Home Jersey

'Tis a free message board. Posters are allowed to make threads. Posters are allowed to think threads are stupid and say as much. Simple... Hopefully the team finishes strong and moving forward there's less reason for anybody to visit this thread in the first place.

Very excited for this one. Big game. Defend home court. Hope the crowd is into it and that the team gives them good reason to become a factor.

I think DDV is coaching them just fine, for the most part. Pretty good actually. I agree with your view of the thread. I don't think it's needed and conversations easily could've been had in game threads. And probably would've been way more constructive / substantive. But it's a free message board so people can have at it as they wish. The "free flowing offense" can struggle a lot in the halfcourt and we aren't deep or athletic enough to run a ton. We don't have a top 16 roster but money is not a good excuse for that. We have more than enough money to field a top basketball team. To your point though, filling 13 spots is a lot different than filling 4-7 or however many it ends up being this time around. He was far more hampered by not getting his first choice assistants and not being fully staffed for the portal IIRC. New coach at a school that's sucked for 10 years, was always going to be a tough sell to top guys last cycle. That's why making the tournament this year is so important. You can sell them on established style, teammates and a chance to win on a huge stage.

Us 80 Them 77

Notre Dame can't afford to cancel any big games after their USC rivalry ended and ACC relations are strained. If anything we may need to drop them to get a more competitive OOC game on the schedule.

Lol true. They are on the schedule in 2030 and 2031 though

The only people I could see being remotely interested in this shirt are people who did undergrad and grad school at 2 / 3 of these schools. But even in that pool of people... can't see these exactly flying off shelves lol. Probably end up where the loser of the super bowl T-shirts end up.

Dang. Huge bummer.

Beat ND is one I'd like to get.

Working out a lot better for UConn and Dan Hurley than Mike Woodson and IU. They still shoot a competitive amount of 3s ("modern offense")... Mike Woodson's IU team did not. I know you're joking, just saying. These are still college basketball players (or whatever you want to call them. Not yet NBA guys). IMO championship caliber CBB in today's era means a reasonable balance between the 3 or Dunk NBA style and Mike Woodson's prehistoric offense that relied on principles formed long before most of this board was even a seed in their daddy's sack. UConn is a good example of that. They seldom take the super long 3. They are more likely to run a pin down for Solo Ball to hit a foul line jumper or work it into Tarris Reed. Then they let the 3s fly more when guys are in the flow of the game. And as I pointed out, this is a subtle tweak to their offense after winning 2 titles in the last 3 years. That reiterates the obvious: 1) Good coaches are continuously learning and capable of adapting - we'll see what's different in Year 2 of DDV. 2) It's stupid to be overly rigid about "modern" basketball. The game will always evolve. Coaches worth their salt find ways to win... see point 1. We all want to see YoY improvement and should expect to. We will get the chance for at least 3 or more likely minimum 4 seasons. Lastly, and then I've said my piece for now in this thread... DDV hasn't been a head coach for a full decade at any level. This is his 8th year and 2nd at the high major level. Being the HC is way different than an assistant. Nate Oats was a HC for 16 years when Bama hired him. Hurley 17 when UConn hired him. That was my biggest skepticism of the DDV hire. Hopefully we finish strong, make the tournament, land a haul in the portal, and see what DDV changes (or doesn't) in his second year. Buckle up and enjoy fellas. Maybe ask the wife for some clean sheets if your's are soiled already.

Don't disagree with you on this and yet we're still in solid position to make the tournament with 8 conference games to go. This is something that can be corrected pretty easily with the right coaching and personnel. We'll see if it's a recurring theme or not based on next year's team.

It's a pace and space offense like what the NBA does where everything is designed to be a 3 or come in the paint. The extra deep 3s are not my favorite shots but by being a threat out there, you force the defense to come out and defend which helps create more floor space for actions off ball, ball movement, dribble drive, etc. It also increases the pace of play by creating more possessions. I'd like to see us play with more tempo. Those shots are all about timing. They shouldn't be a staple of the offense but enough of a factor that it keeps the defense honest. Shooting long 3s means long rebounds, which arguably makes our weak rebounding have more of a chance. You cite that we were 10/35 against USC. We were 12/33 (36%) when we beat #12 Purdue and 11/34 (32%) vs UCLA. Again it's all about timing with long 3s. I think the green light from out there needs to be tempered moving forward (some of it is also definitely them "panicking") but stylistically it's not about "looking cool or we can win." It's about efficiency. UConn is shooting less 3s this year than in years past because so many defenses have adapted to the 3 pointer or dunk style of offense. They're taking and making more mid-range 2s than a lot of CBB teams I've watched this year. There's a balance to be struck.

Haven't you heard? We just need somebody who "refuses to lose." Should be easy!

Every college basketball team loses games they should win every year except for the elite ones. We are not elite in year 1. We knew this already. A 6 point loss to USC splitting the LA trip doesn't compel me to fire this thread up again. Basically a third of the season left. Kenny Payne got 2 years at Louisville. DDV is nowhere near Kenny Payne bad. The portal and NIL help turn things around quicker these days. That doesn't mean it's an excuse to fire the coach every other year. We could absolutely still make the tournament this season. Some of you guys would've run coach K and Danny Hurley off before they ever did a thing at the high major level. I get it can be more fun to just be mad though.

Yeah. Doesn't help not getting a whistle when we get inside. I'd rather see some mid range 2s when the 3 is not falling like this

Don't love our shot selection tonight at all. Winnable game otherwise.

These refs are morons

Need Lamar back in

Conerways very rusty tonight. Bad fouls

We better get some calls in the second half. Jeez Louise

That call and replay ought to prove these refs are blind, stupid or both

Let's get Alexis in

Bailey doesn't like to dunk or something

Pleasantly surprised with our lack of fouls so far

Here comes the press