off the floor. Cupps is too good. He's going to have a great career at IU. He'll be a 3 year starter, imo.
Woody won't be able to keep Cupps...
- Thread starter Ty Webb iu
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I'm sure he's already had a little talk with a couple of other players about this. The best thing that could happen for this team is that Mackenzie rips his minutes back from Gabe, ASAP.
Gabe is going to get plenty of minutes just from subbing for X and Trey. Its not this simple, but if those 2 both play 30 minutes, that leaves 20 minutes of time for Gabe.
The question is, how much will Woody feel like he has to play all 3 of them together, like he did last night?
It was a good move, it won us the game...but longer term, if we have to do that a lot, its going to limit how good we can be.
Mackenzie, CJ, Kaleb...need to be a lot better.
Would CJ and Kaleb be labeled a first game disappointment?
Cupps certainly a first game big positive.
I see why people talk about a low motor with Ware. Not sure that can be coached. Maybe give the guy two Red Bulls before the game.
Cupps certainly a first game big positive.
I see why people talk about a low motor with Ware. Not sure that can be coached. Maybe give the guy two Red Bulls before the game.
Kaleb's returning from an injury, so I'd say CJ yes, disappointment, but not Kaleb (to me). Low motor? Ware was fantastic for his first game: 13 pts, 12 rebs, 4 a, 4 bs and you thought he showed a "low motor"??? I'm confident he's going to have his moments where he looks like he is coasting. That was not last night. Were you having some Red Bulls (and vodka)?
Cupps needs to be the first man off the bench, either in for MM or Ware/Reneau. I don't like the combination of Reneau and Ware in the game together for long spurts, especially if MM is on the floor. Too crowded and spacing isn't great.
Mgbako was at lest somewhat of disappointment seeing him in person last night. Looked a little lazy and involved..And for all that size he has . He doesn't look that athletic..That's why I liked JHS so much. Everything he did was business like..We're gonna miss him hugely..imo
Gabe could literally save our season. He's already saved a game for us. We now know we can effectively play Gabe with X and Trey, which I'm sure was a big question mark for Woody coming in to the season.
And while its hard to think about benching one of the 3 most talented kids on our team for long stretches (MM, Malik, or Ware)... the reality is there will be teams that we HAVE to do that against. How good MM and Malik can become guarding the perimeter will limit that need, obviously, but there will be teams where its still there. And its nice to know we can do it effectively.
Great point saw that too….seem like Reneau made too many mental mistakes and as for wares low motor, people said same thing about Jay Edwards
I was impressed with Ware's play and not disappointed by his motor, as I thought I'd be. I thought he played hard.
My bet is the 3 guard lineup (X, Cupps, Gallo) will prove to be a better lineup, nearly all the time, vs. the 3 bigs lineup (MM, Malik and Ware).
Yeah, on paper, skill-wise I understand trying to build a frontcourt rotation around Ware/Reneau and Walker/Sparks. But I felt like it was noticeable that Walker and Ware seemed to play better together, so I don't know where that leaves us. Don't see him benching either Reneau or Ware, but I do think Walker had looked better playing alongside Ware. Sparks injury has tabled the idea of a platoon anyway, but I do think he should explore breaking up Reneau and Ware. If we go small, that will accelerate that anyway, and at least early, I think that might be the best option. Maybe start MM, and then bring Reneau off the bench for now. Especially without Sparks, Reneau will get minutes as our best low post scorer.
Ware did not have an energy problem last night. If he plays with that level of intensity the entire year he will be a no brainer lottery pick and average 15-12 and 4 blocks a game.
I was so impressed with him making strides from just the exhibition. He doesn’t realize his ceiling, and if he keeps up the effort, he is gonna keep climbing. So much potential and skill. Pretty unreal really.
Thinking through all the dynamics on how Woody can help our bigger kids improve defensively...and one factor that I think will make it more difficult is our low numbers of good, fast, capable smaller perimeter players...and how that's going to make it harder to simulate smaller teams like FGCU in practices.
I guess maybe do a lot of X, Trey, Gabe, and CJ or Kaleb together with maybe Payton, and then just have the walkons play with MM, Malik, Kelel...?? Downside to that is X, Trey, Gabe, etc... aren't getting as many good reps against similar guys to what they'll face in games.
I guess maybe do a lot of X, Trey, Gabe, and CJ or Kaleb together with maybe Payton, and then just have the walkons play with MM, Malik, Kelel...?? Downside to that is X, Trey, Gabe, etc... aren't getting as many good reps against similar guys to what they'll face in games.
