doesn't drop, I'll think Painter is an even better coach than I already do. It's the same reasoning as why I predicted Galloway's 3 pt shooting would drop last year and he went from like 45 to 25%.
I did not say IU was bad! Purdue still has a 7-2 and a 7-4 guy, so maybe we should wait and see how they play. UCONN had 3 pros on their team, does anyone in the BT have more than 1? You must of not had watched Smith when he played at Illinois against their 6-6 Pro guard and 6-7 Pg? He was special! Purdue has history on their side, recent history, not decades ago history. Purdue has averaged over 30-6 over the last few years. Of the last 11 losses in the last two years only 2 losses were double digit! IU with 3 pros the last couple years has had over 20 double digit losses and almost half of them were over 20! Smith is getting his accolades because he WINS! Purdue ran away with B10 the last two years! Purdue has 3 starters back from a F4 team, IU has 2 starters back! Woody, is he up to it? I think IU's weak non-conf scheduling says they have doubts!
 
I did not say IU was bad! Purdue still has a 7-2 and a 7-4 guy, so maybe we should wait and see how they play. UCONN had 3 pros on their team, does anyone in the BT have more than 1? You must of not had watched Smith when he played at Illinois against their 6-6 Pro guard and 6-7 Pg? He was special! Purdue has history on their side, recent history, not decades ago history. Purdue has averaged over 30-6 over the last few years. Of the last 11 losses in the last two years only 2 losses were double digit! IU with 3 pros the last couple years has had over 20 double digit losses and almost half of them were over 20! Smith is getting is accolades because he WINS! Purdue ran away with B10 the last two years! Purdue has 3 starters back from a F4 team, IU has 2 starters back! Woody, is he up to it? I think IU's weak non-conf scheduling says they have doubts!
Your posts say you have doubts.
 
That would give them their best conference record in 9 years and also put them about 2 spots below predictions, because I haven't seen any evidence that Woodson is in a hurry to win games.
"I haven't seen any evidence that Woodson is in a hurry to win games"

Lol. Might be the dumbest post on this board. The $6million portal haul wasn't a clue? Good grief.
 
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"I predicted Galloway's 3 pt shooting would drop last year and he went from like 45 to 25%."

plz predict his shooting % will go back to 45% this season!
wish I could. I've said it before and will again: I'll never buy a guy as a great knock-down 3 pt shooter who doesn't also shoot 80% or better on FTs. 2 years ago Trey didn't take a lot of 3s, and wasn't really guarded from 3 as teams rightfully defended TJD and worried about Kopp from 3, and he got on a heater and made a few more 3s and it jumped his % way up, but he was never a knock down guy in my book. I think Galloway will rebound this year, but don't look for him to get much above 33%, but I also think Rice, Carlyle and Mbako will all improve on 3s as our opponents will have to cheat on Reanu and Ballo, and we could be a pretty decent 3 pt team and efficient overall. I think the whole key is moving the ball and taking good shots... and defending! If we do those things, I think this team could go far!
 
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I did not say IU was bad! Purdue still has a 7-2 and a 7-4 guy, so maybe we should wait and see how they play. UCONN had 3 pros on their team, does anyone in the BT have more than 1? You must of not had watched Smith when he played at Illinois against their 6-6 Pro guard and 6-7 Pg? He was special! Purdue has history on their side, recent history, not decades ago history. Purdue has averaged over 30-6 over the last few years. Of the last 11 losses in the last two years only 2 losses were double digit! IU with 3 pros the last couple years has had over 20 double digit losses and almost half of them were over 20! Smith is getting his accolades because he WINS! Purdue ran away with B10 the last two years! Purdue has 3 starters back from a F4 team, IU has 2 starters back! Woody, is he up to it? I think IU's weak non-conf scheduling says they have doubts!
Only history Purdue has is O-fer. You can keep your history on your board until you win it all. Go IU!!
 
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I did not say IU was bad! Purdue still has a 7-2 and a 7-4 guy, so maybe we should wait and see how they play. UCONN had 3 pros on their team, does anyone in the BT have more than 1? You must of not had watched Smith when he played at Illinois against their 6-6 Pro guard and 6-7 Pg? He was special! Purdue has history on their side, recent history, not decades ago history. Purdue has averaged over 30-6 over the last few years. Of the last 11 losses in the last two years only 2 losses were double digit! IU with 3 pros the last couple years has had over 20 double digit losses and almost half of them were over 20! Smith is getting his accolades because he WINS! Purdue ran away with B10 the last two years! Purdue has 3 starters back from a F4 team, IU has 2 starters back! Woody, is he up to it? I think IU's weak non-conf scheduling says they have doubts!
Smith is great, I wanted him at IU, but he's also who he is: 6' guard who's heady and shifty but not overly quick or long. I'm not going back and checking stats, but I believe he's struggled in 3 of his 4 games against IU, but was really good in that other 1 versus us. But, this year he'll be the focal point of your opponents D, so life and shots will get much tougher. I think he'll have a good year and look for his scoring to go up a tick as he gets some of the shots Edey took last year, but also look for his overall shooting %, 3 pt % and A/TO to all drop a bit because he's going to be the focal point of the D. You guys rightfully loved Edey, but I think you're underestimating just how big a factor he was in getting good shots for the rest of your team.
 
