We played poorly … (!)

[PURPLE Book Cat]

The crazy thing to think about with this team is that they have a lot of upside.

Berry is shooting like 5% from beyond the arc the last few games. The rest of the team isn’t much better. I think that they need to check the west hoop in a bad way… there was something up. Neither team could hit anything there.

What if? These guys already beat a number 1. But if they can get a little bit better going into the dance, tighten up their shooting and turnovers, they could make a run

 

[torque-cat]

The crazy thing to think about with this team is that they have a lot of upside.

Berry is shooting like 5% from beyond the arc the last few games. The rest of the team isn’t much better. I think that they need to check the west hoop in a bad way… there was something up. Neither team could hit anything there.

What if? These guys already beat a number 1. But if they can get a little bit better going into the dance, tighten up their shooting and turnovers, they could make a run

We shot about 23% from 3 pt range and beat a ranked team. 3 pt shooting is usually the great equalizer in basketball (akin to turnovers in football), yet we are arguably the most overachieving team in the country (relative to expectations) despite being bad at the one thing that is usually needed to overachieve (3 pt shooting). We also have a thin roster that needs to give 110% effort nearly every minute of the game, particularly on defense, yet the other teams often look more gassed down the stretch. Audige and Boo are in unbelievable shape.

 

[pawildcat_rivals209725]

The crazy thing to think about with this team is that they have a lot of upside.

Berry is shooting like 5% from beyond the arc the last few games. The rest of the team isn’t much better. I think that they need to check the west hoop in a bad way… there was something up. Neither team could hit anything there.

What if? These guys already beat a number 1. But if they can get a little bit better going into the dance, tighten up their shooting and turnovers, they could make a run

This is a team that is very scrappy and tough on defense, but thin and really not that great on offense outside of the two guards. It's hard to see that changing much. They are what they are at this point, and what they are has been pretty good.

 

[NJcatsfan_rivals139741]

I’d like to see the Cats shoot just fairly poorly from 3, as opposed to terribly. We’d win more games, and win some much more comfortably! Seems like an attainable step.

 

[Deeringfish]

We say they played poorly but it seems to me it is more of a reflection of bias toward offensive play. The annoying, smothering defense that The Cats are playing is totally throwing opposing teams for a loop. I don't think great defense is as fun to watch but it is pretty obvious that it is effective even though it is much harder to quantify statistically.

 

[Hungry Jack]

All of our guys have a tendency to launch low trajectory shots. I am surprised this is a problem with all the coaching they get. Seems an obvious thing to fix.

 

[pawildcat_rivals209725]

I’d like to see the Cats shoot just fairly poorly from 3, as opposed to terribly. We’d win more games, and win some much more comfortably! Seems like an attainable step.

Shooting is mostly repetition and confidence. Audige has always been very streaky. Nicholson obviously is not going to shoot 3s. They need someone such as Beran or Barnhizer to get more consistent.

I'm always amazed at the number of guys who play a ton of basketball and just don't seem to shoot very well, especially from the free-throw line. I was a good shot in basketball and felt it was probably one of the easier skills to pick up in the game — mostly just a matter of practice. Problem for me was that I'm not very athletic overall and was too small and slow to get off the shot I constantly practiced, so I was not a good basketball player.

 

[scru]

Shooting is mostly repetition and confidence. Audige has always been very streaky. Nicholson obviously is not going to shoot 3s. They need someone such as Beran or Barnhizer to get more consistent.

I'm always amazed at the number of guys who play a ton of basketball and just don't seem to shoot very well, especially from the free-throw line. I was a good shot in basketball and felt it was probably one of the easier skills to pick up in the game — mostly just a matter of practice. Problem for me was that I'm not very athletic overall and was too small and slow to get off the shot I constantly practiced, so I was not a good basketball player.

