Jump to content

Thanks for visiting BtownBanners.com!  We noticed you have AdBlock enabled.  While ads can be annoying, we utilize them to provide these forums free of charge to you!  Please consider removing your AdBlock for BtownBanners or consider signing up to donate and help BtownBanners stay alive!  Thank you!

VeevlandBrowns

Members
  • Content Count

    72
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by VeevlandBrowns

  1. VeevlandBrowns

    For 2017-18 IU Badly Needs Another "BIG"!!!!

    Grad transfer possibility for *next* year Mike Daum - South Dakota State He's already gotten on the map for deep hoop fans. He averaged 25.1ppg and 8.1 rpg. 51/42% from the floor (and those 3% #s are legit as he averaged almost 6 attempts per game. 87% at the line while averaged 8.25 FTA/game. All in a 6'9" 240lbs body. He will likely be eligible as a grad transfer next year and if he goes that route, that would possibly be the biggest recruiting battle we've seen yet in the grad transfer market, as he's a legit All American level player (might be one this year anyway). I think it's also possible that he's an NBA draft pick next spring, so who knows what path he might opt to take, but he's a name clearly worth paying attention to about 8 months from now.
  2. VeevlandBrowns

    College Bball Thread

    Rules changes this year are "minor" and in fact, they do appear relatively minor. The changes are: — On a foul or other violation that occurs in the frontcourt inside the final 20 seconds of a shot-clock cycle, the reset will be to 20 seconds rather than 30. This is similar to a FIBA rule that assumes since there aren’t 10 seconds required to advance the ball, the offense shouldn’t need a full 30 seconds to pursue a shot. If the violation occurs before the 20-second mark, there will be no reset. My Thought: Good idea. Easy way to increase possessions some without tampering with the integrity of the game too much. — The coaches’ box will grow by 10 feet, making it easier for coaches to communicate with players at the opposite end of the court (and more difficult for officials to call them for technical fouls for being out of the box). My Thought: VERY good idea. I'll admit that some of the antics we see with coaches near the center circle are ridiculous but there's been a bit too much zealotry at times from officials on this thing. I suspect the stripes will not like this but that's just too bad. — Allowing use of replay monitors in the final two minutes of regulation or of overtime to determine whether a secondary defender attempting to draw a charge has his feet inside or outside of the restricted area (the no-charge zone). My Thought: Very good idea. That's a call I want to see them get right, even if it takes an extra couple of minutes. Anything to avoid rewarding flops and bulls*** "charges." — Requiring offensive players who are screening have the inside of their feet set no wider than their shoulders. My Thought: This is one to keep an eye on. I like the fact that there's at least a standard set, which I'm not certain there was previously. In theory, I'm not bothered by this but I need to see how it's called in practice. The big opportunity that they punted on was not moving to the quarter system. I've found myself getting persuaded that if we're not going to see a backing off on freedom of movement and the endless foul calls that result from it (and I don't think we are), then at least resetting the penalty after each 10 minutes of play would be helpful in improving the flow of play generally. So an opportunity missed there, IMO.
  3. IU might have been "better" with Blackmon this year on the offensive end, but it has to be about a larger picture than that. Miller wants to get his culture established and his MO has been that you check in his program. Maybe he'd have gotten Blackmon to buy in but the evidence suggests that would be a tough sell. So are you better off starting over in the backcourt? I think there's a good argument that you are, in terms of getting the program where Miller wants it to be in a quicker time frame. Honestly, if all these guys had returned, yes, they would have been more talented, deeper, etc. and probably been able to win a few more games just based on that. I'm not sure Miller would have been able to get his thing going in earnest, though, and as a new coach that would be a very tough situation to go through. Be safe, do well bud.
  4. VeevlandBrowns

    NBA Thread

    Well, forget most of what I said. Houston 126, San Antonio 99. But it was still interesting to watch Pop rip on Lee that early in the game. (and then tell him his arse was out later when he apparently messed up a rotation when Harden drove the lane off a back cut. I'm not sure what Lee did wrong on that one, but it earned him a seat on the bench). Entertaining. I was hoping for a Harden vs Leonard showdown in the fourth quarter. Maybe game two.
  5. VeevlandBrowns

    NBA Thread

    I'm just getting around to skimming through Game 1 of Houston vs San Antonio. So ... Harden makes an early 3 and Popovich calls a time out, 90 seconds into Game 1, with his team down 5-2, just to yell at David Lee? That was awesome. It took five minutes, after a commercial and more playing time, before Reggie Miller explained that Pop was angry at Lee for switching and guarding Harden. I thought he might have been angry for Lee not getting a hand up. But I was wrong. But I don't think I've ever seen an NBA coach call a time out with a 5-2 score, 90 seconds into Game 1 and rip into a guy. David Lee took it. I suspect they won't make that mistake again. And the Spurs have built a culture where the coach is in charge and they have always had stars who let the coach lead (of course players play, and tough players win, and the most talented players usually win in the NBA, and coaching doesn't have as much impact as it does in other sports. but it has a little bit of an impact in terms of getting everyone on the same page. Pop hit that page hard, 90 seconds into the series. Interesting).
  6. VeevlandBrowns

