ACC - B1G Challenge

[Seeking6]

I'll just add this. Year to date so far the most puzzling team is certainly Sparty. Izzo very well will turn this thing around but when I watch them play and watching some of Virginia's game last night....if you don't have guys who can shoot all I say is good luck. Glad we have a few and glad more are on the way. 

[rico]

11 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

I'll just add this. Year to date so far the most puzzling team is certainly Sparty. Izzo very well will turn this thing around but when I watch them play and watching some of Virginia's game last night....if you don't have guys who can shoot all I say is good luck. Glad we have a few and glad more are on the way. 

Yeah.  I understand UVa's woes.  Sparty is quite puzzling with what they had coming back.

[IU Scott]

10 hours ago, Stlboiler23 said:

Lol. Purdue’s defense deserves a lot of credit for how they played tonight. We finally started to hit some shots too. This wasn’t just UVA looking bad. Purdue had a ton to do with that. 

Well UVA has now went 3 straight games without scoring more than 50 points so it was just not your defense.  That UVA team is not even close to being a ranked team let alone  a top 5 team.

[rico]

2 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Well UVA has now went 3 straight games without scoring more than 50 points so it was just not your defense.  That UVA team is not eve close to being a ranked team let along a top 5 team.

I do believe UVA has UNC this week-end?

[Stlboiler23]

3 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Well UVA has now went 3 straight games without scoring more than 50 points so it was just not your defense.  That UVA team is not eve close to being a ranked team let along a top 5 team.

They also were only giving up 40 a game and we crushed that lol. 

[IU Scott]

As for UNC I think one of their problems is that for a long time they built their program around guys ranked around 20-75 and they stayed 3 to 4 years.  Last year Roy went with the one and done model and had two last year so now they have a void in their roster.  UNC to me is not  a very good team this year and really only have three legitimate UNC type of players.

[IU Scott]

1 minute ago, Stlboiler23 said:

They also were only giving up 40 a game and we crushed that lol. 

Not talking about their defense but answering your question about how good your defense is.

[southsidehoosier]

1 minute ago, IU Scott said:

Not talking about their defense but answering your question about how good your defense is.

Exactly. Boilers OP narrative was about Purdue defense. Now the narrative has changed because the numbers don’t support that Purdue defense did anything impressive.

[IU Scott]

22 minutes ago, Stlboiler23 said:

They also were only giving up 40 a game and we crushed that lol. 

If you want to go by comparisons you scored 60 vs FSU and we scored 80.  You can up 63 to FSU and we gave up 64

[13th&Jackson]

UVA is a total fraud. Last season they averaged 72 ppg, 48% FG%, 41% 3pt%. This season 53 ppg, 40% FG%, 24% 3pt%. Against SYR they shot 40%, 16% from 3, against ASU they shot 40%, 26% from 3, against Maine they shot 38% (yes Maine). Against Purdue 37% with 17% from 3.

So offensively, they were consistently bad. The difference in last night's game is Purdue was hot from 3 (13-25) which is UVA's achilles heel. Last year they could offset that (see Guy nearly matching Edwards shot for shot late in the Elite 8). This year, no chance.

[IU Scott]

Just now, 13th&Jackson said:

UVA is a total fraud. Last season they averaged 72 ppg, 48% FG%, 41% 3pt%. This season 53 ppg, 40% FG%, 24% 3pt%. Against SYR they shot 40%, 16% from 3, against ASU they shot 40%, 26% from 3, against Maine they shot 38% (yes Maine). Against Purdue 37% with 17% from 3.

So offensively, they were consistently bad. The difference in last night's game is Purdue was hot from 3 (13-25) which is UVA's achilles heel. Last year they could offset that (see Guy nearly matching Edwards shot for shot late in the Elite 8). This year, no chance.

What is bad for UVA is that all of their top players from last year could have been back but left early.  I bet when they recruited those 3 players they probably never thought they would be players leaving early.

[Jackson Kellogs]

29 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

As for UNC I think one of their problems is that for a long time they built their program around guys ranked around 20-75 and they stayed 3 to 4 years.  Last year Roy went with the one and done model and had two last year so now they have a void in their roster.  UNC to me is not  a very good team this year and really only have three legitimate UNC type of players.

They're a one man team this year with Cole Anthony. After watching that game last night, imagine if they didn't have him. 

[5 championships]

1 minute ago, Jackson Kellogs said:

They're a one man team this year with Cole Anthony. After watching that game last night, imagine if they didn't have him. 

Bocot got hurt in the first half and he is their 2Nd best player 

[Zlinedavid]

8 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

What is bad for UVA is that all of their top players from last year could have been back but left early.  I bet when they recruited those 3 players they probably never thought they would be players leaving early.

I'd make one modification to the above statement: "...never thought they ALL would be leaving early."

I'm all in favor of the (for lack of a better term) UNC model: a core of solid 4-5*s in the 25-75 range, with a few McDAA/OAD/Top 10s sprinkled in.  But even then, I don't think any coach is working under the assumption that every player of that 25-75 core is going to play 4 years.  It just isn't going to happen.  Are some going to stay 4? Probably.  But some will leave as juniors.  Some might blow up and leave as a sophomore.  Out of the 3 departures (Jerome/Guy/Hunter), if I were Bennett immediately after the tournament, I'd have assumed one would definitely be leaving (Hunter), one would definitely be staying (Guy) and one would be on the fence (Jerome).   I would never have bet on all 3 making the jump. 

[13th&Jackson]

1 hour ago, Seeking6 said:

I'll just add this. Year to date so far the most puzzling team is certainly Sparty. Izzo very well will turn this thing around but when I watch them play and watching some of Virginia's game last night....if you don't have guys who can shoot all I say is good luck. Glad we have a few and glad more are on the way. 

