IUBB vs Army - Sunday, 11.12.23 @ 7:00 on BTN

[sweetpain 536]

1) FGCU is 139 in KenPom. They are a solid basketball team. Army basketball is very bad. 
2) In Crean's first two years we beat Chaminade by 2, beat IUPUI by 2, had a late run to beat South Carolina Upstate by 7, AND...

• lost to Northeastern by 13,
• lost to Lipscomb by 5,
• lost to Boston U by 4,
• lost to George Mason by 3,
• and lost to Loyola of Maryland by 5.

None of those teams were as good as FGCU is supposed to be this year.

I was at the Lipscomb game why are bringing that back up, Awful!

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[Home Jersey 7,590]

3 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

From Calbert Cheaney:

• On Indiana’s win over Army on Sunday: “Still got a long way to go. There’s a lot of new faces… last night Army came in with a mindset that ‘we’re gonna come at you guys’…The guys underestimated them.”

• Cheaney said he thinks the team has responded after the tough week but mentioned a potential disconnect between understanding the film in practice and in the film room to translating it to the game.

• Cheaney implored for the need to contest shots from beyond the arc. He said that there’s a notable dropoff in shooting percentage when shots are contested. He mentioned Indiana’s defensive mantra, that whenever someone catches the ball, they need to have a hand on him.

• On Indiana’s 3-point shooting, Cheaney thinks Indiana has the shooters to be dangerous. “We have some guys that can really shoot the ball, I think more so than last year.”

• On five-star freshman Mackenzie Mgbako: “(He needs to) continue to understand how the game is played… college game is totally different from high school. Pay attention to the details of what coach (Woodson) wants him to do, he’ll be fine.”

• Cheaney said this year’s team is more talented than last year’s IU team. “We’re bigger, we’re more athletic, we’re longer… Stay with us, we’re working on it.”

• Cheaney on freshman point guard Gabe Cupps: “We call him Iron Man … He’s got one of the best work ethics I’ve ever seen … He’s not the biggest kid, he’s not the fastest kid, but he makes up for it with a huge heart and determination. And that’s rare.”

I have a sense that Gabe Cupps work ethic is going to pay dividends in a lot of ways over the course of his career... the first potentially being something we will not witness up close, but will become obvious on the court if/when Mack gets it together this season. Not taking anything away from Mack at all, any improvement he makes will be because of his own hard work. When you think about the environment he's in - as Cheaney said - the college game being totally different from high school... 

He is personally experiencing the early struggles a lot of talented freshmen do when playing D1 basketball. It's a bigger learning curve than people expected right now... That's not because of his physical tools (some people are calling him slow... he's looked more timid than slow IMHO... sure he doesn't have trailblazing speed but wouldn't call that his primary issue right now).

He's clearly stated his goal of being 1 and done and obviously understands that's not the trajectory he's currently on. So it's a very simple question of whether he is willing to put in the work. Mack previously mentioned he was really surprised/impressed by Cupps in the summer and referenced his work ethic. Now he's riding pine while the lower rated, less physically gifted kid plays. If a coach has to motivate you under those circumstances, that's a totally separate issue.

As a competitor, Cupps is only pushing him to get better. He's got a strong grasp of the concepts, and as a great teammate, I'm sure he is very much working with Mack to get locked in. Mack has shown he is willing to put in the work before (his improvement in HS was insane and you don't get called one of our best shooters ever by a former player unless you've spent 1000s of hours on your craft). So why would he stop now? Again, physical tools look there to me for the most part and it's mostly the mental side that's got to catch up right now. 

I recall in an interview he did, he was kind of embarrassed about "not being a morning person" and his trainer assuring him a lot of pros also don't do the whole "Mamba style 5am workouts" because they prefer to train at night. Cupps puts in his own workout before the team workouts... would be cool for Mack to start joining him after making the realization he's got to work harder at this than he ever has before. But truth be told, I don't care what time of the day they put in their work as long as they're pushing themselves to get better every day.

I hope Mack specifically is getting a crap ton of defensive reps in and studying the concepts so he can move more confidently on the court. Some of it is definitely because of the Kopp role too... but we'll see how things progress over the course of the season. 

[RaceToTheTop 25,835]

2 hours ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

I doubt anyone figured Aaron Craft to become an All-Big Ten type player and one of the best perimeter defenders the conference has seen this century.

Chris Kramer and Aaron Craft were both great defenders.

Threw up in mouth a little.