    NFL Draft

    Real quick overview of the NFL Draft: The NFL draft is reason for excitement every year. As you all look at kind of these mock drafts, first rounds, maybe sleepers, are there any things that may be surprises for you, guys you really, really like, guys you really, really don’t like, names that are kind of coming off the page to you? I think there’s a couple, number one is this quarterback dynamic. I really haven’t been paying attention a ton because I kind of felt the names you’re going to expect would go near the top whether it be Watson, there was noise about Kizer, etc. All of sudden Mitch Trubisky, I guess Mitchell now, is shooting to the top of the board, almost literally to the top. I looked at a couple of them where they have him at the two pick which is kind of surprising because he’s played one season at North Carolina and now we’re talking about him being the second overall pick. The other one toward the bottom of the first also in the quarterback category was Pat Mahomes, who’s breaking my heart because he’s on my college fantasy team and he left a year early which is just a killer because he’s a point machine. But regardless, I thought when he declared he would go in the fourth, fifth or sixth round and all of sudden most people have him in the mid 20’s going to maybe the Texans or going to the Chiefs. We have not seen one of these typical air show system quarterbacks do well in the NFL and yet he’s sitting there rocketing up draft boards. That has surprised me a ton. I think I saw a couple different things that unnerved me about Trubisky. First, he would have had the least number of starts for a quarterback that’s projected to be taken as high is he has. Some Blaine Gabbert comparisons out there. 98% of his drop backs from the shotgun, offense that has all those RPO’s (Run-Pass Options) which allow you to have a lot of different passing angles, space, lot of worries about arm slot and balls batted down. In some ways, I kind of hope the Browns just take Myles Garrett who everyone thinks that they should because if they were to do something really foolish and take Trubisky that would probably be even worse. I think that’s a recipe for disaster. So I think the quarterback dynamic is really interesting. Along those same lines, a guy that’s been shooting up the draft boards is Josh Dobbs, quarterback from Tennessee. I do not see it with him. I get some of the pieces in terms of his intelligence and I understand the quick release piece and ball handling piece but here’s two things you really want to be able to be good at if you’re going to play quarterback in the NFL regardless of everything else. You wanna have good footwork and you wanna be accurate. Josh Dobbs at Tennessee and Josh Dobbs in his workouts has not been that. If you’re not going to have good footwork and you’re not going to have accuracy, I see why some of these other things are getting him to shoot up the draft boards but his draft grade he got, which wasn’t great, which was a third roundish grade about where he should go. So yeah the quarterback dynamic is interesting but Trubisky and Dobbs for me are kind of guys that I wouldn’t be as high on as some people are. That's the weird part of this. Kizer last week said he’s like Cam Newton’s body and Tom Brady’s work ethic and brain and I’m like whatever. The more noise I’m hearing about all these guys shooting up, well, it’s like wait a second here, if you’re going to take those guys, then you should take Kizer in front of those guys. All of a sudden I’m kind of defending him going at least he’s a big bodied, can move, big armed, confident, and poised kid. If you like those guys, you gotta look at Kizer and lost in the wash a little bit is Deshaun Watson whose done nothing but win in his whole life. That surprised me. The other thing that surprised me, specifically in the first round, is it’s almost like the rejuvenation of the running back position. For years it seemed like the running back role was being diminished and marginalized and now you’ve got three guys that are gonna go in the first round. They’re super talented. You’ve got McCaffrey, Fournette, and Cook. I guess the thing that surprised me about that is Cook is falling into third position and frankly on a lot of boards a distant third from the late-middle end of the first round. I think he’s outstanding and seemingly more durable than the other two. The other two have been banged up most of their career. When I watched Dalvin Cook play this year, I probably said I hope that guy is a Lion because of his home run hitting speed and some of his durability. He took a pounding in some of those games that Florida State played in but I get the knock. Team career fumbles, some drops out of the backfield in the passing game are some of the knocks on him. He’s maybe not as tough of a runner between tackles as he could be. I would absolutely take Fournette. I know the injury stuff and I get why that would scare people away a little. But I like Leonard Fournette.
  7. VeevlandBrowns

    NBA Thread

    My bad. Garbage is too strong of a word. I got carried away. I should reserve that word for a player who doesn't care. He does care. He just doesn't seem to know any better. So there's a better word than garbage. When I think of it, maybe I'll post it.
  8. VeevlandBrowns

    NBA Thread

    He has a lot of talent, and is an exciting player, but I don't like his game. It's not a winning style of game. Some guys in history have put up great numbers as volume pushers - Westbrook, Maravich, Dominique Wilkins - but they don't play winning basketball. I would put the Warriors version of World B Free in that category too. Westbrook is substandard with his decisions. And he was that way last year with Durant, and I think that's a big reason why Durant left. I thought Westbook's game was a mess last year. Now, without Durant, he gets more rebounds, takes more shots and happens to accumulate drive-and-dish assists along the way. But there are several players in the league that would amass great numbers if they played for the Thunder and were give carte blanche with the ball, the way he is. I appreciate his effort and his talent. But he doesn't play winning basketball and I suspect he might not understand winning basketball. Even if he were surrounded by good players, I suspect he would still make maddening plays in the last five minutes of tight games. The only way to avoid it would be to make sure the ball wasn't in his hands for the key decisions late in games. There was one play with about 2 minutes left, right after the Rockets had taken a 1-point lead (their first lead of the second half), when Westbrook was guarding Beverly (I think it was Beverly). And he left Beverly wide open in the corner. Westbrook sagged WAAAAAYYYYYY off of him, and was down in the paint. He wasn't helping anyone in the paint. Neither team EVER sent a post feed into the paint. And there wasn't a great threat of a drive that he needed to be aware of. Westbrook just sagged off Beverly, hung out in the paint. And the Rockets kicked the ball over to Beverly for an open 3-pointer. Dagger 3-pointer. And Westbrook just bought a ticket and spectated for the whole thing. His man. He sagged off for no apparent reason. Garbage. Some of you guys have probably shared the court with guys like this (not his type of talent, but his type of self-absorbed approach to basketball). Garbage.
  9. VeevlandBrowns