Never bought in on all the hype for him. He's not explosive, and he takes some ill-advised shots. And last night showed he doesn't know much about D. Best thing I heard about him was that he was very involved with the game while he was on the bench. If he's coachable he can be an X factor as we do need his scoring....
And Woody will establish himself as an NBA big man developer, if he hasn't already with TJD's path.
We need for Mack to make huge strides with his perimeter game, on both ends of the floor, and playing himself in to a lottery pick position. That's probably THE biggest opportunity Woody has to take the necessary next steps forward for his program, in my opinion. He did it with JHS, but for whatever reason, that hasn't yet resonated with the high level guards from HS and transfer portal. If he did it again with Mack, it'd have to start bearing fruit.
Not sure its so much spacing, as all 3 of those guys can play from the 3 point line in......but rather passing and general cohesiveness......Cupps and Gallo are our two smartest players by far....
I think the thinking behind this thread speaks to another thread where everyone was weighing in on European ball vs AAU/travel. I think that AAU ball spends more time developing your offensive skills and not so much on team defense so when the elite athletes get to college (we saw it last yr with JHS and still with Reneau) defense is behind and they can be out of sync. Woody has stated many times defense before offense hence we saw RMK philosophy of “ass meets bench” and Cupps played last 8(?) minutes.
What I did like was at end of game, Mack was first guy on floor at end of game to congratulate the guys coming off the floor with high fives and smiles. Could have easily hung back and sulked but didn’t
What I did like was at end of game, Mack was first guy on floor at end of game to congratulate the guys coming off the floor with high fives and smiles. Could have easily hung back and sulked but didn’t
JHS is what woulda made this team special and the kind of luck Woody needs to get back on top.
I wasnt really disappointed with Ware's motor, but more his aggression. He needs to be more dominant near the rim. He seems to be a little soft driving to the rim.
I really can't think of any reason to question Ware after last nights game. He attacked the rim multiple times...putting his body on the line doing it a couple times. He largely controlled the paint. He was great.
If that's the Ware we get all year long, we have an All B10 level big we'll be able to rely on.
It looked to me to be more of a strength issue. He seemed fairly aggressive but was easily knocked off balance.
I really liked what Ware brought to the game. I was impressed.
It's only the team's first game together. Geez. Give Woody a chance to coach them this year.
Agreed.
Also agree MM needs to earn his minutes back (and I'm reasonably confident he will.)
My impression of Cupps, coming in and simply from reading posts/media, was that he'd be able to contribute some...but that he might not necessarily be a rotational player per se.
Clearly not the case.
Red Bull and Vodka sounds like a party.
Somebody said Ware always looks like he is loading but is not really, just something about his gait. But I think Woody alluded to that saying he would have to improve. A 7 ft C with a three pt shot sure would be great.
First real game for MM and Kaleb has not played much at all after just getting back from injury and you can tell he isn’t 100% healthy. I’m going to let him knock that rust off. CJ f’d up on D enough that he didn’t get another chance. He should know better and has far too much potential on D to play like he did. Hope he got the message.
He’s no game changer like JHS, but the early reports were that he wasn’t quite college ball ready and would see limited action. Woody has indicated that he’s seen enough and trusts him to play valuable minutes, even in crunch time. I just can’t wait for the debates with Purdue fans on who is better, Cupps or Smith.
Early reports sucked. If you saw him in HS he was solid. Cupps might even start some. He was in at the end of the game which is the most important time.
I'd say CJ played as expected. In one season + one game, he's shown very little. In fact, Gunn makes Tamar look like an All-American by comparison.
I agree. Cupps getting more playing time and even starting would not surprise me. High motor and high IQ. I am not sure whose minutes he would take. Maybe move to three guard line up?
Exactly my thoughts as well, was at the game and frankly he looked bored and disinterested. I realize it's only one game but not impressed at all. Why did he keep going out in the hallway when not in the game, he did that at least three or four times for extended periods of time.
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Too much Taco Bell before the game, had to make a lot of bathroom visits?
Maybe they already have…the two pregame Red Bulls. Maybe they been doing it for years. What next?
Agree but they are also our best 3 players. We need to play them early in the season --- so that they will find a solution/chemistry that will be useful in March.
Agree. Woody himself said that there is still a lot of work ahead of him.
But I had said in a previous thread, that I love how Woody has scheduled these early season games. They are stress-testing games (as opposed to creanpuff games.)
Everything looks great on paper but you dont know until you stress-test them.
I bet it will have added a few more items to that long list of things to work on after yesterday's game.
Galloway to the wing, Cupp at PG or go in for injured player, not sure they would change their offense.
And bench Taco? We will need to make sure he is successful and be a OND or McNeeley (our first real shooter in nearly a decade) may not be too happy.
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