Chance seems more in control now
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I mean there are valid concerns. Counting on Ibe and a forward who redshirted at St Louis to be the backup 5 options is pretty dumb. At the same time Iām not sure what stud was dying to come here and be a bench player. It wasnāt a particularly impressive portal class overall.
Nolan is a grown man and I like that about him
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I was just thinking this- he really gets into the passing lane defensively and has quick hands. I like it!
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also has gotten some really nice rebounds. he looks really good.
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Heās our more athletic Tillis this year for sure
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King and Bond have scored 47 tonight. We couldnāt stop them. Have to figure that out
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Why canāt the sound ever go out when Coryās calling a game?
Ball screen defense and half court offense - need some improvements.
Still worried about the offense you absolute clown?
Refs in mid season form. Jesus
Edit: Iām watching 5 mins behind
Yes lol, but especially about defense like I said ij my post. We play like that on Sunday and half of our team will foul out
Defense is not good. Press is not good. Johannās hands are not good. Our new guys are not good (yet). But, overall, we are pretty good.
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Fair. Sorry for the insult I couldnāt help myself as Iām reminded what youāre like during game threads
We had 17 guys play. Is that a record of some sort?
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Itās kinda the same defensive issues we had last year in non-conference play. Giving up a little too much space in the mid range, getting a step behind on ball screens and also fouling too much. Not overly worried about any of them, the first two will get better with reps and the last is fine as long as weāre continuing to force turnovers. Obviously you wanna do that without fouling but you live with the tradeoff as long as itās a net positive. Am waiting to see a heat map for Northeastern because it felt like they hit an abnormal amount of shots in the mid range tonight, doesnāt make up for the miscues but I didnāt feel like our defense was that bad. Maybe Iām being too nice though, Odom was pissed going into the locker room at half and then we gave up 41 points in the 2nd so something went wrong on that end lol.
Regardless we canāt play this way and expect to beat Arkansas, even with our offense being lights out in the 2nd half. If weāre this sloppy with the ball, get overly aggressive going for steals and give up this much space inside the three point line they will kill us. They are not a team we can afford to make a bunch of mistakes against and allow to get out in transition, weāll give up 40 points in the paint and 40 more FTAās. Play some token pressure but donāt force it, pack the paint and make them settle for 3ās, run our half court sets and get out in transition when itās available. I donāt think we should be trying to turn that game into a track meet. Carrere should not see a single minute of basketball on Sunday, Vide probably shouldnāt either but Iām sure heāll at least get spot PT. Eli needs minimum 20+ minutes, preferably closer to 30. Need our rotation to be as athletic as it possibly can be.
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Kody Stattmann
More unsolicited thoughts from someone at the game:
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(Most important) Yall need to calm the fuck down. Yes we retained a lot of players and yes Odom is a good coach, doesnāt mean weāre at our ceiling two games into the season. Doesnāt mean Chance wonāt learn to distribute better. Doesnāt mean Nolan wonāt find his rhythm and role. Doesnāt mean our depth guys wonāt develop and also learn their roles. Long long long season and every game is a learning opportunity. Weāre more gelled than, say, Arkansas (hopefully), but even the guys coming back have adjusted roles to learn. Johann has to learn to stay on the floor and pick his battles, Sam has to learn how to create his own shots, Eli has to learn how to play with real pressure. The guys will be fine. The talent is 100% there, even from our bench.
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A lot of mid majors are gonna be told weāre a physical team and be challenged by their coaches to punch us in the mouths. Weāre probably gonna see plenty of sloppy, scrappy starts followed by the lesser team exhausting themselves and losing by 25. Exactly what happened tonight. So many instances of us just completely out-muscling them in the second half. Especially from Sam and Thijs. Weāre a tough team.
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Eli is the man. Eli should not start. We canāt complain about depth and simultaneously try to consolidate all talent in our starting lineup. Was Malik our best guard last year? Definitely not. Was having Jacari come off the bench more important for the flow of the game? Absolutely. Use your heads.
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Ibe still is absolutely not ready but Iām a bit frustrated Odom didnāt play him in the second half.
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The small ball experiments were very interesting today. Some I loved, others I was iffy on. In general the small ball works better when we are REALLY running the floor.
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Johann had a great game despite some instances of weak hands. Wouldāve had some more points on cleanups if not for some foul calls. LOVED seeing him put the ball on the floor and drive. Huge for his confidence to be able to do that against slower footed or shorter comp.
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Opinions on other guys havenāt changed. Thijs and Sam will both be all conference. Jurian is only gonna get better. Anya is a great physical presence and rebounder to have. Vide will find his role too. Iām not seeing it with Carrere.
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Interested to see if Harmonās lack of minutes are just precautionary or if heās not good enough for PT. Heās the type of big guard weād want coming off the bench come March
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Shoutout Carter Lang. Great garbage time mins. Silas looks pretty strong too on the boards.
All in all, happy we took what couldāve been an ugly slugfest and remembered how much more talented we are than them. Maybe a little more effort than I wouldāve like to expend before Sunday, but a freshman-filled Calipari team is not going to outmuscle us or even try. Excited to see it in person!
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Canāt say that I was terribly impressed with the way our guys played tonight, but I was impressed with Gertrude. Heās legit. Heāll be a spark for this team this season.