We got a contender
- Thread starter Cavanagh
- Start date
Tenn will be a great defensive team. They were flying around. Some killer big guards too.
I’d be shocked if they are not top ten in Kenpom on d at the end of the year.
Thanks for the reply. No doubt we have players to be maybe top ten good. The offensive scares me. Long stretches of lots of dribbling and no scoring. We can’t be great and have those 5-7 minutes scoring droughts in the game.
If Mullins watched this same offense in visits, no wonder he chose to go elsewhere.
Interesting game. Offense was a bit better, but I get the concerns, I have them. Defense was pretty good. Despite some of our struggles, we beat a good team on the road, and we have obvious upside with two key players getting back in the line-up, and Carlyle can do a lot more once he gets comfortable.
Overall... pretty encouraging for an early scrimmage. Rice was better than I expected and I had some high expectations. Wow.
Overall... pretty encouraging for an early scrimmage. Rice was better than I expected and I had some high expectations. Wow.
Agree on all. One minor quibble with Rice were the few times I thought he over dribbled. But overall he was great.
Reneau going to be solid this year. I wish he'd move the ball a little quicker at times. Sometimes it sticks too long.
And Tennessee shot very poorly from deep too. It kills me how fans see one game, an exhibition game no less, and they project out the entire year one facet of play from that one performance. Tennessee and IU will both have much better shooting performances going forward. Guaranteed. Or does that not fit into your agenda?
Over dribbling, and balls sticking too long, is a by product of most of the stuff Woodson runs offensively. I think Rice executed what we traditionally know of Woodson's offense, very well.
Agenda?? Or was that maybe a concern coming in with this roster and it shows it didn’t improve.
It didn't improve? Based on an October charity game? This is exactly what pushing an agenda means.
It literally improved, dramatically, within the game.
Carlyle I fear wont live up to alot of peoples hype as a 14ppg+ scorer. Atleast not this season.
I gave up wasting time on bsmitty. He's an obvious Purdoo fan. Every post he makes is tearing down IU or defending the Broilees. He makes it obvious when he gets super defensive on anything negative said about Purdoo here.
Carlyle played pretty well defensively, though he struggled to contain the dribble at times and was out of position in transition defense a couple times. Carlyle got the brunt of Tennessee's myriad of moving screens and hip checks, and given his smaller stature, he was slower to regain his balance and recover than his teammates. I really liked his assist to Malik in the paint, and was happy to see that he's a willing passer. He had a couple turnovers, and could have had a couple more (it looked like the refs may have bailed him out a couple times on 50/50 calls).
I hope Woodson gets Carlyle moving a lot more on offense; seeing him spreading the floor by being planted in the corner will not maximize his skillset. I think this lack of involvement contributed to a few, low percentage three-point shots. I look forward to him having the ball in his hands a little bit more, looking to drive to the basket. However, with Malik and Ballo occupying the paint, this may not often become a reality.
I appreciate Cupps and am glad he dons the cream and crimson, but, hoops-wise, he might have been better off at a mid-major. That said, he's only played one season plus one exhibition game, so the jury is still out.
If Cupps wants to be a solid contributor at IU, he needs to look for his shot MUCH more. Everyone with an iota of basketball knowledge realizes IU has been in desperate need of a consistent perimeter threat since Woody stepped foot on campus. Maybe GC will be that guy someday. 🫰
I agree IU, based solely on the roster, could contend for a B18 title and make a decent run in the NCAAT. However, I don't expect the Hoosiers to make much noise in March with that guy ⬇️ calling the shots. It's evident he just doesn't have a high level of CBB coaching chops. That said, if there was ever a time to silence the doubters, this is the year.
There is an obvious effort to push the tempo. I would venture to guess that (save Ballo, Hatton and Dallas) anyone who gets the rebound has the green light to get it and go. I still get frustrated at the lack of player movement in the half court. I’m not going to kid anyone, I’m no basketball savant. But I judge an offense based on how I would feel trying to defend against it. There isn’t much that we do that seems to make the defense work. Guys are stationary a lot. But there are a lot of ways to skin a cat and as long as it wins I guess I don’t really care what it looks like.
Based on the handful of times I watched McNeeley and Tucker play in high school, it's clear McNeeley has what IU so desperately needs: shooting. Tucker can absolutely be successful in Bloomington, but, from what I've witnessed, he hasn't proven to be a deep threat. Therefore, I think LM is a big recruiting loss for Woody ... comparable to missing out on Knecht in the portal.
Again, though, my sample size is small, so maybe it will be a blessing that McNeeley left and Tucker filled his spot (though I doubt it).
In sum, while I'm no Nostradamus, I think MW will be calling Hurley sooner rather than later for a trade. If I was offered McNeeley for Tucker, Sisley, and a portal pick up to be named later, I'd take it in a nanosecond.
Similar threads
