Interesting about Cupps.......

[Tscurlo]

at 13:03 in the first half..... OSU took the ball out of bounds after our made shot.... and Cupps had his eyes glued on the OSU coach, while he (Cupps) was backing down the court.

As soon as he saw the OSU coaches play call.... he turned towards our bench and our team and held up some fingers as he was running back to set up for defense.

Hmmmm...... a little bit of game film study and recognition.... possibly?

Cupps.... a COACHES KID.... he's got that coaching mentality/knowledge in his head.

 

[Ty Webb iu]

at 13:03 in the first half..... OSU took the ball out of bounds after our made shot.... and Cupps had his eyes glued on the OSU coach, while he (Cupps) was backing down the court.

As soon as he saw the OSU coaches play call.... he turned towards our bench and our team and held up some fingers as he was running back to set up for defense.

Hmmmm...... a little bit of game film study and recognition.... possibly?

Cupps.... a COACHES KID.... he's got that coaching mentality/knowledge in his head.

Anybody that has written Cupps off as a starter at IU is nuts. He is more than solid defensively and once he gains confidence on the offensive end; he will be a very good all-around starting point guard in the BIG.

The kid is a winner.

 

[IUNorth]

Anybody that has written Cupps off as a starter at IU is nuts. He is more than solid defensively and once he gains confidence on the offensive end; he will be a very good all-around starting point guard in the BIG.

The kid is a winner.

Cupps is fine. He just needs to be surrounded by better players, and play in a system that uses all the players better. That will amplify how good and productive he can be. He'll never be a guy that goes and gets you 20 and 8 by himself. But he'll do things like the OP mentioned, he'll lock up opposing ball handlers defensively, he'll effectively run a good offense.

Give Cupps a couple really good portal guards/perimeter players to play with, McNeeley and Reneau, and everyone's view of him will radically change, I'm sure.

 

[VanPastorMan]

Cupps is fine. He just needs to be surrounded by better players, and play in a system that uses all the players better. That will amplify how good and productive he can be. He'll never be a guy that goes and gets you 20 and 8 by himself. But he'll do things like the OP mentioned, he'll lock up opposing ball handlers defensively, he'll effectively run a good offense.

Give Cupps a couple really good portal guards/perimeter players to play with, McNeeley and Reneau, and everyone's view of him will radically change, I'm sure.

I love him but he has to fix that shot. When he jumps on his shot he almost always drifts to one side.

 

[IUNorth]

I love him but he has to fix that shot. When he jumps on his shot he almost always drifts to one side.

He's made some big shots. Definitely needs to improve his shot, overall. But we hopefully won't need Cupps taking 17 foot jump shots off the dribble, after this season. Hopefully he'll be surrounded by more capable shooters/scorers, and playing in a system where shooting 17 foot jump shots isn't a thing.

Hopefully he'll be running a good, wide open, movement based offense. Hopefully he'll have a couple really good scoring perimeter players to play with in that offense. And at that point, he'll just need to knock down open shots from the 3, and be opportunistic getting to the basket.

If Woodys the coach, hopefully he finally changes to allow for these things. If he's not, hopefully the new coach runs more modern perimeter oriented stuff. Gabe will benefit as much as anyone if so.

 

[Ty Webb iu]

Cupps is fine. He just needs to be surrounded by better players, and play in a system that uses all the players better. That will amplify how good and productive he can be. He'll never be a guy that goes and gets you 20 and 8 by himself. But he'll do things like the OP mentioned, he'll lock up opposing ball handlers defensively, he'll effectively run a good offense.

Give Cupps a couple really good portal guards/perimeter players to play with, McNeeley and Reneau, and everyone's view of him will radically change, I'm sure.

Not to mention he will grow into a great leader, imo.

 

[HoosierAlum07]

This offseason Cupps needs to grow a good 2-3 inches and gain about 10-15lbs of muscle to compete with B10 guards! He’s currently just too small to create his own shot against bigger/faster guards! I give him credit because he is a pass 1st shoot last player, but a full offseason of strength and conditioning could do wonders for him especially on the offensive end.

 

[bsmitty08]

Cupps is a solid 4 year role player. Nothing more but a guy programs need. Just need more talent at PG ahead of him

 

[MTBRider22]

Chris Reynolds....Tom Coverdale....Braden Smith....all say "Hello".

Look, I'm not saying Gabe is the next Braden Smith because they're both shorter white dudes...but to say Gabe is lacking in strength (one of the strongest guys on the team) or anything else is ridiculous. He's been thrown into a starting position on a team the lacks any sort of continuity or structure (sorry CMW, very easy to see this). Half the team doesn't know what the hell they're running on O and on D the other half acts like they've never played that end of the court in their life. Gabe is in the middle of this CF and trying to make it work all while looking like at least a mid-level B10 PG.