Smith is great, I wanted him at IU, but he's also who he is: 6' guard who's heady and shifty but not overly quick or long. I'm not going back and checking stats, but I believe he's struggled in 3 of his 4 games against IU, but was really good in that other 1 versus us. But, this year he'll be the focal point of your opponents D, so life and shots will get much tougher. I think he'll have a good year and look for his scoring to go up a tick as he gets some of the shots Edey took last year, but also look for his overall shooting %, 3 pt % and A/TO to all drop a bit because he's going to be the focal point of the D. You guys rightfully loved Edey, but I think you're underestimating just how big a factor he was in getting good shots for the rest of your team.
That guy you are replying to thinks those trees are as good as Edey. Ones a lumbering lumberjack and the other is a freshman. Nobody is doubling those two. Plus I bet they go small this year in the post.
 
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That guy you are replying to thinks those trees are as good as Edey. Ones a lumbering lumberjack and the other is a freshman. Nobody is doubling those two. Plus I bet they go small this year in the post.
Yep, if Berg could play at all, he would have gotten some minutes spelling Edey, just as Edey did spelling the big guy before him... Williams? I think the freshman will jump him, but still a freshman. I look forward to him trying to guard Ballo on the block!
 
Purdue still has a lot of shooters, IU only a few! Purdue will be better prepared for BT play because of their non-conf schedule is one of the best again in the country! IU non-conf is ????, lets just say the National TV won't be lining up for those telecasts! IU does have an easy road in the B10 compared to Purdue! I really like Illinois and Michigan. their squad make-up is really good. IU's front court depth is a big question mark, that and the ability to make the 3!
That’s a lot of exclamation ❗️ points
 
IU has 2 starters back
Ummm, help me out here, I am an IU grad: Mgbako + Reanu + Galloway = 3 starters, no? Oh yeah, we also have Ballo, Carlyle, and Rice who were starters on their P5 teams in the Pac 12, not to mention Goode and Hatton who played significant minutes for their schools. There are questions for one of our teams' front courts, but it's not IUs.
 
Smith is great, I wanted him at IU, but he's also who he is: 6' guard who's heady and shifty but not overly quick or long. I'm not going back and checking stats, but I believe he's struggled in 3 of his 4 games against IU, but was really good in that other 1 versus us. But, this year he'll be the focal point of your opponents D, so life and shots will get much tougher. I think he'll have a good year and look for his scoring to go up a tick as he gets some of the shots Edey took last year, but also look for his overall shooting %, 3 pt % and A/TO to all drop a bit because he's going to be the focal point of the D. You guys rightfully loved Edey, but I think you're underestimating just how big a factor he was in getting good shots for the rest of your team.
NO doubt Purdue is going to play different, more like Nebraska than anything. Edey was great, but Purdue had to slow it down some with him. Their new bigs are more mobile than Edey. I really think Smith will score less but will have more assists w/mpre weapons from deep. Probably 8 players flirting with shooting over 40% from 3. Two athletes in Heide and Colvin will open it up more. How did IU handle Nebraska last year? Purdue is going to have fun again this year!
 
NO doubt Purdue is going to play different, more like Nebraska than anything. Edey was great, but Purdue had to slow it down some with him. Their new bigs are more mobile than Edey. I really think Smith will score less but will have more assists w/mpre weapons from deep. Probably 8 players flirting with shooting over 40% from 3. Two athletes in Heide and Colvin will open it up more. How did IU handle Nebraska last year? Purdue is going to have fun again this year!
8 players shooting 40% from 3? I'll put money on that right here and now.


Edit- HEY Cav...you might want to get in on some of this action. As you know, I'm not a gambler, but I like the odds.
 
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Painter has been very good for a decade. Purdue will probably be in the top-4 this year and in the mix. 2025 they will probably slide down more unless they improve recruiting.
 
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This article breaks down why Purdue will struggle. Their guards will be guarded like this by superior perimeter personnel. Who cares about their post players. They will be guarded straight up this year.

More teams guarded them straight up than just UConn last year. UConn just had a much superior team. And that UConn team would likely be just as superior to most teams this year. I can’t read the article, but the title acts like UConn had some defensive strategy Purdue hadn’t seen. No, they just had to e players to execute it.
 
More teams guarded them straight up than just UConn last year. UConn just had a much superior team. And that UConn team would likely be just as superior to most teams this year. I can’t read the article, but the title acts like UConn had some defensive strategy Purdue hadn’t seen. No, they just had to e players to execute it.
Yeah…it was guarding lurch one on one and hedging the point guard, ball handler. Name a game that Edey wasn’t doubled or digged down on. There wasn’t one.
 
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