Making shots in a B1G / high pressure environment I just different. PGA golfers don't miss many puts on the practice green, but on Sunday at The Masters, everything changes. Being just a hair tight in your muscles can affect your mechanics enough to cause a minute change which over a 50 ft arc can result in being multiple inches off target.

 

[olsh]

We didn't play poorly. We SHOT poorly. We did most other things at a very high level. But damn, do we shoot poorly.

 

[SmellyCat]

Being just a hair tight in your muscles can affect your mechanics enough to cause a minute change which over a 50 ft arc can result in being multiple inches off target.

Was very surprised when Hood-Schifino airballed one three-pointer in which he had all the time in the world to set up for a wide-open shot. I'd like to think the job NU did on D made him tighten up even when there wasn't a guy right in his face then.

 

[GatoLouco]

Some games you shoot poorly from 3 because you are not taking good shots.

That was not last night's game. We missed at least 10 wide open 3's. Not even just good shots, wide open 3's.

 

[Catreporter]

Wisconsin missed their last 14 shots vs. Michigan. Chucky Hepburn kept missing like Audige did in the second half last night. Confidence, tired legs, etc can contribute to poor shooting.

 

[wildcatpn]

We shot about 23% from 3 pt range and beat a ranked team. 3 pt shooting is usually the great equalizer in basketball (akin to turnovers in football), yet we are arguably the most overachieving team in the country (relative to expectations) despite being bad at the one thing that is usually needed to overachieve (3 pt shooting). We also have a thin roster that needs to give 110% effort nearly every minute of the game, particularly on defense, yet the other teams often look more gassed down the stretch. Audige and Boo are in unbelievable shape.

I don't get how everyone always says we have a thin roster. We play 8 guys which is the norm for most teams. Jackson-Davis played 39 minutes last night and Hood-Schifino played 40. Both more than Buie and Audige.

Other than Buie and Audige we don't have anyone who plays heavy minutes. And even with Roper out we're still playing 8 guys. There are many teams that go with 7 man rotations.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

This is a team that is very scrappy and tough on defense, but thin and really not that great on offense outside of the two guards. It's hard to see that changing much. They are what they are at this point, and what they are has been pretty good.

And, for any given game, one or both of the guards might not be great on offense.

 

[NU Houston]

I don't get how everyone always says we have a thin roster. We play 8 guys which is the norm for most teams. Jackson-Davis played 39 minutes last night and Hood-Schifino played 40. Both more than Buie and Audige.

Other than Buie and Audige we don't have anyone who plays heavy minutes. And even with Roper out we're still playing 8 guys. There are many teams that go with 7 man rotations.

Yeah, Indiana had a seven man rotation against Michigan last game with Race Thompson out, and with him back last night, Geronimo played only four minutes off the bench.

Also, Dixon checked in last night for NU for a possession at the end of the first half (I assume with the intent to keep Buie and Audige from picking up their third fouls before halftime), so technically that's a nine man rotation for the Cats.

 

[Sec_112]

Thank goodness defense is one of the few consistencies on this team. And if you don't see room for improvement on the offensive side of the ball, you must have missed the first half yesterday compared to the second half. Audige alone almost killed them in the second half.

Collins said two things in the press conference yesterday that have me hopeful they're looking at the right direction on offense.

1) He talked about Audige needing to drive the ball more.

2) He said he was going to go "back into the lab" with Berry over the next couple days to work on his "flat shot."

But like so many college teams, so much is predicated on whether NU makes its threes.

NJ is right. If they could simply shoot "fairly poorly" from three.

 

[SDakaGordie]

Wisconsin missed their last 14 shots vs. Michigan. Chucky Hepburn kept missing like Audige did in the second half last night. Confidence, tired legs, etc can contribute to poor shooting.

I would agree - I think tired legs is the leading reason for this (extra) poor shooting.

 

[GatoLouco]

2) He said he was going to go "back into the lab" with Berry over the next couple days to work on his "flat shot."

