UCONN Postgame Thread

[IU Scott]

1 minute ago, Billingsley99 said:

So you are saying that the 6 to 8 weeks of play ground basketball has more impact on development than the year round work the high school staff does

Yes I am

[3Ballin]

2 hours ago, mchenry34 said:

He's definitely kind of annoying (arguing with such certainty but not knowing anything, like that full court loose ball where he was sure Justin had pushed Bouknight but the UCONN player had just straight up slipped), but I think his brother Bobby has him beat in that regard...

By the way, why were we slipping around so much? I think that contributed a great deal to the sloppiness of the game, Devonte and Jerome looked like they were on skates most of the game...Adidas owe us an apology?

The 1st game was like that too.  I thought the shoes held up really well on the ice rink.

[BEKA]

Stayed up and watched the whole game. I'm definitely dragging a** this morning. UCONN is a good, not great team, and it's way early in the season, so I'm happy that we scrapped our way to a win away from home, ugly as it was. My gut tells me that if everyone stays healthy, this is going to be a *much* different team come February/March. 

[BGleas]

7 minutes ago, HoosierDom said:

I'm sure he could play in the G-League if he wanted to, but unless you're from a family that's really strapped for cash (and TJD most certainly is not) then I don't see why anyone would take that route. I don't see the athletic upside that let's some guys get to the league before they're ready to contribute. If I'm an NBA GM why would I pay TJD for 2-3 years to sit the bench, use up a roster spot I could use for a productive player or a lottery ticket, all for a guy who's upside seems to be a solid, but unspectacular rotation guy? I don't mean that as a knock on TJD, I think he will be a solid pro for a decade, but I have a hard time seeing him as a legit NBA star.

We have a limited offense. If you had given me Hunter's stats two months ago, I would fear we might not even make the NIT. I'm impressed that we've been able to build our offense around penetrating and foul shooting, but we're going to need Hunter or Damezei to score if we are going to win consistently. Both of them scoring sure would be nice.

 

As far as the G-League, I more meant is he ok being a late first rounder or early second rounder, and then rounding out his game in the G-League because the NBA sent him there (under an NBA contract), or does he want to round out his game in college and try to get drafted as high as he possibly can? I agree on his prospects, I don't see him as a star NBA player, which is fine.

Agree completely on Damezi and Hunter. They're both improving defensively and we desperately need them to contribute offensively. I know he didn't do much otherwise, but that tough jumper Anderson hit early in the game was a huge shot, same with Hunter's jumper in the paint late. 

I've posted this already, but I'd love to see if IU can get Hunter going offensively in a small lineup where he's the 4 alongside TJD. I think given his rust, etc., he's best working out of the block/paint, and then he can gain confidence and build his range out from there. But man, this offense would look a lot better with Phinisee healthy and Anderson and Hunter contributing. 

[3Ballin]

47 minutes ago, BGleas said:

 

I'd love to see a lineup get tested that is something like Phinisee, Green, Anderson, Hunter, TJD. That could be an interesting lineup that plays well at both ends. 

I would say Rob, Green, 2 of Hunter/Anderson/Smith, TJD.  That would give us length, our most versitile defense, rebounding with our best mix of shooters.

JMO 🤷‍♂️

[zerawkid]

2 hours ago, ADegenerate said:

He’s not allowed to create anything for himself or take early shots. It’s not that he doesn’t care, it’s that the system doesn’t do him any favors. Yeah, he was very poor but did we run a play for him the entire night? I’d be bored out of my mind if I could score 50 on a hot night.

I’d say: be a better teammate and stay interested in creating offense within the team flow of the game.
 

Seriously? Nobody who comes to IU (even Devonte under Crean) should be under the impression that playing in Bloomington is going to provide Iverson-esque possibilities for an individual game. Even Crean, for all his flaws, seemed to promote a team-based approach.

[Zuckerkorn]

9 minutes ago, 3Ballin said:

The 1st game was like that too.  I thought the shoes held up really well on the ice rink.

Yep, there was something "up" with that floor.  Both teams had several"skating" issues.  Got to be thankful no one got hurt.

 

[zerawkid]

9 hours ago, bluegrassIU said:

Ok, 6 beers in. But 9 sounds more manly.

I had two beers.

 

But, three whiskeys.

[BGleas]

5 minutes ago, 3Ballin said:

I would say Rob, Green, 2 of Hunter/Anderson/Smith, TJD.  That would give us length, our most versitile defense, rebounding with our best mix of shooters.

JMO 🤷‍♂️

Absolutely! Smith is definitely going to play, I'm just intrigued by the Hunter/Anderson version because it has the potential, one those two gain confidence, to be much better offensively. 

[HoosierDom]

I don't mean this to be a knock on Phinisee, I think his overall play has been right up there with the biggest strengths of the team so far, but has he made a single step back jumper all year? He looks so smooth taking them, most NBA players should be jealous of that move, but he seems to always miss. I have to assume he hits them in practice or he would stop, so if he can ever start hitting those, it will be deadly. He seems to thoroughly lose his defender when he does it, so his game percentage should be right there with his practice percentage. 

