I’d say IF we improve our D, it’s final four. Offensively we will only get better once everyone is healthy. It’s just the D.
Ceiling on the team after three games ?
- Thread starter RUSCFORMERLYRULOU
- Start date
The improvement we need will be handling teams with strong inside games, and the rebounding
Without looking specifically, I am sure many big ten teams will have that
We can imroove our D till the cows come home and we will still get destroyed inside by teams with quality big men because we have zero frontline depth.. We’ve already shown we are a poor rebounding team against mid-majors. Lathan’s D has a long way to go and he can’t consistently play 30+ minutes. Martini is too small and Ogbole is good for about 5-10 minutes a game. Foul trouble or any injury would be a disaster. A team like Indiana has Mbacko, Reneau and Ballo starting. We don’t play many of those teams but the B1G certainly has size.
Last edited:
Can’t discount this. But then again, we have lots of depth at other positions that other teams don’t have. Plus something else in abundance - talent.
This is kinda silly. Get in and anything can happen, good or bad. March is a long long way away too.
I will say though that we finally have a player in Dylan who is the kind that can take over in the tournament.
I will say though that we finally have a player in Dylan who is the kind that can take over in the tournament.
This team does have final four potential. They need to come together, and soon enough to get a high seed in the tourney. Its gonna be a fun ride.
Super limited sample size... however...
We are 4th in the conference in FG%. When was the last time THAT happened?
We are 9th in 3Pt% (35.6%). Purdue is way ahead of the pack at 46%. Michigan State is at 20%, yikes.
We are 12th in rebound margin at +3.3 and 6th in turnover margin at -1.3. Crazy stat - only four teams in the league have positive turnover margins on the season.
The ceiling for the season - championships! Need to stay healthy, improve on D (this is a given IMO with our coaching staff), get some good matchups, and get hot at the right time. There are no unbeatable teams in the conference. Purdue is very good but Edey is gone. Indiana has an edge inside, we have the edge in the backcourt. Michigan State apparently cannot shoot. Illinois looks good but they only come to us. UCLA is new to the league, how will they adjust to B1G styles/refs? We will know a lot more by January 1st.
We are 4th in the conference in FG%. When was the last time THAT happened?
We are 9th in 3Pt% (35.6%). Purdue is way ahead of the pack at 46%. Michigan State is at 20%, yikes.
We are 12th in rebound margin at +3.3 and 6th in turnover margin at -1.3. Crazy stat - only four teams in the league have positive turnover margins on the season.
The ceiling for the season - championships! Need to stay healthy, improve on D (this is a given IMO with our coaching staff), get some good matchups, and get hot at the right time. There are no unbeatable teams in the conference. Purdue is very good but Edey is gone. Indiana has an edge inside, we have the edge in the backcourt. Michigan State apparently cannot shoot. Illinois looks good but they only come to us. UCLA is new to the league, how will they adjust to B1G styles/refs? We will know a lot more by January 1st.
I was coming more from the "March is about guard play" angle
I see something along the lines of Iowa where we can out score most B1G teams. Talent-wise, maybe Indiana is the only team that can exceed us in top line talent. If we can improve our interior defense by 20%, we should be fine. We can help the defense by having a strong perimeter defense and continue to hit our shots at a high percentage. That will force teams to play out of character as they try to match our skill level. Pressure burst pipes.
I said this in another thread, and some people objected to it. As long as Ace and Dylan are playing at an All-American level in March (which would be remarkable and certainly not a given) then the skies the limit.
Yes we need the supporting cast to also overachieve, but we can’t have Sweet 16 or better dreams if Dylan and Ace aren’t just elite prospects, but also elite college players too.
Yes we need the supporting cast to also overachieve, but we can’t have Sweet 16 or better dreams if Dylan and Ace aren’t just elite prospects, but also elite college players too.
..and I think Woodson is not a good coach. He is consistently with recent underachieving coaches there…Crean and Miller.
Justin Timberlake got it right...
I got this feelin' inside my bones
It goes electric, wavy when I turn it on
All through my city, all through my home
We're flyin' up, no ceilin', when we in our zone
Since you asked about the ceiling, yes I agree it's final 4. That's not the likely outcome and lots of things would have to break right. But I don't think we've had a team with a final 4 ceiling, even as a hypothetical, in my time as a fan.
I'm surprised we haven't been pressing more since that is a way to neutralize a frontcourt disadvantage. I think the conditioning of our 3 freshmen stars is part of the issue. In theory we have the depth to press all game, but not really if we want those 3 on the court the majority of the game. A related observation, we seem to be going for a lot more high-risk/high-reward steals than normal. And getting burned quite a bit. I wonder if that is intentional and another way to compensate for lack of frontcourt D.
Until someone explains how they are different situations, our ceiling is the exact same as Purdue.
All the “but a center” stuff is crap. Purdue had a true freshman center. And now he’s out for the year.
