Internet has been down since 7:30am, I’m sure when they finally get it back on I’ll be due for the rotating power outage. Might as well tell work I’ll be on tomorrow.
I think Omaha did as well. My internet outage is now showing an ETA of 3:30pm, it was 11:30am....I typically stop working at 4:30 so for now PS2 it is.
Temperature Tuesday is absolutely one of the greatest promotions of all time. Drive thru line was crazy long and out to the street at lunch.
Finally have internet for the first time in 11 hours, sorry in advance when me watching causes the 25-3 Maryland run.
Random thoughts on players after watching (on mute) some of the game last night. I'm not sure I love Banton's offense either. He dribbles too high/loose. I think he is part of the reason our offense isn't very fluid. He doesn't have the speed to drive off a screen and we just continually set screens and pop back because we couldn't beat the defender. His jump shot is ugly and ineffective too. His height is nice in that it helps us rebound, but I feel like half the rebounds he ends up getting he won the 50:50 ball with his own teammate and they just let him get the stat. Stevenson I really like. He plays strong and agressive. I think he just needs more minutes to get going. He doesn't have the speed to blow by guys, but once he gets an angle he is good at using his body to shield defenders. He has to finish at the hoop, but I think that's part of him not being in the game much and also the fact that teams can collapse on us on D because we have Banton out waiting to brick a 3 pointer. Teddy has great touch on the ball. Teams try to force him left, but consistently bite on his shitty fake left pass thing he does. Any team that has more than an hour to gameplan or a defender that doesn't bite on such shitty fakes will completely shut him down. Force him right and he'll do a spin move back left where you can easily steal the ball from him. McGowens is the most explosive player on the team, but he needs to gain control when he's at the rim. He's going a million miles an hour and throws it off the backboard like a 3rd grade YMCA kid. Walker - I really like. Why did he only get 8 mins last night? Kobe Webster - He seems like a great person to play with, but he's a "jack of all, master of none" kind of guy. He seems like he's always positive and giving effort. Defense seems like his best asset. We only had two fast break points yesterday. When we started the year, it seemed like we were a run and gun offense. There were a couple times yesterday where we had 2 on 2 in the fast break and our guys would pull it back out. I appreciated it because I knew they'd probably launch it off the backboard, get a charge, or travel, but it's still frustrating to watch. 14 points in the paint.
Post game Fred said Walker was sick so he was held out as a precaution. If I remember correctly he was seen throwing up on the bench a couple games ago so maybe he had a stomach flu type situation and is still working back from that plus the COVID layoff.
Sometimes I think we’re in a tough spot because the guards we have aren’t terrible but they all seem to have one above average ability while the other parts of their game are suspect. Banton has length which helps us on defense and rebounding obviously. At times he’s shown the ability to push the tempo and run the offense, and also get to the rim and convert. Issue is his jump shot is not good so by now teams don’t have to worry about him outside. 48% from 2 but 34% from 3. McGowens can be really aggressive which I think the offense needs at times, but as stated above its almost like he’s too fast/explosive for his own good. Only 37% from 2, but 38% from three. He also draws tons of fouls but shoots below 70% at the line. Stevenson to me is just insanely inconsistent. I like that he’s aggressive but a lot of times when he drives there’s no turning back and he runs into 4 guys, misses a layup, or gets called for a charge. Also is 1/17 from 3 which doesn’t help spread the floor. Allen can be frustrating at times because he can eat up possessions and force shots but IMO he’s a guy we need because he might be one of the only “alphas” that isn’t afraid to be the guy to go get a bucket. Webster has kind of done what I expected him to do. IMO he can be a good spark off the bench, and can get hot at times. Probably the cleanest jump shot (not that it always goes in), and also doesn’t ever seem like a huge liability. I think both Banton and McGowens would benefit a bunch from the offense having a legit perimeter threat that either allows them space to drive, or someone to kick it to, etc.
Walker and Andre could both be difference makers if they get a little better/more experience by next season. Didn’t include them above because they aren’t guards. As much as I love Walkers toughness and physicality, he actually seems to be comfortable getting the ball in the high post and distributing it which has helped the offense. Surprised by that honestly.
Thanks for copying what I said. I thought we brought in that slow white kid who sucks at defense so he could shoot 3's for us. What happened to that? O wait....he's too slow and sucks at D so he can't see the floor.
Your post got me thinking so I figured I’d type something out. I’ve been trying to decide what guys are worth bringing back and building around next season. It sucks he hasn’t been able to get out there even a few minutes a game, just for the experience. I know the original plan was have him redshirt and get up to the speed of D1 basketball, which makes sense, but now that he has the free year it would have been nice for him to get a couple live shots up. Especially when we’re down 20, or in the midst of an 10 minute drought, throw him out there and let him try to catch and shoot for the hell of it. I know it’s not that easy, but it’d be nice to know if there’s a glimmer of hope.
McGowens and Stevenson need to figure out they're not playing rec ball. Plenty of potential with them but they both play so recklessly so often. Not aggressive. Reckless. Biggest disappointment this year has to be Thor. Dude went from being really good from 3 to just completely awful in most everything. And Yvan needs to bounce. Walker and Andre should be able to do what we need. Honestly they're bringing the level of play up a ton. Honestly thinking Banton should probably be like a stretch 4. He can't play defense on guards and he can't shoot like a wing. He's still got potential but he's pretty meh at this point. I love Teddy. Every decent husk team has had a dude like him. He just needs to cool it with some of the crazies shit like flopping. Just play a little tighter. I think Webster would be a better asset if he could be a spot shooter if our offense had move movement and got more guys open but it doesn't and looks stagnant too much. We need better decision making (see TM and SS critique) But he's not a dude to create much. He tries but he's just not really that guy. I don't think too many people need to gtfo but I think Yvan fits in there and apparently Trevor Lakes because he's been on a milk carton. And figure out the free throws ffs. These are college basketball players.
I’m pretty sure Lakes is a senior, so I could see him coming back next year because he only has one more year to eat up a scholarship if he doesn’t prove to be a sharpshooter. Yvan I could see him bailing, but if he comes back for one more year I won’t be that fired up because it’s good to have depth down low. Assuming he’s not using up a scholarship of someone better. The way Hoiberg likes to take transfers and shuffle the roster it’s hard to know who’s taking up a spot that they might have someone to fill.
I wouldn't be surprised if Lakes is encouraged to graduate. And I'm either way on Yvan for depth but I don't think he'll bring anything to the table in the future besides fouls to give which is better than nothing I guess. Also didn't talk about Lat. He needs to be put in a better position to be successful more often. He absolutely can't create. We need to get him in a position to catch and shoot more often.
I do think having Walker in the lineup has helped Lat a little bit. It seems like he’s been able to get outside more and get open looks from 3 but he’s also had some good cuts to the hoop where he can get a layup. Since Walker has entered the lineup Lat has scored 10+ in 5/7 games (one of the games he didn’t was last night and Walker played 8min). Before that he scored 10+ just 2/11 games (McNeese and NoDak State)
No but more hope because of recruiting and a coach with a better history of turning a major college program around.
On paper that is the case, but I still have way more faith in Hoiberg than Frost. Basketball has been a double digit underdog basically every conference game this season, we’re still not on a level playing field talent wise either, so the fact these guys have hung around for 20-30min in almost every game gives me hope. You can see at times where the game plan/set is working but a guy misses a layup, etc. Fred also hasn’t blamed a loss on the other team clapping, the previous staff, TV timeouts, or talked about how close we are. So I’m still fully on board.