[Billingsley99]

21 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Yes I am

Unfortunately you would be wrong. Not my opinion a fact

[Zlinedavid]

23 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

So you are saying that the 6 to 8 weeks of play ground basketball has more impact on development than the year round work the high school staff does

What do kids put more emphasis on/pay more attention to?

[NotIThatLives]

9 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

So you are saying that the 6 to 8 weeks of play ground basketball has more impact on development than the year round work the high school staff does

Credit Indiana basketball coaches on many levels for teaching fundamentals.   High school coaches are restricted in the time they have to work with their team.  I knew of high level(getting recruited for college ball) guys leave our high school practice like a bat out of hell to go scrimmage with aau teammates and older guys from the area no longer playing organized ball.  Its the constant scrimmaging without coaching and fundamentals.  Aau is like a weekend long of scrimmaging.   Some out of area guys don't even practice with the team or if they do it's like one practice to 5 games ratio.  If I had to put a number(ratio)to it these guys are scrimmaging 5 times, practicing 1 time, and doing individual work 2-3 times.  When I say practice I mean working as a team with a coach on team concepts.  Add it all up and we have a 7 or 8 to one focus on individual play as we do team.  Therefore we have college system coaches trying like crazy to get everyone on the same team page.  Very difficult. 

And make no mistake.  Aau tournaments may only be going on a few months out of the year but these kids are into that as much as high school team ball.  Its sadly just the way it is.  Sorry for the long post but I'll add that Yogi and Demezi's coach said they didn't have time to teach man-to-man defense.  

[Hoosierhoopster]

1 hour ago, BGleas said:

How does that change this year? We have to hope Green settles down and becomes consistent (I know, been waiting 4 years for that), Phinisee gets and stays healthy, Hunter gets into form, and hopefully we begin to play smaller and quicker (Smith at the 4, or even Hunter at the 4). 

I'd love to see a lineup get tested that is something like Phinisee, Green, Anderson, Hunter, TJD. That could be an interesting lineup that plays well at both ends. 

Been waiting for this all season.

This is how we will be successful. I do not mean to discount the importance of developing our 'big' lineup for situational use, but using it as our primary lineup is a recipe for failure in the B1G. Do think it has mostly been driven by the injuries / health situations of Rob, Green and Hunter. 

Last night showed how much Demez and Hunter can help DEFENSIVELY, which has been largely dismissed on this board. They are effective wing defenders with quickness, and that's without even adding the offense both can and at some point will bring. We can't win well with a big lineup that can't shoot and has trouble staying in front of athletic wings. And yes, we really need a healthy Rob, his contribution to floor leadership in his limited minutes stood out, again.

[Seeking6]

I was watching ESPN coverage so I didn't hear it but guess Don Fischer called some UConn fan (who threw their beer over the broadcast team) a jacka-- on air last night. Beautiful. 

[mchenry34]

45 minutes ago, CincyHoosier said:

Scott I've had plenty of positive things to say about this team so far this year.  But now we that we've seen this team away from assembly hall twice, I'm becoming skeptical of anything more than a bubble NCAA tourney team again this year.  I hope I'm wrong. 

I think that a NCAA bubble team is essentially what was expected going into the year. If we beat Arkansas (at home) and ND (on a neutral site) then we need maybe nine wins in the B1G to set us up for inclusion in the tournament...as sad as that sounds, that would be progress for us....I think that we might have been hoping that a healthy Jerome would have put us more solidly in the black, but in looking back over the last three years we have lost Four NBA players from our roster and senior guards like Robert Johnson that are playing professionally along with JBJ who is playing professionally...

I think we are progressing, but honestly the roster was really hodge podge the last two years....this year is much more coherent and I think it will result in an invitation to the tournament that we can build on next year...

[Billingsley99]

Just now, Zlinedavid said:

What do kids put more emphasis on/pay more attention to?

It depends on the kids honestly. I have coahed high school for 20+ and did AAU for 6 or 7 and have done AAU and High school at the same time. Not all AAU coaches just roll out the balls. We finished in the top 10 in the nation back to back years going against some now retired pro players and mostly D1 players with a lineup of all D2 basketball players. We were very sound had a team of guys that played all man defense with some 1-3-1, we ran some motion  offense and could shoot the ball.  My only D1 player on AAU was John Standeford and he was a D1 receiver at Purdue. 

[addictedtoIU]

2 hours ago, CincyHoosier said:

Do you guys think that UConn team will be in the tournament?

Who knows, but IMO judging from who and how they played so far, they seem like a bubble team. 

[Zlinedavid]

1 minute ago, Billingsley99 said:

It depends on the kids honestly.

Restating the question.  What do most top D1 prospects put more emphasis on?

And keep in mind, it's not uncommon for top prospects to be at 2-3 high schools, but they're on the same AAU team for 4-5 years.

