Indiana has a 5-star big man, Trayce Jackson-Davis, coming in next year and they are high on the list of another 5-star. Their young PG is very good and if Romeo stays (a big "if"), they should be very good next year.
Game 24 Northwestern: Meaningful
- Thread starter bac2therac
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Indiana has a 5-star big man, Trayce Jackson-Davis, coming in next year and they are high on the list of another 5-star. Their young PG is very good and if Romeo stays (a big "if"), they should be very good next year.
I'll be shocked if Romeo stays. Very little upside. He's already a lottery pick.
Its a sound strategy if the team had go to scorers that can create and make shots off the dribble.Depending on foul shots is risky .
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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STARTING to think we might only be ahead of nebraska and NW, LOL. You're something else. We're tied for 9th right now and we return everyone who will only be getting better with age and you think we'll regress. Solid take
Really enjoyed the game last night (despite the yelling at the television over mental errors and execution at times). I felt for most of the second half that we were legitimately the better team and were in control - until McConnell saved that ball in to Northwestern and they hit a 3 to cut it to 3, and I got real nervous.
Agree with a lot of what's been said above. One of my takeaways was that while we played well, we made a lot of "freshman mistakes" at times - and they were mostly the sort of thing that get cleaned up over time. Just cut back on those lapses by 50%, and I think we win this by 10+.... which is a great sign for the future.
We do need to work harder on perimeter defense, though. If NW could hit three for most of the game, we'd have been playing from behind. I think we overpursue and over-harrass the ball at times - and while that can frustrate a team and lead to turnovers or bad shots, it also makes us vulnerable to the skip pass or the extra swing pass, and leads to open looks from the arc.
Agree with a lot of what's been said above. One of my takeaways was that while we played well, we made a lot of "freshman mistakes" at times - and they were mostly the sort of thing that get cleaned up over time. Just cut back on those lapses by 50%, and I think we win this by 10+.... which is a great sign for the future.
We do need to work harder on perimeter defense, though. If NW could hit three for most of the game, we'd have been playing from behind. I think we overpursue and over-harrass the ball at times - and while that can frustrate a team and lead to turnovers or bad shots, it also makes us vulnerable to the skip pass or the extra swing pass, and leads to open looks from the arc.
I feel this is discounting how important Doorson was in this game defensively (and has been for much of the year, especially when Johnson gets in foul trouble).
It's also not about us "regressing" but just our improvement keeping pace with the improvement of other teams below us. Some of these teams are adding potential 1-and-done or 2-and-done players and are themselves young this year, too. Can't just look at our improvement in a vacuum and assume everyone else will be standing still.
Think of what a great message Pike is sending to his freshmen. I trust all 4 of you to be in a tight game together. Takes guts for a head coach to do that. It will pay big dividends going forward.
I think you're underestimating Weiskopp. I think he's very good and will score points against us.
This game was a typical Rutgers grind it out game where we came up on the right side of the result. We were sloppy with the ball (which has plagued us in games this year), inept at the 3 ball (the norm we have had around here for a few years now), & poor FT shooting (again the norm recently). However despite all that they found a way to grind it out & win the game. The youth on this team is growing up before our eyes.We had this same opportunity at home against this same team a few weeks back & did not close so the progression is there.
I think the FT shooting will progress into next year with Harper & Mathis both getting better than their ~67% shooting into the low to mid 70s. Baker is having a down year but I attribute that to him having the ball so much that when he goes to the line he is fatigued & that has caused the lower percentage as compared to frosh year. A true PG will fix that.
What impressed me most about the win was the will to win & taking it to them where we thrive (inside the paint) & an uncharacteristic department (transition points). We have all been begging for it & tonight it was a huge part of the reason for the W.
As for the last 5 minutes of offense when we got up 8 yes we all wish we could have put our foot down & closed it out earlier & I think they should have pushed it a little rather then working the shot clock down because the offense looses its flow but I do wonder if Pike believes that with a faster tempo offense we lose our focus on the defense which is where we hang our hat on. Not sure if that is the case but it seems any up tempo game we lose some of the fundamentals & get sloppy.
Looking forward to packing the RAC Saturday & being loud!
I think the FT shooting will progress into next year with Harper & Mathis both getting better than their ~67% shooting into the low to mid 70s. Baker is having a down year but I attribute that to him having the ball so much that when he goes to the line he is fatigued & that has caused the lower percentage as compared to frosh year. A true PG will fix that.
What impressed me most about the win was the will to win & taking it to them where we thrive (inside the paint) & an uncharacteristic department (transition points). We have all been begging for it & tonight it was a huge part of the reason for the W.
As for the last 5 minutes of offense when we got up 8 yes we all wish we could have put our foot down & closed it out earlier & I think they should have pushed it a little rather then working the shot clock down because the offense looses its flow but I do wonder if Pike believes that with a faster tempo offense we lose our focus on the defense which is where we hang our hat on. Not sure if that is the case but it seems any up tempo game we lose some of the fundamentals & get sloppy.
