Should be a good matchup
- Thread starter IUNorth
- Start date
I actually like the draw. It’s an opportunity to really sneak up on people.
Obviously could lose that first game. St Marys will be a difficult game. They beat Gonzaga and then played them tough in their Conf tourney. But, agree overall, if we play well we should win the first two games.
UCLA is not a good matchup, at all, though.
St.Marys would be a toss up ..imo..
Well need a A game to get past them..
Shit..The Cowboys no slouch..
One at a time..
Well need a A game to get past them..
Shit..The Cowboys no slouch..
One at a time..
I watched UCLA this season and they can get to the Final 4. IF we get to play them it would take a great game to beat them.
Second game was never going to be easy for us. Hopefully UCLA looks past us, if we get there.
They have a big that could get physical with TJD. But I think TJD should be too quick in the post. A guard who hits 3's at a good clip and another that is not too bad. Not sure if the have faced a D like ours though.
It's not so much the snub that bothers me it's the three games in 5 days with a couple of thousand miles travel between games one and two. Then you probably get UCLA in Portland where they have been practicing and resting for three or four days.
Yes, the higher seeds have an easier path. Always been the case. We needed to play better earlier.
How many of those mid season losses were without Phineese or Galloway, or both. Injuries are supposed to matter to the committee.
They like to run offense through a big guard (Maldonado). He looks 6’5”, but they list him 6’7”. They get him the ball on the wing and then he crab dribbles down for a shot or a pass. Who guards him? I don’t want X on him due to early foul potential. Probably Stewart, maybe Kopp. He isn’t quick. Just clever with a good post game. Need some size on him.
I see DuSell and Jeffries are almost exclusively 3 point shooters. So probably put Kopp or Stewart on Maldonado at first and see if they can contain him. Then X or RP can guard him if the first 2 are ineffective or foul too much.
Seems like they take quite a few 3's, so we'll have to be careful not to help too much and stay with those shooters, unless it Race helping.
On O, I suspect we will go to TJD early and often to draw fouls on Ike. Should be quicker than him. And Race is bigger and stronger than Oden, but he may have length I am unaware of.
And if you guys play better and adjust to tougher officiating, you might as well.
Snub...Wow i wonder how this board would be if we didn't make it. It was getting damn close and then we got in. I knew we were on the bubble, but crap I don't consider where they put us a snub. We had opportunities to get it done in the last couple weeks and didn't. IDK what fire Woody lit, but I hope we keep this kind of attitude and momentum.
The Iowa shot was pure crap. A throw up banker? I thought we looked a little tired at the end of that game and understandable, but to come back and tie the game showed a ton of heart.
I'll take good seasons and great tourney play any day. Woody surprised me this past week. If he can coach like that in tourney play I'm damn excited for the future of IU B-ball.
I’m not intimidated by any PAC-12 team. Ever. I’m just not. If we get there, I think we’ll have a legitimate shot to win. Which is not to say it will be easy, just not unrealistic.
Wyoming sounds like they are like the New Mexico State team IU played in the 2012 Ncaa Tournament (Wendell McKines,etc). Hopefully same outcome.
Wy is huge. Guards 6’5” and 6’7”.
Their big forward has height and weight.
A 7 footer on the bench.
Hope we do not look past them.
Their big forward has height and weight.
A 7 footer on the bench.
Hope we do not look past them.
I think we should start Race on Maldonado. XJ and Parker get the two shooters and Kopp gets the 6'8" twig.
Looking at stats, Jeffries is a lot like Stefanovic. Both average about 10 ppg, but Jeffries took more 3s and hit at a higher clip (42%).
I can see Trey on Maldonado getting a couple of steals. Trey seems stronger and quicker.
I'm hoping for a run similar to Syracuse; 2018 or 2019 when they were the last team in, moved on to upset Mich State and make a nice run. That would be a fantastic result for this season. Losing a play-in game to Wyoming on the other hand . . . NOOOOOOOO.
UCLA (last year) and VCU (2011) have both made the F4 from this spot and believe at least one winner of the two at-large play-in games have reached the 2R in 9/10 last tournaments.
I don't like asking Race to do something he doesn't do regularly, or particularly well imo: guard someone comfortable on the perimeter. Someone suggested putting Kopp or Stewart on him, and I like that. Even X and Rob, will and should get their turn. It may seem a mismatch because of the guy's size, but someone who's tough and physical, can still make it hard on him. I know with the regular group of guys I used to play with, the guy I hated guarding me the most was a guy who was about 5'9" and a ballhandler where I'm 6'3" and play more inside. But he was tough and physical and quicker than most guys I played. Just because someone's smaller doesn't mean they can't be effective guarding a bigger guy and we should give our starters the opportunity to step up before we start getting carried away with switches and putting guys in unfamiliar roles, like Race guarding a guard.
Not sure Kopp or Stewart can handle Maldonado's physicality. Maldonado is a perimeter oriented player who takes a lot of 3's but doesn't shoot it at a very good clip. Game similar to Ron Harper Jr but doesn't shoot it from deep nearly as well.
I think Kopp is OK on D and pretty strong, but his kryptonite on D is quickness and it doesn't sound like Maldonado is overly quick. I thought we'd be better off putting Kopp on RHJ too though. I'm basing my assessment of Maldonado entirely off hearing the guys on Assembly Call talk about him as I've not seen WY at all this year, but I still think we're better off with someone who feels more comfortable on the perimeter guarding him than Race. Kopp would be my first choice, if not just asking XJ to step up and meet the challenge, which I like too! If you put Race on him, you're also taking him away more potentially as a help defender and I also like having him there, again, because it's a role he's more familiar with.
I would normally agree, but Maldonado is not a typical PG. They bring the ball down, and their offense usually starts with a Maldonado post up. He either takes a post shot, or kicks out to a shooter. He isn't generally running high PnR, taking his man off the dribble, or shooting 3s.
I say Kopp. Underrated defender and matches his size. Thompson isn’t great out on the floor.
Although, I think X's speed could give Maldonado fits by preventing him from even getting into post position and keep him on the perimeter
It’s not just X’s speed, it’s the ability to stop and go. He’s got some jitterbug in him.
It's one of the reasons I love basketball, because players of all sizes and shapes can be successful in so many roles. One of the better "post up" point guards I remember was little Mark Jackson, but he was usually really good if he could get his guy on the block. You won't hardly ever see a high level D1 or NFL team with anything other than the prototype player usually, especially on the line or linebackers, but I bet there are tourney teams with 5'5" and 6'7" PGs.
The major problem with X checking Maldonado is that the kid has the ball in his hands all the time and draws tons of fouls. The way we lose a game that we shouldn't is getting X into foul trouble and having him play tea party with the bench mob.
Galloway would seem to be a good matchup on Maldonado, I think. Just guessing, but Kopp on Jefferies, X on Dusell, Race on Oden and Trayce on Ike all seem logical if you want to start the game with X off of Maldonado.
Though one nice thing is that if X gets called for a quick foul on Maldonado, you could bump him over to Dusell where X would be fairly safe on defense and at a significantly lower rate of picking up a 2nd foul
I am concerned about how the officiating may go....The B1G was a very physical tournament this year...so many no calls where fouls were happening...in so many games. I don't expect the no-calls to flow quite that way against a west coast team like Wyoming....who will likely finesse plenty. IU has got to respect the ref's when they dictate the fault lines. Getting into foul trouble would not be helpful.
Agreed. There’s also been a lot of extracurricular stuff going on throughout the conference. We need to be careful, would hate to see anyone Td up.
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