tdhoosier

I know this is the TV thread, but I just finished a book and thought: 'Billingsley would like this'. If you are into non-fiction check out The Cipher by Isabella Maldonado. It's the first part of a series about a BAU team and is included on Kindle Unlimited if you have it. It definitely won't win any Pulitzers, but it was a super fast read and really entertaining. I just saw it's being picked up for a movie and I got excited - then I saw the main character is going to be played by Jennifer Lopez and then the excitement wained. haha.

I think Miller Kopp’s issue was that he had played along side another Miller Kopp. Both him and Stewart were very similar players with very similar skill sets. Catch and shoot guys with limited ability to put it on the floor. Subpar rebounders. Fine defensive players within the system, but not defensive stoppers. Neither of them were hard to guard. It gave opponents the freedom to put in 2 players that normally may been considered to be defense liabilities without fear of consequences. Although I have criticized Woody for line-ups, he did seem pretty hand cuffed by the timing of injuries and having to play both MK and PS at the same time. Ideally I think he wanted to play Gallo (a guy who moves well without the ball) along side MK in the starting lineup. Put an athletic guard/wing next to Kopp and I think we see another player next year because it’s a better opportunity for the offense to create mismatches off screens and movement. The guy can shoot, but unfortunately so many times we couldn’t pass the ball into his shooting pocket, taking him out of rhythm. Perhaps (hoping) with JHS and XJ on the floor we’ll have 2 guys that can create and pass accurately. I think the staff sees Dexter Dennis as a guy who can defend, but more importantly as a guy who can move without the ball, make those baseline cuts, and can keep the defense honest with the ability to knock down a 3. Some keep comparing DD to P-Stew, but to me he seems more like a Galloway who can hit the 3 and defend without fouling.

You said the Woody doesn’t use those lineups. I demonstrated that he does. And he consistently does. And if these lineups consistently have negative swings, even in wins, than the use of them in loses is highlighted even more. Heck, the negative swings I used as examples were when we playing pretty well. I can only imagine how bad these swings were during our losing streaks. Again, we lost many games by less than 5 points. If we’re throwing our hands up and putting in a completely ineffective lineup mid way thought he first half, opponents are going to take advantage of it. They did - almost every single time. Those 2-4 minutes stretches probably cost us a few games.

Are you deliberately missing the point? No where did I suggest that I want guys playing more than 10 minutes in the first half. Why do we have to rest all 3 of our best players ten minutes into the game at the same time? Are you saying there’s no way to have them rotate through getting rest? I mean, virtually other other CBB team does this effectively. You’re acting like this is a radical strategy.

What's not being debated (for the most part): -Players need rest (check) -According to the 'macro numbers', our starters played a lot of minutes (check) What I continue to debate: -It's not that bench players received too many minutes, it's that Woody took all the productive players out at ONE TIME. Whether this came with one substitution or a few substitutions: there were many times that a bad line up was on the floor and cost us momentum, lost the lead, let our opponents back into the game. Because @btownqb said I needed to go back and watch the games. I did. I realized I still have them on my DVR. It wasn't really that hard because this 'bad line up' always is in around the 10.00 mark in the first half. A 'bad lineup' is defined as one without one of our 3 best players on the floor: Race, TJD and X. Below are the games still available on my DVR..... -Woody had the 'bad lineup' on the floor every game except once. -The bad line up was always used around the ten minute mark -In every situation there was a point swing not in our favor. And many of the times that line-up killed the momentum that we had gained prior to it going in. St. Mary's *We were up 18-14 when the bad lineup went in. When one of TJD, Race or XJ came back in we were down 21-26 *Result: -9 point swing Wyoming *Bad line up enters at 10.18 with IU up 11-8. IU is only up 13-12 when TJD and XJ sub back in at 6.48 *Result: -3 point swing. We only score 2 points in 3 and a half minutes. Iowa One of our Big 3 (TJD, XJ, Race) remained in the lined up at all times during the first half. Illinois *Bad line up enters at 11.57 with IU up 15-10. IU is only up 15-14 when TJD and subs back in at 9.56 *Result: -4 point swing. Michigan *Bad line up in at 9.05 with IU down 10-19. IU is down 14-25 when TJD subs bak in at 7.04 *Result: -2 point swing Purdue The early game on ESPN ran late, so the IU game cut in on my DVR with 8.00 left in the first half. The lineup was at full strength at this point, but PU was coming off a 10-0 run. Perhaps somebody can remember who was in the game around the 10.00 mark. Based on a pattern you see forming, I'm betting that lineup didn't contain one of our best 3. Rutgers *Bad line up in at 8.44 with IU up 21-16. Race checks in at 6.06; IU is only up 18-21 *result -2 point swing

