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Big 10 Basketball 2022-23


IUFLA

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23 minutes ago, Steubenhoosier said:

Thing is Scott, there is little to no conversation about B1G teams. I come to this thread hoping to read how Michigan or OSU is going to stack up this season. As usual, the thread gets taken over by incessant conversation about our most bitter rival. 

Maybe the title of this thread needs to be changed, or as I have suggested before, maybe there needs to be one titled “For those who want to talk about PUke.”

A few years back I started a Purdue thread and got chastised for it.

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18 hours ago, Stlboiler23 said:

In what way is Braden Smith subpar athletically? I’ll give you undersized (though his wingspan helps a lot) but he’s not subpar athletically. 

Because compared to most of the especially high end players he’s just not the same athlete. You think Smith is on a comparable level as Xavier Johnson for example from a pure athleticism standpoint? I’m not saying he’s a *bad* athlete but he doesn’t particularly stand out in that regard. 
 

I just can’t see Smith being a good defender from day one against a guy like X who has an advantage on him in just about every physical trait you could ask. Maybe in a couple years that changes but I wouldn’t count on it as a freshman.

Edited by IndyHoosier22
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13 minutes ago, IndyHoosier22 said:

Because compared to most of the especially high end players he’s just not the same athlete. You think Smith is on a comparable level as Xavier Johnson for example from a pure athleticism standpoint? I’m not saying he’s a *bad* athlete but he doesn’t particularly stand out in that regard. 
 

I just can’t see Smith being a good defender from day one against a guy like X who has an advantage on him in just about every physical trait you could ask. Maybe in a couple years that changes but I wouldn’t count on it as a freshman.

No but at the same time, I think there’s more to it than pure athleticism too. Look at a guy like Jaden Ivey last year. He was easily the most athletic guy in the conference and could’ve been a stud defensively if he wanted to. He just didn’t have the desire/drive to want to excel on defense. A guy like Smith (I’m hoping) has the desire to excel on defense like a Chris Kramer did for example. 

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26 minutes ago, Stlboiler23 said:

No but at the same time, I think there’s more to it than pure athleticism too. Look at a guy like Jaden Ivey last year. He was easily the most athletic guy in the conference and could’ve been a stud defensively if he wanted to. He just didn’t have the desire/drive to want to excel on defense. A guy like Smith (I’m hoping) has the desire to excel on defense like a Chris Kramer did for example. 

You don't have to be an extreme athlete to be a great defensive player. Aaron Craft was the DPOY and I wouldn't call him a great athlete.

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1 hour ago, IU Scott said:

You don't have to be an extreme athlete to be a great defensive player. Aaron Craft was the DPOY and I wouldn't call him a great athlete.

How was Craft's defense as a freshman? Was he all-conference at that time? 

I don't think anyone is saying he can't develop into a good defender, it's that people don't think he will be this season as a freshman. Typically, very good freshmen defenders are good because they are very athletic and can use that athleticism to recover from mistakes. Smith doesn't have that type of athleticism. Could he end up being over of the exceptions? Sure. Is it likely? No. 

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11 hours ago, FKIM01 said:

I'd be surprised if Smith ends up being more than an average defender. His contribution will be mostly running the offense.  I don't think he has the height or wingspan to be a good or great defender.

Agree to disagree. He’s not that much shorter than Chris Kramer for example and has really long arms. When I hear “mostly running the offense,” I think of a guy like P.J. Thompson. I think Smith’s ceiling is a lot higher. First true PG we’ve had since Lewis Jackson imo. 

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On 11/5/2022 at 11:52 AM, Stlboiler23 said:

No but at the same time, I think there’s more to it than pure athleticism too. Look at a guy like Jaden Ivey last year. He was easily the most athletic guy in the conference and could’ve been a stud defensively if he wanted to. He just didn’t have the desire/drive to want to excel on defense. A guy like Smith (I’m hoping) has the desire to excel on defense like a Chris Kramer did for example. 

Sure effort is a lot of it… but if you’re basing it off effort, what’s the indication he’ll be a good defender before we’ve ever seen him play? Hope? 

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2 hours ago, IndyHoosier22 said:

Sure effort is a lot of it… but if you’re basing it off effort, what’s the indication he’ll be a good defender before we’ve ever seen him play? Hope? 

