That was Fun

[catfans5]

It was so much fun to get out and go to a game! It was fun to see us get the win. UNO came to play. One of their assistant coaches had an annoying high pitched voic

Hope this game was a break out for Beran.

Nice to finally see some emotion from our gang.

No idea what the stats were since the scoreboard did not work.

I really like our freshman They can give some good minutes.

I hope Nance starts taking it to the hoop some more. He can be a beast.

I need a better filter for my in game comments.

Way to go Cats.

 

[Fcmchi1]

Have your wife attend the game with you instead of some haggard NU alum. She’ll tame you.

 

[GatoLouco]

Comments during games tend to be too emotional, based on what we just saw and generalize way too much.

So here are some thoughts from yesterday's game, after a good night of sleep, and not analyzing any box scores. All eye test:
1) Nance - awesome. No need to expand, other threads have covered that

2) Berry - great - had a sub par game last time around. But showed confidence continues to be there

3) Buie - OK - Took a couple of shots that clearly should not have happened. The others were, IMO, justified. Did not shoot well. That happens. Much more interested in seeing better shot selection and not turning the ball over.

4) Greer - another solid game, but it worries me that, without Audige, he's the logical guy to play a lot more minutes off the ball in the backcourt. Meaning, while Buie continues to be the PG.

5) Beran - terrible until the last 5 minutes. Then he's great. Not sure what to make of that

6) Young - did not play particularly well, but solid as usual. And yes, when with Nance team played well. I believe in the 2nd half NO was scoreless when they played together

7) Williams - I am hoping he becomes more confident. I see signs of the "new guy on the team" not wanting to do more because he might be stepping on someone's toes

8) Roper/Simmons - are so much better than the average frosh we usually see. But we can't count of them to be significant when things get really hard. They're not there yet. And they're not supposed to be.

------------------------------------------------

A) Yong and Nance together - good, very good. I don't care about arguments we were very good down the stretch with Beran/Nance. One game, we hit shots. Better than not hitting them. Still, one game

B) The last 5 minutes. Really happy we made shots. Berry and Beran hitting 3's won the game for us. We were not even shooting remotely well from the 3. And when it mattered, we did. But why, in the bonus, were we not going inside? Is it preferable to live and die by the 3? What happens with faster defenses in conference and the open shots are not there? We hit them. If we missed them we'd be here finding it unacceptable to lose at home to a mid major

C) Perimeter defense - Audige is the only hope we have to somewhat "clamp down" on an opponent that is particularly hot in the perimeter. Buie is far from a good option for that. And he was the best one yesterday.

D) Depth in the perimeter - When things get tough, and experience is needed, no shaky hands, what are our options outside? It's normal for Simmons/Roper to be sitting on the bench. That's expected. So, as we saw last night, who can we resort to? Before Audige is an option, it's Greer. And for as solid as he was the last couple of games, that makes me uneasy. As CC won't go to a 2019 style of lineup with Beran at 3, right now we have Buie and Berry as obvious guys needing to be on the floor. The third, before Audige is available, is Greer. Again, solid last couple of games. But, in conference play, he might just be a guy taking up space knowing he probably turn the ball over. But not contributing either. Beran (who knows, even Williams) at 3 at times, could make some sense. Think about it, Beran is rebounds and crossing our fingers he might hit an open three. He does not play with his back to the basket, he does not penetrate, he does not finish in the paint unless he's completely alone.

E) Now I'll go look at the box score, to see where the "all these guys will play 20 minutes" ended up in the first game we were actually tested.

 

[NREPP Fraud]

Audige will help a lot! We got depth!

 

[ricko6543211]

Comments during games tend to be too emotional, based on what we just saw and generalize way too much.

So here are some thoughts from yesterday's game, after a good night of sleep, and not analyzing any box scores. All eye test:
1) Nance - awesome. No need to expand, other threads have covered that

2) Berry - great - had a sub par game last time around. But showed confidence continues to be there

3) Buie - OK - Took a couple of shots that clearly should not have happened. The others were, IMO, justified. Did not shoot well. That happens. Much more interested in seeing better shot selection and not turning the ball over.

