I need to go back and watch as I was distracted for most of the first half with some family things, so this is sort of a partial thoughts:
1. MVP - Brendan Wenzel - Linder raved about his offseason and you could see the confidence from him last night. He has really developed into a solid all-around player. I expect him to be a starter long term which is saying something on this roster.
2. LVP - Training staff/whoever is in charge of hydration - I have never seen so many cramps in my life. That should be happening to opponents coming into the dry air and high elevation, not to the Pokes. Something is off.
3. Good/Bad/Ugly
a. Good - Rebounding Margin and FT discrepancy. I thought there was a decent level of aggressiveness last night. We didn't always play smart (more on that coming), but to win the rebounding battle solidly without Ike or Oden is a good sign. Obviously not a big opponent, but we saw a bunch of guys contribute on the glass which was encouraging.
b. Bad - FT Shooting - Missed 11 FT's including those 4 in a row at the end from Anderson. It didn't really matter, but it brings up a real concern. Anderson's career FT percentage is 52% so this isn't a surprise. The problem is that in end game situations, you really need him on the floor for his ball handling ability, but he is a liability on the line. Something to watch moving forward.
c. Ugly - Turnovers - Obviously we had some players out (or in and out) and we are learning how to play faster so there will be some bumps, but 20 turnovers is not going to get it done against a quality opponent.
4. Outcome/Results - One of the biggest changes in D-1 basketball over the last several years is the massive change in NCAA tournament selection criteria and the shift away from metrics which don't include margin of victory (RPI) to metrics that do include measures involving margin of victory (NET, etc.). As a result, in the context of a NCAA tournament bid, last night was basically a loss. It will pull our metrics down. Overall, an 11 point victory against Nicholls at home is probably equivalent to what would be expected of a KenPom team rated around 125 or so, which is obviously not at-large range.
5. Depth - As challenging as last night was, we had our starting 4/5 out for the entire game and at various times in the game had 5 players out with injuries/cramps including 4 starter-level players (Reynolds, Wenzel, Ike, Oden) and yet there wasn't a time when I didn't feel like we had 5 MWC caliber starters on the floor.
Hopefully we can get healthy, sans Ike, before the Paradise Jam. Will likely get Drake in the second game down there and we better have our stuff together by then. They are a very good team.
1. MVP - Brendan Wenzel - Linder raved about his offseason and you could see the confidence from him last night. He has really developed into a solid all-around player. I expect him to be a starter long term which is saying something on this roster.
2. LVP - Training staff/whoever is in charge of hydration - I have never seen so many cramps in my life. That should be happening to opponents coming into the dry air and high elevation, not to the Pokes. Something is off.
3. Good/Bad/Ugly
a. Good - Rebounding Margin and FT discrepancy. I thought there was a decent level of aggressiveness last night. We didn't always play smart (more on that coming), but to win the rebounding battle solidly without Ike or Oden is a good sign. Obviously not a big opponent, but we saw a bunch of guys contribute on the glass which was encouraging.
b. Bad - FT Shooting - Missed 11 FT's including those 4 in a row at the end from Anderson. It didn't really matter, but it brings up a real concern. Anderson's career FT percentage is 52% so this isn't a surprise. The problem is that in end game situations, you really need him on the floor for his ball handling ability, but he is a liability on the line. Something to watch moving forward.
c. Ugly - Turnovers - Obviously we had some players out (or in and out) and we are learning how to play faster so there will be some bumps, but 20 turnovers is not going to get it done against a quality opponent.
4. Outcome/Results - One of the biggest changes in D-1 basketball over the last several years is the massive change in NCAA tournament selection criteria and the shift away from metrics which don't include margin of victory (RPI) to metrics that do include measures involving margin of victory (NET, etc.). As a result, in the context of a NCAA tournament bid, last night was basically a loss. It will pull our metrics down. Overall, an 11 point victory against Nicholls at home is probably equivalent to what would be expected of a KenPom team rated around 125 or so, which is obviously not at-large range.
5. Depth - As challenging as last night was, we had our starting 4/5 out for the entire game and at various times in the game had 5 players out with injuries/cramps including 4 starter-level players (Reynolds, Wenzel, Ike, Oden) and yet there wasn't a time when I didn't feel like we had 5 MWC caliber starters on the floor.
Hopefully we can get healthy, sans Ike, before the Paradise Jam. Will likely get Drake in the second game down there and we better have our stuff together by then. They are a very good team.