X was definitely shooting a lot better down the stretch. That said, I'm not exactly confident it will go in because his shot just looks so weird. haha. He also needs to be set. I have high expectations for him next year because he'll be ready to play in that system from day 1. Side note, as much as we love and appreciate Yogi, I still think he's under-rated. He is the perfect college point guard. 4 year player. 17 points a game. 2 to 1 A/TO. He could score. He could create. Yeah, he was a little shorter than you'd like but he was really strong and became a great defender. He was one of those players that opposing fanbases though was at IU for 5 years, when he was only a junior. Guys like him don't come around often.

and more specifically, when Yogi hit that jump stop 3 in transition. Man, he was good.

Senior Yogi: 79 of 188 for 42% on the season Just imagine having that last year.

Today Scott has become the thing he hates: a troll. Tomorrow he’ll be back to his normal role: the self proclaimed ‘poster with integrity’, telling other trolls to go to the Rivals board. Just another week here at HSN. 😆

I think the staff knows which way he is leaning so they can prepare properly and/or have a contingency in place. This comes at no surprise. TJD needs to take this step. With that NIL deal I’m guessing that he comes back unless he receives some unexpected promises from NBA teams.

But it is about +/- Let’s forget about the term ‘mass substitution’ for a second. A ‘bad’ line up to me is one without one of TJD, Race and XJ on the floor. And whether this lineup came to fruition with one substitution or a few substitution (in the matter of a few minutes), we had a line up without 1 of our 3 best players on the floor. And this consistently happened 10 minutes into the first half. Did it not, or am I imagining that? Now IF, this ‘bad’ line up was consistently on the wrong side of a +/-, wouldn’t you want to find a way to avoid putting it on the floor? There are other ways to get these 3 guys rest. They don’t all have to get rest at the same time.

I will say that I listen to the postgame podcasts, the next day recaps, etc., but I don’t watch the games multiple times. Especially ones that we lose. If you’ve gone back and analyzed the +/- of the lineups without all 3 of our best players (TJD, Race and XJ) in them, and those lineups were even or better, then I guess I will refer to you.

Well, because I don’t have time to and I’m not a masochist. Lol You’ve went back and analyzed these games?

I'm not going to go back and watch every game, but I think these types of line ups didn't kill us once....possibly twice in Big Ten play. I believe one of those times Lander hit a pair of 3. I also remembering you made sure we knew the line up was working that time. Every other time it killed our momentum. There are a couple of game threads where I even posted the score when the line up went in and when the line up went out. You are saying we mis-remembered it, but I think it's the other way around. Our fanbase was salivating with hatred towards the line up and in almost every single game thread we bitched about it IN THE MOMENT. This wasn't our imagination. And you can say that it's only 3-5 minutes, but with these lineups (specifically without one of TJD, Race or XJ on the floor) there was often a 5 point swing in the wrong direction. We lost 6 games by 5 points or less. To resolve this I think we should ask Scott because he has the photographic memory.

haha. @btownqb will die on this hill! I always love the debate and appreciate the perspective. I do agree that Geronimo is not ready for the 3 - I just can't see that working unless he does some crazy developing in the off-season. If everybody stays, we appear to be set at the 4, but I will stick to my guns about needing to rotate through JG, TJD and Race. No other big man should sniff the floor unless one of those guys is in foul trouble. Because why? If you rotate through, they'll all be plenty fresh to contribute at the end of games. (this is with the caveat: unless Kaleb Banks comes in as an absolute stud and is ready to contribute) I'm still holding out for Kopp to hit more 3s at a higher clip. But, we desperately need to find an athletic 3 in the portal who can create their own shot. It's really early, but we have not improved our greatest weakness yet: shooting.