4) Greer - another solid game, but it worries me that, without Audige, he's the logical guy to play a lot more minutes off the ball in the backcourt. Meaning, while Buie continues to be the PG.

5) Beran - terrible until the last 5 minutes. Then he's great. Not sure what to make of that

6) Young - did not play particularly well, but solid as usual. And yes, when with Nance team played well. I believe in the 2nd half NO was scoreless when they played together

7) Williams - I am hoping he becomes more confident. I see signs of the "new guy on the team" not wanting to do more because he might be stepping on someone's toes

8) Roper/Simmons - are so much better than the average frosh we usually see. But we can't count of them to be significant when things get really hard. They're not there yet. And they're not supposed to be.

------------------------------------------------

A) Yong and Nance together - good, very good. I don't care about arguments we were very good down the stretch with Beran/Nance. One game, we hit shots. Better than not hitting them. Still, one game

B) The last 5 minutes. Really happy we made shots. Berry and Beran hitting 3's won the game for us. We were not even shooting remotely well from the 3. And when it mattered, we did. But why, in the bonus, were we not going inside? Is it preferable to live and die by the 3? What happens with faster defenses in conference and the open shots are not there? We hit them. If we missed them we'd be here finding it unacceptable to lose at home to a mid major

C) Perimeter defense - Audige is the only hope we have to somewhat "clamp down" on an opponent that is particularly hot in the perimeter. Buie is far from a good option for that. And he was the best one yesterday.

D) Depth in the perimeter - When things get tough, and experience is needed, no shaky hands, what are our options outside? It's normal for Simmons/Roper to be sitting on the bench. That's expected. So, as we saw last night, who can we resort to? Before Audige is an option, it's Greer. And for as solid as he was the last couple of games, that makes me uneasy. As CC won't go to a 2019 style of lineup with Beran at 3, right now we have Buie and Berry as obvious guys needing to be on the floor. The third, before Audige is available, is Greer. Again, solid last couple of games. But, in conference play, he might just be a guy taking up space knowing he probably turn the ball over. But not contributing either. Beran (who knows, even Williams) at 3 at times, could make some sense. Think about it, Beran is rebounds and crossing our fingers he might hit an open three. He does not play with his back to the basket, he does not penetrate, he does not finish in the paint unless he's completely alone.

E) Now I'll go look at the box score, to see where the "all these guys will play 20 minutes" ended up in the first game we were actually tested.

I agree with a lot of what you said. Nance was great and Ty Berry's shooting (plus pretty a couple steals on defense) was huge in turning around this game. Some responses:

- In contrast I've been really impressed with Greer this year. In the past I was hoping for him to basically not make a mistake and pass it off to someone else. Now he can be counted on to make good decisions and can even add a bit of scoring - it started with only if they didn't pay full attention to him, but now he's made a couple moves off the dribble too. He's developed into a very solid role player.
- Re defending a scoring guard - agree it will help to have Chase back. But I would have also preferred to see more of Greer and Berry on #10 rather than Boo being the lead guy. First I think they are better on-ball defenders, second they have a bit more length to contest shots (granted none of them a ton), and third it would help Boo save more energy for offense - where he has the most time (and energy spent) with ball in his hands while Berry / Greer tend to play more off ball.
- Re the Nance Young lineup - it definitely helped for the stretches it was used. It also helped that we made shots / they missed shots in those stretches. I wouldn't be surprised if CC has had that lineup in consideration from the start but is trying to wait to deploy it, instead using a more equal distribution of playing time in the early going against lighter competition. When we were pushed today, you saw a little more skew in the minutes distribution with Nance Boo Berry getting 30+.
- On shot selection- sure we can go inside if the looks are there. But all day they were doubling down on the post, and sinking into doubles against the drive. If an opponent does that then it's hard to force in scores when you are 1 on 2+ guys. The 3pt looks we took in the 2nd half were for the most part lots of very good looks. We shouldn't expect to make 6 straight (I think?) like we did in that one stretch very often, but if we keep having our shooters take open 3's, I'm okay with that. I think over time it'll turn out decently. You take what the defense gives you.
- Agree on Roper Simmons. They are providing valuable depth right now. I'm not sure either is quite ready for prime time yet, but they can be a supporting role which will be useful in B1G season. Will be interesting to see how they develop over the course of the year. If 1 or both of them can turn into a more consistent contributor (and improve their offensive game - where it's clear both are a bit tentative right now).
- Side note also Simmons seems to have gotten on the wrong side of the ref reputation as a young guy who fouls, cause he is not getting the benefit of the doubt on anything right now - he isn't great on body positioning on D but still, it feels like they've tagged him or something. Just need to work doubly hard to play good positional defense I guess.

