Here's what we need in the portal

[Coach Geez]

I still like having a big on the roster, but I've accepted this is how bball is played now. The difference in them and us is they all have guys who can consistently seek and knock down the 3. That's the big missing ingredient for us in playing "modern" ball, and it has to be addressed. Frankly, I don't think we have so far with our additions, so we better have some guys living in the gym. Don't see a knock down guy in the bunch, but we need several guys to make a jump in their 3 pt shooting %.

Texas Tech and Houston shot no better from 3 than Indiana did this year. But both those teams play elite defense (IU wasn't quite there but at times on the cusp) and have superb athletes on the wing who can score in a variety of ways. Having a dynamic guard (or two) in the lineup, will free up a shooter. When you start guys like Kopp and Stewart who can't manufacture points, you run into offensive inefficiency like we saw last year. Houston's best offense came off offensive rebounding. They were absolutely relentless on the glass and scored a ton off second chances.

 

[IUNorth]

I still like having a big on the roster, but I've accepted this is how bball is played now. The difference in them and us is they all have guys who can consistently seek and knock down the 3. That's the big missing ingredient for us in playing "modern" ball, and it has to be addressed. Frankly, I don't think we have so far with our additions, so we better have some guys living in the gym. Don't see a knock down guy in the bunch, but we need several guys to make a jump in their 3 pt shooting %.

Making 3's is important, for sure. But when you start looking at some of these teams I'm referencing, a lot of them aren't much better than we were, if at all better, from the 3. Most of them just create, and take, more 3s than we did.

 

[.Gerdis]

Making 3's is important, for sure. But when you start looking at some of these teams I'm referencing, a lot of them aren't much better than we were, if at all better, from the 3. Most of them just create, and take, more 3s than we did.

If we improve on our offensive rebounding, and there is no reason we shouldn’t, that can help generate some of those second chance 3s. Those are very demoralizing shots for a defense to give up.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

It’s easy to get down into the weeds and wonder about a percentage here, or a half a percentage there.

in the end, and you mention this above when speaking about the D, you have to finish.

IU’s biggest problem last year was that we were a team that had a thin margin of error that wasn’t good at closing games, Closing games can come down to luck, but it is a skill in that it is a learned response. In other words, you can find ways to lose, or find ways to win, and you can learn to be a team that does one or the other.

We lost a bunch of close games, and there are many ways that a team can find a way to lose. A missed defensive assignment here, a turnover there, a missed free throw there. It may be tired legs as you say, it could be mental fatigue, it could be personality (mental toughness, confidence, etc)

Many of our late problems were mistakes. A turnover, a missed switch, etc. but some are missed plays that can be made (look at how a Johnny Davis pulled Ws out of the hat for the Badgers). For example, I would be happy if we shot the same percentage from three this year, if I knew we were hitting daggers late.

In a nutshell:

clean up the late mistakes. Add a playmaker. Excel on the mental side of the game.

we do these three things and we’ll be better than fine.

All those easy missed buckets.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

Making 3's is important, for sure. But when you start looking at some of these teams I'm referencing, a lot of them aren't much better than we were, if at all better, from the 3. Most of them just create, and take, more 3s than we did.

Kansas for instance was 7 of 17 on average.

 

[.Gerdis]

All those easy missed buckets.

No doubt, missed bunnies, missed free throws.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

No doubt, missed bunnies, missed free throws.

If you do the math on those. Our stats would mirror Kansas. 7 of 17 on 3’s. We averaged a little over 6. They hit free throws and bunnies.

 

[.Gerdis]

If you do the math on those. Our stats would mirror Kansas. 7 of 17 on 3’s. We averaged a little over 6. They hit free throws and bunnies.

If we are going to miss bunnies, we need to be like MSU on the offensive glass. Trace with 2.2 ORB/game?