    College Bball Thread

    Real quick thoughts on Notre Dame: Colson stays. Not a big surprise. I don’t think anybody thought he was a legit early entry threat. They return 3 of 5 starters. You’re going to have Pflueger, Farrell, and Colson back to go with TJ Gibbs who they really like and got some time this year. The rest of the guys he’s got are Torres, Geben, and Mooney, a few others who are role players. Brey makes a lot of noise out of role players so we’ll see what he can do there. He’s got a 4 star 6’8’’ forward coming in out of Maryland in DJ Harvey. I expect him to play a fair amount as well with the exit of Beachem and Vasturia. The long story short and I don’t want to spend too much time on these guys but ND is in the grad transfer market. I would expect them to be targeting some guard support behind Farrell and Gibbs. I don’t know how Brey is going to make the most of his play dough. It’s not obvious every year. He just seems to show up with a team that can beat almost anybody. I expect that to happen again for no other reason that it’s happened before. But it’s not obvious how it’s going to come together looking at these pieces. The people that I trust in the AAU game really, really like Harvey. They think he’s going to be a kid that can step in and do a lot of things in the Beachem-esque role and be able to give them some immediate help. Colson is just so hard to see how he does what he does. Maybe he is the perfect guy for Mike Brey. Sometimes you’re not sure how Mike Brey turns these teams into what he turns them into. If Colson was out and playing a pickup game with all D1 players and people just looked at a 6’6” not a post, not a guard, kind of in between guy. You just think is he Corliss Williamson? In the ACC tournament he may have been the best player. Real quick thoughts on Patrick Ewing as a hire: He’s a first funny take: my son loves Patrick Ewing. Why? Well he started by playing NBA 2K and you get to pick the older teams. He loves that a guy that’s 7 foot can hit an 18-foot jumper. So he thinks Ewing’s the best. He’s all of a sudden all in on Georgetown. He wants shorts. He wants gear. I don’t know how you could say that you upgraded. My buddy always says don’t fire a guy unless you got a really good guy waiting in the wings. I think this was a mistake. I’m not sure how Patrick Ewing is going to do. I appreciate that he’s paid his dues as an assistant. He’s not a guy like Chris Mullin who just drops out of the sky into a job without really having coached before or Brad Ausmus for that matter. So I appreciate that he’s paid his dues on some NBA benches as an assistant coach but who knows how Patrick Ewing is going to do. I don’t know if you fire JT3 to start with. A question for me is who’s running this program? People say that John Thompson is running the program. Well then I say why did he have you fire his kid? If he’s running it, just let him run it. This is weird to me. It looks like you fired John Thompson’s son and we tried to get Shaka, Amaker, Hurley, Pitino, Archie, Gregg Marshall and none of them would come here. So then we call John Thompson and he said hire Patrick Ewing. Again, I don’t know what your plan is over there. I hope Patrick is successful. I just assume Georgetown is good than not because Georgetown is a historical program and I think it’s good for the game. Who’s doing the best so far? There hasn’t been a lot of Archie Miller noise expect for they got a lot of guys in the ring without an agent so it’s hard to see how that’s going to play out. But Cuonzo Martin is making a splash. He’s making a big one. He’s going to have a top 10 class at Missouri. Obviously, Michael Porter Jr. the number one player in the nation. 6’10” from Seattle. Just signed Blake Harris who Michigan Sate was in on. Four star point guard out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He’s got CJ Roberts who he brought in another four star out of Texas. They’re still in the mix with two other highly recruited kids. Jeremiah Tilmon who was originally an Illinois signee. I believe he was a four star kid who was released from his letter of intent. And then a five star kid by the name of Kevin Knox. So he already has a top 10 class that might only get better. I get the knock from some people on what’s he ever done with the talent that he’s had because he had some pro’s and some really good kids out there at Cal. He’s going to put together a team, talent wise, that looks the most different of any of those schools last year to what he’s going to put on the court this year. So as of right now, I think he’d have to be at the top of the list of hires. If you’re an Illinois fan and you just hired Underwood you’re kind of thinking man I’m getting upstaged by my rival and we’re only about 30 days into this. I think from an Xs and Os stand point Indiana is probably in good hands with Mr. Miller. But certainly, you gotta say Cuonzo has won the first 30 days here. I also think if you’re an Illinois fan, you’re going to say well Underwood is going to beat him with less talent. So I guess we’ll see how it plays out. Real quick thoughts on Mr. Fisher's retirement: Steve Fisher retires from San Diego State. How will you remember the Steve Fisher era? Will you remember him as a good coach, a great coach, a roller out of basketballs and adult supervision? I think you’re obviously always going to go right to the Fab Five, right? Ask Coach Cal and I’m gonna talk about Calipari soon. It’s not easy to take all of that talent and mesh it together and make it fit and allow them to win at the levels they won as especially as freshman and sophomores. Sure there’s going