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mchenry34

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  1. With the new transfer rules and NIL, I think that any player that proves themselves with Northwestern could get poached by another school (see Pete Nance and even Ryan Young). He is definitely fighting an uphill battle...
  2. Might be worth thinking of this as a recruiting tool. One way of doing that is to get the most marquee match up you can and put it on the calendar in an ongoing series. Duke or North Carolina would be great for that. Another thought process would be do plant a game right in the middle of a recruiting hotbed. Take an area we would like to break into more, be it Chicago or New York or DC and promise recruits that they will get to play near home once a year at least because we will be playing in the United Center, or Garden, etc. In this approach you could have your cake and eat it to by playing Duke or North Carolina or Gonzaga or something in a location that gives you some recruiting leverage. I do have some sympathy for the idea of playing Notre Dame each year...it would be good to be able to point recruits to the idea that we have "the most wins against instate schools over a five year period and are the premier basketball program in the state" or a pitch along those lines. (this of course assumes we get some footing in our rivalry games in conference ) But, maybe in the end it is the return of the UK game that replaces this?
  3. What Purdue has is an established culture and system. Painter knows exactly what pieces he wants to recruit to fit the system and culture (He didn't always). Their offense is pretty sophisticated as far as modern college basketball goes, They execute it well, and they play hard. Last year they were held captive by Ivey in a way that ultimately did not benefit the team, and Trevion Williams was a similar issue for them. Both are very good players of course, but neither a great defender, and both prone to up and down efforts. At IU last year, Williams played very poorly and was in many ways the reason that IU won. Their wins this week were: a) Impressive b) look more impressive than they actually are because neither Duke or Gonzaga is as good as they normally are, and certainly not as good as they will be later in the year... That said, the tournament issues are a significant theme at this point, and a team that can stretch the floor both in the half court and full court, and has length at the guard will be hard for them going forward. My sense is that they should really should be embarrassed about the "IU Sucks chant", it is both lame and childish, but their fan base is one big commercial for Purdue and they all sound like the were best friends with their RA in college. But, it kind of works for them, because it has them pulling in the same direction...even if sometimes it requires a kind of head in the sand... IU on the other hand absorbed the culture of critique over the last thirty years and is often ready to turn on its own rather quickly... I don't like when Purdue wins, and it is super annoying the way that Painter licks his lips like Jaba the Hut constantly...but they play the style of basketball that I prefer and if I hadn't been raised IU, I could probably even enjoy watching them play
  4. Thoughts after watching the game: I actually felt much better after this game than after watching the Miami of Ohio game - Our ball movement was much better - we executed in the half court significantly better than against Miami, and somewhat better than against Xavier - More of our players were trying to get downhill during the game, which was great to see...no one could stay in from of X - at one point we had there freshmen and two sophomores our there and it was an enjoyable group to watch....could actually put a decent four freshmen and one sophomore lineup out there...I love that the younger guys play fast and want to impact the game...they have confidence. - Gunn and JHS might benefit from trying to get to rim a bit more, rather than thinking jumpshot quite as much - Race's athleticism has improved A LOT since he got on campus...he has played with a bit more energy recently, I know he was in a funk to start the year, but I was worried that it almost looked like he regretted coming back... - Little Rock hit shots that were tough, but we also gave them some looks they didn't deserve by gambling a bit much. I'd like to see us be a bit more controlled in closeouts and not try to block jump shots quite as often...We do have a few guys who can protect the rim when our defense is set - Should we be concerned about Galloway's injury?
  5. my read on that is that he is a thoughtful and perhaps sensitive kid who took a year to get used to his surroundings...much like he did in Bloomington. He got much better as the year went on last year, and it was largely a matter of belief...