Looking forward to packing the RAC Saturday & being loud!
In a game of runs when you’ve got a decent lead bleeding clock at around 3 minutes makes sense imo and is the percentage play. Now you need to execute but in a game of runs you can’t expect your run to continue indefinitely and by shortening the game you make the other side execute perfectly.
good take here...mistakes aren't viewed as mistakes if the other team doesn't capitalize.
Dumb turnovers in the beginning don't put us in a hole
Kiss goes under a screen and they miss.
It is a good thing we built a lead at the end because we tried hard to blow it.
I think it is like the prevent defense in football. I hated watching us milk the clock at the end. I suppose with a bunch of freshman it is easier to do that then trust players will only take good shots.
Penn State beat Michigan. Indiana beat Michigan State. Illinois beat Michigan State. Are they regressing next year. Just saying its a tough slog up especially taking the leap into the top half of the standings where a bunch of Big 10 teams want to get there
I think what people that are predicting next season's record forget is that for the first time in years, we will have a true PG in Mulcahey. As much as I love Geo, he is a turnover machine as a PG, dribbles too much and probably takes away from his scoring late in games (not always) since he has to handle the ball so much. It'll be interesting to see how he plays as a 2G and how the minutes will be distributed amongst Geo, Mulcahey, Maconnell, Mathis and Young. I'd like to believe there will be a lot better ball control next season.
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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I don't see mulcahy playing much more than 15 mins a night as a true frosh. I could be wrong but that's just the way I see it
IMO, he'll be handed the reigns pretty early next season, especially in the OOC schedule to prepare him for the B1G.
Great point
I have thought this for a LONG time
So many of our guards do this
Drives me nuts
Maybe kyk should make a post about this so Pike can read it.
LOL
No
You missed my point
I was joking about the “glass” half full because you said we were controlling 1 of the glasses.
Completely...thought you were referencing my tendency to view things from a negative slant
I agree with everything but this statement. I view Harper as confident pretty much all year, especially on O. He is decisive when shooting, he pushes the ball in transition, he is smooth around the basket and he knows what he is doing.
ball in the basket leaves the basket half empty. any ball not going in the basket is completely empty
People are taking notice and with 3 road games left, i can now see a consistent effort home and away....doesn't mean it's easy to win any road game but the team now can play on the road. Big difference in the path towards changing the minds around the region and how the perception of the program is starting to evolve.[/QUOTE]
The culture is changing. We used to be soft and lack confidence on the road. Now we're grinding and plying for more than moral victories.
The culture is changing. We used to be soft and lack confidence on the road. Now we're grinding and plying for more than moral victories.
The culture is changing. We used to be soft and lack confidence on the road. Now we're grinding and plying for more than moral victories.[/QUOTE]
We have 2 conference road wins and also 2 other really close conference road losses at Wisky and IL. That’s 4 out of 7 road games in conference where we played well enough to win or nearly win. Two blowouts on the road happened without Eugene.
Right now, assuming everyone is healthy, we are no longer a pushover on the road. Gotta take care of business at home now, starting with Iowa.
Not discounting anyone on Iowa, but we have players that can matchup and make Iowa actually defend our scorers as well.
I think that is the problem with some on the board. They keep looking at the situation from Iowa's perspective. The way Rutgers matches up with Iowa, it's Iowa who could have problems. Last year Rutgers attacked Iowa, and they folded like a house of cards. This year's version of Rutgers is better and deeper at accomplishing the same results.
Moss is not an issue, Cook is. Plus weiskamp and Bohanon have become focal points of their offense this year and Garza has had several good offensive games. We can match up with everyone. We can push for fast break opportunities but we cannot get into a track meet with them because they will shoot us out of the gym. Have to pick our spots to run.
You really think Wisconsin will not take a step back losing Happ? What are you smoking?
Iowa has three guys shooting 40%+ from 3 and four guys shooting 56%+ inside (Wieskamp does both, so this is six players overall). It's going to take a complete team defensive effort to slow them down.
I said "a big step back."
After they lost Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker, they went 12-6 and were an 8 seed. That's the neighborhood I expect them to be in next year. Heck they might go 14-6 this season, they'll just get a higher seed because the league is stronger.
They'll be at least a tier above Rutgers next year. Although we do always seem to play them tough.
Agree with a lot of your post but not the part about Rutgers having no business winning the game. We were the better team, played lights out defense for 12-14 minutes of the first half and part of the second half. Yeah turnovers are maddening but if Coach doesn’t go into the freeze up 9 with 5 minutes left , we would have had an easier close out and might have won going away. 3 straight possessions went to the shot clock , after getting the lead to 9 on well executed offense, with only one leading to a lucky basket by Geo. I did not like the strategy there. Hate when you play not to lose instead of playing to win. Almost bit us in the ass . . However, the biggest takeaway last night was that our freshman can ratchet up the defense and that will lead to run outs and easy points off turnovers the rest of the way . Plus we got away with Eugene playing like his worse game of the year until his late 3, layup and 2 foul shots .
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