to be some unfinished business about not winning the Big Ten title or not winning the NCAA title. I think his time at Michigan and the consistency in which he had when he was there starting out with being on the back end of the 88-89 national championship season and then into the Fab Five. So I think even just those years at Michigan always made me feel like he was a really good coach. But then almost what’s impressive is what he did at San Diego State. In his first year, he goes 5-23 and 0-14 in the league. I’m surprised he actually came back for year two after all the things he had done at Michigan. Really good run, some Sweet 16’s, a handful of NCAA tournaments. So I think that I’ll always think of Steve Fisher as a really good basketball coach. From probably the original one and done coach to the modern day one and done, to two and done or one and done coach, Coach Calipari: The 30 for 30 was interesting. Those are just so well done. Every time a new one is coming out I can’t wait to watch. I even watch the ones on topics that I’m not super interested in. But I though the 30 for 30 last week was great. It was ironic that it came out the same day as the Miles Bridges decision. What I love about him is he’s real. He is who is he. He’s not going to apologize for it. I thought the documentary painted him in a more positive light than maybe I expected. What I do know about him is he’s a great coach of effort; he’s a great recruiter. When he got hired that day at Kentucky he said I’m here because I can recruit the best of the best. So he knows it. My buddy made a good point this week. It’s really not easy to bring all of those guys who think that they’re the best and get them to defend and play hard and he does. If you watch that 30 for 30, the expectations and accountability are on a different planet than Steve Alford. If you take a bad shot, he is screaming. If you don’t guard, he is screaming. Most kids, sometimes, don’t want that. Maybe they’re not sure or they want it deep down. Derrick Rose had a great comment and said yeah I didn’t know he was crazy. He didn’t tell me was crazy when he recruited me. So some of things about Coach Cal I really appreciate who he is. The other thing is guys like Coach Izzo and other coaches really speak highly of him, which means a lot to me too. They kind of go out of their way, which is meaningful. A couple of things that rubbed me the wrong way were the NBA draft comment when he said this was the biggest day in history for Kentucky’s program. I get why he said it but that’s the reason I wouldn’t want him coaching at my school. Why do the two have to be different? Why can’t you win try to win national championships and put guys in the NBA? I want a guy that says winning national championships is the paramount for me at this school. Building relationships and getting guys to the next level is something everyone wants to do. So that quote would be the reason I wouldn’t want him coaching my school. I think at the end of the day, there were two things that were left out of the documentary that bothered me. First, I don’t think at Kentucky he cheats. I’m not even sure if he cheated at UMass if you really look at the Marcus Camby stuff and the agent being at Camby’s home and not on campus and the Derrick Rose SAT test. I don’t know if he cheats or violates NCAA rules, but I think he recruits some questionable character kids who then cheat and do the things that Camby and Rose did which is 100 percent cheating. I don’t care what Derrick Rose says. So I do think that really wasn’t necessarily addressed as the type of kids he takes which are grey area kids. My biggest issue is the myth that he puts guys in the NBA. Get real. John Wall goes into the lottery if he goes to Carolina. Anthony Davis is going in the lottery if he goes to Kansas. Boogie Cousins is going in the lottery if he goes to Duke. Derrick Rose is going in the lottery if he goes to Louisville. He’s not doing anything with these kids during their eight month stay that puts them in the NBA but what does do is he’s best at getting those kids to come there. I don’t want to hear he’s best at putting guys in the NBA. Those are NBA ready guys even before the time they step foot into Lexington, he just happens to get more of those than other people. I was bummed that that wasn’t addressed or addressed incorrectly. When you’re running the dribble drive stuff you can create a way where it’s a little bit better for guards to showcase their talent. When he tells guys to throw the ball into the post but he doesn’t run anything for bigs. Anthony Davis, Boogie Cousins and Adebayo weren’t getting anything run for them. I could argue that they could have gone somewhere else and displayed their talents better. Going back to the accountability and intensity, when you saw him on the Nets sideline, and you saw Sam Cassell say I’m not diving for that loose ball in the first quarter that made me think of how I really feel how coaching in the NBA would have been tough for Tom Izzo. When you demand those things, you have accountability and expectations for grown men, I think back to the Izzo and Cavs and Hawks flirtation. It would have been interesting to see if Coach Izzo would have been able to change because Calipari couldn’t change, and he didn’t last. That’s why some of these guys who are institutions in college should stay there and I’m always glad when they do. It bums me out when they leave. I think we see them do it more often in college football probably less in the last 5-10 years than ever before because the money has become equitable but the more guys stay the better.
  10. VeevlandBrowns