 

[CappyNU]

4/5 combos
1st half:
Beran/Nance - 9-6, 5:43
Williams/Nance - 12-12, 6:02
Williams/Young - 2-5, 2:01
Beran/Young - 3-11, 3:06
Simmons/Young - 2-3, 1:10
Nance/Young - 7-0, 1:58

2nd half:
Beran/Nance - 32-21, 11:51 (23-8 over final 6:21)
Williams/Nance - 0-2, 1:02
Williams/Young - 8-6, 3:01
Nance/Young - 8-1, 4:06

Total:
Beran/Nance - 41-27, 17:34
Williams/Nance - 12-14, 7:04
Nance/Young - 15-1, 6:04
Williams/Young - 10-11, 5:02
Beran/Young - 3-11, 3:06
Simmons/Young - 2-3, 1:10

 

[GatoLouco]

- In contrast I've been really impressed with Greer this year. In the past I was hoping for him to basically not make a mistake and pass it off to someone else. Now he can be counted on to make good decisions and can even add a bit of scoring - it started with only if they didn't pay full attention to him, but now he's made a couple moves off the dribble too. He's developed into a very solid role player.

I had hopes, when Greer's SO season started, that he would turn to the player we saw in the last couple of games. Mostly based on his ball handling and strong upper body. But I lost such hopes. Like you, see him as a guy that can rest someone and does not turn the ball over. But with the downside our opponents can slack on him and clamp down on our bigger threats.

I am hopeful you are right about his evolution. I am not ready to feel confident about Greer. Really solid couple of games, against better competition than EIU. But he was not only bad, he was dreadful against EIU. Tougher games will come and I will be happy to be proven wrong. He has obviously worked very hard on bettering himself.

 

[pschatz25]

Many good comments here so I don't have much to add. Berry and Greer have been pleasant surprises so far. Beran had some important baskets last night, but I remain underwhelmed by his play. I look forward to getting Audige back, do we have any idea when that will be?

Also, the scoreboard has had issues all season. For those who don't know, the team stats (on the ribbon board behind the baskets) and the player stats (on the corners of the main board) will not update or will disappear entirely for stretches of time or like the whole game last night. It's pretty annoying. And while I'm on the subject, I miss the additional stats (steals, rebounds, turnovers) shown on the 'end zone' boards in the old WRA.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Hey, some of my favorite people are having a quality discussion!

Went to the game last night, also saw the Cats in person vs High Point.

Some thoughts...

Top of the list is Ty Berry, who is an excellent, disruptive defender. Has a very high basketball IQ, sticking his hands in passing lanes, knocking the ball out of shooter's hands, etc. When he plays on offense like he did last night, he is a huge plus for the team. A deserving starter with a lot of upside.

Greer and Buie... This combo was actually net positive last year, we outscored our Big Ten opponents when those two were on the court together. (we only had 3 combos that can make that claim - Young with Nance, Young with Beran and Greer with Buie). I can see that combo with Greer at the point and Buie as shooting guard, but Buie was definitely the point guard last night. Maybe that works too.

I have seen Elyjah Williams play twice and to me he looks a little slow and less physical than I was led to believe. Based on those two games, I don't see him as more than a role player, but there's still time to be proven wrong.

Young played well again. Much of what he does doesn't show up in his box score line, but shows in the score of the game. Nance has looked excellent.

Beran shocked me in the last 6 minutes, did a 180 on his earlier effort. Super encouraging, but not a Big Ten opponent, obviously.

