SMU is small but at least competent. Edwards and Slazinski would be annoying to go up against but WVU has such little depth beyond them, they’ll likely be one of the worst P-5 teams this year.
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Its Time.
LETS GO WVU. BEAT SMU
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Shout out Darion Atkins. We need that Atkins/Mike Scott swagger
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Robinson isn’t ready. Minor has to get better.
And I don’t know how Gertrude helps with spacing. He’s not known as a shooter. Frankly, our guys have to hit open shots. Had we done so in the first half tonight, this outcome could have been different.
That’s fair. Only burn Gertrude/Bliss redshirts if they could take minutes from Harris.
Feel like we just need more reliable outside shooting at the 1-2 spots (McKneely excluded).
At the 3-4 spots, just need shooters that can get their shots off quickly…hopeful Rohde/Dunn start letting more fly. Groves pump faked too much tonight but he still shoots a lot.
They would have recruited another playmaking guard in that case. Who? IDK but I peg that at 95+ percentile.
You can’t judge too much off of the B/W scrimmage but I can tell you Robinson looked more ready than Buchanan did then. I don’t think Gertrude is a dead eyed shooter but he’s solid with a good amount of confidence, and I think we could use his athleticism and ability to get down hill off the dribble in our offense right now.
Again it’s hard to say whether they’d be able to make much of an impact as end of the bench guys but it would be nice to see the different type of looks they could provide. I trust TB at the end of the day though.
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Counterpoint: Blackwell for Wisconsin didn’t have the reputation of a shooter but Gard put confidence in him to hit 3s. Also Gertrude was like 35-36% from 3 so not terrible. Probably better than Dante on 3pt shooting given 100 shot attempts.
I think my biggest critique of Tony throughout the entire Bennett era is his shortcomings in developing confident players. They have to be really confident coming out of HS and he can work with you there. But in terms of instilling trust and firing up someone it’s definitely a weakness. No coach is perfect and I take tony over most if not all. But existential questions like “Would Tyler Herro be a one and done under Tony Bennett” do highlight some concerns in that regard (and how it plays into the mentality of everyone outside Reece being afraid to do anything just like how everyone outside Kihei was also afraid to do anything the years before)
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I’d even include Isaac at this point. Two games against P6 competition and two games he’s struggled to get any off. I’m harping on it but it’s one of the most fixable issues from tonight. Isaac needs to get more space and have a quicker trigger when he does have space. He has to get accustomed to being at the top of the scouting report
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I’m choosing to believe that the layoff was a disruption for McKneely. The second half was better than the first. I’ll cling to that belief as long as I can.
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Hot take. It doesn’t matter who walks in the gym on Thursday. The mission remains the same roll the ball out punch them in the face and stomp a mud hole in em.
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One concern: We put up 62 against Texas Southern and 41 against Wisconsin. Is this a trend line? iMac injury? Reece post Florida malaise?
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Not too concerned at this point even if it wasn’t about the injury. Still only two ‘real’ games as a focal point so he’s adjusting. It’s just a point of necessary and realistic improvement. Isaac has to be getting off 5ish 3PA night in and night out as the season progresses
I apologize for making fun of Louisville. On the other hand, who drives a pickup truck?
It seems like our offense is pretty easy to figure out. Reminds me of last year how we started out hot on offense but then cooled off by midseason. I do agree with HGN about our guards not being able to create outside of Reece.
Thought our offense generated lots of good looks against Florida. What did Wisconsin do so differently?
Was it really just playing us off the 3 point line
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I was following the score - when it got obvious we weren’t in it, I never check the forum until later. For a while I was ready to fire CTB, then I’m ready to fire the players. Then I remember Joe Harris and Tennessee 9 years ago. Then I remember I swore I would never complain about anything basketball related after 2019. I’ve stuck to that.
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My take (curious what others think) is that it was
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Pressure on guards at 3P line, especially iMac and Rohde
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Hepburn really bothering Reece on ball
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Collapsing on interior on drives from the wing (caused a few turnovers this way)
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iMac being slower than usual
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I had the misfortune of being at that game too.
I’ve seen some shit man.
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