Is the “tight rims” thing an anecdote of sorts or do they actually have tighter rims?
No, he mentions being in the arena a lot and that was his impression from actually shooting there and watching games.
I’ll also say, the last 2 tourney games we’ve be done in by the other team having the ‘best player on the floor’ the last 5-8mins of the game to make the difference. Happened w Peters (w help from BVP) for Ohio and Slawson for Furman. This is the big worry for me w Stevens, that we hold him in check the first 2/3 of the game and it is a close game, then he takes over toward the end.
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zH00s keys to the game:
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Groves can’t get put in a blender on defense from CSU running their actions. He’s struggled with similar teams. We’ll need something from him on offense at some point.
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Come out aggressive and shot hunting. That includes Dunn and Rohde, even if they don’t fall. We can’t climb back into our shells.
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Bigs dominate the boards and stay out of foul trouble.
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Reece lockdown Stevens.
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iMac get up 5+ clean(ish) looks from 3.
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Most importantly, keep our wits about us. Can’t let things spiral when a few plays or calls don’t go our way.
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Defensively, this feels like a Buchanan game to me? CSU doesn’t go for offensive rebounds and they do a lot of damage at the rim (67% at rim, and take 37% of their shots there), so I’d love to have the dual rim protector look with Buchanan and Dunn together.
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I keep going back and forth w the starters. My head says Minor b/c he’s an older exp guy and can put two hands on a damn rebound but you are absolutely correct about BB’s mobility and secondary rim protection. I forever worry about a first year in a game like this though. My gut is that I would start Reece, iMac., Taine (yep, just think he is finding his inner dawg and might be a steady hand the first 4/5 mins) Dunn and Minor. I would expect Groves and BB to play equal mins to Taine/Minor. Our ‘big’ line up might end up being the best and I think we’ve found Groves is a little better coming off the bench. A lot of tough calls for Tony
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Stolen from Twitter. Colorado State shows discipline on shot selection, 3 or interior. We’re a bit sparse on our 3’s, heavy on the long 2’s.
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Yeah, tough calls all around. Time for some votes?
Starting big should be?
- Jordan Minor
- Blake Buchanan
- Groves-Dunn
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voters
Who’s your shooter of choice to be the 5th starter?
- Taine Murray
- Jake Groves
- Both Murray and Groves (and play small)
- Someone else (explain)
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voters
Hahahah. Thats awesome man but shouldnt they be shooting free throws?
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They should also be practicing how to call timeouts and how to intentionally foul.
They also need to practice their banked-shot defense
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Don’t overthink it. Start Minor. Man on a mission. DJ Burns having his moment kind of overshadowed it, but Minor wanted that win more than anyone in the building.
If he’s getting spun around or we need more mobility, put in Blake or go small or whatever.
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Tells me they are very disciplined in getting to their spots.
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Less than 24 hours to prepare for a Tony Bennett defense? Good luck CO St!
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I think short turnaround favors us. Our guys don’t need to think. They need to take the elation we all saw in the video on X and what they already know about defense AND WIN!
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Minor has been better than BB regardless of matchup. He needs to be getting 25-30 min.
He gets a quick hook and think that impacts folks opinion on his game (like when pulled immediately against Post).
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Interesting — not much of a corner 3 team, which has been our kryptonite this year.
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Agreed. And against a team like this, Minor should be particularly valuable. Hopefully he is a big part of the gameplan.
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The hook isn’t that quick tbh. He was legitimately very rough the start of a few games. But even so, I’m fine to give him more runway.
Fun fact: CTB coached teams have, including this year, made the NCAA tournament 12 times. In the 11 first round games his teams have played, they have gone 7-4. In those games, CTBs teams have never lost when they’ve shot over 30% from 3 point range and they’ve never won when they’ve shot under 30%. Its remarkably consistent.
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Because CSU doesn’t have a player in the rotation taller than 6’8, I looked at our losses this year.
Every one of the teams that beat us had taller guys who did damage.
Wisconsin — 7’0 and 6’9 — 24 pts & 20 rebounds in 54 minutes
Memphis — 6’9 and 6’9 — 11/10 in 42
ND — 6’10, 6’9, 6’10 — 29/20 in 67
NCS — 6’9, 6’10, 6’10 — in two games — 54/35 in 125
Wake — 6’10, 7’0, 6’10 — 21/22 in 77
*Pitt — 6’11, 7’0 — 10/7 in 40
VPI — 6’9, 6’10, 6’9 — 38/13 in 64
UNC — 6’11, 6’10, 6’9 — 13/24 in 51
Duke — 6’9, 7’0, 6’9, 6’10 — 39/21 in 79
- a 6’8 240-lber destroyed us.
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