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Your key to this season?

Reacher

By Reacher
in General Basketball Discussion

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Your key to this season? Provide your top 2 or 3 factors in the comments  

42 members have voted

  1. 1. What is the most important factor for a successful season this year?

    • Woodson's coaching- getting new faces to come together
      11
    • Ware answering the questions about his motor and being a dependable presence down low
      3
    • Mgbako providing adequate D and becoming a go to scorer
      6
    • 3 point shooting finally becoming a team asset
      10
    • Gunn and Banks making a leap and becoming key rotation players
      6
    • Sparks and Walker surprising and providing reliable depth down low
      0
    • Becoming a top 25 defensive team
      6

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Reacher

Reacher

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1 minute ago, IUFLA said:

I don't doubt Woody's ability to coach and meld this group together at all...

But if we're a top 25 defensive team, whoa... Sky's the limit... 

 

I really think the potential is there. Led by our backcourt. I think Mgbako's D will bet he key to achieving that.

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IUFLA

IUFLA

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19 minutes ago, Reacher said:

I really think the potential is there. Led by our backcourt. I think Mgbako's D will bet he key to achieving that.

I agree we have the potential...

Physically, we're as well off as anybody in the Big 10 for the potential to play defense... 

Top 25 in defense is a tall order though... 

 

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NCHoosier32

NCHoosier32

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I'm not overly worried about defense.  I mean XJ and TG should be very solid.  Ware seems legit as a shot blocker.  Reneau will be improved and just needs to be able to guard a big.  If Mbako isn't a great defender immediately, I'll live with that if he is a legit scorer.  I mean, the more I think about it, it seems weird that we're not in the preseason top 25.  Three 5 star recruits, XJ, and Galloway?  Solid frontcourt depth.  I totally get the chemistry question mark, but aren't a lot of teams in the same boat when it comes to that?

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02Hoosier

02Hoosier

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5 minutes ago, NCHoosier32 said:

I'm not overly worried about defense.  I mean XJ and TG should be very solid.  Ware seems legit as a shot blocker.  Reneau will be improved and just needs to be able to guard a big.  If Mbako isn't a great defender immediately, I'll live with that if he is a legit scorer.  I mean, the more I think about it, it seems weird that we're not in the preseason top 25.  Three 5 star recruits, XJ, and Galloway?  Solid frontcourt depth.  I totally get the chemistry question mark, but aren't a lot of teams in the same boat when it comes to that?

Maybe we’re looking at it through our rose-colored glasses but I’m right there with you. I think we’re a very talented team, one that certainly could be argued as a top 25 team. There seems to be heavy doubt since we’ve lost 4 starters from last year and have several unknowns. We just have to wait and see how all of these pieces fit together.

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DWB

DWB

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I have no doubt Woody will find the right guys to "play together". He won't put up with "me ball".

I think our biggest challenge is playing hard enough on defense. Getting all these new guys to realize just how hard they have to play is a huge component to our defensive capabilities. I doubt if any of them have even come close to playing this hard on defense, because they never had to before. It'll be a rude awakening for many of them IMO.

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NotIThatLives

NotIThatLives

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For me there are way more should be's than sure things.  

Like surely Ware should be better than he showed last season.  Surely Malike should be better at defense than he was last year.  Gunn and Banks should take some form of frosh to soph jump.  X should be back 100% and more mature after sitting next to the coaches most of last season.  Trey should be more improved after being healthy for the longest stretch since, I think, his Jr year of high school.  Walker and Sparks should be a better big bench than Race and Geronimo.   Mbako is a stud recruit and they typically should be able to come in and perform at a high level.  We should have a pretty solid defense.  Lots of things could go our way.  Actually could see all these things happening.  

Well shucks, what sure things do we have to hang our hat on?  

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BobSaccamanno

BobSaccamanno

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IU has a lot of talent on paper but it's mostly unrealized at this level.  There is hardly anyone without significant question marks.  

  • Will Mgbako be able to handle and shoot enough, and play wing defense?
  • Will the game slow down for Gunn enough to improve on his 10% shooting from 3 last year?  Did he get stronger?
  • Is Reneau a step quicker on D so he can stay on the floor?
  • Can Banks score on anything outside of three feet from the basket?
  • Will Ware show toughness and a motor?
  • Will XP be stable and consistent from start to finish?
  • Can Trey stay healthy and improve on his volume in terms of shooting more under duress?
  • Can Sparks improve his free throw shooting so his percentage doesn't have a 50 handle on it?
  • How much will Cupps help?
  • How does the guard depth look?  Will we be thin there?
  • Will Leal earn PT enough to get himself a fifth year?

It's literally all question marks.  I think it's far fetched to think we will be clicking during the first 10 games.  Would love to see it but it would require many of the unknowns to transform into proven commodities in a hurry.

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Joe_Hoopsier

Joe_Hoopsier

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1 hour ago, IUFLA said:

I don't doubt Woody's ability to coach and meld this group together at all...

But if we're a top 25 defensive team, whoa... Sky's the limit... 

 

If we achieve the top 25 D, all (or nearly all) of the other options are pretty much taken care of as far as I am concerned. That is why I went with that option.

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IUFLA

IUFLA

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17 minutes ago, Joe_Hoopsier said:

If we achieve the top 25 D, all (or nearly all) of the other options are pretty much taken care of as far as I am concerned. That is why I went with that option.

Woody learned somewhere (not sure where, but I think it's his birthday today 🙂) that defense wins games and championships...

A Top 25 defense would cover a lot of flaws... 

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Reacher

Reacher

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I think Mgbako is the key to the season. He ties into a lot of other categories. If he is a plus defender, we move up in the D rankings, If he is our go to scorer, X won't be forced to do as much and we are probably hitting our 3s. With Malik, Sparks and Walker, we have some depth to overcome average effort by Ware. Mgbako being our MVP means Woody has likely integrated the new guys well. Becomes important for our future recruiting as well.

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