  6. In many ways he is exactly what would put our team over the top this year as a sure fire national contender...
  7. My random thoughts after the game: - I wish we would push after a make rather than only after the other team's misses - I did not like our drop ball screen coverage, especially coupled with our reticence to help off of Freemantle and Nunge. It was clear that the game plan was to keep those two from scoring forty together, but it led to lots of open looks off of ball screens...and off ball screens for that matter. TJD and Race gave very little help off their men screening - Our offense moves slightly better than last year (especially in subtle things like repositioning according to the dribble drive), but I still wish we would have more players in attack mode. I am so tired of us running "thumb" where a half-hearted cut happens off of TJD and then we give him the ball in the mid-post and watch...We seem to only utilize three or four actions a game...would like to see that grow in sophistication - Fino would be a bit better off right now focusing on creating for others and having others create for him...He has taken some questionable thoughts off the dribble each game... - Teams are still going under the ball screen against us...we need to have a mentality of making them pay for that, and a creative response to that game plan - We were much more focused and active defensively in this game than the first two...Xavier scored when we made mistakes (dig too far, blown switch, failure to help/hedge on screens, etc..) but those mistakes came at important times that gave Xavier life and confidence - Geronimo and Bates and Kopp and Galloway were not nearly as bad as people said...Miller missed a couple opportunities at the rim early, Geronimo tried to bust out with the dribble when he shouldn't have, Bates made some scouting report errors, but actually Galloway (and Kopp) made a ton of contributions...Galloway is not an elite on the ball defender (still coming off groin injury and is not quick in the traditional sense), but he is an excellent defender overall who plays with max effort and is disruptive to the other team's sets because he pays attention to the scouting report and knows what the other team is trying to accomplish in each set... - We won't shoot that much better until the ball movement is better...we don't create that many open looks from the perimeter even though the opposition sags....mostly because the ball sticks in X's and Fino's hands...This is why Galloway, Kopp, and even Leal could play important roles...they move the ball - I'm glad we won, I think it will be good for the resume, we can be quite good in the end, but I doubt we will be head and shoulders above the B1G...we could win 15 or 16 or so games in conference, but will have to fight for those wins rather than blowing people out
  8. Agreed, I would not be surprised at all if we lost...They have talent, experience, and have already played this year. We may be without our best player, and I am guessing that one of the bigger differences between coaching an NBA team (with a very long season) and coaching a college team, is the preseason... There were lots of those differences that showed up last year....In the NBA, giving away a lead is a way of life, nearly every game includes one team going up sixteen or eighteen, just to see it go back to a two possession gam....in the college game, that spells disaster.... I sincerely hope the "second team" idea is gone. It works in the NBA because the other team is also doing it....in college teams put their best on the floor for as long as they can. Our second team going against all-Americans is not a particularly good idea...
  9. This will play a huge role this season...It plays a huge role every season. If we are being honest, it played a role in our last B1G championship... Our schedule is going to put us to the test, and not just physically, our mental strength is going to be tested...In the last 6-8 years our M.O has been to fold when the going got tough...Last year's team was the first glimmer of something else, and even then we lost a ton of games down the stretch. I rewatched the Wyoming game last night and it really tempered my expectations for the season. We were not particularly good last year...
  10. I think that if we can keep more defenders engaged more of the time, even by a little, driving lanes and post moves will open up that much more...If Race is a threat from three we can run the high low with much more spacing as well...
  11. Will we be seeing a more complex approach on offense with more activity away from the ball? or, Will we see an offense that is more in attack mode in the full court and with more personnel operating aggressively with the ball in their hands?
  12. anyone get the sense that we wish we had stayed with this one a bit longer? I suppose we need a 5 and he is more like an undersized 4 that could develop into a big 3. I think that missing out on people like Page etc. ought not to worry me too terribly in the long run, but I would have loved to see the hometown kid get more of a look.
  13. 5-3 against South Dakota State is not a great look...
  14. The fans energy in the stands was matched by some of their players and coaches...their corners were pretty obnoxious given the number of times they were directly responsible for giving up big plays to us...
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