[Hoosierhoopster]

1 hour ago, CincyHoosier said:

Uconn is 53rd in KenPom ratings including 84th O and 34th D.  63rd in Sagarin.  That was the definition of a Bubble team we beat by 3 pts last night.  They shot 6-10 from the line, had 22 turnovers, and committed 5 more fouls.  

We will struggle to win any games on the road in the Big 10 playing like that.  Uconn wasnt good enough to make us pay for it, Wisconsin was.  We look great at home, top 20 team.  But this team has to figure out how to be better away from Assembly Hall. 

Hold on a minute.

We are currently #32 in Sagarin, Wisconsin is 48. 

We are currently 27 in KenPom, Wisconsin is 49.

Why do you think they had 22 TOs? They just threw the ball away, or maybe we played D. Why did they shoot only 10 free throws? Maybe because we avoided bad fouls despite a defensive battle game. That's a good thing.

Wisconsin beat us after losing road games, on its home floor, with motivation to win. It's always hard to win on the road in the B1G. 

But if you're going to throw out KenPom (still early) and Sagarin ratings, why ignore where we're 'ranked'? 

We won a hard fought late game on a neutral floor in MSG. We won despite not having a good offensive game, and still bringing Rob back in limited minutes. We had good defensive contribution from Hunter and Demez, who also aren't there yet. Seems more likely, assuming health, we'll get better. 

[NotIThatLives]

3 minutes ago, Zlinedavid said:

Restating the question.  What do most top D1 prospects put more emphasis on?

And keep in mind, it's not uncommon for top prospects to be at 2-3 high schools, but they're on the same AAU team for 4-5 years.

Bingo.  High level kids spend a ton of time scrimmaging with better talent.  Thanks ihsaa for limiting how much a coach can work with their team.  Now they leave practice to go play slop ball.  Its in season and out.  

[Billingsley99]

10 minutes ago, Zlinedavid said:

Restating the question.  What do most top D1 prospects put more emphasis on?

And keep in mind, it's not uncommon for top prospects to be at 2-3 high schools, but they're on the same AAU team for 4-5 years.

You are talking about the top D1 kids. Watch some tape on Leal and Galloway and Kaufman and high school tape of Phin and Hunter thats at PU and many other top 100-150 players from our state and they are sound. On some things we can agree to disagree the role of the high school coach in recruiting and helping select college has changed to an extent but most high school coaches are doing the individual workouts to give these gifted players the tools they need to showcase their talents on the AAU circuit. 

[Zlinedavid]

4 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

I was watching ESPN coverage so I didn't hear it but guess Don Fischer called some UConn fan (who threw their beer over the broadcast team) a jacka-- on air last night. Beautiful. 

Heard it live.  You could tell he was intentionally raising his voice in the hopes that person was within earshot. 

And yes, he's an absolute treasure.  On many levels.

[Zlinedavid]

3 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

You are talking about the top D1 kids. Watch some tape on Leal and Galloway and Kaufman and high school tape of Phin and Hunter thats at PU and many other top 100-150 players from our state and they are sound. On some things we can agree to disagree the role of the high school coach in recruiting and helping select college has changed to an extent but most high school coaches are doing the individual workouts to give these gifted players the tools they need to showcase their talents on the AAU circuit. 

When I said top D1 prospects, the top 100-150 collectively was what I was referencing.  And I also said "most", not all.  The thing you have to remember, the state of Indiana produces a lot of collegiate level talent. But not all.  Indiana high school basketball is better than most states, but it can't produce 100% of collegiate talent.  Not for in-state programs or any program. 

The state of Indiana is the exception, not the rule. 

[dgambill]

59 minutes ago, CincyHoosier said:

Scott I've had plenty of positive things to say about this team so far this year.  But now we that we've seen this team away from assembly hall twice, I'm becoming skeptical of anything more than a bubble NCAA tourney team again this year.  I hope I'm wrong. 

I think that is all anyone has seriously thought we would be anyways. I think most people when the season started see us as an 8-9 seed. If we gel and it comes together well possibly a 6-7 seed and if not a 10-11 seed or worse another #1/#2 NIT seed. I don't think anyone coming into this year expects us to finish in the top 3 of the B1G. We are right now exactly who I thought we would be (and that isn't bad). I mean most of the season we have had to start two freshman, a guard that has never ran the point, and a grad transfer that didn't even get a majority of the minutes on his last team. Think about this. We were starting AL, Armaan, Justin, Trayce, and Brunk…..not a single player in that starting lineup played that position for us last year...a completely new starting 5 even though Al and Justin have started they were in a new role. Rob will settle some things down and some rotations. In the end this team will probably go as well as Green goes. If he is hitting we will likely compete with the best and win a lot of games..if he is bad Green we will likely struggle to score and get beat or look rough winning. I like our core....we are just a couple players away..add a couple really good shooters/scorers to Trayce and Rob and Justin and Damezi/Jerome and this thing can take off. Now I don't know if Leal and Galloway will be able to do that as freshmen...but as this thing moves forward I think it will level out.