09-15-2017, 02:58 PM | #611 |
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@JonRothstein
20 impact transfers for the 2017-18 college basketball season. Here's more @FanRagSports: https://t.co/SL6PzB9twj |
09-18-2017, 09:39 AM | #612 | |
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#2 is probably going to be how well we can defend "home court" playing off campus? If we can run the table or hold it to one loss I will be content. We are going to have some cold shooting nights...will our overall talent be enough to overcome hot shooting nights by other teams? I hope so! #3 would probably be whether or not we will remain "elite" on defense after losing a couple 4 year guys who knew the system very well. We add instinct vs athleticism with Cumberland vs KJ. We add quickness vs length with Broome vs Caupain. Will we really press more? I hope so! #4...is who is going to step up from the bench so we don't skip a beat when they are in? Can we get at least 1 big, 1 wing, and 1 PG to be a quality replacement? I hope so! I am actually fairly optimistic about all of these questions above. Practice starts in 2 weeks or so. 1st Exhibition in 6 weeks or so. 1st game in about 8 weeks or so. The suspense is killing me! |
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09-18-2017, 10:45 AM | #613 | |
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09-18-2017, 11:17 AM | #614 | |
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Conditioning will be hugely important. I love that we have 12 guys but in reality the best teams only use 7-8 so need our starters to be able to play 30 min |
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09-18-2017, 11:36 AM | #615 | |
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So I agree, when we aren't blowing out bad teams and we only use 8 or so guys, how will we play? And who will those 8 or so guys be? It'll likely be Jenifer, Brooks, Williams, and either Scott or Diarra as the main bench options I'd think. I don't want to rule out T Moore bc the reports on him have been very good. But I'd think in our biggest games, he'd be in for limited minutes as a shooting spark. Overall I absolutely believe our pace will be up. Bc 2/3 of our games can be the pressing, using depth style that we've been hearing about. I just hope we don't totally flip that in big games and play the tight style where we basically try to hold on for dear life for 40 minutes. Even when the rotation shortens, we need to be able to find a way to impose our will on the other team. Like you said, it's important that these guys are in great shape. |
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09-18-2017, 11:45 AM | #616 | |
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I think we can expect to get better on D when Washington is out even though on offense we won't. If a guy like Williams can defend better than Cumberland maybe we don't lose too much there either. If we are going to run...we need quality on D from the bench! If we can keep Clark and Evans in the game for 30+ minutes...we can be an elite D with Brooks, Diarra, or Scott in for Washington and Williams in for Cumberland. Evans doesn't tire. Clark and Washington do. We will need Brooks and Diarra/Scott/Nsoseme to step up. We don't need the backups for too long in big games. We just need them to lock it down on D when they come in. |
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09-18-2017, 11:57 AM | #617 | |
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09-18-2017, 12:15 PM | #618 |
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I think Evans has proved he could play 40 minutes a night if he wanted. He literally never gets tired.
Just think though; in one year, mick moved to a motion offense and went from the 69th offense to the 34th. That’s a huge jump in one year. I expect top 15 in defense and top 30 and maybe even top 25 on offense. I don’t want to play fast for fasts sake. I want the ability to play fast which we have and to turn it up when needed. Against ucla a faster pace would have killed us, the slower pace in the first half kept us in the game. I just want constant motion in the offense. And in terms of defense and pressing, I’d like to have it as an option but over all I’m not sure it’s a needed thing. Our man to man shuts down teams who can shoot and our zone protects the paint. It really just depends on how well we press. |
09-18-2017, 12:32 PM | #619 | |
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09-18-2017, 12:33 PM | #620 | |
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I don't know. Last year and the previous few years we had a PG who was kind of flat footed and not as quick. Cronin said pressing was not a great plan with Troy in the game and I imagine (for the same reason) neither was pushing the ball up the court. Troy was flat footed, although sure footed and controlled, but he wasn't built for the press or running. We have to play to our strengths and I don't see how playing fast is not to our strength this year with 5 scorers on the court and a very quick PG (or two). There will never be a time when playing fast on offense means that Cronin will relieve his team from getting back on D. A faster pace on O will mean a few more points given up on D by rule...but the efficiency needs to be there on either end to accommodate. |
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