Chris Reynolds was a hell of a defender...however he sucked as a freshman all the way around, but was playing with a ton of other freshmen. Coverdale didn't see the light of day until RMK was gone. Braden has been paired with the best college player in the game for his two years AND is in a perfect system with possibly the best coach in the B10....and yet he's often still exposed.

Now if GC is playing like this his Junior year and has a coach that knows his arse from 3rd base, I'll agree. At this time though, anyone that gives up on this kid or pigeon holes him as nothing more than a back up PG in the B10 is off their rocker IMO.

 

[papawboog]

at 13:03 in the first half..... OSU took the ball out of bounds after our made shot.... and Cupps had his eyes glued on the OSU coach, while he (Cupps) was backing down the court.

As soon as he saw the OSU coaches play call.... he turned towards our bench and our team and held up some fingers as he was running back to set up for defense.

Hmmmm...... a little bit of game film study and recognition.... possibly?

Cupps.... a COACHES KID.... he's got that coaching mentality/knowledge in his head.

Oh no, the audacity!!! The NCAA will probably suspend him for one game for stealing signs LOL

 

[Stuffshot]

Anybody that has written Cupps off as a starter at IU is nuts. He is more than solid defensively and once he gains confidence on the offensive end; he will be a very good all-around starting point guard in the BIG.

The kid is a winner.

I agree, but he needs to become stronger. Is Cupps as strong as Yogi?

 

[hozo4ultimate]

I agree, but he needs to become stronger. Is Cupps as strong as Yogi?

Nope. Yogi took the ball on day one. Underrated Hoosier. I appreciate Cupps, he isn't Yogi.

 

[bkiefer7]

This offseason Cupps needs to grow a good 2-3 inches and gain about 10-15lbs of muscle to compete with B10 guards! He’s currently just too small to create his own shot against bigger/faster guards! I give him credit because he is a pass 1st shoot last player, but a full offseason of strength and conditioning could do wonders for him especially on the offensive end.

Do you really thing he’s going to grow 2-3” at 19 years old?

 

[Jssanto]

at 13:03 in the first half..... OSU took the ball out of bounds after our made shot.... and Cupps had his eyes glued on the OSU coach, while he (Cupps) was backing down the court.

As soon as he saw the OSU coaches play call.... he turned towards our bench and our team and held up some fingers as he was running back to set up for defense.

Hmmmm...... a little bit of game film study and recognition.... possibly?

Cupps.... a COACHES KID.... he's got that coaching mentality/knowledge in his head.

No idea if this is correct, but a nice observation.
I have no criticism of Cupps. He needs to get stronger and the minutes of this year will benefit next year.

 

[Thcgh]

He's made some big shots. Definitely needs to improve his shot, overall. But we hopefully won't need Cupps taking 17 foot jump shots off the dribble, after this season. Hopefully he'll be surrounded by more capable shooters/scorers, and playing in a system where shooting 17 foot jump shots isn't a thing.

Hopefully he'll be running a good, wide open, movement based offense. Hopefully he'll have a couple really good scoring perimeter players to play with in that offense. And at that point, he'll just need to knock down open shots from the 3, and be opportunistic getting to the basket.

If Woodys the coach, hopefully he finally changes to allow for these things. If he's not, hopefully the new coach runs more modern perimeter oriented stuff. Gabe will benefit as much as anyone if so.

If Woodson is fired what makes you think Cupps stays?

 

[IUbball_lifer]

Chris Reynolds....Tom Coverdale....Braden Smith....all say "Hello".

Look, I'm not saying Gabe is the next Braden Smith because they're both shorter white dudes...but to say Gabe is lacking in strength (one of the strongest guys on the team) or anything else is ridiculous. He's been thrown into a starting position on a team the lacks any sort of continuity or structure (sorry CMW, very easy to see this). Half the team doesn't know what the hell they're running on O and on D the other half acts like they've never played that end of the court in their life. Gabe is in the middle of this CF and trying to make it work all while looking like at least a mid-level B10 PG.

Chris Reynolds was a hell of a defender...however he sucked as a freshman all the way around, but was playing with a ton of other freshmen. Coverdale didn't see the light of day until RMK was gone. Braden has been paired with the best college player in the game for his two years AND is in a perfect system with possibly the best coach in the B10....and yet he's often still exposed.