Watching him in high school. I know it’s a step up to major P5 basketball but I liked what I saw from watching him at Westfield. 

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2 minutes ago, Stlboiler23 said:

Watching him in high school. I know it’s a step up to major P5 basketball but I liked what I saw from watching him at Westfield. 

It’s really hard to determine whether a guy will be effective defensively in the Big ten by watching him play Carmel or Fishers. I guess we’ll see, but I don’t expect Smith to exactly be a key cog to any defense that quickly into his career. I think he’ll particularly struggle against bigger guards like an X or a JHS that he could be matched up with. 
 

He very rarely faced guys like that in high school. 

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Iowa opens upon tomorrow night against Bethune Cookman, our next opponent. It’s at the same time as our game so I won’t see it, but for those who don’t want to fork over the money for BTN+ , you can follow our game here for updates and check out two future opponents. 
 

Not big related but Bryant opens up tomorrow hosting a school called Thomas so on CBS sports the game appears like this:

Thomas

Bryant. 
 

 

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On 11/5/2022 at 11:36 AM, IndyHoosier22 said:

Because compared to most of the especially high end players he’s just not the same athlete. You think Smith is on a comparable level as Xavier Johnson for example from a pure athleticism standpoint? I’m not saying he’s a *bad* athlete but he doesn’t particularly stand out in that regard. 
 

I just can’t see Smith being a good defender from day one against a guy like X who has an advantage on him in just about every physical trait you could ask. Maybe in a couple years that changes but I wouldn’t count on it as a freshman.

Just play the same defense teams played against Ivey or Victor back in the day…

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On 11/5/2022 at 12:19 PM, IU Scott said:

You don't have to be an extreme athlete to be a great defensive player. Aaron Craft was the DPOY and I wouldn't call him a great athlete.

His lateral quickness was impressive 

He and Nojel could basically wall you off with strength & quickness 

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Every Big 10 team except Purdue played and won. Minny by a single point over Western Michigan (who was rated 9th in preseason MAC polls) but Jamison Battle didn't play for the Gophers... 

Illinois frontcourt carried them. Their backcourt had better get it in gear before the conference season... Screenshot_20221108-104901.thumb.png.d7bff7e97bece64e368481cf108066e4.png

 

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2 hours ago, IUFLA said:

Every Big 10 team except Purdue played and won. Minny by a single point over Western Michigan (who was rated 9th in preseason MAC polls) but Jamison Battle didn't play for the Gophers... 

Illinois frontcourt carried them. Their backcourt had better get it in gear before the conference season... Screenshot_20221108-104901.thumb.png.d7bff7e97bece64e368481cf108066e4.png

 

Don't sleep on PSU this year. Pickett, Dread and Lundy all returned. They added Bucknell transfer Andrew Funk, who was 6-10 on threes. Overall PSU was 18-38 on threes, a school record.

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3 minutes ago, 13th&Jackson said:

Don't sleep on PSU this year. Pickett, Dread and Lundy all returned. They added Bucknell transfer Andrew Funk, who was 6-10 on threes. Overall PSU was 18-38 on threes, a school record.

Yep, they have some shooters...

But will their lack of height be a factor? Their tallest starter last night was 6'7, and they only have one real big in Njie...

 

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5 minutes ago, 13th&Jackson said:

If they don't miss, they don't need to rebound  :coffee:

Very true! 

BTW, I noticed 2 guys I picked as Big 10 breakout players, Dallion Johnson of Penn State and RJ Melendez of Illinois went a combined 0-9 from the field last night...

Like the Madden Curse 😁

Edited by IUFLA
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Lots of action in the Big 10 tonight, including Charleston Southern-Ohio State as the early game on BTN. Looking forward to seeing freshman Brice Sensabaugh who had 17 points and 9 boards in his debut... I think he's a key to their season... Charles Barkley type player...

Screenshot_20221110-064110.thumb.png.b0be0d0cb839f4d1a14803f89865f4a1.png

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26 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

Lots of action in the Big 10 tonight, including Charleston Southern-Ohio State as the early game on BTN. Looking forward to seeing freshman Brice Sensabaugh who had 17 points and 9 boards in his debut... I think he's a key to their season... Charles Barkley type player...

Screenshot_20221110-064110.thumb.png.b0be0d0cb839f4d1a14803f89865f4a1.png

Those are central times

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