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Old 10-21-2022, 09:06 AM   #311
skyblade
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Like his comments on Kalu. He did talk about length on the wing...but you can't get much of that if DDJ spends too much time at the 2. But I was happy to hear that DDJ doesn't see himself as a 2 only but is willing to play the 1 and I think that is exactly what we need him to do.
The talk about length is interesting, since most of the top athleticism/length we have is guys who aren't being projected to play major minutes (Hensley, Ody, Reed, Skillings, Sage, Vik - though most think he will get more minutes). Are some of those guys going to get major minutes at the expense of less long/athletic guys who don't defend as well? All the talk about length and athleticism makes me think they might.
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Old 10-21-2022, 10:10 AM   #312
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How much defense do we need though, that's the question. Is just Newman enough? Even with Newman on the floor, we'd be getting worse on defense at both center and PG compared to last yeah with DDJ/whoever plays center unless one of the centers shows a lot of improvement.

There is a lot of room for matchups, but there's also a lot of room for the other team to exploit mismatches, especially if we switch a lot (which the hints are that we will). Ezikpe struggles at the 4, no way he's defending a 2/3, same with Davenport. Nolley will struggle with smaller guards, DDJ with bigger wings.

I wouldn't be surprised to see us start MAW (or Phinisee) and Newman, bringing Ezikpe and either Nolley or Davenport off the bench. If the 4 of Ezikpe, Nolley, Davenport and DDJ are as bad on defense as I think they've been historically, it's going to be hard to play 3 of them at the same time, much less all 4. But if no one else steps up on offense, we're going to need at least 2 of those 4 on the court at all times. It will be interesting to see how Wes finds the balance.
Guessing Wes starts out the season with DDJ at 2, Nolley at 3, and JD at 4. So you either get Rob or MAW at 1 and whoever comes out on top at the 5.

We are what we are at the 5...whoever that ends up being. If we do move DDJ to the 1 I think he is a decent defender on ball. But getting Newman at the 2 helps with length and rebounding and trapping and you aren't losing scoring to MAW or Rob. He can guard the best perimeter wing player. I don't see how you get worse at the 5 by putting Newman in?

I think you keep your play makers and shooters on the floor and find the best defense you can for the other 2 spots. If our defense remains bad then you can look into taking a scorer off the floor for a defender.

What I am most excited about is who we are bringing in. Definitely better two way players. Jizzle and Ray can play both sides. Skillings and Reed both have great length and should become good on both sides. Sage is tall enough to rim protect and has some scoring ability.
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Old 10-21-2022, 10:17 AM   #313
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The talk about length is interesting, since most of the top athleticism/length we have is guys who aren't being projected to play major minutes (Hensley, Ody, Reed, Skillings, Sage, Vik - though most think he will get more minutes). Are some of those guys going to get major minutes at the expense of less long/athletic guys who don't defend as well? All the talk about length and athleticism makes me think they might.
The only real way to get more length on the floor is obviously not to play two short guards. You have to play one of them. If JD isn't getting it done on D then you could put a better defender in...but you aren't really adding much length in that scenario. I think DDJ and Nolley are gonna play a lot regardless. And you want to have JD's shooting out there if you can help it.

Wes isn't going to look at this like Cronin would. He's trying to get more offense out there...but he still needs to find a way to be a top 50 defensive team at the same time. Hopefully much better than that. top 25 would be preferred. But I don't see it this year unless we sacrifice offense.
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Old 10-21-2022, 10:25 AM   #314
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The talk about length is interesting, since most of the top athleticism/length we have is guys who aren't being projected to play major minutes (Hensley, Ody, Reed, Skillings, Sage, Vik - though most think he will get more minutes). Are some of those guys going to get major minutes at the expense of less long/athletic guys who don't defend as well? All the talk about length and athleticism makes me think they might.
Also there has been some high remarks about Kalu on offense and his athleticism. There is no reason he can't be a good defender if that becomes a priority which it should. I don't know just how much ODU focused on his defense...but he is certainly athletic enough to get the job done if our staff can teach or convince him to go 100% on both sides while he is in. He's not going to play more than half the game so he should be able to conserve his energy for when he gets in there. That goes for most of the team of course. I have no worries about DDJ slacking. I hope Nolley is committed to becoming the best defender he can. JD will be giving his all and hope that is good enough.
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Old 10-21-2022, 12:46 PM   #315
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Nolley as a point forward solves a lot of issues. DDJ, Newman, Nolley, JD, Vik is a somewhat long lineup that should be able to score. My guess is Rob starts at PG though.
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Old 10-21-2022, 05:50 PM   #316
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Nolley as a point forward solves a lot of issues. DDJ, Newman, Nolley, JD, Vik is a somewhat long lineup that should be able to score. My guess is Rob starts at PG though.
It would be nice to know what offensive and defensive packages are working well in practice and scrimmages. How are we rebounding in those lineups etc. Wes has a lot variety to work with but I hope it's not too much to find the optimal rotation. Sounds like he has been throwing a ton of different looks out there so far which is both good and bad. That sounds to me like an inconsistent year unless he can figure it out early.

