Official 2016-17 IUBB Preseason Thread

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Indiana's James Blackmon Jr. and Thomas Bryant have been named to the Naismith Trophy's preseason 50 watch list.

http://www.insidethehall.com/2016/11/10/blackmon-jr-bryant-named-naismith-trophy-watch-list/

 

[Stuhoo]

https://theringer.com/og-anunoby-hype-killer-a90bda92fced#.l8ihrg6oq

Great article on OG!

"Jamal Murray didn’t see OG Anunoby coming. Kentucky’s star freshman came into the second round of last year’s NCAA tournament on a tear...there’s no easy way to cover an elite shooter with a lightning-quick release and the ability to get around defenders off the dribble. When Kentucky put Murray in ball screens and forced a bigger and slower defender on him, the defense had two equally unappealing options: either play off him and concede the jumper, or press up on him and allow a driving lane to the basket. Indiana managed to upset Kentucky, 73–67, in large part because Anunoby, an unheralded Hoosiers freshman, gave them a third way. Indiana threw waves of defenders at Murray, holding him to 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting, and none made a bigger impression than Anunoby, who was able to block the sharpshooter from behind the arc not once, but twice. “I always come into the game confident,” Anunoby said about matching up with elite players. “I don’t care about recruiting rankings or any of that stuff. OG was long enough to contest Murray’s shot, and quick enough to stay in front of him. That was the difference between Anunoby and all the other big defenders during the season tasked with slowing down Kentucky’s lead guard: when Anunoby got down in a stance and chased Murray on the perimeter, he covered ground just as quickly as his much smaller counterpart. Murray was being covered by a defensive end–defensive back hybrid, a mobile tank who could eat up space in a matter of seconds while being able to blast his way through screens. It was like someone had slipped a create-a-player from a video game onto the Indiana roster and no one noticed. Anunoby was a superhero without an origin story. "

[Brass Cannon]

On November 8, 2016 at 11:59 PM, Brass Cannon said:

Statistically we should win 1 of those 3. They way probabilities pan out. 

Called it. Statistically we should win 1 of the other 2 also.