College Hoops Thread - 2014

[Hoos]

Triple post!

Looking at the preseason one has to wonder what has happened to Indiana. Peay?

[LetsGoPeay]

Triple post!

Looking at the preseason one has to wonder what has happened to Indiana. Peay?

They were overrated from the start but also Tom Crean happened. Vonleh was as good as advertised when he got the ball, which was never often enough. The other kids in Yogi Ferrell's recruiting class (now sophomores) have all been terribly disappointing. One has already transferred and it wouldn't be surprising if two more left soon enough. Luke Fischer, who was a 6'11" freshman with a lot of potential (and was getting decent early minutes) transferred in December. He cited "homesickness" but there were a lot of rumors about him not liking how the post players were utilized, "team atmosphere", and direction of the program. Without elite talent like Zeller and Oladipo, Crean got exposed. They couldn't even get the ball in bounds when leading late at home against Penn State. I'd comment on his zone offense but I still haven't seen it. The perfect Tom Crean moment happened late in the home win over Wisconsin. IU was hanging onto a late lead and he subbed out Vonleh (not in any foul trouble) for 6'6" Austin Etherington to guard Frank Kaminsky because... Tom Crean. The entire crowd booed because his substitution patterns make as much sense as those made by a stoner diabetic on a late night trip to the 7-11 and are almost twice as predictable. Wiscy of course went immediately to Kaminsky who got an and-1 which nearly cost IU the game. Unfortunately Crean's got a huge buyout on a contact that goes until 2020.

Next year won't be any better. With Vonleh and Fischer gone the only realistic option in the frontcourt is Hanner Perea-Mosquera who is one of the sophomores that has been wildly disappointing. His DUI in February didn't help matters. He's only 6'8" and while amazingly athletic he has the basketball skill of BFiVL the morning after a NKOTB concert. The freshmen coming in are McDonald's AA James Blackmon Jr who is a 6'3" volume shooter so he'll either be the second coming of AJ Guyton (which is OK) or Bracey Wright (God help us). Robert Johnson, is a 6'4"-ish guard from VA who is supposed to be a very solid all around player. Then they got this unranked 6'7" prep school kid named Max Hoetzel. He was offered and signed all within a few days. No one is sure why. He had no other offers. Supposedly he's a shooter. They're trying desperately hard to land some sort of late signee/5th year grad transfer/any transfer with size and are failing miserably. No matter what, IU will be exceptionally small, poorly coached, and difficult to watch. I'd imagine they'll miss the NCAA and NIT. People will very vocally be calling for Clappy McTannerson's big middle-parted head but the buyout will be prohibitive unless a big money IU alum like Mark Cuban gets involved, which he has not done to this point.

Tom Crean has done one thing that was thought to be impossible at IU though. He's made people more excited about football than basketball.

[DRiccio21]

in my opinion, Wisconsin should be the #1 preseason team and it really shouldn't be close.

if they don't win it next year, Bo might not ever get it done.

[Hoos]

in my opinion, Wisconsin should be the #1 preseason team and it really shouldn't be close.

if they don't win it next year, Bo might not ever get it done.

With the emergence of defense-oriented teams that value possessions you have to think the shot clock is going to get reduced soon. The style over substance guys like Cnasty find it very boring.

[LetsGoPeay]

This year's Wisconsin team was so different from past teams though. They were 4th in adjusted offensive efficiency and only (surprising considering it's Wisconsin) 49th in adjusted defense. Next year's team should be similar offensively and you have to think they'll improve defensively. Bo Ryan gets a lot of bad pub as being a defense first grouch kind of coach but people forget that his teams at UW-Milwaukee and his earlier small school stops were very uptempo and offensive oriented. He had to make an adjustment at Wisconsin because up to this point and relative to the rest of the Big Ten UW doesn't get a lot of the elite offensive and athletic talents. Also, the state of Wisconsin rarely produces high level talent and when it has, they've typically left the state or gone to Marquette. Only three times in the last 10 years has the top player in the state gone to UW (Sam Dekker, Greg Stiemsma, and Trevon Hughes). He's starting to get a little bit of that kind of talent though. Really, he's just a very versatile and resourceful coach which is why he's so good.

[Cnasty]

in my opinion, Wisconsin should be the #1 preseason team and it really shouldn't be close.

if they don't win it next year, Bo might not ever get it done.