In future years I don't think he will have to try so many different looks as he gets players who can play two ways. But we are likely 2 years away from good results from getting those guys into the heavy rotation. That's okay as long as he continues to be successful on the recruiting trail.
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Old 10-22-2022, 12:33 PM   #317
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It would be nice to know what offensive and defensive packages are working well in practice and scrimmages. How are we rebounding in those lineups etc. Wes has a lot variety to work with but I hope it's not too much to find the optimal rotation. Sounds like he has been throwing a ton of different looks out there so far which is both good and bad. That sounds to me like an inconsistent year unless he can figure it out early.

In future years I don't think he will have to try so many different looks as he gets players who can play two ways. But we are likely 2 years away from good results from getting those guys into the heavy rotation. That's okay as long as he continues to be successful on the recruiting trail.
Yeah, it seems like it's going to be very similar to last years team, in that we'll have a bunch of options, each of whom brings different skills to the table, but all of them have major flaws. We will have more depth, but I'm not sure how much that helps. All the mixing-and-matching would be a lot easier if we just had one or two players who excel at both offense and defense.

It seems like the same issue FB teams with choosing a starting QB. At some point you have to make a choice and stick with it in order to get that guy more development through experience.

I agree that the future looks bright though. We have quite a few guys who in a year or two should be stars who can bring it on offense and defense. But it may be painful getting there if Wes can't find a rotation that excels on both ends of the court.
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Old 10-25-2022, 10:30 AM   #318
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Yeah, it seems like it's going to be very similar to last years team, in that we'll have a bunch of options, each of whom brings different skills to the table, but all of them have major flaws. We will have more depth, but I'm not sure how much that helps. All the mixing-and-matching would be a lot easier if we just had one or two players who excel at both offense and defense.

It seems like the same issue FB teams with choosing a starting QB. At some point you have to make a choice and stick with it in order to get that guy more development through experience.

I agree that the future looks bright though. We have quite a few guys who in a year or two should be stars who can bring it on offense and defense. But it may be painful getting there if Wes can't find a rotation that excels on both ends of the court.
I'm not going to complain much this year or next when we get to the B12 for the first time. But when this frosh HS class are juniors and Ray and Jiz are sophs I hope we are trending in the right direction. I expect we will add some more impact guys like transfers or hopefully guys Like Bidunga, Cyril or McKinnley to help. And although it's a long time to wait I am willing to give 3 years to make the dance given some turnover and overall youth in the next couple of years. Probably not a popular take but something I am preparing for.

I do think if Wes can find the right rotation this year...we have an outside shot. The following year is going to be tough but not impossible.
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Old 10-30-2022, 01:20 PM   #319
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https://www.jconline.com/story/sport...r/69601809007/

Purdue got a detailed breakdown on the secret scrimmage. Unfortunately, we only get nuggets on UC. Relevant notes about UC from the article.

- The Boilermakers won 77-64

-The Boilermakers converted 16 points off 12 Cincinnati turnovers.

-The Boilermakers were 8 of 20 from beyond the arc.

-Robert Phinisee, who attended McCutcheon and started his career at Indiana, played 27 minutes for the Bearcats. Phinisee scored one point and went 0 of 1 from 3-point range.

-Purdue attempted 31 free throws, hitting 25. Kaufman-Renn drew eight fouls and made 7 of 9 from the line. Edey was fouled seven times. Two Cincinnati players were called for six fouls.

-the Boilermakers won the rebounding battle.
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Old 10-30-2022, 02:07 PM   #320
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It's hard to get a lot out of the Purdue notes, unfortunately it seems like that's all we are going to get for a while. Can't read that much into it, but I'll try because despite being almost nothing, it's the most we've had for a while.

Looks like the defense might be a major issue. We committed a bunch of fouls (I assume on the interior) and didn't defend the three point line well. Though Purdue is bigger than almost any team we will face this year.

Kaufman-Renn is a 6'9" Sophomore Forward and Edey is 7'4". If I was going to bet on the two UC players called for 6 fouls it would be on Lakhin and Ezikpe, but regardless of if I'm right it sounds like our primary two big men couldn't stay on the floor and that's not a good sign. It could have been just about any of our bigs as pretty much all of them are known for fouling a lot.

Phinisee did what every single piece of evidence from his previous college years indicated he would and was a complete non-factor of offense.

Last edited by skyblade; 10-30-2022 at 02:16 PM.
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