HOMER POST

[jadeezra]

Don't care what others think, it's ridiculous this team isn't a preseason top 10 team. Completely loaded and HAARMS is the cherry on top. I've never been outspoken, but what doesn't this team have? No, I don't think we are BigmanU , Mathias is a nba prospect or that CE is Allen Iverson. This team just has it all. Watch out critics

 

[sporre]

Well, we weren't a top 10 team last year at any point. We lost Biggie, but add Haarms, Ewing, and Taylor (who I have no confidence can stay healthy for more than two weeks). Eastern will be a solid addition, though. We have to hope that the other returnees will be improved. And we have shown serious rebounding issues in Taiwan and in our opener. Hard to argue for top 10. I do think we are somewhat underrated and I am very excited about this year, though.

I will add that one day into the season I am officially sick of hearing about Michigan State. A team that was unranked at the end of last year has vaulted to #2 by adding Jaren Jackson. I don't buy it. There is a lot of assumption there that a team that really wasn't very good last year will suddenly gel. Most of the time, truly great teams, top-3 teams, are very good when their stars are freshmen, and that was not the case last year.

 

[BoilerBabyGirl]

Well, we weren't a top 10 team last year at any point. We lost Biggie, but add Haarms, Ewing, and Taylor (who I have no confidence can stay healthy for more than two weeks). Eastern will be a solid addition, though. We have to hope that the other returnees will be improved. And we have shown serious rebounding issues in Taiwan and in our opener. Hard to argue for top 10. I do think we are somewhat underrated and I am very excited about this year, though.

I will add that one day into the season I am officially sick of hearing about Michigan State. A team that was unranked at the end of last year has vaulted to #2 by adding Jaren Jackson. I don't buy it. There is a lot of assumption there that a team that really wasn't very good last year will suddenly gel. Most of the time, truly great teams, top-3 teams, are very good when their stars are freshmen, and that was not the case last year.

Michigan State is loaded. They'll beat Duke. Maybe by double figures. The Big 10 is loaded. Watch us dominate non conference

 

[Roeder]

Well, we weren't a top 10 team last year at any point. We lost Biggie, but add Haarms, Ewing, and Taylor (who I have no confidence can stay healthy for more than two weeks). Eastern will be a solid addition, though. We have to hope that the other returnees will be improved. And we have shown serious rebounding issues in Taiwan and in our opener. Hard to argue for top 10. I do think we are somewhat underrated and I am very excited about this year, though.

I will add that one day into the season I am officially sick of hearing about Michigan State. A team that was unranked at the end of last year has vaulted to #2 by adding Jaren Jackson. I don't buy it. There is a lot of assumption there that a team that really wasn't very good last year will suddenly gel. Most of the time, truly great teams, top-3 teams, are very good when their stars are freshmen, and that was not the case last year.

We'll find out after the Duke game if MSU is for real or not. Their front line has potential to be dominant against anyone and Miles Bridges will arguably be the best player in college basketball. I can see why they are hyped so much.

Winston and Langford will need to play much better than last year to win against Duke and that ranking to hold all year though. Will be fun game to watch.

 

[mathboy]

I also share the OP's frustration of hearing about MSU.

Having a good front line is important. However, I am not sure JJJ is going to know how to really contribute his first year. I recall Biggie being good his first year, but did not become dominant until his sophomore year. At crunch time, I think MSU will rely on their returning post players that were injured last year. How good they are, and how rusty they are is the unknown here. Will they be good enough to overcome the athleticism of Duke? Not sure.

MSU still has pedestrian guards the last time I looked. If I were Duke, I would force MSU to win the game with their guards. I don't think they can. MSU is a good team, but overrated at #2.