Collins played a lot of 3 guard lineups, I thought. We may have a problem at the 3 position - I could see Audige or Berry in that spot for some of the game, if Simmons isn't physical enough to defend against Big Ten forwards. Other than Simmons, we've got Williams and Barnhizer, so its a question mark.

A few tidbits - the energy from the New Orleans bench was awesome. They brought their A game and we turned them back.
Ty Berry walked to the locker room with his arm draped around Coach Collins' shoulder. If I didn't like Berry so much, I'd say he was blatantly kissing as*.
Somebody who covers the team told me that Audige wasn't playing "for disciplinary reasons." Maybe false, but thats what he told me.

 

[hdhntr1]

It was so much fun to get out and go to a game! It was fun to see us get the win. UNO came to play. One of their assistant coaches had an annoying high pitched voic

Hope this game was a break out for Beran.

Nice to finally see some emotion from our gang.

No idea what the stats were since the scoreboard did not work.

I really like our freshman They can give some good minutes.

I hope Nance starts taking it to the hoop some more. He can be a beast.

I need a better filter for my in game comments.

Way to go Cats.

That is two games in a row thatI know that they have had issues with the scoreboard. I was unable to attend because of better half health but .listened to about half the game as could not view it. Now I see that it has been all season. GET IT FIXED

 

[GatoLouco]

We may have a problem at the 3 position

This is becoming, to me, a concern. The absence of Kopp leaves us, effectively, without a clear #3. While, for now, we don't really show much handicap physically against competition, we will in the future.

Solutions:

1) 3 guard lineups - Bit of a problem with size, since the only guard with more size is Simmons and it's unfair to expect him to carry any significant load. Buie/Greer are 6'2, Berry is 6'3 and Audige is 6'4. The problem with the 3 guards is exacerbated by the Beran/Nance combo. How are we going to fare rebounding? Last year was a big problem

2) Adapt a stretch 3 in Williams, Beran if Nance and Young are playing - We could resort to that when being killed on the boards

3) Play Barnhizer. Same problem as with Simmons. Unfair expectations

 

[cats_man_too]

Hey, some of my favorite people are having a quality discussion!

Went to the game last night, also saw the Cats in person vs High Point.

Some thoughts...

Top of the list is Ty Berry, who is an excellent, disruptive defender. Has a very high basketball IQ, sticking his hands in passing lanes, knocking the ball out of shooter's hands, etc. When he plays on offense like he did last night, he is a huge plus for the team. A deserving starter with a lot of upside.

Greer and Buie... This combo was actually net positive last year, we outscored our Big Ten opponents when those two were on the court together. (we only had 3 combos that can make that claim - Young with Nance, Young with Beran and Greer with Buie). I can see that combo with Greer at the point and Buie as shooting guard, but Buie was definitely the point guard last night. Maybe that works too.

I have seen Elyjah Williams play twice and to me he looks a little slow and less physical than I was led to believe. Based on those two games, I don't see him as more than a role player, but there's still time to be proven wrong.

Young played well again. Much of what he does doesn't show up in his box score line, but shows in the score of the game. Nance has looked excellent.

Beran shocked me in the last 6 minutes, did a 180 on his earlier effort. Super encouraging, but not a Big Ten opponent, obviously.

Collins played a lot of 3 guard lineups, I thought. We may have a problem at the 3 position - I could see Audige or Berry in that spot for some of the game, if Simmons isn't physical enough to defend against Big Ten forwards. Other than Simmons, we've got Williams and Barnhizer, so its a question mark.

A few tidbits - the energy from the New Orleans bench was awesome. They brought their A game and we turned them back.
Ty Berry walked to the locker room with his arm draped around Coach Collins' shoulder. If I didn't like Berry so much, I'd say he was blatantly kissing as*.
Somebody who covers the team told me that Audige wasn't playing "for disciplinary reasons." Maybe false, but thats what he told me.

I have heard nothing about any disciplinary issues with Audige. Definitely think it's about being cautious with a nagging injury.

 

[NJCat]

Was Barnhizer at the game last night?

 

[clarificationcat]

Hey, some of my favorite people are having a quality discussion!

