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Jackson State Pre Game Thread


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When: Tuesday, November 23rd 7:00PM EST

Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana

TV: BTN (and NO Women's Volleyball on before!)

Jackson State is coming of an abbreviated 2021 season (12-6, 11-0 in the SWAC). They are 0-4 this year with losses to Illinois, Louisiana Tech, California Baptist, and Marshall. The alma mater of one of my sports idols...The Great Walter Payton...

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Preview of their season...

5. Jackson State

Key Returners: Jayveous McKinnis, Jonas James, Isaiah Williams, Ken Evans, Darius Hicks
Key Losses: Tristan Jarrett
Key Newcomers: Gabe Watson (Tulane), Chris Freeman (UT Rio Grande Valley), Terence Lewis (North Texas), Dyllan Taylor (D-II), Chance Moore (JUCO), Jamarcus Jones (Southern)

Lineup:

jackson+state+roster.png?format=1000w

Outlook: Perfection, Part II. 

Is it possible we ever see two teams go undefeated in the same conference again? 2020-21 was weird, guys.

Last year, Texas Southern played spoiler to both Prairie View A&M and Jackson State’s quest for ‘pure perfection’ – translated: SWAC regular season AND postseason. TXSO railroaded PVAMU in the title game but needed a series of fortunate events to go their way to escape past the pesky Tigers (the ones from Mississippi).

We here at 3MW hold Wayne Brent in the highest regard, a ripple effect of our Alan Boston apprenticeship. However, one of the SWAC’s most suave head honcho came under fire for his late game management in the SWAC Tournament loss to Texas Southern. That crowd has a point, but, I’m not going to put stock in one possession of basketball when it comes to evaluating coaching prowess. Just look at how far this program has come under Brent.

The unavoidable storyline this summer is the loss of Tristan Jarrett, the reigning SWAC Player of the Year. No team in the league had more offensive production concentrated in one player than Jackson State had in Jarrett, a prolific point guard and scorer rolled into one. He leaves many servings of scoring, playmaking and defending on the table, and no returner or newcomer has the appetite to replace him.

However, this Jarrett discussion quickly morphs into a polarizing two-sided debate when the advanced statistics get involved. Think of the chart below as the ‘Revenge of the Nerds’:

Jarrett+on+off.png?format=1000w

As a quality check, I ran the same analysis at hoop-explorer.com and it told the same story: Jarrett’s eye-popping production may not have impacted the bottom line of winning as strongly as we thought. Many might recall this bizarre incident, in which Jarrett walked off the court after an argument with fellow superstar Jayveous McKinnis.

Jarrett later apologized for his actions, which was sincere by all accounts, so let’s not turn this into a Jarrett bash-a-thon. He was an immensely talented player, but there’s data-based evidence to suggest that the Tigers are far from doomed without him.

McKinnis is front and center as to why. Ever since his rookie debut in 2019, the entire SWAC has been on high alert. Defensively, he was born to protect the paint, as he’s done better than anyone for three years running. His offensive development continues to catch up, a frightening combination for SWAC opponents. Barring some unforeseen event – like a Tonya Harding / Nancy Kerrigan hit job – McKinnis is a lock to win his third straight Defensive Player of the Year award.

Isaiah Williams and Darius Hicks split a timeshare next to McKinnis last year, so their experience will come in handy. However, they were wildly inefficient, tossing the second starting forward spot back and forth like hot potato all year long. 

That may pave the way for a formidable crop of wings to seize an opening next to McKinnis in the frontcourt. Terence Lewis, a former JUCO All-America, hails from a gritty, hard-nosed culture at North Texas, where he was schooled under one of the best defensive gurus in the game, Grant McCasland. It’s easy to see Brent falling in love with Lewis, a key contributor on the Mean Green’s NCAA Tournament run last year. Chris Freeman, a productive wing at UT Rio Grande Valley, will also be in the mix, as will Jamarcus Jones, who has all the SWAC playbook secrets from his time at Southern.

