Woody won't be able to keep Cupps...
- Thread starter Ty Webb iu
- Start date
Well calling Woody aint exactly original either.
No one is going to be judging intelligence based on one's ability to name nics or monikers. Am I right, Al B?
I'm gonna predict he has some struggles guarding the ball as we play stronger and more talented guards. I like him a lot, but he'll need to balance aggression and position, especially until he's stronger.
I'll take that bet. I have zero concerns about his ability to guard. I think he's special defensively. Maybe Craft-like.
He'll get bullied here and there...but it won't be a big problem. He's incredibly good, already, at changing his angles to stay in front and cut off dribble drives. Aaron Craft was the best I've ever seen at that. Cupps wasn't nearly as quick as that 4 star PG that came off the bench for FGCU, but Cupps was able to keep him in front because he changed the angle of his slides and cut him off a few feet further in to his drive.
Not enough coaches teach that any more. It appears Cupps dad taught it very well.
dumbTaco Mgbako or in some circles, MacTaco Mgbako
Yeah, I mean, he can probably be physically overwhelmed by a really strong guard with a good post up game (does that exist anymore?) or struggle to stay in front of someone who's ultra quick, but I don't see that as a strength issue. To me probably the most important trait for a good defender is tenacity and I think Cupps is tenacious. That makes up for a lot in the strength and quickness departments. And, Cupps is physically strong; didn't he set the bench press record for guards, or players under a certain weight or something? Can't wait to watch him go up against Braden Smith. Those should be terrific battles! And with XJ this year too!
Yep, first thing I thought of. That backup PG from FGCU was as quick as all but a handful of guards in the country, I thought.
I know everyone's joking but I used to give my nephew a red bull before his sixth grade rec league bball tournament games that produced a championship.
Had to cut back to a half a red bull and get the timing right and he went from a good player playing as a total spaz to the best player on the court.
Red bull works.
I still regret not drinking coffee during my college years. I think it would have helped my studies. I was introduced to it by my first wife, my first ex-wife, several years after finishing grad courses. It started out rather reluctantly as just a weekend thing, sharing her daily, preset brewing habit at sunrise, eventually morphing into my daily regime, too, everyday for the rest of my life. I drink my coffee “bare-headed”, free of cream or sugar, or “straight up” as they say at Joe’s Tavern.
I’ve never had a Red Bull, but always thought it was a good name from a marketing standpoint, targeting the young and the restless. I imagine it to be similar to a Dr Pepper. Am I correct on this? I’ve had Root beer that is 45% sucrose. I don’t think RB is any more than this. Does that Red Bull come out snorting “Dexy” dust or what?
Cupps will get his chance. There's a 100% likelihood that at least one starter will end up in a boot and miss several games ... and Cupps could be the next man up, regardless of which position opens up.
You're sleeping on Cupps lateral quickness, imo. He's exceptionally quick laterally.
Defense is effort, technique and quickness. Cupps has all three in spades. He might be the best defender on the team from day 1.
But can only really defend pg’s
Teams are going to go right at him when they can.
who else do you want him to guard? He can certainly guard smaller 2s, but then we've got to have someone to defend their PG. But, if a team had a taller PG and 6'2" shooting guard, he could swap with Trey G if needed. Probably less about height than quickness. I don't think Fletcher Loyer or Ethan Morton, for instance are going to scare CMW out of putting Gabe in the game.
They'll go right at him to the detriment of their offense. If they decide to go right at Cupps, they will fail way more than they succeed. Mark my words. He's a stud of a defender.
I don't agree. He will be successful against any guard on the court more often than not.
I’m already predicting that Cupps will go down as one of the best defensive players ever at IU.
Tempting. Maybe I'm giving it too much weight, but he got beat twice 1-on-1 in starting at the 21:00 minute mark against Marian.
He does not lack true strength. His benching #'s are impressive.
It won't come up much, but there will probably be times that he gets bullied to the basket...just because of his size and weight. AJ Hoggard comes to mind...others like him. But again, not many schools are going to completely change their offense around to do that...and Gabe will handle it just fine if they do, I'm sure. In fact, using Hoggard as the example, I hope he does try to do that. It means guys like Walker and Hall aren't beating us.
Everybody gets beat at times, especially when first moving up to college ball. The skill, strength, training and prep is just a lot higher for most freshmen, especially not from the bball factory schools like Montverde. Just look at the praise from CMW (and everyone). I'm confident you're putting too much weight on that. He'll see the film and it will get corrected I believe.
Cupps will be on the floor, often with the ball in his hand, at winning time of B10 games for numerous reasons, most important of which is he can hit foul shots with the game on the line moreso than X or others.
at winning time, need the ball with someone who hits free throws, as that is often the difference between winning and losing close games.
at winning time, need the ball with someone who hits free throws, as that is often the difference between winning and losing close games.
Love a PG who can hit FTs, but X isn't awful at nearly 80% and I feel pretty confident with him going to the line in late game situations. Love to see a stat on FT's in the last 5 minutes, but I feel like he'd be north of 80%. Not going to judge much on 3-6 in the first game of the season. I think we have 2 good PGs, and I'm comfortable with either going to the line at crunch time.
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He benches like someone who trains bench press. But this is a basketball team not powerlifting. Luckily he seems like a pretty good basketball player too.
Obviously AMS is working out with Gabe, so why doesn't he correct it?
Or maybe he is Bo Jackson in disguise. No need for all that weight lifting.
Go natural
We have so many experts here. Feel lucky
Looked like the Marian guard spotted something Cupps was doing and exploited it. I have no doubt he'll get better. Helps that he's practicing against one of the fastest and strongest PGs in the conference. But people are getting ahead of things to suggest he play in front of X.
It simply means that he’s spent some time working on (training, practicing, choose your word) bench press, probably more than other players since he’s better at it than the other players.
He has been ok but I would hardly say he has been impressive so far.
I agree except I think this year could be trying with fast strong guards.
With targeted training he can quickly (9 months or so) greatly improve his leg strength, lateral quickness, and vertical jump if he wants. His length strength looks better than most freshman to me and his b-ball IQ and tenaciousness really help. Training can help a lot; with the help of scary, mean trainer my vertical went to 31-33 in a school year and I think I started at minus-1 vertical (bad test).
doubtful he's choosing his workout and is following the workouts the trainer's specify. I guess he could do extra, but he came in strong and is a coach's son so I'd imagine he's been working with trainers for several years.
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