[Hoosier987 1,170]

6 hours ago, BGleas said:

I think MM needs to get time at the 4. He clearly a college 4 and needs to be in that role. We're wasting his offensively by having him in the "Kopp stand in the corner role". 

On Cupps and Gunn we couldn't disagree more. Cupps has shown more in two games than Gunn has shown in 1 year and two games. It's not even close. 

Cupps has All-Conference potential. I'm don't want to write the kid off, but Gunn has massive, massive improvements to make. 

Love how you phrase the “Kopp stand in the corner roll.” Spot on. 

Regarding paragraph 2…couldn’t agree more. Been saying several times that Gunn has shown little in his 1+ years to be counted on consistently against quality opponents. 

[HoosierHoopster 6,982]

2 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

1) FGCU is 139 in KenPom. They are a solid basketball team. Army basketball is very bad. 

2) In Crean's first two years we beat Chaminade by 2, beat IUPUI by 2, had a late run to beat South Carolina Upstate by 7, AND...

• lost to Northeastern by 13,
• lost to Lipscomb by 5,
• lost to Boston U by 4,
• lost to George Mason by 3,
• and lost to Loyola of Maryland by 5.

None of those teams were as good as FGCU is supposed to be this year.

I know where you’re coming from but first 2 years? First year with no scholarship players and having to play baseball / walkon players, not in any way comparable.

We have major talent on this team and are playing terrible basketball. Really, really bad ball. I’m an IU optimist, a glass half full guy, but the system CMW is playing right now should change, and the God awful perimeter D must be fixed. Staff takes at least some of the blame for this bad basketball 

[Stuhoo 80,871]

I was responding to a post that said our performance so far was as bad as Crean’s first two years.

It’s not

[HoosierHoopster 6,982]

2 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

I was responding to a post that said our performance so far was as bad as Crean’s first two years.

It’s not

That’s what I meant by saying I know where you’re coming from, just can’t compare the two. 
 

[MikeRoberts 7,012]

9 hours ago, Ngw7183 said:

So we need a kid to state publicly that if you are X or MM you get called thugs, not a leader, not a “smart player” and more that I won’t repeat here until we as fans realize it is a problem and needs to stop. The excuse that all fanbases do it such a passive approach.  Shouldn’t matter if it affects recruiting or not. 

you stated clearly you don’t go on Twitter. (Happens on here as well) Well, all these kids do and the comments are terrible. All while acting like the white kid never does wrong and not acknowledging he is limited.  Would just be nice to hear our “knowledgeable fanbase”  realize what the modern game takes to be successful. We need X, we need CJ, we need MM level athletes. Cupps is fine and will be a very solid 4 year guy. Measurable traits are what they are. (Speed, burst, etc) 

I will let it go as I know some are tired of hearing it. As a follow fan, do your best to squash those bias statements when you hear them. Read between the lines of what people say. All I ask. 

Forget Twitter, you are THE culprit of posting with biases here in this forum. I’ve read between your lines

[MikeRoberts 7,012]

15 minutes ago, Ngw7183 said:

To respect this forum I am not going to say what I want to and not going to attack directly. Let it go. I said my peace. 

Not even sure what that could possibly mean. Just find it ironic that you of all people are here lecturing the forum on biases

[Golfman25 5,430]

1 hour ago, Ngw7183 said:

Ok, I let it go but had to address this. Especially since a few liked it. In general, I am going to let my opinion be my opinion and move on but my values require me to address this. 

The 2 are not close to the same. 

Cupps has measurable challenges to his game. Same as WR would go into the NFL combine and we can measure their maximum potential. You don’t draft a WR who runs. 5.0 40. Same with Malik. MM brings a different skillset and ability. That is my challenges with both Cupps and Malik. We need MM and CJ to figure it out. If not, our ceiling is limited. These are measurable and not opinion based. 

My point on much of the fanbase and their “evaluation” of X or MM for that matter is not based on ability or measurable attributes at all. They are judged differently and the criticism is “not a leader”, “not smart” “hot head” “thug” etc. sorry, but one of the very posters who replied immediately to my last post is one of such fans who absolutely treats those guys differently than a Cupps and uses criticism that is biased and not fact based. 

agree to disagree on Cupps ability to play in BIG as a starter but I am not doing to Cupps what others do to X. My only criticism is I do not believe  he has the quickness to guard high level guards. Would say the same about Leal. Very straight forward. 

What are cupps’ measureables?  How quick is he?  You have a number?  

