Sorry for the desultory nature of these comments, but time is short. Also, I had my wife and three kids with me, so I was semi-distracted.
--The guy I was most encouraged with was Kendall Stephens. He's so long, and his defense has improved so much that I see him as a weapon on that end of the floor rather than how I used to view him--as I guy I hoped would defend well enough to stay on the floor so we could have his shooting. Now he's a guy who's a weapon on both ends. He's this close to busting out and being every bit as ballyhooed as Vince, Biggie, Haas, etc. I also love Kendall's unselfishness. He has really matured.
--Biggie is awesome. He needs to improve his defensive foot speed and lateral quickness, but the desire is clearly there, and he'll get better. What's more, the ball simply finds him on rebounds. The guy is a beast. A skilled, hardworking beast. I just hope we have him for two years (or three…? Pretty please?).
--AJ has come so far. He is focused, smart, and skilled. I can't imagine an NBA GM seeing him and not wanting to draft him at some point in the latter half of the first round or early second. He has become a great college center. He dominated for stretches tonight.
--Haas is another guy I hope we have for at least another year. The guy is so massive and strong that the refs give him very few breaks, though tonight I thought they did call some things that hadn't (but should've) been called in prior games. Isaac gets great position, has really improved his touch, and is just a likable kid. Couldn't be more impressed with him.
--Johnny Hill, for me, was the player who broke the game open. Not with his shooting or his driving--though he was the first guy to really take it to the rack tonight--but with his tenacious defense. This group badly needs a guy like Hill. He's tough, he's spirited, and he utilizes his athleticism to frustrate the other team. He was a massively important pick-up and will be a huge part of the BT season and beyond.
--Piggybacking on the above thought, this is why we so desperately need Hill, RayDay, or Vince on the floor at all times. For stretches tonight we were only shooting threes or making post feeds, and while I love both of those offensive attack strategies, the ability to slash was, at times, sorely lacking from our arsenal. You have to be able to put teams on their heels with the drive, and for long stretches in the first half and early second half, IUPUI looked completely unafraid of anyone driving. That's because we weren't driving. At all. Vince wasn't really Vince until he began jumping passing lanes at around the fifteen-minute mark of the second half, and from that point on, we were outstanding. Vince, by the way, is a stud. He just needs to maintain that aggressive defensive mindset because it can really fuel his offense.
--Another quick thought: I'd like to see Painter sub out for Isaac earlier in a blowout like tonight's game. It was closer than I thought it would be until about the nine-minute mark, when we really blew it open. Isaac, however, was out there until about two minutes left, and for me, that was too long. Not because I wanted to be merciful, but because I didn't want him to get hurt. Coach has done an amazing job recruiting and coaching this team. I have twenty good things to say about Painter for every criticism. I'm just paranoid about injury. If we stay healthy all year, I don't see us being anything less than a 2-seed come NCAA Tourney time.
--The keys for this team are defensive tenacity (I thought we played somewhat reactive defense in the first half rather than aggressive, mistake-forcing defense) and a diversified offensive attack that features not only great ball movement, not only great spacing, not only consistent post feeds, not only the ability to knock down the three, but the ability to take the ball to the rack as well (and to hit mid-range jumpers, again an area where RayDay really helps). If we can check all those offensive boxes and D people up, we could play for a National Championship.
--The guy I was most encouraged with was Kendall Stephens. He's so long, and his defense has improved so much that I see him as a weapon on that end of the floor rather than how I used to view him--as I guy I hoped would defend well enough to stay on the floor so we could have his shooting. Now he's a guy who's a weapon on both ends. He's this close to busting out and being every bit as ballyhooed as Vince, Biggie, Haas, etc. I also love Kendall's unselfishness. He has really matured.
--Biggie is awesome. He needs to improve his defensive foot speed and lateral quickness, but the desire is clearly there, and he'll get better. What's more, the ball simply finds him on rebounds. The guy is a beast. A skilled, hardworking beast. I just hope we have him for two years (or three…? Pretty please?).
--AJ has come so far. He is focused, smart, and skilled. I can't imagine an NBA GM seeing him and not wanting to draft him at some point in the latter half of the first round or early second. He has become a great college center. He dominated for stretches tonight.
--Haas is another guy I hope we have for at least another year. The guy is so massive and strong that the refs give him very few breaks, though tonight I thought they did call some things that hadn't (but should've) been called in prior games. Isaac gets great position, has really improved his touch, and is just a likable kid. Couldn't be more impressed with him.
--Johnny Hill, for me, was the player who broke the game open. Not with his shooting or his driving--though he was the first guy to really take it to the rack tonight--but with his tenacious defense. This group badly needs a guy like Hill. He's tough, he's spirited, and he utilizes his athleticism to frustrate the other team. He was a massively important pick-up and will be a huge part of the BT season and beyond.
--Piggybacking on the above thought, this is why we so desperately need Hill, RayDay, or Vince on the floor at all times. For stretches tonight we were only shooting threes or making post feeds, and while I love both of those offensive attack strategies, the ability to slash was, at times, sorely lacking from our arsenal. You have to be able to put teams on their heels with the drive, and for long stretches in the first half and early second half, IUPUI looked completely unafraid of anyone driving. That's because we weren't driving. At all. Vince wasn't really Vince until he began jumping passing lanes at around the fifteen-minute mark of the second half, and from that point on, we were outstanding. Vince, by the way, is a stud. He just needs to maintain that aggressive defensive mindset because it can really fuel his offense.
--Another quick thought: I'd like to see Painter sub out for Isaac earlier in a blowout like tonight's game. It was closer than I thought it would be until about the nine-minute mark, when we really blew it open. Isaac, however, was out there until about two minutes left, and for me, that was too long. Not because I wanted to be merciful, but because I didn't want him to get hurt. Coach has done an amazing job recruiting and coaching this team. I have twenty good things to say about Painter for every criticism. I'm just paranoid about injury. If we stay healthy all year, I don't see us being anything less than a 2-seed come NCAA Tourney time.
--The keys for this team are defensive tenacity (I thought we played somewhat reactive defense in the first half rather than aggressive, mistake-forcing defense) and a diversified offensive attack that features not only great ball movement, not only great spacing, not only consistent post feeds, not only the ability to knock down the three, but the ability to take the ball to the rack as well (and to hit mid-range jumpers, again an area where RayDay really helps). If we can check all those offensive boxes and D people up, we could play for a National Championship.