Went to the game last night, also saw the Cats in person vs High Point.

Some thoughts...

Top of the list is Ty Berry, who is an excellent, disruptive defender. Has a very high basketball IQ, sticking his hands in passing lanes, knocking the ball out of shooter's hands, etc. When he plays on offense like he did last night, he is a huge plus for the team. A deserving starter with a lot of upside.

Greer and Buie... This combo was actually net positive last year, we outscored our Big Ten opponents when those two were on the court together. (we only had 3 combos that can make that claim - Young with Nance, Young with Beran and Greer with Buie). I can see that combo with Greer at the point and Buie as shooting guard, but Buie was definitely the point guard last night. Maybe that works too.

I have seen Elyjah Williams play twice and to me he looks a little slow and less physical than I was led to believe. Based on those two games, I don't see him as more than a role player, but there's still time to be proven wrong.

Young played well again. Much of what he does doesn't show up in his box score line, but shows in the score of the game. Nance has looked excellent.

Beran shocked me in the last 6 minutes, did a 180 on his earlier effort. Super encouraging, but not a Big Ten opponent, obviously.

Collins played a lot of 3 guard lineups, I thought. We may have a problem at the 3 position - I could see Audige or Berry in that spot for some of the game, if Simmons isn't physical enough to defend against Big Ten forwards. Other than Simmons, we've got Williams and Barnhizer, so its a question mark.

A few tidbits - the energy from the New Orleans bench was awesome. They brought their A game and we turned them back.
Ty Berry walked to the locker room with his arm draped around Coach Collins' shoulder. If I didn't like Berry so much, I'd say he was blatantly kissing as*.
Somebody who covers the team told me that Audige wasn't playing "for disciplinary reasons." Maybe false, but thats what he told me.

Nice analysis.

Agree on Berry. He has very active hands and when he and Roper or Simmons are on the court, we can generate some turnovers and easy baskets (which we can really use). And he's our best shooter by far. Not going to generate much offense on his own but that's o.k.

Buie is not shooting well from 3 but in these first 3 games but he's averaging 7.3 assists and 0.7 turnovers. That's probably as good as any point guard in the country (understanding the competition). He's also gotten better at finishing, which was one of his big issues last year.

Williams played great in the EIU game. Most impactful player on the court at times. He is definitely someone that can help in a lot of different ways. Maybe he only plays 10 minutes in some games but I can see him having a big impact in a few games.

Young had kind of a rough first half but I thought he was a big reason why we got back in the game before we pulled away. I don't know if Colllins was trying to boost Beran's confidence but I was shocked that he played the last 10 minutes of the game when the game was still undecided. Collins had yanked him 3 minutes into the second half. Young has some limitations on help defense that sometimes get him pulled. In the first couple of games, guards have gone right at him for layups and he's not as good in pick and roll as Beran or Nance. But he's a very good rebounder and a better post-defender than either Nance or Beran. And he he's gotten better at finding open shooters.

Agree on the New Orleans bench. They had more energy than the crowd. Looked like they really love their coach.

And Bo Boroski, a ref that does a lot of NU games, reffed the championship game last year. He seems pretty comfortable out there with both coaches and the players. At one point at a timeout, he and Pete were engaged in a discussion about a foul call on Pete (I think) and he was actually guarding Pete to show him something.

 

[PURPLECAT88]

Collins has said that Audige has a hip injury. Not sure why he would say that publicly but tell a "guy who covers the team" something else, but I guess weirder things have happened.
Barnhizer was at the game last night. He was not in uniform but seemed to be having a good time long with his teammates. I don't sense that anything is amiss.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Nice analysis.

Agree on Berry. He has very active hands and when he and Roper or Simmons are on the court, we can generate some turnovers and easy baskets (which we can really use). And he's our best shooter by far. Not going to generate much offense on his own but that's o.k.

Buie is not shooting well from 3 but in these first 3 games but he's averaging 7.3 assists and 0.7 turnovers. That's probably as good as any point guard in the country (understanding the competition). He's also gotten better at finishing, which was one of his big issues last year.