    (2017) C Mohamed Bamba to Texas

    Bamba seems to be fairly intelligent in understanding the game and what his strength is. Somewhere I read that he attended a panel on ball screen defense. You gotta love that approach to the game.
  11. VeevlandBrowns

    2017 March Madness Tournament Thread

    Some Final Four and tournament in general thoughts: I think what’s great about college basketball is what you saw in some of the emotions of the semis and championship game. If you saw Frank Martin’s post game press conference and what this group of players meant to him. Or you saw the maturity in which Nigel Williams-Goss handled himself in the post game interview. Or not my favorite coach, but Roy Williams talked about how he felt like he was powerless last year in that locker room to say or do anything to help his kids and then 365 days later what he could feel and the jubilation of seeing his players how they were. Those emotional moments are all the great things that are great about college sports and the tournament especially. That South Carolina-Gonzaga game I was impressed with the heart and toughness of South Carolina. I thought at the 10-minute mark they were left for dead. They go on a 16-0 run and a freshman 7 foot center who is a decent shooter steps out and crotches this three off the side of the iron and it spins back into the hoop. Williams-Goss then leads Gonzaga down the stretch. That was a great game. Carolina-Oregon was a good game. Neither team played really well. At the end of the day, it wasn't enough from Dorsey and Brooks. They have to be stars for Oregon to win. Kennedy Meeks was dominant. The other part that really killed Oregon was the turnovers, so many unforced errors that cost them possessions, and then it ends up with Carolina cutting down the nets. What I like about it is it’s a team of juniors and seniors with no one and dones. They get redemption for what happened last year. What I don’t like is this cloud of academic fraud allegations that hangs over this program and over this university. So I thought there were things to like about Carolina who I did think was the best team all year long but there were also some things I didn’t like that kind of hang over that team and that program. Where does Mark Few rank in the upper echelon of coaches? I think Roy Williams was actually asked this question the other day on Mike and Mike about Mark Few and the job he’s done. I do think you have to consider how hard it is to do the job he’s done at a place like Gonzaga. Roy to his credit said it’s a lot easier at Kansas and North Carolina. I think the best coach on planet earth under whatever age Brad Stevens is, is Brad Stevens. I couldn’t think higher of a basketball coach when I think of Brad Stevens partially because and even though some people paved the way for him at Butler, for him to get that team to back-to-back Final Fours, I start to think of Mark Few in that hemisphere of college coaches because when you get to the championship game at a school like that, I think even more of you. Does this change the opinion of where high end D1 talent should go? I think it does. The Butler’s, the Gonzaga’s, the Wichita State’s are in a little bit of a different spot. I think Gonzaga has put themself where they’re seen as a power 5 solid program by a lot of kids. We saw it with the transfers. This handful of kids that transferred there wouldn’t have transferred there unless they saw Gonzaga in that realm. So I think it can be one of those destination places. I don’t buy that this is going to be it for them. I think it’s harder to get back there for Gonzaga than it is for North Carolina but I’m of the opinion that he can do it. South Carolina and the SEC as a whole were pretty impressive this time around. What do the runs by SEC schools mean? Was this a flash in the plan by South Carolina? Does this change your opinion of the SEC? Do we need to stop bagging on these guys? It’s still Kentucky and everyone else BUT I feel like the quality of coaching may be bringing the SEC up a higher notch than most people had them. If you look at a lot of pre-season top 25’s for next year, you’ll also start to see Alabama and the job that Avery is doing there, especially in recruiting. The way for you to get there similarly in the way the Big Ten East is getting there in football is to have really, really quality coaches and maybe the ceiling for some of these coaches is a little higher than I thought, which means the ceiling for the SEC is a little higher than I thought. My final thought on the tournament is Carolina won the best league in the USA by three games in the regular season. Justin Jackson, Berry on the perimeter. Meeks and Hicks down low. It’s funny but I thought they played three mediocre games and still won the national championship. They did not play well in the Arkansas game. They were down late in that game. I didn’t think in the other final games they were great. So I think that maybe speaks to the depth and how good that team is. They could play an average game and win a couple of those games. I think the real most outstanding player was their frontline. I know you can’t give it to an entire cast of characters but the job their frontline did defensively against Gonzaga and how you saw their bigs frustrated more than anytime this year and what they did on the offensive glass against Oregon. You couldn’t have a worse shooting percentage for a MOP than Berry. He went 1-8, 2-13, 8-13, 4-12, 2-14 and 7-19 in the tournament. That’s nothing that is Most Outstanding Player worthy but I think the real most valuable player, so to speak, was the frontline for North Carolina.
  12. VeevlandBrowns

    2017 March Madness Tournament Thread

    First half of the Oregon-North Carolina was really an odd half. North Carolina making a big run late to lead 39-36. Some of my pre-game takes 1. Where would be the edge? The North Carolina frontline or Jordan Bell and that edge was to the North Carolina frontline in the first half primarily due to the play of Kennedy Meeks. He goes for 14 and 5 in the first half. Jordan Bell with a good first half but Kennedy Meeks really controlling. 2. Another thing is star power. None of the stars played like stars. Jackson got it going late for Carolina with 9 but Dylan Brooks and Tyler Dorsey combining for 10 points for Oregon is just not going to be enough. 3. My third key is Dana Altman mixing defenses really did throw Carolina off. Carolina got it going in transition but still not really in the half court. Some other things from the first half *Carolina shoots 39% yet scores 39 points. That’s a scary stat if you’re Oregon. *Oregon with 12 careless turnovers. If you’re going to try to win a shootout, that’s way too many turnovers for Oregon to have. *I think Dana Altman was one of the keys and MVP’s of the first half. Matchup zone is really, really hard to teach, really, really hard to execute and even harder to score upon. Sometimes the guy playing center ends up playing the point guard position. Players are all over the floor with communication and switches everywhere. *Roy Williams playing with spread the floor and running a lot of ball screens early. They didn’t get much out of it. Two things I think Carolina could do to score more in the second half. First, really lift the wings, free throw extended, and try to get some highi-low game going with their bigs. Also try to get more four to five things in terms of post dives after catches at the short corner or at the elbow. Those are two things Carolina can do more to score against that matchup zone. What to look for in the second half? 1. Again, Carolina trying to make some changes and adjustments to how they score against that zone. 2. Oregon’s gotta get more out of Dorsey and Brooks. I didn’t think the Oregon shot selection was really good. Too much of a democracy. Too many other guys taking shots. Too many shots for Ennis. Need to get more shots for Dorsey and Brooks. I can’t see Oregon winning the game if it’s played in the 80’s. I think they have to muck it up a little bit. 3. Last, what else does Dana Altman have up his sleeve? What else might he go to in the second half of this game? Have a great night and enjoy the second half.
  13. VeevlandBrowns