That leaves the Jarrett successorship as the only unsolved roster mystery. Again, it won’t be a 1-for-1 single player replacement – rather, a collaborative partnership filling Jarrett’s stead. Jonas James, Jarrett’s first officer last year, and Gabe Watson, a battled tested transfer combo guard, will take the keys to the offense. How important was Jones last year? Only Jarrett clocked more minutes than ‘JJ’, proof of his indispensable value as the quasi-offensive conductor. Watson’s toggled back and forth between point guard and shooting guard throughout his career but we may see him drift into a score-first mentality next to James.

Bottom Line: The SWAC’s cream of the crop is as loaded as ever, but Jackson State figures to be right in the mix, again, riding high off last year’s unscathed regular season. The loss of Jarrett is the obvious narrative hanging over the Tigers this summer but there’s well positioned to overcome, and possibly flourish, with this re-tooled roster.

"Highlights" vs The Whinin Illini...

 

Edited by IUFLA
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3 hours ago, slojoe said:

I thought that was a Catholic thing.

It wasn't because of dancing...(Baptists historically have "banned" that activity.) 

Side note: know why Baptists can't have sex standing up?.....they're afraid someone would think they were dancing.

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10 hours ago, FritzIam4IU said:

They probably feel about the same way IU fans did when we lost to Indiana Fort Wayne.

Thanks for reminding me. 🤪

I was at the game in 2016 in Fort Wayne when they beat us the first time. I was super salty but on the way out the door they were handing out stress balls. Really forward thinking there on the part of the event staff. 😂

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5 minutes ago, IUKane21 said:

There isn’t any volleyball games on the schedule heading up to this one, are there? I’ll have the app ready this time just in case. 

:D Look at the first post under "TV." I actually checked before the initial post!

Preceding the IU game is "Big 10 Football in 60"...Let's just hope it doesn't turn into "Big 10 Football in 75!"

Edited by IUFLA
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I sure hope that Logan is kicking himself in the butt realizing how bad he screwed up. Being suspended for 3 games (esp these 3 games) will have a major impact (probably negative) on him getting minutes after the suspension is lifted. Granted he wasn't playing hardly at all, but blow out games is your chance to see minutes as an end of bench player. Childress benefited (really well IMO) from getting a few minutes last game.

I know college guys do stupid stuff, as we all did, but talk about bad timing...

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5 minutes ago, DWB said:

I sure hope that Logan is kicking himself in the butt realizing how bad he screwed up. Being suspended for 3 games (esp these 3 games) will have a major impact (probably negative) on him getting minutes after the suspension is lifted. Granted he wasn't playing hardly at all, but blow out games is your chance to see minutes as an end of bench player. Childress benefited (really well IMO) from getting a few minutes last game.

I know college guys do stupid stuff, as we all did, but talk about bad timing...

What did he do to get suspended?  Was it the devils lettuce?  Underage drinking?  Girls in the dorm?

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42 minutes ago, IowaHoosierFan said:

What did he do to get suspended?  Was it the devils lettuce?  Underage drinking?  Girls in the dorm?

Most of the speculation revolves around a failed drug test because apparently Dakich said something to the order of "if it's a 3 game suspension, it's a failed drug test."

Jerome got the same thing last year, but we never get the real truth...

Edited by IUFLA
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I'm hoping for a big lead early tonight so the bench can get the same or better minutes than they did on Sun. Should be no need for Race and Trayce to play more than 20 minutes. Hoping Xavier can stay in the game and play smart. I'd like to see him get 20-25 minutes with no turnovers. Also like to see Kopp and Stew continue their good shooting. Now is the ideal time to build up that confidence. Lastly, Geronimo needs to play within himself. 

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5 hours ago, Reacher said:

I'm hoping for a big lead early tonight so the bench can get the same or better minutes than they did on Sun. Should be no need for Race and Trayce to play more than 20 minutes. Hoping Xavier can stay in the game and play smart. I'd like to see him get 20-25 minutes with no turnovers. Also like to see Kopp and Stew continue their good shooting. Now is the ideal time to build up that confidence. Lastly, Geronimo needs to play within himself. 

I liked that Geronimo got lots of PT on Sunday.  He had some bad moments, but I think the most important thing for him (and Lander) is playing experience.

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