Often this is more of a psychological thing of the players over thinking what he's doing. But it surely looks flat

 

[Sec_112]

Also, Dixon checked in last night for NU for a possession at the end of the first half (I assume with the intent to keep Buie and Audige from picking up their third fouls before halftime), so technically that's a nine man rotation for the Cats.

Did anyone happen to watch Dixon closely on that possession? He wasn't going to let anyone f with him. He originally was on Kopp before they truly set up, and he gave Kopp a pretty hard shot to the chest. Kopp didn't flinch, so I assume it was a friendly-ish thing.

Then someone switched him off of Kopp, and Dixon had a hand on the hip of his man while they're still setting up the play. The IU player swatted his hand away hard, and Dixon went right back to it ... two and three times. I believe it was the fourth time, Dixon went higher on the IU player's chest. Then the ball was thrown in.

Love the toughness!!

 

[DaCat]

All of our guys have a tendency to launch low trajectory shots. I am surprised this is a problem with all the coaching they get. Seems an obvious thing to fix.

In the post-game presser, Collins specifically mentioned Ty Berry's shot being so flat, they've been trying to fix it. He said something like "Gotta take it back to the lab to work on it" so they will try to address it.

 

[Smolmania]

We had at least three great looks from 3 early in the second half. If they go down, that game is a blowout.

Maybe we're waiting for the tournament to start shooting better? What a fun surprise that would be.

 

[docrugby1]

As a long suffering pessimistic Cat fan, at halftime, I calculated that NU could not lose if we scored 25 points in the second half. I did not see IU scoring 46 in the second-and they didn't

 

[Titanium999]

The crazy thing to think about with this team is that they have a lot of upside.

Berry is shooting like 5% from beyond the arc the last few games. The rest of the team isn’t much better. I think that they need to check the west hoop in a bad way… there was something up. Neither team could hit anything there.

What if? These guys already beat a number 1. But if they can get a little bit better going into the dance, tighten up their shooting and turnovers, they could make a run

Exactly! We were 2-21 in the second half from three point range!

 

[Figrating]

Second half I think NU shot 28%. NU is still streaky and when they get into one of their cold streaks, they have a hell of a time getting out. NU is still getting used to being the better team and having to close out tough opponents.

 

[CappyNU]

The crazy thing to think about with this team is that they have a lot of upside.

Berry is shooting like 5% from beyond the arc the last few games. The rest of the team isn’t much better. I think that they need to check the west hoop in a bad way… there was something up. Neither team could hit anything there.

What if? These guys already beat a number 1. But if they can get a little bit better going into the dance, tighten up their shooting and turnovers, they could make a run

What's wild is that we shoot way better on the road than we do at home. In conference we are 55.0% from 2/32.7% from 3/75.0% FT on the road and at home we are 44.9% from 2/30.1% from 3/75.2% FT. I guess that bodes well for the Big Ten tourney and NCAA Tourney?

 

[hdhntr1]

This is a team that is very scrappy and tough on defense, but thin and really not that great on offense outside of the two guards. It's hard to see that changing much. They are what they are at this point, and what they are has been pretty good.

A lot of what is going on on O id because of the tremendous amount of energy they expend on D. As far as our 3%, I would like to see us taking fewer threes and work inside more. We really don't get the advantage of effective fg% as our average is so low, And hard to get the O rebounds off of 3s that allow second chance points

 

[techtim72]

In the post-game presser, Collins specifically mentioned Ty Berry's shot being so flat, they've been trying to fix it. He said something like "Gotta take it back to the lab to work on it" so they will try to address it.

Nobody is messing with anyone's shot right now other than to give them positive reinforcement or perhaps to note that they should remember their body mechanics - stop and square, etc. Talk about getting into somebody's head telling them to put more arc on the ball as they hit the latter part of the season. I kind of like how Collin handled it by joking in the press conference. The players will make subtle mental adjustments on their own now.