Game Thread Part 2: IUBB vs BC Mega Boogaloo | 1:00PM *NOT TELEVISED*

[Hardwood83]

2 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Just watched the whole thing—THANK YOU SEAN CAVANAUGH FOR THE VIDEO!

My personal takeaways:

Xavier is a significant upgrade. He is made for a four out high ball screen.

Parker Stewart has old man game and excellent court vision. He took and barely missed a bunch of good shots.

Jordan Geronimo is significantly improved—rebounds out of his area and really defends.

Rob looks kinda the same, but he’s now clearly X’s backup.

I had similar take-aways. This team has some talent (Johnson, Stewart, Kopp & Jackson at very least) that have produced previously. 

Johnson looks like he will be a problem for opposing teams to contain. His shot doesn't look great, but hopefully enough to keep people honest. I'm not too worried about Stewart- I think he will be a solid contributor. 

I fully expect you to start selling official JG fan-club gear any day now! Very easy to like him as a person and player. 

If Race is an 8 & 8 guy that will be great for IU. 

Rob is the back-up PG and that is a good for IU, IMO.

I hope the #12 & 13 guys red-shirt. That might include Lander. He has talent but doesn't appear ready and I hope he realizes that. 

Woodson is pressing all the right buttons so far. 

[MikeRoberts]

3 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

That’s an interesting opinion.  The facts don’t seem to agree with you. But enjoy the opinion 

I have to agree with honkeyman, the Serbian team was anything but impressive.

[IU Scott]

3 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

Your personal eye test isn’t a fact.  Any rando could say that that by the eye test the suns and bucks aren’t final level teams. That’s just a poorly formed opinion. The fact is they were final caliber teams

Unless you are at the game there is very little eye test involved.  Anyone who is complaining about exhibition games need to get a life because these games don't matter.  We won two games which I thought we would lose because this team had only been together for 2 months.  We were playing professional players who ate way older and more mature yet we still beat them.

[Stuhoo]

20 minutes ago, MikeRoberts said:

I have to agree with honkeyman, the Serbian team was anything but impressive.

Okay maybe so—maybe not.

I saw ONE clear point of comparison between that Serbian team and US college bball:

Scoochie Smith was a damn fine college basketball player; the leader and best player on an Elite 8 team. He is now a 25 year old man and that Serbian team’s starting point guard.

Maybe it’s the system they were in the past few days— but Xavier Johnson outplayed him both games. That’s a really good sign.

 

[DWB]

After watching the video of both games, I'm glad we won. But I'm more impressed with how well the guys played with each other, and used their quickness to negate the huge size advantage of the Mega team.

And of course, Woody is right. Defense always travels. You won't win them all, but you can have a chance if you play good defense. There were very few wide open shots that Mega got. Most were contested pretty well.

The one thing I did notice on our offense is that we're still not moving all 5 guys at once, or even 4. That will come as Woody installs more offense IMO.

And finally, I think the guys are truly having "fun" playing now. Not just words, but smiles and body language as well.

Great start guys. Keep working. 

Go Hoosiers.

[Demo]

2 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Just watched the whole thing—THANK YOU SEAN CAVANAUGH FOR THE VIDEO!

My personal takeaways:

Xavier is a significant upgrade. He is made for a four out high ball screen.

Parker Stewart has old man game and excellent court vision. He took and barely missed a bunch of good shots.

Jordan Geronimo is significantly improved—rebounds out of his area and really defends.

Rob looks kinda the same, but he’s now clearly X’s backup.

Would agree with these and would add 2 other things:

Bates’ defensive instincts and anticipation are so good for a freshman. There were several moments in that game where he was just ahead of the play. He also has no doubt that he belongs. Compare his mentality to Lander’s. 

Kopp gets the motion concepts better than any of the other perimeter guys at this point. He’s able to read the screens and time up his cuts to create space. It’s not a coincidence that the offense bogged down when he got hurt. He’s gonna be a lot more important than I, at least, expected him to be. 
 

[MikeRoberts]

2 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Okay maybe so—maybe not.

I saw ONE clear point of comparison between that Serbian team and US college bball:

Scoochie Smith was a damn fine college basketball player; the leader and best player on an Elite 8 team. He is now a 25 year old man and that Serbian team’s starting point guard.

Maybe it’s the system they were in the past few days— but Xavier Johnson outplayed him both games. That’s a really good sign.

 

Fair point and I agree I think, XJ is going to be a big part of our success this year.

maybe more credit is due to IU for the disjointed play of the Serbians. I just expected them to be more polished in what they did and they looked like they had never played together and hadn’t shot a ball all summer

 

[Stuhoo]

Just now, MikeRoberts said:

Fair point and I agree I think, XJ is going to be a big part of our success this year.

maybe more credit is due to IU for the disjointed play of the Serbians. I just expected them to be more polished in what they did and they looked like they had never played together and hadn’t shot a ball all summer

 

It’s apparently a talented but VERY young Serbian team. Though that doesn’t explain why we completely ‘out-energied’ them.

I credit that to team leadership and the coaching staff.

So far for me? X is the man—he plays with an edge that has been sorely missing.

[Uspshoosier]

2 minutes ago, MikeRoberts said:

Fair point and I agree I think, XJ is going to be a big part of our success this year.

maybe more credit is due to IU for the disjointed play of the Serbians. I just expected them to be more polished in what they did and they looked like they had never played together and hadn’t shot a ball all summer

 

That team has some new parts as well.  They play these games for the same reason the college teams play them.  2 of their best players from last year are playing in the nba summer league 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

It’s apparently a talented but VERY young Serbian team. Though that doesn’t explain why we completely ‘out-energied’ them.
I credit that to team leadership and the coaching staff.
So far for me? X is the man—he plays with an edge that has been sorely missing.