    2017 March Madness Tournament Thread

    What an amazing game. Frank Martin’s team played with heart and toughness to come back. Zach Collins is really the story of the game. 14, 13 and 6 and really hit a garbage crotched three pointer to stop the run and get a 7-0 run going for the Zags really at about the three and a half minute mark. The great defense I expected from both teams showed up late in the game. Amazing defense that last possession about 45 seconds that Gonzaga played about the one minute mark to get a huge stop. Big, big fan of Mark Few going with the foul in the foul or defend scenario. Up 3. Think about it. What are the things that need to happen for that game to be tied? If they make a three, one thing has to happen. Guy has to take the three and make it. On the flipside, if you foul is to make the first free throw, miss the second free throw and get the rebound off the second free throw and put it back in. Great play to foul by Mark Few. The Zags are moving on. Let’s take a look at game 2. Oregon vs North Carolina. Three of my big keys and things to watch for. 1. The entire North Carolina frontline versus Jordan Bell. Oregon only has one player that’s over 6’5” that’s played over 11 minutes in this tournament and that’s Jordan Bell. Although he’s averaging 13, 13 and 3, North Carolina is going to throw bodies and waves at him. Kennedy Meeks averaging 10 and 11 in the tournament. Hicks averaging 10 and shooting 55% and even Bradley off the bench averaging 7 and 4 and shooting 80%. Can Jordan Bell take on the entire North Carolina frontline? 2. Star power. You got Justin Jackson. Best player on the floor for North Carolina against Tyler Dorsey and Dillon Brooks. Dorsey might be the MVP of the entire tournament averaging 25 points per game and shooting 65% from the three point line. Dillon Brooks plays with that swagger, that edge and that toughness that the Ducks need. He’s kind of the Draymond Green of this Oregon team. 3. Watch for Dana Altman to mix defenses. He really took Michigan out of their game by upsetting their rhythm. I can’t see him playing a ton of man because I can’t see how they match up up front. You’re going to see to him playing some 2-3 zone that’s really extended where they trap in the corners. He’s going to play some matchup zone. He’ll use three different presses: a full court diamond, 2-2-1 ¾ court and 1-2-2 ¾ court. He’s going to try use these on makes and misses to really slow down North Carolina’s transition game. Big thing for me in this game. Two teams not known for their defense so who really bears down and defends better. Entertainment purposes only, if you followed my advice in the first game, you’re 0-2. See if I can make up for it here. If you can get North Carolina at -4 for the game I think that’s the play. A couple good props I like. Carolina first to 10 points and Dorsey over three three’s.
  14. VeevlandBrowns

    2017 March Madness Tournament Thread

    Entertaining first half, quicker pace than many expected, and certainly more offense than I expected. Few things from pre-game. 1. The Gonzaga bigs have been great. Karnowski before he got hurt had a big impact in the first half. Collins ended up with 8 and 6 and was probably the second best player on the floor. So Gonzaga’s frontline has been the story. 2. Neither defense has been great. Frank Martin has been searching a bit. He went match-up zone for probably a third of the first half, tried a 3 ¼ trap, and nothing could stop Gonzaga that he threw at them in the first half. 3. Nigel Williams-Goss was the best player on the floor significantly outplaying Sindarius Thornwell. He finished the first half with 12 points, 3 assists and some really tough mid-range jumpers late in the shot clock. Some key first half stats. Everything looks different when you make shots. Gonzaga shot 58% from the floor in that first half. 53% from three point range. South Carolina shoots 37% from the floor. That’s a big stat for the first half. The Zags won the rebounding edge 21-15 in that first half. What do we watch for in the second half? 1. Pace and depth. If they keep playing at that pace and speed, the Zags are going to be tough to beat. I have a hard time thinking they are going to shoot 58% again in the second half but with a little more depth and certainly more bigs, that pace is going to favor Gonzaga. 2. Can Karnowski come back from the eye injury in the first half? If he does, they’ll force South Carolina to guard him in space, either with Silva off the dribble or off some ball screens, to kind of expose him for that lack of lateral quickness. 3. What’s the Frank Martin adjustment? He’s used to teams scoring like this against his Gamecocks. There’s a few different things he can do defensively. What does he go to in the second half? 4. Can a South Carolina team that’s not explosive offensively play catch up against a team as good as Gonzaga? Should be a great second half.
  15. VeevlandBrowns