 

[Frankie611]

When i look at the teams ahead of us in the polls, we have a lot of opportunity. If we beat Tennessee and cab beat nova, I think we are there. If we go to the Bahamas and shot the bed, we will be playing from behind again all season. I would be surprised if msu doesn't get throttle next week, but Duke is playing all freshmen again. May could squeak one out with experience

 

[StickPurdue]

Outside of MSUs starting five, they don't have much. They have tumtum, Schilling, and Mquaid. None of those players are scary. They shot 25% from 3. Where MSU will give Purdue trouble is rebounding. They doubled up their opponent in rebounding and Jackson grabbed 12 boards himself. I think once MSU and Purdue start getting into their tough opponents, it will tell us more.

Compare lineups -

PJ vs Winston - I would call this a push. Winston wasn't overly impressive last year but he won't cost them the game. PJ is great but doesn't wow with stats.

Carsen vs Langford - Advantage Carsen. Langford is much bigger, but Carsen is faster. Drawing some early fouls on Langford would take him out of the game. Carsen has showed potential to light up the scoreboard. Langford was higher rated coming in, but hasn't lived up to it yet.

Mathias vs Bridges - Advantage Bridges. Bridges is bigger, faster, and likely the player of the year. If Mathias holds him to 20 or fewer while grabbing 10-15 himself, I would say Mathias would get the nod there.

Vince vs Jackson - Push. Jackson will abuse Vince on the boards, but can Jackson stay out of foul trouble and cover Vince? Vince should outscore Jackson and do all of the other things well.

Haas vs Ward - Advantage Haas. Ward should be in fouls trouble early. He gives up six inches, can't shoot, and gets in foul trouble often.

Bench -

Haarms vs Schilling - Advantage Haarms all day. Haarms is 6 inches taller, moves better, shoots better, and has really been impressive with blocking and rebounding.

Tumtum vs Eastern - Advantage Eastern. Eastern had an impressive debut, lets see if he can keep it up. Tumtum has really struggled at times and gives up a lot of height.

Cline vs Mcquade - Push. One could argue an advantage for Cline because of his ability to light up the 3.

Taylor vs Tillman - Push. Neither will see a lot of time unless fouls become an issue.

 

[IamBob]

who is out of the top ten if we are in? It is November. Rankings only matter to espn

 

[olafmetal]

West Virginia maybe? I wouldn't be surprised if a couple other top 10 teams under perform due to youth, chemistry, or injuries.

 

[PU pit bull]

One game at a time fellas. Gotta take care of Chicago St..........and not pull an "IU" today.
Robbie Hummel will be an analyst for BTN today as well.

 

[Boiler Wolf]

I don't see a lot of issues on offense. But I'm worried about an athletic team that had a good shooting day. Isaac is a liability on defense against teams with mobile centers. Carsen is a good on ball defender, but still seems to lose his man to often helping out. The freshmen aren't good defenders yet. Still see challenges with guards and SFs beating us off the dribble. In short, this will be a fun team to watch, but can the defense win games when the shots don't fall.

 

[Wolegib]

Outside of MSUs starting five, they don't have much. They have tumtum, Schilling, and Mquaid. None of those players are scary. They shot 25% from 3. Where MSU will give Purdue trouble is rebounding. They doubled up their opponent in rebounding and Jackson grabbed 12 boards himself. I think once MSU and Purdue start getting into their tough opponents, it will tell us more.

Compare lineups -

PJ vs Winston - I would call this a push. Winston wasn't overly impressive last year but he won't cost them the game. PJ is great but doesn't wow with stats.

Carsen vs Langford - Advantage Carsen. Langford is much bigger, but Carsen is faster. Drawing some early fouls on Langford would take him out of the game. Carsen has showed potential to light up the scoreboard. Langford was higher rated coming in, but hasn't lived up to it yet.

Mathias vs Bridges - Advantage Bridges. Bridges is bigger, faster, and likely the player of the year. If Mathias holds him to 20 or fewer while grabbing 10-15 himself, I would say Mathias would get the nod there.

Vince vs Jackson - Push. Jackson will abuse Vince on the boards, but can Jackson stay out of foul trouble and cover Vince? Vince should outscore Jackson and do all of the other things well.

Haas vs Ward - Advantage Haas. Ward should be in fouls trouble early. He gives up six inches, can't shoot, and gets in foul trouble often.