Now if GC is playing like this his Junior year and has a coach that knows his arse from 3rd base, I'll agree. At this time though, anyone that gives up on this kid or pigeon holes him as nothing more than a back up PG in the B10 is off their rocker IMO.

I don’t peg him as a back up in the Big10. More like a possible starter in the MAC or MVC. We need to find a dynamic pg.

 

[ndhuntington]

I don't expect alot from him but I think he can be a ok backup. Needs alot of work on shot needs to get stronger and more confident.

 

[Ty Webb iu]

I agree, but he needs to become stronger. Is Cupps as strong as Yogi?

Nah, he's plenty strong. Set some kind of record on bench press reps preseason. He hasn't been bullied any more than any other guard on the team. I would like to see him correct the floating on his shot when he's on the move though.

 

[Tammany Hall]

I hoped Gabe would be better. Especially shooting — his form is inexplicable to me. I have no idea how much he will improve, but I’m pretty sure he is giving it 110%, so I really hope he figures things out, and I think he has earned some time to figure out the college game. He shouldn't be playing so much this season.

 

[Ty Webb iu]

I hoped Gabe would be better. Especially shooting — his form is inexplicable to me. I have no idea how much he will improve, but I’m pretty sure he is giving it 110%, so I really hope he figures things out, and I think he has earned some time to figure out the college game. He shouldn't be playing so much this season.

Agree. He shouldn't have had to play as much as he has this season. That's on Woodson. But he's been a plus defender and communicator out there while doing a decent job as a ball handler and running the offense. I believe his offense and shot will come around to the point he'll be better than average on that end as well. He's been solid for a true freshman PG, imo.

 

[Bucket Getter]

I agree, but he needs to become stronger. Is Cupps as strong as Yogi?

That picture of Yogi was probably his senior year. He was pretty skinny his first year or two.

 

[Brewskie]

Oh no, the audacity!!! The NCAA will probably suspend him for one game for stealing signs LOL

OSU-gate, put some trash cans on the bench and start banging them.

 

[ams66]

Nah, he's plenty strong. Set some kind of record on bench press reps preseason. He hasn't been bullied any more than any other guard on the team. I would like to see him correct the floating on his shot when he's on the move though.

The idea that 6'2" 175lb Cupps benches more than a guy like Sparks for example who is 8 inches taller and weighs 80lbs more is really astonishing. Some of the other guys need to step it up.

Cupps needs to add 20lbs though.

 

[Boilerball3]

Cupps is fine. He just needs to be surrounded by better players, and play in a system that uses all the players better. That will amplify how good and productive he can be. He'll never be a guy that goes and gets you 20 and 8 by himself. But he'll do things like the OP mentioned, he'll lock up opposing ball handlers defensively, he'll effectively run a good offense.

Give Cupps a couple really good portal guards/perimeter players to play with, McNeeley and Reneau, and everyone's view of him will radically change, I'm sure.

Cupps needs better players to play with?

Ware - 1st rounder
Reneau - Top 5 F/C in the big ten
Mgbako- 1st rounder
Galloway- one of the best roll players in the big ten

Maybe Cupps is the problem???

Cupps and Coach Woody...that's where the problems are

 

[jacksback]

Cupps is far too passive on the offensive end. It's all well and good to protect the ball and try to feed other guys but you become somewhat of a liability when you never ever look at the basket. If he was averaging 5-6 assists per game that would be one thing but he's basically invisible. Opposing Ds can and do ignore him.

 

[Ty Webb iu]

Cupps is far too passive on the offensive end. It's all well and good to protect the ball and try to feed other guys but you become somewhat of a liability when you never ever look at the basket. If he was averaging 5-6 assists per game that would be one thing but he's basically invisible. Opposing Ds can and do ignore him.

Yep, that's the offensive confidence part. Once he gains that, he'll be good.

 

[T.M.P.]

Cupps is far too passive on the offensive end. It's all well and good to protect the ball and try to feed other guys but you become somewhat of a liability when you never ever look at the basket. If he was averaging 5-6 assists per game that would be one thing but he's basically invisible. Opposing Ds can and do ignore him.

What's odd is the top 10 most efficient 3 man combinations in NCAA basketball includes the combination of Cupps Trey, and Malik. The combination of Cupps, Trey, Mack, Malik and Kel were top 3 to 9 top five man lineups for the last few weeks. They dropped out after OSU but most likely still top 20. Shows how much our bench and lineups that include the bench suck.

He might not do enough as far as putting up any stats, but somehow .. it works.