    2017 March Madness Tournament Thread

    Four specific things to watch for, one piece of analysis for tonight's match up between Gonzaga and South Carolina and then one tip for entertainment purposes only. 1. Which of these two great defenses will be better tonight? You've got the #1 ranked Kenpom defense in Gonzaga and the #2 ranked defense in South Carolina. However, they play defense very differently. Gonzaga's position defense, rim protectors, playing gaps. South Carolina is right up in your face, really intense, trying to turn you over and be really physical. 2. Can South Carolina score enough? They ranked #150 in Kenpom adjusted offense throughout the year and in the 200's in points per game. It hasn't been a factor so far in the tournament but playing such a good defensive team, can South Carolina muster up enough points? 3. Gonzaga has a clear advantage up front. Karnowski, Williams and Collins battling Kotsar and Silva for South Carolina. See how that frontcourt edge plays out. 4. Sindarius Thornwell vs Nigel Williams-Goss. In big games like this, sometimes whoever the best player on the floor is will have a big impact on the game. Analysis: Watch carefully for how Gonzaga takes away dribble penetration. South Carolina is going to run a lot of ball screen action, some off the ball action into some clear outs and iso's. How does Gonzaga contain the dribble? What ball screens do they switch on? How do they keep South Carolina out of the paint? Last, for entertainment purposes only, look at that under first half for Gonzaga-South Carolina at 64.5. For a prop, Nigel Williams-Goss under 19 points. Should be some great basketball.
  16. VeevlandBrowns

    College Bball Thread

    The jewel of MAC jobs is open. Keith Dambrot to Dusquene. He was a MAC coach in his 30s and missed his chance to put it one way. One of few guys who could come in and faithfully say they can recruit the area. Dambrot v CMU is one heck of an interesting case history and the story of his downfall is pretty unique and unfortunate. Also one of the little known aspects in why Lebron could have developed so good - he had access to D1 level coaching at a personal level when Dambrot was ostracized from coaching hoops and giving individual workouts for anyone willing in the Akron area. Lebron had him on speed dial throughout his career when his jumper / FT was struggling and for advice. Interesting story.
  17. Bump. Florida's AD Jeremy Foley retired recently. He retired after being at Florida for 40 years, the last 25 of which he's been the AD. I think it's going to be hard to find an AD with a successful hiring spree and overall success of him. Real quick run down on the hires he's made: Football - Spurrier, Meyer, McElwain and I'm giving the thumbs up to McElwain. I know he's been there two years and has two east titles in traditionally the toughest conference. Spurrier and Meyer are certainly two of the top 10 coaches of all time, right? I think that's fair. Basketball - Lon Kruger who's been national coach of the year at multiple programs, Billy Donovan there's nothing much to say there, and Mike White, well, I don't think anyone including myself knew much about Mike White. Mike White seems to be a really good hire pushing his team in year two into the final eight which is certainly much better than I gave him credit for. The other thing Foley has done is pulled the plug on bad hires fast so when he made mistakes with Muschamp and Zook he didn't waste any time and got rid of them quickly. Florida has 36 national titles and Foley has been the AD for 27 of those including winning one in each different sport in the last 7 years. Anyways, I think AD's get hammered a lot. I'm not particularly a Florida fan. I'm not even a huge Florida fan but I think you gotta give this guy a lot of credit. I looked that up this weekend and thought man, Mike White is good coach and it's look like he has another Billy Donovan on his hands again. There's a guy with a plan.
  18. VeevlandBrowns

    2017 March Madness Tournament Thread

    Take away the uniforms and focus on the kids and players then you'll realize why basketball might be your favorite sport. Terrific theater...nothing like the tournament and NBA playoffs. Sudden death makes it that much more special.
  19. VeevlandBrowns

    2017 March Madness Tournament Thread

    Want a blue blood to win. You need villains and tyrannies in sports.
  20. VeevlandBrowns

    2017 March Madness Tournament Thread

    Credit Oregon for some of the offensive sharpness (and certainly the shooting accuracy), but Kansas' gap coverage on defense was shoddy/sloppy way too much for a Regional Final. Some of the penetrations they gave up midway through the 2H, and their ball screen defense, were not Final Four quality. It's hard to break those habits. They broke them against MSU, and MSU didn't have the firepower to take advantage of some of the openings. But KU was more determined to prevent openings in that game than they were in this game. They were more of one mind on defense in that game.
  21. VeevlandBrowns

    Welcome Coach Miller

    Derp...
  22. VeevlandBrowns

    Welcome Coach Miller

    This is good get. This will FINALLY put the death knell to all those "OSU in waiting" stories out of Ohio. I have no doubt he coveted that job, but I was of the opinion that if IU is interested, you can't wait on whatever might be going on with Matta, because IU is an elite job. I wonder even how much it will change the dynamic, because like FCTC, Miller tended to recruit a fair amount of East Coast guys. Will Miller orient toward more of an Indiana-centric recruiting approach? Will be interesting to watch.
  23. VeevlandBrowns

    2017 March Madness Tournament Thread

    Gonzaga v Xavier - the two most prominent graduates of the mid major ranks go head to head to determine which one finally gets to a FF. Hard to bet against X's momentum and Mack has been tremendous in getting a flawed team (due to injury as much as anything else) this far, and I don't think the Zags have been great in either of their last two wins, but I'm going with the more complete team. GONZAGA Kansas v Oregon - I think the Ducks have a puncher's chance, because when their guards are going good, they're one of the few groups which can hang with KU's backcourt. I think Oregon's size at the guard spot will pose an interesting challenge for Mason and Graham as well. Still, how can you bet against Kansas, given how well they've played in this Tournament? Josh Jackson may be the element Oregon can't match in the end. KANSAS South Carolina v Florida - All SEC and mostly "who cares" but still, a lot of credit due to both of those teams. Florida had the better, more consistent season but I think South Carolina passes the "look test" a little better. I'm going with Cheatin' Frank Martin in a mild upset. SOUTH CAROLINA UNC v UK - This is the matchup that'll get everyone going. UNC's been maybe the second most impressive team in the whole field thus far (behind only Kansas) but I think UK looks dialed in. Was really impressed with the way they defended for much of that game against UCLA. I like UNC's depth and interior players better than UK's. UK has the better guards but as long as Berry and Co. aren't tossing out one of their occasional stinkbombs, I think UNC gets it done. NORTH CAROLINA
  24. VeevlandBrowns