With the emergence of defense-oriented teams that value possessions you have to think the shot clock is going to get reduced soon. The style over substance guys like Cnasty find it very boring.

And why teams like Uconn and kentucky make championship games and win rings and not virginia and wisconsin.

[DRiccio21]

in my opinion, Wisconsin should be the #1 preseason team and it really shouldn't be close.

if they don't win it next year, Bo might not ever get it done.

With the emergence of defense-oriented teams that value possessions you have to think the shot clock is going to get reduced soon. The style over substance guys like Cnasty find it very boring.

the college game is manufactured excitement thru lack of possessions, that's basically what has created the 'March Madness' everyone loves so much.

if they reduced the shot clock it would take out a lot of the parity and the best teams would win much more and things like UConn winning a title wouldn't happen nearly as often.

but i'm not sure its any different than its always been, it might just be reported more now because people are starting to realize/talk about on the internet how badly played the college version is actually played.

[DRiccio21]

This year's Wisconsin team was so different from past teams though. They were 4th in adjusted offensive efficiency and only (surprising considering it's Wisconsin) 49th in adjusted defense. Next year's team should be similar offensively and you have to think they'll improve defensively. Bo Ryan gets a lot of bad pub as being a defense first grouch kind of coach but people forget that his teams at UW-Milwaukee and his earlier small school stops were very uptempo and offensive oriented. He had to make an adjustment at Wisconsin because up to this point and relative to the rest of the Big Ten UW doesn't get a lot of the elite offensive and athletic talents. He's starting to get a little bit of that kind of talent though. Really, he's just a very versatile and resourceful coach which is why he's so good.

we spoke about this like 3 pages ago... almost verbatim.

and yes, he's getting the talent now. Nigel is going to be a freak.

I don't think its so much that people unfairly characterize him as a defensive coach as much as it is people don't really understand the game and just assume less points = better D or more points = better offense. Bo is as sound of a coach as I've ever watched. I think I've made my opinion of him clear over the years. but when you play less possessions, it helps when you have weaker talent and can come back to hurt you when you have superior talent. they could benefit from trying to get a few more possessions even at the sake of dropping a little in off efficiency because at this point, especially next year, they'll be far better than whoever they are playing.

[LetsGoPeay]

if they reduced the shot clock it would take out a lot of the parity and the best teams would win much more and things like UConn winning a title wouldn't happen nearly as often.

You could argue that the 30 second shot clock, along with the shallower talent pool is why you only have 3-4 truly elite women's college basketball programs.

[LetsGoPeay]

we spoke about this like 3 pages ago... almost verbatim.

I'm old. I can't remember what I had for breakfast.

[shel311]

[autiger730]

Oh, so that's why Wisconsin didn't win. Ineligible.

[jsence2]

Willie Cauley-Stein returning for junior year

Huge for the Cats; that means he, Dakari Johnson, Marcus Lee, and super-freshman Karl Towns, Jr will be manning a ridiculously deep frontcourt next year. Plus Poythress is likely to return.

[LetsGoPeay]

Mitch McGary is going being pushed into the draft.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mitch-mcga ... 33742.html

[Weasel]

Read that this morning too. Bummer of a situation for him, I dont blame him for sticking around last year but it ultimately cost him millions. Also, I just learned today that he is already 22...wtf?

[LetsGoPeay]

Read that this morning too. Bummer of a situation for him, I dont blame him for sticking around last year but it ultimately cost him millions. Also, I just learned today that he is already 22...wtf?

He was a knucklehead in high school which is why he went to prep school and his recruiting didn't really take off until then. He was in IU, Purdue, and Notre Dame's backyard but none of them offered until he went to prep school because he was such an idiot.

[jsence2]

The Twins are coming back.

I'm getting Final Four tickets as soon as they're available. Short little drive to Indy

[ReignOnU]

The Twins are coming back.

I'm getting Final Four tickets as soon as they're available. Short little drive to Indy

News broke 3min ago... what took you so long?

[DRiccio21]

The Twins are coming back.

I'm getting Final Four tickets as soon as they're available. Short little drive to Indy

I'm losing count... is next year the 4peat? one for the thumb?

[GeorgesGoons]

The Twins are coming back.

I'm getting Final Four tickets as soon as they're available. Short little drive to Indy

40-0?