Williams played great in the EIU game. Most impactful player on the court at times. He is definitely someone that can help in a lot of different ways. Maybe he only plays 10 minutes in some games but I can see him having a big impact in a few games.

Young had kind of a rough first half but I thought he was a big reason why we got back in the game before we pulled away. I don't know if Colllins was trying to boost Beran's confidence but I was shocked that he played the last 10 minutes of the game when the game was still undecided. Collins had yanked him 3 minutes into the second half. Young has some limitations on help defense that sometimes get him pulled. In the first couple of games, guards have gone right at him for layups and he's not as good in pick and roll as Beran or Nance. But he's a very good rebounder and a better post-defender than either Nance or Beran. And he he's gotten better at finding open shooters.

Agree on the New Orleans bench. They had more energy than the crowd. Looked like they really love their coach.

And Bo Boroski, a ref that does a lot of NU games, reffed the championship game last year. He seems pretty comfortable out there with both coaches and the players. At one point at a timeout, he and Pete were engaged in a discussion about a foul call on Pete (I think) and he was actually guarding Pete to show him something.

I agree with almost everything you wrote.

I'm not worried about Buie. When he is handling the ball, he tends to chuck up a few bad threes. His dribble drive has gotten better. I think both Greer and Berry can get Buie the ball when Buie works to get an open look. Audige? not so much.

Nance and Young are defensively pretty solid together. Young struggles when he has no rebounding help.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Collins has said that Audige has a hip injury. Not sure why he would say that publicly but tell a "guy who covers the team" something else, but I guess weirder things have happened.
Barnhizer was at the game last night. He was not in uniform but seemed to be having a good time long with his teammates. I don't sense that anything is amiss.

My "secret source" was a student who covers the team in an official capacity. I don't want anybody to get in trouble, but sometimes the students know what is really going on because they are friends with the players.

I said something like "I thought Audige had some nagging injury..." and this student said "Thats what they're saying, but its disciplinary." He said it rather confidently. But he could be wrong.

 

[Catreporter]

Actually, I hope he is right and Audige will be back healthy and ready to go.

 

[Username Not Available]

From my seat, both Boo and Ty chucked some really dumb clunkers early on, but when Ty was set and got a pass he put up
some really nice shots. Berry’s hands are great on D. I wonder if he’ll get called more in Big play. That’s a concern I have for the whole team. I don’t think we get as many calls in our favor in conference games

Beran played terribly the first 3/4 roughly. I didn’t see what happened, but he got fired up towards the end and his game got a lot better.

I like what I see in Simmons. They way he moves reminds me of Haschad, grabby hands and all bounce, dart, and speed. He’ll need to learn to keep his feet and not overrreact, and will definitely get burned and embarrassed a few times this year, and pushed around a lot, but I see great things in his future.

Williams seems a bit slow, but he’s also a bit of a wide body and he’ll give us some good minutes. I didn’t notice - maybe I missed it - him picking up many fouls banging low or guarding out. He took a wide open three and if he makes those, they can’t ignore him.

I haven’t seen much from Roper, but that’s probably just me missing details.

I’m currently up on Greer. He seems to play within himself and should be a decent ball handler in most cases, although he’ll need help against a press. I can see games, depending on who guards him, where he runs the point and Boo gets to roam off ball. I can also see games where he gets very limited minutes. Because we seem to have options.

 

[Smokejumper]

In Ty's defense of some of those misses, often the pass from inside back out to Ty was weak at best. NO was playing really tough inside D, frequently doubling the ball.

So many times, the inside ballhandler was under duress when making the pass back outside - think "ooof" i don't want to lose the ball so i better push the ball towards another NU player. By the time the ball got to Ty, he was leaning forward and shooting out of rhythm. No inside turnover, but we definitely aren't helping our outside shooters with that kind of play and feed.

On the few misses i saw from Boo, id say it was just a bad miss on an open shot. As i said in an earlier thread, when he's hot, nobody complains, but i'm sure the coaches are looking to him running the offense and getting everyone involved instead of jacking threes with 30 seconds left on the shot clock. I definitely see growth in his ball handling and shooting form, and hopefully in shot selection.