    Welcome Coach Miller

    Some thoughts on the state of IU hoops + Fred Glass is out of his mind. A nice guy who runs a clean program but if you've ever listened to him talk and look at how he's run this program, he looks like a high school athletic director and not a college athletic director. I did get to hear to his press conference the other day. The problem that the next guy is going to have is Glass is out pandering to the alumni and fanbase and I understand why because IU is pretty desperate and just made a change but he's out there basically saying IU should win 100 national titles every year. Pick your favorite NBA coach and he wouldn't be able to live up to that. I'm wondering if he's actually contaminating the actual search process by the way that he's talking. I don't know if you saw that but that was my first take. He sounds like Josh Whitman at Illinois. Again, they're both out of their minds. The hyperbole used in that press conference is a joke. I've never thought he was the right guy for the job and he could be tainting the search a bit. I love the fanbase and the passion but there are some people who think IU can outbid the Celtics and Thunder for an NBA coach which are the top 2. That said, one of the key guys in the search is Marshall and he's kind of crazy himself. + Characteristics of the next coach. First, I don't want to see IU ever give up 95 points again. People want a tactician more than a used car salesman. People want someone fiery. I'm not all about the rah rah guy screaming on the sideline. I want a guy that knows how to coach moreso than anything else.+ My expectations both short term and long term. First, you should make the tournament every year. So if you're in the tournament every year, that's good. That's the first expectation. You need that punchers chance every year and there's no reason we shouldn't do that. Second, you should be in the top 1/3 of the league every year which would succeed in getting you into the tournament. That's the first hurdle and then I think every 2-4 years you make a deeper run into the tournament and move on. That should be the next hurdle. Bottom line, you gotta get in and win your first couple games to start. + Candidate list I've got and some tiering of it and my philosophies behind it. **Tier 1: The delusional reaches: Stevens and Donovan. Both of those are long shots. **Tier 2: Alford is interesting. He's 52, he's bounced around a lot, his son is graduating, Lonzo is going pro and if you look around Lavar Ball is insane by all accounts and the brothers that are coming through there are not nearly as good. He's got some good players like Leaf who won't go pro but it will be tough to manage. If you're gonna get him, this is kind of the shot. He's not getting younger. The one issue hanging is the $7.8 million buyout in his contract. That's a big number and IU should have no problem taking care of it. But as an IU alum and fan I do not want that. I don't think he's that good of a coach (although he's light years ahead of FCTC). Marshall is another guy who is a loose cannon who kind of fits the Knight mold. But you start looking at some red flags. Texas didn't even want him when their job opened up. They literally did not even want to talk to him because they thought he was that off his rocker. Then you kind of look at the way his wife was acting this weekend. Go read that story about how she was escorted out of Bankers Life and I think that's hilarious. She actually said "let's go f some **** up" in the stands. It was a riot. The crazy does not stop at Gregg. But he's a heck of a coach and he's 54 and this is the kind of job he's held out for. Bennett is another high profile name we talked about, his style works in the league but I don't see him leaving Virginia unless he has a burning desire to come back to the Midwest. **Tier 3: The solid candidates I like as a fan. Mack is 47 and has made the tourney 7 of 8 seasons at Xavier which is something we can't even say at IU. I think he's a good coach, a good tactician. The other one I like is Archie. 4 straight tourneys and 2 straight A-10 titles. Nice playing career as well. He knows how to play, he knows how to coach. I think he can relate to the players and he's a pup that's got more to prove. The bloodlines are pretty good if you look at it from that perspective. His brother is out in Arizona. I think these two are the most solid candidates and your fall back is a guy like Chris Holtmann. Holtmann was Big East coach of the year and made the dance 3 straight seasons. You're gonna get the Drews, both Bryce and Scott. I don't think those are fits. The fall backup is Mick Cronin which I think is a reach and you're hearing Hoiberg chatter as well which is a train wreck. IU is sitting there eying Alford and I'm worried because Marshall is just kind of sitting there and if it was him he'd already be on the podium. So I think they may be waiting out to get Alford which if you're a fan of another Big Ten team that's a dream. Between Marshall, Archie and Mack, Mack is the best tactician with respect to in game, game prep, and those types of things. I think any of those three guys would just be a considerable upgrade from where we are and would keep you away from some of the possible train wrecks I mentioned. On the recruiting front, I think the one legitimate guy that would have the easiest time getting players is Archie. He was a legitimate college basketball player and he averaged almost 43% when playing. He's got that reach, he's done the recruiting, he's got a whole network of guys that know how to recruit at this level. He's still young enough to be able to lure some of these kids in. Marshall has had luck but he's always been third fiddle for some of these prep schools. Mack is levels ahead of the other two as a tactician. He's just a really good basketball coach and that's why Xavier is what they are. It's really all him. If I had to vote I'd put Miller 1, Mack 2, and Marshall 3 because Archie is still young. The one I'm most worried about is Marshall because he's a little crazy, a little bit older and I just don't know who's going to come from his staff and recruit. When you get people in there and have those five national titles sitting on those banners albeit some of them dated and you can be the guy that resurrects it, kids will buy into that.
×