All the “but a center” stuff is crap. Purdue had a true freshman center. And now he’s out for the year.
I watched a bit of the Purdue/Bama game and no way we play with them for 2 halves. I get the euphoria but we have no real inside or rebounding game. We should make appearance in the dance but anything past 32 would be pure gravy
imho
imho
We lost to the only good team we've played so far. So not sure why anybody even thinks we're a sure thing to make the tournament.
I'm not saying we won't make the NCAAs. Just saying that the Saint John's game is the only game we've played so far that is worth considering when making projections, and it was an exhibition. That we lost despite having a decent lead.
Also, as I mentioned in other threads, the second half of the last game was very troubling. Skill and talent is a great thing, but experience and maturity matter a lot too. We have yet to prove that our very youthful team can play a full 40 minutes with the sort of high intensity necessary to get into the tournament, let alone make a good run there.
I'm not saying we won't make the NCAAs. Just saying that the Saint John's game is the only game we've played so far that is worth considering when making projections, and it was an exhibition. That we lost despite having a decent lead.
Also, as I mentioned in other threads, the second half of the last game was very troubling. Skill and talent is a great thing, but experience and maturity matter a lot too. We have yet to prove that our very youthful team can play a full 40 minutes with the sort of high intensity necessary to get into the tournament, let alone make a good run there.
Expectation is NCAA tourney lock, and in right situation things break right they get to sweet 16. If we had a Real experienced center like Cliff ( no problem with him leaving) but a replacement needed to be brought in, ceiling would be final four
So, a couple of quick comments:
-It was an exhibition.
-Dylan was still rounding into shape after surgery, Acuff really wasn’t ready to play.
-St. John’s is an experienced, athletic, deep team, it shouldn’t be a surprise they are ahead of us in preseason, but we should improve more as the season goes on.
-St. John’s may be a lot better than people think. They could easily make their way into the Top 10 this year.
If the St Johns scrimmage lowered your expectations for the team, that's wild
I don't get this ceiling stuff. If you're good enough to make the final four, you can certainly make the final game. Same thing with the posters saying our ceiling is the sweet 16. What if we play a 14 seed then?
If this year the minimum expectations isn't a NCAA tourney berth, then when would it ever happen?
It sounds like there will never be a season we should expect to make the tournament.
What would it take for a team to expect a berth?
And what teams in the Big Ten fit the standard?
As a reminder, Big Ten favorite was starting a true freshman center who is not out for the year.
Should they not expect a berth?
I am pretty sure that’s what just about everyone would be saying the problem was, in that hypothetical case. Except frustrated Indiana fans who would be blaming the coach. ‘Cause, to us humans, forming a lynch mob is apparently better than admitting to having set unreasonable expectations.
It's so silly lol. Wonder what NC State fans thought their ceiling was back in Nov 2023?
Get in the tournament and make a run. Anything can happen. If this team really clicks we could go deep. We could also lose to a mid-major in the first round.
Yeah this. If you are saying the ceiling is top 16 team but not top 8, okay that makes sense. But the actual tourney results are a crapshoot; we’ve seen a play-in team make the final four. We’ve seen a 7 seed win the championship.
I should have been more specific.
There is near zero chance most Rutgers fans would be making excuses for Indiana and saying "it's okay they missed the tournament with Ace and Dylan. They didn't have a big man or experience".
Perhaps a minimal amount would.
I just find the hypocrisy amusing.
Michigan lost in the round of 32(?) with 2 1st round picks and HC Howard was called a failure by most here.
I wasn't specifically citing Mildone.
However, you are correct somewhat.
It is only a hypothetical so it's not really hypocrisy yet for anyone.
Potential hypocrisy? Haha
Would you disgaree with the premise?
All the people saying "Tourney berth shouldn't be minimum expectation" would not be making the same excuses (big man, experience, maturity) if Indiana misses the tourney with our same exact roster.
Exactly. Trying to predict a ceiling, not having really played anybody yet except in an exhibition game, is silliness.
At this stage, anything could happen, including not making the tournament. We could win a N/C (unlikely, I think, but it's the true ceiling). We could have a losing season (also unlikely, but not out of the realm of possibility due to injuries or team chemistry issues that worsen due to some bad losses, etc.).
Agreed. After that, we'll have a somewhat better idea.
Still, in a situation where we more or less have to play two of our youngest players lots of minutes, it's not unreasonable to think that, barring chemistry issues, our team will improve quite a lot across the whole season. Because college freshmen are at a point in their learning curve where they have tons and tons of stuff to learn, as opposed to seniors who have learned most of it and are at the refinement or perfecting stage.
So if we lose all our games in Vegas, that isn't the end of the world because such a young team is likely to make huge progress during the course of the season.
Latest posts
-
-
-
Basketball VIDEO: Ace Bailey / Steve Pikiell talk Merrimack Postgame
- Latest: scarlet night