We'll see when conference play ramps and the defense tightens up. Will he remain team first or will the team fold under pressure with nobody working to get and willing to take high quality shots.

 

[techtim72]

Everyone commenting here is really into the game and making great observations. So I don't have anything to add other than a couple of questions. What happens when/if Beran or Nance twists an ankle in down the road. Seems to me the team is light a forward to provide adequate depth. Second, any thoughts on whether the team is playing a little more cohesively without Kopp?

 

[PURPLECAT88]

Everyone commenting here is really into the game and making great observations. So I don't have anything to add other than a couple of questions. What happens when/if Beran or Nance twists an ankle in down the road. Seems to me the team is light a forward to provide adequate depth. Second, any thoughts on whether the team is playing a little more cohesively without Kopp?

The size thing is a legit question. We do have 5 guys with size, but one hasn't shown he can play. Thus an injury would leave us scrambling. The team seems to be playing more cohesively than last year, but it's tough to say for sure as we couldn't see them in person last year. Whether that has anything to do with Kopp's departure, while it's fun to speculate, is something we can never know.

 

[CappyNU]

I think it's hard to say given the level of competition thus far, but based on how the players are talking, it certainly seems reading between the lines that things are a bit tighter than in the past.

Looking at the stats from the first few games last year against similar competition, we are turning the ball over less and forcing more turnovers on defense, but shooting and rebounding have not been as good. The teams so far this year have been slightly better than those we faced last year though.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Everyone commenting here is really into the game and making great observations. So I don't have anything to add other than a couple of questions. What happens when/if Beran or Nance twists an ankle in down the road. Seems to me the team is light a forward to provide adequate depth. Second, any thoughts on whether the team is playing a little more cohesively without Kopp?

If BERAN twists an ankle that might not be so bad. If Nance twists an ankle, thats BAD.
One thing we learned from last year is that Nance, Kopp and 3 guards could succeed as a unit, playing a faster style of play. I think we're more athletic this year and Berry has stepped it up (as expected).

I'm wondering if Nance, Buie, Berry and some collection of Greer, Simmons, Audige and Roper, maybe even Barnhizer could play as a group and succeed, getting up and down the floor.

To lock down our opponent, its clearly Nance, Young, Buie, Berry and a player to be determined. That should be our primary lineup.

That lineup alone is reason for optimism.

 

[GatoLouco]

Everyone commenting here is really into the game and making great observations. So I don't have anything to add other than a couple of questions. What happens when/if Beran or Nance twists an ankle in down the road. Seems to me the team is light a forward to provide adequate depth. Second, any thoughts on whether the team is playing a little more cohesively without Kopp?

I'm not adding much to what everyone has said, which I almost 100% agree. In my opinion the only player that really kills us if he gets injured is Nance. We can be OK with anyone else on the team going down. Which is almost a certainty someone will.

If we are better this year? I think so. We won the non conference games we were supposed to win last year. We even went 3-0 to start the B1G. We probably won't do the 3-0 again. But I believe we will be facing inferior competition. So, in relative terms, I definitely think we are a better team. 9 wins minimum baby.

 

[CappyNU]

We won the non conference games we were supposed to win last year.

Minor quibble, but we were supposed to beat Pitt, and as much as I'd like to forget that happened, we memorably blew that game.

 

[PURPLECAT88]

To lock down our opponent, its clearly Nance, Young, Buie, Berry and a player to be determined. That should be our primary lineup.

That lineup alone is reason for optimism.

I would suggest that the "player to be determined" should be Simmons until proven otherwise. With that line-up, we don't need a scorer in that spot. Simmons size and athletic ability can be very disruptive on defense getting his hands into passing lanes, and he has shown good aggressiveness in loose ball and rebounding situations. That also leaves Audige free to be instant offense and a leader on the second unit. We can gripe all we want about how we shouldn't have a "second unit", but Collins has shown he likes the idea, so let's at least make the most of it.

 

[NJCat]

We can be OK with anyone else on the team going down. Which is almost a certainty someone will.