Of last year's Final Four, only Auburn isn't off to a rough start. But they haven't played a P5 game yet, and they only have one in the non-con, against NC ST.

TX Tech has lost 3 straight and like Sparty is 5-3. DePaul beat them last night behind Jalen Coleman-Lands 18. DePaul is 9-0 with wins over Iowa, Minny and TX Tech. They look like legit contenders in the Big East.

[Zuckerkorn]

A bit of a "hot take" here, but my confusion over why ILL has been talked up is only bolstered by their performance in this "challenge".  They have some nice pieces and Cockburn appears to be physical presence, but I just haven't understood why so many "experts" were predicting them to have huge improvement this season.  I may be very wrong about them, but I've seen little to make me change my opinion.

That said, the BT is always a dogfight night in and night out. I expect our team to be more consistent that last year and able to sustain good play throughout the game rather than having long lapses of poor play.  What I'm really seeing is that this looks like it could be the solid, foundational year we've been looking for - not the finishing product of what CAM is looking for, but the initial view of what's to come.

[BGleas]

2 hours ago, Seeking6 said:

I'll just add this. Year to date so far the most puzzling team is certainly Sparty. Izzo very well will turn this thing around but when I watch them play and watching some of Virginia's game last night....if you don't have guys who can shoot all I say is good luck. Glad we have a few and glad more are on the way. 

I don't think MSU is all that puzzling. I never really understood the #1 ranking. I mean, yeah, they'll be good, but they're not 'that' good. Winston is obviously a great player, but they don't have Langford and they lost Ward, Goins (who was a really important piece for them) and McQuad. They lost a lot from last year. Especially with Goins being a big who could stretch the floor and McQuad stretching the floor as well. That gave Winston room to do what he does. 

[jefftheref]

1 hour ago, BGleas said:

I don't think MSU is all that puzzling. I never really understood the #1 ranking. I mean, yeah, they'll be good, but they're not 'that' good. Winston is obviously a great player, but they don't have Langford and they lost Ward, Goins (who was a really important piece for them) and McQuad. They lost a lot from last year. Especially with Goins being a big who could stretch the floor and McQuad stretching the floor as well. That gave Winston room to do what he does. 

Winston is having serious issues dealing with the death of his brother. His head isn't right and until he gets that corrected he is a shell of himself. There is nothing that anyone can do but for him at this point. When/if that happens MSU will be a much better team. By the end of the year if Winston gets straightened out MSU will be okay. I wish nothing but the best for the young man. He is nothing but a class act!

[BGleas]

1 minute ago, jefftheref said:

Winston is having serious issues dealing with the death of his brother. His head isn't right and until he gets that corrected he is a shell of himself. There is nothing that anyone can do but for him at this point. When/if that happens MSU will be a much better team. By the end of the year if Winston gets straightened out MSU will be okay. I wish nothing but the best for the young man. He is nothing but a class act!

Agree, that has to be impacting him, and I share your sentiments in wishing him nothing but the best. With that said, I think that's but just part of their issues. They never should have been ranked #1. They lost a lot of important pieces from last year's team. I'm not saying they're bad, they're a top 25 team for sure once they get some things straightened out, but they were never head and shoulders above everyone else in the Big Ten. 

[IU Scott]

1 minute ago, BGleas said:

Agree, that has to be impacting him, and I share your sentiments in wishing him nothing but the best. With that said, I think that's but just part of their issues. They never should have been ranked #1. They lost a lot of important pieces from last year's team. I'm not saying they're bad, they're a top 25 team for sure once they get some things straightened out, but they were never head and shoulders above everyone else in the Big Ten. 

I think part of MSU problem is that the sophomore class has not developed like people thought they would.

[Indykev]

13 hours ago, Stlboiler23 said:

Lol. Purdue’s defense deserves a lot of credit for how they played tonight. We finally started to hit some shots too. This wasn’t just UVA looking bad. Purdue had a ton to do with that. 

One kid on this years team had anything to do with them winning it all last year. This VA. team is not good. Your best defense was leaving them open to shoot.

[Billingsley99]

Big win for Purdue not going to take anything away from them. They pounded the team in front of them. With that said i would venture to guess that FSU will finish the season ranked higher than UVA. That is not a good team at least at this point. I so badly wanted to see Purdue get smacked around but after about 6 or 7 minutes it was quite obvious UVA is not very good. 

[IU Scott]

4 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

Big win for Purdue not going to take anything away from them. They pounded the team in front of them. With that said i would venture to guess that FSU will finish the season ranked higher than UVA. That is not a good team at least at this point. I so badly wanted to see Purdue get smacked around but after about 6 or 7 minutes it was quite obvious UVA is not very good. 

The announcers doing our game against FSU thought FSU is the second best team in the ACC behind only UL.

[NotIThatLives]

10 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

The announcers doing our game against FSU thought FSU is the second best team in the ACC behind only UL.

Everything I saw, they are correct.  

[jefftheref]

30 minutes ago, BGleas said:

Agree, that has to be impacting him, and I share your sentiments in wishing him nothing but the best. With that said, I think that's but just part of their issues. They never should have been ranked #1. They lost a lot of important pieces from last year's team. I'm not saying they're bad, they're a top 25 team for sure once they get some things straightened out, but they were never head and shoulders above everyone else in the Big Ten. 

I agree with you. MSU and other teams get some of their ratings based upon reputation, which I totally understand. I think Izzo knows his team has some issues and that is why he was pushing so hard to get Hauser eligible. As we all know the real measuring stick is what you do on the court. I think we are a much better team than our rating and in my opinion it would be better for us to stay under the radar for a while. I hope we can get healthy and do some damage in the Big 10 and the tournament. Go Hoosiers!