Take it farther we may not make the run without him. I believe in all our guys but our “death lineup” we could go to of Ty Kyle Dre Brax Mamadi was sensational. Great offensively and could interchange defensively pretty well. Braxtons contributions were big time even sometimes without a big box score.
Hell yeah Braxton contributed tu our success. However, I saw him at Oak Hill and I really thought he was going tu be a better offensive talent. I even said he will push Hunter as one of our best players and there is no way he wont start and avg 12pts a game. I have my theories why he wasnt a better offensive player FOR US but I will keep that info with me and my peeps. But Braxton and Mamadi stepped up BIG time, Especially Mamadi.
I wasn’t bashing Key at all - loved him. Just saying Hauser is an upgrade. Key was the best defender on the team and in the country. But he was very terrible offensively too. I think Hauser will be better defensively than Key was offensively and will likely be the Cavs best offensive player under Tony Bennett.
If there is something I’m a little concerned about next year, it’s actually going to be rebounding. All the other offensive and defensive skills aside, Key was a truly great rebounder who just seemed to have a nose for the ball. Mamadi did a pretty solid job too. And I don’t take it for granted we will just always be a good rebounding team because we have had some variation in it in the past few years if my memory isn’t failing me. Will be interesting to see if Hauser and Huff are able to fill that void. It might also create an opening for McKoy to get more minutes if he can hustle and hit the glass hard.
Separately, I generally also think that sacrificing a little of last year’s defense for offense will make for a much better team. We love our team defense because it is our identity and what we hang our hat on, but you need a certain level of offensive capability to make real tourney runs. Last year’s team accomplished some amazing things, but was not sufficiently balanced. Our title team was also not our best defensive team of the last several years. Was still elite defensively, but it was our offensive versatility and efficiency paired with an elite but not perfect defense that got us to the top of the mountain. All of that is to say, folks are probably right that the defense will take a bit of a step back next year, but that doesn’t concern me at all really as long as the offense looks better.
If you recall our championship team, it wasn’t stacked full of rebounders (lineup of Clark, Guy, Jerome, Hunter, Diakite/Key). But they were taught to rebound as a team. I checked out the numbers:
Key 5.3
Hunter 5.1
Guy 4.5
Diakite 4.4
Jerome 4.1
Salt 3.7
To be fair, I think Salt’s job was to occupy as many opponents as possible while the guards would swoop back to pick up the defensive boards. All of that is to say I believe our system is built on rebounding as much as it is on defense. CTB probably calls rebounding a critical part of good defense. (Side note: he’d probably call our offense - shot selection - an important part of good defense as he’s slightly defensive minded…)
The returning guy I’m most interested in seeing is Caffaro. I know we’ve only seen limited minutes, but I’m a huge fan. Love his energy, and he’s much more skilled at the same point than Salt. The 10-15 mins per game backing up Jay will give us a preview of 2021-22, and whether the starting big will be him or Shedrick.
Nice break down. The team approach to crashing the boards is definitely evident. Salt’s number are a little surprising but I think between his minutes being decreased and his primary role being a space eater. There’s no doubt CTB believes in rebounding, and there were times you heard him mention it when the Hoos did give up too many offensive rebounds to opposing teams.
As a team I believe the 2021 team will be solid on the board. Hauser can rebound a bit, and Jay Huff should continue to improve in the front court. Again, my biggest question is who’s that hustle/glue guy? Huff, has hit the ground plenty for loose balls over the years, but as his minutes continue to increase and his role evolves, it’s doubtful he’ll be able to do that stuff. Same with Hauser. I wonder if Casey can fill that hole, and become the jack of all trades type of player who comes off the bench perhaps?
As @BDragon says this is a great observation. My guess is Kihei led the nation in rebounds for a guy under 6 feet last year and proly 1/4 of those were picked up off the floor not in the air. Nothing better than when you have a team defense that creates that U around a missed shot.
Great point. Kihei’s hustle to those long rebounds is a massive advantage. Especially as more teams take more shots from deep, the chances of a long board increases. Awesome to be able to take advantage of that. The next iteration of the Hoos will be knowing when to take those long boards and turn them into transition points. Everyone talks about the Hoos pace of play but the National Championship team had the green light to run when appropriate and Ty was great at knowing when to initiate that uptempo and test the defensive waters.
Was my biggest gripe with the team early last year. Let Kihei decide when is time to get out ahead for an easier basket. Keeping the footers behind him is way more ideal than dealing with them in front of you outta half court plays. Kody was really good finishing in transition as well
I agree, 100% It felt like they stopped everything to set up a half court set last season. And I believe Kihei is a smart enough decision maker to know when to realize to run. Plus they have a rim running in Huff now who can get out and Sam in transition could create a great option on the secondary break. They could add that wrinkle into their gameplan without changing their identity. Being able to do it 2 or 3 times a half will change the way teams play them.
If I’m looking this up right, he was #18 in defensive rebounding percentage for sub-6-foot guys who played at least 40% of available minutes: T-Rank Player Stats - Customizable College Basketball Tempo Free Stats - T-Rank
Ah man got me with facts here! I was gonna say 5’9 or under but…
Won’t be surprised if Shedrick surpasses Caffaro by January for minutes.
Hauser led Marquette all 3 years he was there in Defensive rebounding %. And led the team in total rebounds both seasons as a starter. He was also one of only 2 top 6 rotation guys with a sub 100 defensive rating. Offensively: His career Offensive rating is 128.7 per 100 possessions. He was the most efficient offensive player on his team the last 2 years and it wasn’t particularly close. To put that in perspective, here are the career offensive ratings of some of the Hoos’ most prolific offensive guys: Hunter: 123.1, Huff: 119.8, Jerome: 115.3, Guy: 114.5, Harris: 112.5, Brogdon: 114.9, Perrantes: 114.2,
Caffaro is interesting. Plays a lot against teams like UNC and probably not much at all against small teams like last years VT team. Shedrick is one of this years great unknowns. I tend to think he plays little next year and then passes Caffaro and plays a ton in 21-22.
Kadin just oozes upside…
Hauser - one more tidbit … his career offensive rating places him 5th among all players since 2009. ok one more even. Hauser ranks 22nd all time since 1992 in career 3 point %. However only 5 players ahead of him had to shoot the longer 3 (20’ 9")for his career. Will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the now longer shot - (22 ft 1 3⁄4 in).
Casey and Kadin… maybe not this year, but watch out. Absolutely love that class.