[Home Jersey 7,590]

36 hours til Wright State guys

[Golfman25 5,430]

7 hours ago, Ngw7183 said:

Come on man. You know they don’t post publicly there 40 times. But you and anyone can see he is not that quick. Fast twitch and burst are not there. These are easy to see measurable differences.

That is easy to see. He makes up for it by good positioning and working hard but against the faster guards, it won’t matter. 

like I already said, I give. You and a good amount feel he is. We will see soon. That killed us at times last year and don’t think he is the solve. But my concerns with him in no way are the same as others put on X or MM. They have bias and it is very easy to see with how they talk about them. The Taco Bell thread showed plenty. You were very fact based and respectful there and asking that your love for Cupps not cloud what I am getting at.

So you’re basing it on the eye test and not an objective evaluation.  Got it.  Don’t let your own bias creep in.  But you do you.  

[Golfman25 5,430]

1 hour ago, Home Jersey said:

36 hours til Wright State guys

38 till the fire mike Woodson thread?   :)

[BGleas 7,903]

7 hours ago, Ngw7183 said:

Come on man. You know they don’t post publicly there 40 times. But you and anyone can see he is not that quick. Fast twitch and burst are not there. These are easy to see measurable differences.

That is easy to see. He makes up for it by good positioning and working hard but against the faster guards, it won’t matter. 

like I already said, I give. You and a good amount feel he is. We will see soon. That killed us at times last year and don’t think he is the solve. But my concerns with him in no way are the same as others put on X or MM. They have bias and it is very easy to see with how they talk about them. The Taco Bell thread showed plenty. You were very fact based and respectful there and asking that your love for Cupps not cloud what I am getting at.

I honestly have no clue what you're seeing or talking about? Have you watched him over 4 games (including the exhibitions) completely riding "supposedly quicker" guards up and down the court? Constantly making them change direction and almost never blowing by him. 

I mean, his defensive pressure literally changed the entire FGCU game around. He's probably our best defensive guard so far this season and that's on a team with XJ and Galloway. 

Defense and his ability to pressure at the point of attack is literally the reason he's gotten the minutes he has so far. 

[IndyResident16 567]

Anyone else see UK shoot themselves out of the game last night? Taking 3 pointers for the hell of it isn't a winning strategy, 38 to be exact.

[BGleas 7,903]

Just now, IndyResident16 said:

Anyone else see UK shoot themselves out of the game last night? Taking 3 pointers for the hell of it isn't a winning strategy, 38 to be exact.

Nobody is saying to take 3-pointers for the hell of it or to lead the nation in 3pt attempts. 

But, being ranked sub-300 in 3pt attempts isn't a winning strategy either. 

[IndyResident16 567]

2 minutes ago, BGleas said:

Nobody is saying to take 3-pointers for the hell of it or to lead the nation in 3pt attempts. 

But, being ranked sub-300 in 3pt attempts isn't a winning strategy either. 

Kansas (6-18 from 3 last night) dominated at the rim and got to the Free Throw line when they wanted. You don't need to jack 30+ 3's a game to win...even more so if you don't have the personnel to do it. That's all. 

[BGleas 7,903]

Just now, IndyResident16 said:

Kansas (6-18 from 3 last night) dominated at the rim and got to the Free Throw line when they wanted. You don't need to jack 30+ 3's a game to win...even more so if you don't have the personnel to do it. That's all. 

Again, nobody said "jack 30+ 3's". If we continue to be sub-300 nationally in attempts we're not going to win to the level we all want. 

[IndyResident16 567]

2 minutes ago, BGleas said:

Again, nobody said "jack 30+ 3's". If we continue to be sub-300 nationally in attempts we're not going to win to the level we all want. 

Why? Cut down on the turnovers and play better perimeter defense and this is a tough team to beat. Not many teams have an answer for Ware and Reneau at the rim for 40 minutes. 

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich 8,674]

23 hours ago, Uspshoosier said:

Johnson, Cupps, Galloway, Ware, Mgbako, Malik, Banks, off the top of my head who I feel comfortable shooting 4 + a game.   Probably more but those off the top of my head should let it fly if they are open.   

Our dudes are way too scared to shoot the ball if anyone is within an hour of them. You watch other teams, they are ready to shoot, even if partially contested. For whatever reason, our guys only believe they can shoot if they are WIDE open. It doesn't matter what percentage our guys shoot, other teams won't care because they only have to be "close" to make them not shoot. It's been that way through Archie and Woodsons first 2 years. Under Crean, dudes let it fly.