Zlinedavid

Show me a wood or wood-like floor with the flatness of machined metal and I'll show you the world's biggest sheet of MDF. 😂

Bounced NIL checks?

36 in all of D1. 11 from "power" conferences. Does shooting skill translate from a mid-major program to a bigger program? More than likely, but getting your shot doesn't always. Edit: And only two programs with more than one: UNC Greensboro and Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Loyer gets a lot of credit, and he is a marksman, but did you know he wasn't the highest % shooter they had. They both shot comparable volumes of 3s, but Loyer was 44% and Gillis was a 47% shooter. Right on his heels was Smith at 43%. It really wasn't any one of them vs another. It was the fact that they had those 3 plus Jones that could all knock them down regularly when the ball came back out from Edey.

NGL, I'd have loved to have had him here. He had that same edge like Sheehey.

If you look at the first 25 games Rice played in, he's a 33% 3PT shooter. After that point was clearly the freshman wall, but up to that point, he was respectable and took more 3s than Reneau and Leal combined, so it's not exactly limited volume. Carlyle is also a 32% shooter on the same volume of Rice's first 25 games. That puts us up to 3, and if Reneau has shown at least a little bit of ability in that department, that's what I'd be having him focus on in the offseason. Is it an "OMG" level transformation? No, but I think it's an upgrade with a lot of upside.

That's kind of a function of what's on the floor though. Put an exciting, competitive team on the floor and AH will pop eardrums.

The NIL situation is what it is. People wanted to clutch their pearls and say "It's wrong to pay STUDENT-athletes" rather than realize that the big names were getting paid under the table anyway and put regulations in. So now it's a bidding war, and the definition of "ridiculous" is in the same hands that are writing the checks. But just eliminating it and saying coaches can only make less than a McDonald's GM isn't the answer either. They tried banning alcohol 100 years ago and people were drunker than ever. Put a cap on salaries and it's just getting pushed to subterranean channels. But that'd be alright, as long as we didn't hear about it...right?

I'm screenshotting this in anticipation of its frequent quoting and reuse come next January. 🤣

Well, except 3 and 6. That was the lesson he didn't learn the first time.

I didn't say nobody would. I said there are a bunch that would.....but if they had the talent to be a scholarship athlete, odds are they already would be. That's the whole "Just because someone that is willing to do a job for less doesn't make them more qualified than someone making more" comes in. "Hey coach, I know there's a cap of $999,999 for salaries, but if you come coach at my alma mater, we can hook you up for an extra $750,000 a year doing 'advertisements' for our network of *insert business here*. Wink wink nudge nudge." And don't say it wouldn't happen, because it has. Rollie Massimino at UNLV is one that we know about, and that was in 1991....you know...."back in the good old days when this stuff didn't happen". But hey.....if it wasn't freely talked about, it must not have happened. 🙄

You realize that most people aren't being written about on both broadcast and social media, with every one of your decisions past and present being scrutinized and criticized, right? Living in a fishbowl with all kinds of public pressure warrants compensation beyond the norm. And this is going to sound harsh, but of course there are students that would play for free.....but if they had the talent to be a scholarship athlete, odds are they already would be. Or, if you're think you're good enough, walk on and see if you can get a chance to not only play for free but make a little bit in addition. Just because someone would do a job for less money doesn't mean they're more qualified than the person that makes more. Of course there are. But right, wrong or indifferent, those jobs aren't in as high demand, or else they'd be compensated as such.

My last couple of years in high school and most of my way through college, I was an auto repair service writer/light duty tech. So this would have been in the 2000-2005 range. I can remember writing up a $3200 repair ticket on a 1994 Plymouth Neon during that time. That's about what that car booked for. Why do people do the things they do? I have no idea.

All the other coaches: IU hasn't had anyone that can shoot in the last 3 years Woodson: See why we need you? You'd be a staple for us, not a "nice to have". Salesmanship 101.

A) Putting up with that much media scrutiny and travel for 5 figures? These aren't the days of recruiting your own backyard and talking to newspaper reporters a few times a week. Hell, I'd turn that down without thinking about it. B) And there'd be just as much complaining, if not more. Asking a kid to put his body on the line in exchange for non-monetary compensation to generate revenue for the rest of the university so that other people can financially benefit but I'm not? And that would just turn out like prohibition. You're not going to stamp out anything, you're just going to funnel all the "unseemly" activity into illegal channels....much like it has been since the 1970s. Or would you rather have it "out of sight, out of mind" and just have the appearance of an idyllic arcadia on display?

Ran out of fingers, and taking my shoes off in public is unseemly.

That's what it looked like to me. 🤷‍♂️

Zeisloft was a marksman when he transferred in. He shot 41% and 35% in his two years at Illinois State and 45% and 41% at IU. That's just cleaning up an already polished diamond. Watford, I will absolutely give you on that. Bielfeldt is an example of what Crean's real skill was: finding the diamonds in the rough. I'm sure coaching played into it, but I think Max's improvement was mostly just due to minutes/usage and being able to hit a rhythm. The trio of Yogi, Vic and Sheehey (who wasn't a bad outside shooter either) were described as 3 of the biggest gym rats anyone had seen in a generation. Their improvement was more due to their borderline obscene work ethic.

Jones for Purdue took almost as many 3s as the next two below him combined and shot 35%. For UConn, Karaban, Newton and Spencer all took about the same amount of 3s and shot 44%, 37% and 32%. So you're right, this whole idea that we need this 45-50% 3PT shooter or our season is going to be a failure is kind of a panicky reaction. Give me 3-4 guys that can shoot it at 33-36% vs 2 that are at 40%+. That's what will keep defenses honest.

You don't get to that level of wealth without knowing how to have a rate of return greater than inflation.

The one I'll never forget, James Young. 2014, after UConn beat UK for the national title, this kid (a freshman at the time, surprise surprise) showing no signs of sadness/anger over losing a national championship game is whipping out t-shirts with his own "personal brand/logo". And surprise surprise, he went in the first round of the draft, played a total of 95 games across 4 years for two teams and has bounced between the G-League and Europe since. If that isn't real-deal diva, I don't know what is.

After this past year and in today's environment, I think the checkbook is wide open.

Freshman year: 32 games started, 23/76 3PT shooting, 30%. Kind of meh, right? Sophomore year, same coach: 36 games started, 88/220 3PT shooting, 40%. Say hi to Yogi Ferrell, btw. Kids develop skills. Kids enhance skills. Kids evolve their game. Watch TJD as a sophomore and tell me that this kid would be leading fast breaks as a senior. Go back and watch DJ White as a freshman vs a senior: went from a high flying mid-range shot blocker into a low post beast. We have talented players, even ones that were on the roster last year. Give them time.