 

[Ty Webb iu]

What's odd is the top 10 most efficient 3 man combinations in NCAA basketball includes the combination of Cupps Trey, and Malik. The combination of Cupps, Trey, Mack, Malik and Kel were top 3 to 9 top five man lineups for the last few weeks. They dropped out after OSU but most likely still top 20. Shows how much our bench and lineups that include the bench suck.

He might not do enough as far as putting up any stats, but somehow .. it works.

Because Cupps is a plus defender and communicator out there. He also ALWAYS gives his all. Is there anyone else you can say that about on IU's team? Probably Leal, but we haven't seen a large enough sample size. Galloway is probably close, Reneau is getting better, Ware tries most of the time. But Cupps is always engaged.

 

[hookyIU1990]

Do you really thing he’s going to grow 2-3” at 19 years old?

It happens. I doubt it happens with Cupps, but it happens.

 

[kkott]

The idea that 6'2" 175lb Cupps benches more than a guy like Sparks for example who is 8 inches taller and weighs 80lbs more is really astonishing. Some of the other guys need to step it up.

Cupps needs to add 20lbs though.

he didn't. I think they divided it out by weight (maybe under 200lbs or 220?) or position. Sparks set a team record for his # of reps too, and the bigger guys used more weight too I believe.

 

[lxetvrts]

Galloway- one of the best roll players in the big ten

what’s a “roll player”?

 

[Jssanto]

I don't expect alot from him but I think he can be a ok backup. Needs alot of work on shot needs to get stronger and more confident.

I agree with your second sentence. But doesn’t that just describe a freshman?
Maybe he transfers, maybe he stays the same ability, but maybe he improves his 3 pt shot and gains 10-15 pounds of strength.

 

[ndhuntington]

Yes the freshman wall but I look at him and don't think he does anything well. I'm fine with him as a backup but just don't see him ever being a starter at Indiana or we're in trouble.

 

[Ty Webb iu]

I agree with your second sentence. But doesn’t that just describe a freshman?
Maybe he transfers, maybe he stays the same ability, but maybe he improves his 3 pt shot and gains 10-15 pounds of strength.

I don't think there's any way Cupps transfers. I'd put the odds at less than 5%. He's starting as a true freshman. He'll have every opportunity to earn the job next season. He's unlikely to have a better opportunity anywhere else.

 

[Boilerball3]

what’s a “roll player”?

A guy that plays a specific role, schematically. (Not that Wooden really has much of a game plan)

Should of put it “could be” one of the best role players in the big ten.

 

[13thman]

A guy that plays a specific role, schematically. (Not that Wooden really has much of a game plan)

Should of put it “could be” one of the best role players in the big ten.

Should of?

 

[rocketo]

at 13:03 in the first half..... OSU took the ball out of bounds after our made shot.... and Cupps had his eyes glued on the OSU coach, while he (Cupps) was backing down the court.

As soon as he saw the OSU coaches play call.... he turned towards our bench and our team and held up some fingers as he was running back to set up for defense.

Hmmmm...... a little bit of game film study and recognition.... possibly?

Cupps.... a COACHES KID.... he's got that coaching mentality/knowledge in his head.

He is a player that I have never had reason to question his effort. He is also a pretty smart player. But he has to get stronger and quicker to become a better defender, and he needs to REALLY work on his shot. If he can be a true danger to knock down threes, that will help him penetrate to make plays and prevent help from the inside.

He is a TF, so he will have the chance, but I wish he would speed it up.

 

[frikkenfrakken]

Cupps needs better players to play with?

Ware - 1st rounder
Reneau - Top 5 F/C in the big ten
Mgbako- 1st rounder
Galloway- one of the best roll players in the big ten

Maybe Cupps is the problem???

Cupps and Coach Woody...that's where the problems are

Mgbako isn't a first rounder. He's not even a second rounder. He will be in the D league or Europe if he goes pro.

 

[kkott]

Mgbako isn't a first rounder. He's not even a second rounder. He will be in the D league or Europe if he goes pro.

Wouldn't surprise me if someone gambled a 2nd rounder on him, but also wouldn't if he went undrafted. That sweet stroke will be appealing to teams, and someone might feel they can coach him up on D and play, and I'd guess someone can. But, I do think he'd benefit the most from coming back and really working on his handle, decision making, D and explosiveness. I think there's a lot of potential there.

 

[Jssanto]

Mgbako isn't a first rounder. He's not even a second rounder. He will be in the D league or Europe if he goes pro.

I think they can meet with NBA people who tell them their draft position. If he is not draftable, and he takes their advice, he will play another year. Here or somewhere else. Here he obviously starts so that is a plus for us