Someone already has.......Chase.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

I would suggest that the "player to be determined" should be Simmons until proven otherwise. With that line-up, we don't need a scorer in that spot. Simmons size and athletic ability can be very disruptive on defense getting his hands into passing lanes, and he has shown good aggressiveness in loose ball and rebounding situations. That also leaves Audige free to be instant offense and a leader on the second unit. We can gripe all we want about how we shouldn't have a "second unit", but Collins has shown he likes the idea, so let's at least make the most of it.

Its interesting. If you assume, for the sake of simplicity, that one lineup is Young, Nance, Berry and Buie, then I could see Simmons fitting in very effectively, with plenty of alternatives (thats why its a good lineup).

I'd avoid the "second unit" concept like the plague!

We should be trying to develop a successful "halfcourt" lineup and a successful "uptempo" lineup.
Nance, Berry and Buie can play both styles. Young is a grinder. So is Greer. Audige is better running the floor (to me, anyhow). Simmons and Roper seem capable of both styles, hard to know so far, but both of those guys merit playing time. Beran is a tough nut to crack. Williams seems like a half-court guy.

If Nance, Buie and Berry play 30 minutes a night, I think thats a good thing. Young 28 minutes...

I'd prefer to see Young with Beran for 10 minutes
Young with Nance 18 minutes
Nance with the uptempo group 12 minutes.

Adjust based on what is working and what isn't.

 

[GatoLouco]

The idea of Audige being the 6th man always sounded good to me. It provides the spark off the bench. In the end, depending on how he's playing, he could even play 25 to 30 minutes.

And I also find the idea of the second unit abhorrent. Leave who is playing better longer on the court. Reign in who is not producing. It's a 40 minute game. With no back to backs like in the pros.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Someone already has.......Chase.

To me, losing Boo would be very impactful.

 

[ricko6543211]

If BERAN twists an ankle that might not be so bad. If Nance twists an ankle, thats BAD.
One thing we learned from last year is that Nance, Kopp and 3 guards could succeed as a unit, playing a faster style of play. I think we're more athletic this year and Berry has stepped it up (as expected).

I'm wondering if Nance, Buie, Berry and some collection of Greer, Simmons, Audige and Roper, maybe even Barnhizer could play as a group and succeed, getting up and down the floor.

To lock down our opponent, its clearly Nance, Young, Buie, Berry and a player to be determined. That should be our primary lineup.

That lineup alone is reason for optimism.

Yeah - I think we can survive an injury to almost any one player, with the exception of Nance. Losing Young would be tough for depth up front, but we could piece it together with Nance Williams and Beran and at least survive. I think Elyjah in particular would be able to step up and play increased minutes in that situation. Boo and Berry are good PGs but we have depth at G and wing. Nance going down for an extended period of time I think would drop us from NIT contention toward the bottom of the conference. His combination of size, rim defense, rebounding, and ability to score at all 3 levels on offense is kind of indispensable to us. Or at the least not close to replicable from anyone else on the current roster.

 

[ricko6543211]

4/5 combos
1st half:
Beran/Nance - 9-6, 5:43
Williams/Nance - 12-12, 6:02
Williams/Young - 2-5, 2:01
Beran/Young - 3-11, 3:06
Simmons/Young - 2-3, 1:10
Nance/Young - 7-0, 1:58

2nd half:
Beran/Nance - 32-21, 11:51 (23-8 over final 6:21)
Williams/Nance - 0-2, 1:02
Williams/Young - 8-6, 3:01
Nance/Young - 8-1, 4:06

Total:
Beran/Nance - 41-27, 17:34
Williams/Nance - 12-14, 7:04
Nance/Young - 15-1, 6:04
Williams/Young - 10-11, 5:02
Beran/Young - 3-11, 3:06
Simmons/Young - 2-3, 1:10

Good stats. Looks from that list that the biggest difference is with / without Nance on the floor... +26 vs -10! Though of course the Nance/Young combination stands out the most of any single line item.

 

[DaCat]

Somebody who covers the team told me that Audige wasn't playing "for disciplinary reasons." Maybe false, but thats what he told me.

He sure didn't look injured on the sidelines when he was jumping after a big play by the Cats. Good to see he is engaged, but he is in street clothes.