1. Basketball is a game of runs. Repeat, basketball is a game of runs. Teams play better and worse throughout games. You don't win by 20 by outscoring the other team by a point every 2 minutes and steadily bulding on that--ganes seesaw. You shouldn't form conclusions on teams based on great, or bad, 5-10 minute stretches, just as you shouldnn't form conclusions about individual players based on how they shoot, turn it over, etc. based on a single half or game. Last year, for example, Zavier Simpson had a stretch of games where he scored 4, 12, 16, 4 and 32 points. If you add it up, he averaged 13.6 ppg for those 5 games, which was pretty close to his senior season average. However, if you formed conclusions based upon just the second Purdue game (0-10 from the field) or upon the Wisconsin game immediately thereafter (14-22 from the floor), you could have made a case for him never getting off of the bench or for being Luka Garza like. Again, you're never as good as you look when you're playing very well, or as bad as you look when things aren't going so well. You look at overall performance. And tonight, our overall performance was very, very good, even with a very bad 6 minute stretch taken into account.
2. One thing which worried me (and others) when John beilein left was that offense concepts which were beautiful to watch might be less in evidence with an inexperienced head coach. Worry over for me. We run great stuff offensively, and we run it out of a variety of looks and through multiple guys. We haven't hit stride shooting from deep yet, and we're still a very, very potent offensive team. When open 3s from good shooters start going down with increased regularity, we're going to be even more of a load to guard.
3. Franz Wagner and isaiah Livers were really good tonight. Franz was aggressive and efficient (and looked good on his made 3), and once again, rebounded well and played good defense. Livers, man, if he can continue to show off some of his newfound skills in terms of passing, putting the ball on the floor and driving, and backing in and burying mid-range turarounds against the smaller guys who have always given him trouble by getting into his body, the sky is the limit for him.
4. Defensively, we got disconnected late first half and early second half in later shot clock situations. There weren't a lot of breakdowns early in possessions; there were some more after a series of actions and screens with guys seeming to be confused about whether to switch or stay with their man and being a step late as a result. This happened to Brandon Johns a few times late in the first half when he came in as a small ball 5 (which may be the reason he played less minutes in the second half), but he wasn't the only guy. I think that's fixable though as guys play more together. One thing we miss with Jon teske gone is a defensive captain in the post calling out where to go and what to do. Hunter Dickinson has the ability and basketball IQ to do that--he just hasn't got the experience yet.
5. Eli Brooks has done some nice things off the bounce this season. He didn't have a good shooting game from deep, but the shot still looks good, and he made plays on the offensive end. Mike Smith ran the offense beautifully and finished at the rim. I know--competition levels will step up--still, they look the part of being productive guys, albeit ones who may have some extreme fluctuations in game to game performances.
6. Hunter Dickinson is a load, and besides his skills and size, he's very active on the offensive glass. If the other team's 5 helps, he's a tip-in machine on the weak side, and if he doesn't help, we've got guys who can score at the rim.
7. It was good to see Chaundee brown turn back into a guy who frequently attacks the rim rather than settling for being just a standstill jump shooter. That's his bread and butter, that and his extreme intensity on the defensive end.
8. I like this team. It's very unselfish (line f the night btw goes to Stephen Bardo who said about ball State's K.J. Walton, "I'd like him to remember he has four teammates out there. He hasn't passed gas tonight."), and finds and rides the hot hand in spurts. I think Oakland was a one game aberration--a wake up call that even bad D1 teams can give you trouble if you do not play well. The Big Ten is going to be fierce, but I think, based on what I've seen to date, that we can compete with anyone in the league as long as we continue to progress.
2. One thing which worried me (and others) when John beilein left was that offense concepts which were beautiful to watch might be less in evidence with an inexperienced head coach. Worry over for me. We run great stuff offensively, and we run it out of a variety of looks and through multiple guys. We haven't hit stride shooting from deep yet, and we're still a very, very potent offensive team. When open 3s from good shooters start going down with increased regularity, we're going to be even more of a load to guard.
3. Franz Wagner and isaiah Livers were really good tonight. Franz was aggressive and efficient (and looked good on his made 3), and once again, rebounded well and played good defense. Livers, man, if he can continue to show off some of his newfound skills in terms of passing, putting the ball on the floor and driving, and backing in and burying mid-range turarounds against the smaller guys who have always given him trouble by getting into his body, the sky is the limit for him.
4. Defensively, we got disconnected late first half and early second half in later shot clock situations. There weren't a lot of breakdowns early in possessions; there were some more after a series of actions and screens with guys seeming to be confused about whether to switch or stay with their man and being a step late as a result. This happened to Brandon Johns a few times late in the first half when he came in as a small ball 5 (which may be the reason he played less minutes in the second half), but he wasn't the only guy. I think that's fixable though as guys play more together. One thing we miss with Jon teske gone is a defensive captain in the post calling out where to go and what to do. Hunter Dickinson has the ability and basketball IQ to do that--he just hasn't got the experience yet.
5. Eli Brooks has done some nice things off the bounce this season. He didn't have a good shooting game from deep, but the shot still looks good, and he made plays on the offensive end. Mike Smith ran the offense beautifully and finished at the rim. I know--competition levels will step up--still, they look the part of being productive guys, albeit ones who may have some extreme fluctuations in game to game performances.
6. Hunter Dickinson is a load, and besides his skills and size, he's very active on the offensive glass. If the other team's 5 helps, he's a tip-in machine on the weak side, and if he doesn't help, we've got guys who can score at the rim.
7. It was good to see Chaundee brown turn back into a guy who frequently attacks the rim rather than settling for being just a standstill jump shooter. That's his bread and butter, that and his extreme intensity on the defensive end.
8. I like this team. It's very unselfish (line f the night btw goes to Stephen Bardo who said about ball State's K.J. Walton, "I'd like him to remember he has four teammates out there. He hasn't passed gas tonight."), and finds and rides the hot hand in spurts. I think Oakland was a one game aberration--a wake up call that even bad D1 teams can give you trouble if you do not play well. The Big Ten is going to be fierce, but I think, based on what I've seen to date, that we can compete with anyone in the league as long as we continue to progress.
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