Bench -

Haarms vs Schilling - Advantage Haarms all day. Haarms is 6 inches taller, moves better, shoots better, and has really been impressive with blocking and rebounding.

Tumtum vs Eastern - Advantage Eastern. Eastern had an impressive debut, lets see if he can keep it up. Tumtum has really struggled at times and gives up a lot of height.

Cline vs Mcquade - Push. One could argue an advantage for Cline because of his ability to light up the 3.

Taylor vs Tillman - Push. Neither will see a lot of time unless fouls become an issue.

this is the type of post I'd like to see more of. rather than comparing us against the past, it compares us to one of our current opponents. rather than saying we should be such and such ranking because we're better than our past, it compares us to another top 10 team. and I think it's great. and while I know it would be very time consuming, to prove to all how great or bad we are, I'd love to see a comparison of our team against all of the other teams rated ahead of us. to me, that would be a true ranking. is this team better than the current Minn, NW and WV teams ? I say yes. is this tea m better than Duke and MSU ? maybe not. Are we better than Gonzaga and Louisville and Villanova? if you want to place a rating on our team, compare it with the other top teams. that would project a true rating. I've taken a very brief look at the BIG 10. I believe we're one of the top 4 teams. maybe top 2 teams. We'll have plenty of opportunity against top level opponents to prove how good we are. And after those games, we won't have to worry about if we're over rated or under rated. We'll know. in the past every time we received a great rating, we immediately lost - like the Iowa game. I believe I might prefer a lower rating if it meant winning more games.

 

[tjreese]

I don't see a lot of issues on offense. But I'm worried about an athletic team that had a good shooting day. Isaac is a liability on defense against teams with mobile centers. Carsen is a good on ball defender, but still seems to lose his man to often helping out. The freshmen aren't good defenders yet. Still see challenges with guards and SFs beating us off the dribble. In short, this will be a fun team to watch, but can the defense win games when the shots don't fall.

And if the shots don't fall can Purdue pound it on the inside enough for those poor shooting games

 

[mediaexpert]

I don't see a lot of issues on offense. But I'm worried about an athletic team that had a good shooting day. Isaac is a liability on defense against teams with mobile centers.

The most athletic center in the Big 10 is probably Happ and Haas contains him. Haas plays his position well and not many teams drive or take short jumpers when he is in the game. Haas intimidates shots by just standing there. Last year, both Biggie and Haas got labeled for not playing well against athletic centers, because Michigan had their big men pick and pop instead of pick and roll. Neither of our big men wanted to leave the rim to go out and contest. The solution was to play both together, but Matt was afraid if both got in foul trouble. This year if Taylor is healthy, we can afford to do it, if the opp has a 3 point shooting center. Happ is not and that is why Haas played him so well. Haarms and Taylor are both good defenders, but neither plays as good position defense down low like Haas. Haas is the anchor of our D.

 

[BoilerDaddy]

Outside of MSUs starting five, they don't have much. They have tumtum, Schilling, and Mquaid. None of those players are scary. They shot 25% from 3. Where MSU will give Purdue trouble is rebounding. They doubled up their opponent in rebounding and Jackson grabbed 12 boards himself. I think once MSU and Purdue start getting into their tough opponents, it will tell us more.

Compare lineups -

PJ vs Winston - I would call this a push. Winston wasn't overly impressive last year but he won't cost them the game. PJ is great but doesn't wow with stats.

Carsen vs Langford - Advantage Carsen. Langford is much bigger, but Carsen is faster. Drawing some early fouls on Langford would take him out of the game. Carsen has showed potential to light up the scoreboard. Langford was higher rated coming in, but hasn't lived up to it yet.

Mathias vs Bridges - Advantage Bridges. Bridges is bigger, faster, and likely the player of the year. If Mathias holds him to 20 or fewer while grabbing 10-15 himself, I would say Mathias would get the nod there.