They were big too. Thought we’d get outlengthed. Glad to see we rebounded well.


Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners mobile app

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

Well we beat a professional team twice. So that's a positive. Honestly don't believe we could have under Archie. Will be really nice to see a televised game to actually see the type of movement we get on offense. 

[Brass Cannon]

2 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Okay maybe so—maybe not.

I saw ONE clear point of comparison between that Serbian team and US college bball:

Scoochie Smith was a damn fine college basketball player; the leader and best player on an Elite 8 team. He is now a 25 year old man and that Serbian team’s starting point guard.

Maybe it’s the system they were in the past few days— but Xavier Johnson outplayed him both games. That’s a really good sign.

 

Since I’m guessing comments on this topic are allowed again?  I’m confused tbh. 
 

I would say this is my point.  College stars go play pro. That team had two guys who were studs in college and a future lotto pick and we beat them. 
 

These guys are pros even the young ones don’t have to balance school work and aren’t limited to how much they can practice.  They are what college players aspire to be. 
 

This team split with Texas tech 2 years ago and beat one of the Michigan schools a few years ago.  Are they better than the best college teams.  Probably not.  But they aren’t a slouch either 

[hoosierbgh]

10 hours ago, MikeRoberts said:

I have to agree with honkeyman, the Serbian team was anything but impressive.

I agree also. They looked like they have some pieces but weren't playing their hardest to me. There wasn't a lot of movement from them on offense, especially in the second game, which made them a lot easier to guard. 

Still, there were a lot of positives on the IU side. The aggressiveness of Kopp, Bates, and especially Johnson were good signs. I was pleasantly surprised by Stewart's effort on defense and even though the shots weren't falling for these two games, the potential is clearly there. I liked how he was able to get shots almost any time he wanted. My biggest positive takeaway is how IU responded to the length and physicality on the interior. 

[kottke]

Did they ever provide an update on Kopp? Nothing serious I hope.

[SlamaJamaSisley]

3 minutes ago, kottke said:

Did they ever provide an update on Kopp? Nothing serious I hope.

Coach Woodson did - "$hit, he'll be alright!"

[Dave from Dayton]

2 hours ago, hoosierbgh said:

I agree also. They looked like they have some pieces but weren't playing their hardest to me. There wasn't a lot of movement from them on offense, especially in the second game, which made them a lot easier to guard. 

Still, there were a lot of positives on the IU side. The aggressiveness of Kopp, Bates, and especially Johnson were good signs. I was pleasantly surprised by Stewart's effort on defense and even though the shots weren't falling for these two games, the potential is clearly there. I liked how he was able to get shots almost any time he wanted. My biggest positive takeaway is how IU responded to the length and physicality on the interior. 

Last sentence of the above quote is about IU responding to BC Mega length and physicality inside.  So I have questions about that.  How and why did TJD get zero fouls in two games, I think that's right, and IU responded to BC Mega's inside game well?  We hear a decent amount about the offense.  But, the defense, which is seemingly pretty good, gets less attention.  

Is IU denying the dribble drive?  Is IU stopping the pass inside?  Does TJD step on the foot of the guy that he is defending but it isn't called?  Is Kopp helping defense inside...Race?  How would the defense best be described?  Is Indiana quicker and has long arms?  BC Mega did not have an inordinate amount of TOs...so is it our rebounding and pressure defense?  What does this look like?

Thanks in advance...

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Xavier Johnson “X” @XavierJ0hnson

It’s only the beginning… I know it’s only been 2 months but I’m really blessed to play in an IU jersey with these dudes. They’ve accepted me from day one and I love my gang.

[hoosierbgh]

46 minutes ago, Dave from Dayton said:

Last sentence of the above quote is about IU responding to BC Mega length and physicality inside.  So I have questions about that.  How and why did TJD get zero fouls in two games, I think that's right, and IU responded to BC Mega's inside game well?  We hear a decent amount about the offense.  But, the defense, which is seemingly pretty good, gets less attention.  

Is IU denying the dribble drive?  Is IU stopping the pass inside?  Does TJD step on the foot of the guy that he is defending but it isn't called?  Is Kopp helping defense inside...Race?  How would the defense best be described?  Is Indiana quicker and has long arms?  BC Mega did not have an inordinate amount of TOs...so is it our rebounding and pressure defense?  What does this look like?

Thanks in advance...

IMO, TJD's lack of fouls was due in part to BC Mega not going inside as much as they should have. Don't get me wrong, TJD seemed to do a good job of maintaining verticality but when Mega did go to the post, their players usually just used their length to turn and shoot over him. They also seemed to post up against other players more than against TJD, especially in the second game.  Hard to tell much about the defense when Mega's offense seemed to be mostly drive and kick out with little movement off the ball. The guards got beat a few times but most of the time the rotation was either good enough to stop the layup or more often the BC Mega guards kicked the ball out almost immediately every time they were challenged. IU got into the passing lanes pretty well and were disruptive on defense, deflecting and stealing several passes. 

Long story shorter, BC Mega just didn't attack the rim like most good Big teams would on offense IMO. Defensively, they blocked several shots and altered many more. It was nice to see IU play through that. Past teams likely would have folded but this team just kept attacking. 

[Stuhoo]

Suffice to say, there was no big on the BC Mega team that had the mindset of Hunter Dickinson or Trevion Williams near the rim.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

15 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Suffice to say, there was no big on the BC Mega team that had the mindset of Hunter Dickinson or Trevion Williams near the rim.

and Kofi Cockburn.  B1G is tough at the 5.