Back to basketball.... There's been a lot of speculation about if Race, Trayce and Geronimo will be able to share minutes. Jared on Assembly Call had some interesting observations on the subject that made me rethink things. A good coach should be able to use those 3. This should be a good problem to have that he can sell to each of them. But in order to do so, I think Woody will need to approach substitutions in a more conventional way: play TJD and Race together play TJD and Geronimo (while Race rests) Move Race to the 5 and play Geronimo (while TJD rests) ...and keep rotating through that. Keep everybody fresh and happy. It seems simple right? But last year Geronimo got a good chunk of his minutes playing with all the bench players, when he couldn't be as effective. I know beat it to death, but IMO, these rotations have to improve next year.

This subject is so interesting to me because there is a mathematic limit. But on the other hand, at one time the 4 minute mile was considered an impossible barrier to break. Today, all the finalists at NCAA’s are within seconds of 4 minutes. Athletic ability will plateau at some point, but when? I do think we still have a long way to go in terms of nutrition though. As a meat eater, I hate to say it, but is meat our best protein source? Is it a coincidence Tom Brady is vegan? Funny story, I coach an elite 13 year old swimmer who is already starting to compete at a national level - she doesn’t eat meat. The girl is like a freaking Energizer bunny. This past weekend at a national meet she was hanging out with other elite regional swimmers, we found out that they don’t eat meat either. In all cases it wasn't a ‘strategic diet choice’, just a preference. 3 kids, amongst the top 13 year old female swimmers in the state, all coincidentally, are vegetarians? I know it’s a super small sample size but I keep hearing more and more about it. There’s also the Williams sisters, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Novak Djokivich, etc. Does this prove anything? Not necessarily. But it does suggest that not all athletes need animal based protein to compete at a high level. Perhaps it’s just that some are built differently and have different biological needs. All that said, and my point being…..a LOT of learning is still needed when it comes to nutrition and athletics.

…AND makes great athletes even better. I think the key lately is adding strength with movement with an added emphasis on recovery, and as you said: nutrition (which is vital to recovery). It used to be just adding strength. Or just relying on your natural athletic ability. But for athletes, strength only gets you so far if you’re decreasing your mobility. And vice versa. There’s a marriage between the two. I’m by no means an expert in the field, but I do receive a lot of secondary education, and I hear every modern, elite personal trainer or expert in kinesiology highlight the importance of this ‘marriage’ of strength and movement in athletics. It’s why you have a growing number of defensive lineman running the 40 yard dash under 4.5. And in the future, athletes will be more athletic than they are today.

I’m not 100% sure that’s the point. Teams can watch him workout, determine if he is a piece they need and hint if they are interested in drafting or signing him. It’s not all about feedback from a development standpoint, it’s also about gauging interest from teams to determine if he’s has a realistic chance at a contract. He can’t do that if he doesn’t meet with them.

This season he was 35-118 (29%) from 3. He ‘can’ hit them, but about as consistently as Race does.

I’d think it’s going to be that he’s going to test the waters for the NBA draft. I can’t imagine we’ll hear anything about his true decision until June. But I know nothing. My gut also says he stays….and Race leaves.

even better!

I agree with this, but specifically, I think it’s much easier for the big time P5 to make those replacements. I just mentioned it in the Final Four thread, schools like Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, Nova, etc can go out and get the best guys (all conference first team transfers) in the portal based on their reputation, exposure and ability to win right away. I think those big time transfers need to see themselves filling a hole and need a coach who they know can win. It’s still early, but Woody needs to prove himself. That’s why I thought making the tournament last year was so crucial. Nobody good is going to transfer into a dumpster fire or to a school trending in the wrong direction.

After those interviews in the first half last night, I almost wanted to play for Hubert Davis.