Vince vs Jackson - Push. Jackson will abuse Vince on the boards, but can Jackson stay out of foul trouble and cover Vince? Vince should outscore Jackson and do all of the other things well.

Haas vs Ward - Advantage Haas. Ward should be in fouls trouble early. He gives up six inches, can't shoot, and gets in foul trouble often.

Bench -

Haarms vs Schilling - Advantage Haarms all day. Haarms is 6 inches taller, moves better, shoots better, and has really been impressive with blocking and rebounding.

Tumtum vs Eastern - Advantage Eastern. Eastern had an impressive debut, lets see if he can keep it up. Tumtum has really struggled at times and gives up a lot of height.

Cline vs Mcquade - Push. One could argue an advantage for Cline because of his ability to light up the 3.

Taylor vs Tillman - Push. Neither will see a lot of time unless fouls become an issue.

I think that this post is underselling MSU. I think that MSU is deserving of their early ranking. I’m not conceding the Big Ten championship to them, but I acknowledge that they start the season as the clear favorite.

 

[StickPurdue]

I think that this post is underselling MSU. I think that MSU is deserving of their early ranking. I’m not conceding the Big Ten championship to them, but I acknowledge that they start the season as the clear favorite.

They are big and athletic. They can likely beat any team in the county, but I am not sold that as a whole their lineup is better than Purdue. The issue Purdue will face is rebounding. Down the lineup, Purdue will give up 2-6 inches on the players they are guarding (everywhere but at the 5 position).

Haarms will be the key. Can he contain Jackson? If so, you move Vince on to Bridges and even out the height down the line.

I think MSU will loses a Hess scratcher or 2. Outside of Jackson and Bridges, they aren't very scary. I don't think you can write anybody in as the Big champ yet. Northwestern, Minny, Purdue, and MSU are all in that top tier where the home team is likely the favorite. Then there are pesky teams like Michigan and Iowa that will knock off one of those four in a home game.

Luckily, we will know more vey soon (if not tomorrow ). Early tournaments give the teams some good competition and then some early conference games. We will know who's in the race quickly.

 

[mediaexpert]

[QUOTE="StickPurdue, post:
Compare lineups -
PJ vs Winston - I would call this a push. Winston wasn't overly impressive last year but he won't cost them the game. PJ is great but doesn't wow with stats.
Carsen vs Langford - Advantage Carsen. Langford is much bigger, but Carsen is faster. Drawing some early fouls on Langford would take him out of the game. Carsen has showed potential to light up the scoreboard. Langford was higher rated coming in, but hasn't lived up to it yet.
Mathias vs Bridges - Advantage Bridges. Bridges is bigger, faster, and likely the player of the year. If Mathias holds him to 20 or fewer while grabbing 10-15 himself, I would say Mathias would get the nod there.
Vince vs Jackson - Push. Jackson will abuse Vince on the boards, but can Jackson stay out of foul trouble and cover Vince? Vince should outscore Jackson and do all of the other things well.
Haas vs Ward - Advantage Haas. Ward should be in fouls trouble early. He gives up six inches, can't shoot, and gets in foul trouble often. .[/QUOTE]

What's your analysis of starting lineup of Haas, Haarms, Edwards, Mathias and Edwards vs Mich St.

 

[StickPurdue]

[QUOTE="StickPurdue, post:
Compare lineups -
PJ vs Winston - I would call this a push. Winston wasn't overly impressive last year but he won't cost them the game. PJ is great but doesn't wow with stats.
Carsen vs Langford - Advantage Carsen. Langford is much bigger, but Carsen is faster. Drawing some early fouls on Langford would take him out of the game. Carsen has showed potential to light up the scoreboard. Langford was higher rated coming in, but hasn't lived up to it yet.
Mathias vs Bridges - Advantage Bridges. Bridges is bigger, faster, and likely the player of the year. If Mathias holds him to 20 or fewer while grabbing 10-15 himself, I would say Mathias would get the nod there.
Vince vs Jackson - Push. Jackson will abuse Vince on the boards, but can Jackson stay out of foul trouble and cover Vince? Vince should outscore Jackson and do all of the other things well.
Haas vs Ward - Advantage Haas. Ward should be in fouls trouble early. He gives up six inches, can't shoot, and gets in foul trouble often. .

What's your analysis of starting lineup of Haas, Haarms, Edwards, Mathias and Edwards vs Mich St.[/QUOTE]

If Haarms can't guard Jackson, this wouldn't work. If Haarms can guard Jackson, it neutralizes MSUs height and in theory their rebounding advantage.

The biggest matchup/concerns are who is going to guard Bridges and Jackson. Can Mathias guard Bridges? If so, you might prefer to keep Vince on Jackson. If Jackson starts crushing Vince, then you might see Haarms on him. If Haarms guess Jackson, you would see Vince shift over and Hurd Bridges, and can Vince contain Bridges?

Breakdown W Haarms:

5)Ward shouldn't beat Haas or Taylor so advantage Purdue. Ward sometimes struggles with foul trouble early and isn't a shooting threat. Schilling may be a better matchup for MSU - Advantage Purdue.

4)You move Haarms to the 4 to guard Jackson. Advantage in rebounding goes to Jackson, but I think Haarms win the scoring matchup here. Push, with the potential to be advantage Purdue based on depth. Haarms can shoot and pull Jackson away from the rim. This will help rebounding. Jackson is athletic for his height, but Haarms is a couple of inches taller and moves very well for his height. The question will be, can Haarms stay in the game for 25-30 minutes and stay out of foul trouble? I am not sure at this point. If Haarms gets into fouls trouble or doesn't have the stamina to stay in for long spurts, Vince gets moved back up. Purdue likely has a scoring advantage here. You also don't have much behind me Jackson, so if Jackson gets into foul trouble, MSU has to adjust and doesn't have the same depth Purdue does here.

3)Vince vs Bridges would be for all the tamales. Advantage MSU, but as close to a push as Purdue could hope for. Vince will make Bridges work for it on defense and possibly draw some fouls. The concern is that Bridges gets Vince in fouls trouble early because he is that good. The upside? If Vince does get in trouble, you bring up Mathias who is one of the best defenders in the country. Dakota can also light it up from 3. Not a bad backup plan.

2) Mathias vs Langford. Advantage Purdue. Mathias should shut down Langford while punishing him on the other end. Mathias is shooting ridiculously well when left open at 3. This could be where Purdue gets its biggest advantage. There isn't much depth behind Langford either.

1) Carsen vs Winston - Carsen should light Winston up. Likely on the offense it's Mathias acting more as a pg here. Carsen is just too explosive on offense and Winston isn't a big scoring threat (or hasn't shown to be yet anyway).

The game is at MSU, so I believe they will be the favorite, but Purdue has the talent to make a game of it. Purdue has a deep team that allows them to mix and match. On a neutral site, I would say based purely on roster it would be a slight advantage Purdue. If MSU can continue to gel and get more from their guards this year, it swings back to MSU's favor.

 

[mediaexpert]

Purdue is a much more exciting team with Vince at the 4 and he will probably play most of his minutes during the season there. But to beat the elite teams like MSU in the playoffs, IMO we need Haas at 30 minutes with Haarms/Taylor/ 10 minutes. At the 4, I'd like to see Taylor on Jackson for 5-10 minutes, Vince 10-15 minutes and Haarms 15-20 minutes.
This means Vince on Bridges for 15-20 minutes along with Mathias 10-15, and Easterly 5-10. This leaves Mathias 15-20 minutes at the 2, Cline 10-15 minutes and Carson 10-15. Carson 15-20 at the 1 with PJ 15-20 and Easterly 5-10.

I hate to say this, because I love the underdog and Eifert is one of my favorite players. And I do hope he plays a lot during the season and proves me wrong. I am also hoping Ewing continues to work hard, because we need him to step up if one of our 3 twin towers gets hurt. I also like to see Easterly at positions other than point as a Freshman.