MGoPodcast 7.22: Exit One Tourney, Enter Another
58 minutes
[Joseph Dressler]
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Basketball Postmortem
A disappointing season. Where to go from here? Optimism levels for next year are calibrated. MAAR is praised. Weezy is prayed for.
Brian's Hockey Podcast
starts at 29:41
Ace actually watched both games this weekend so we'll cut him some slack. Kyle Connor is good, you shouldn't crosscheck people in the head, oh god the tourney. Good to have it back, need new pants.
Gimmicky Top Five: Kenpom Wishes
starts at 46:18
The five different things we want to see change in Kenpom this year. Yes, "minutes" count. No, "explosive dunks narrowly missed" does not.
Music
"Across 110th Street"
"The Payback," James Brown
"It Hurts Until It Doesn't," Mothers
THE USUAL LINKS
and Spike, your seniors, is disappointing in only a very relative sense.
and Spike, your seniors, is disappointing in only a very relative sense.
I always felt the disappointment was due to outsized expectations that a team starting a couple of underclass big men with limited defensive abilities and a lot of unknowns after your top 3 players (all of whom got injured during the offseason/during the season) would make the Sweet 16.
It wasn't a good year or anything to hang your hat on, but 23-13 and an NCAA bid (and a win in the First Four) isn't depressingly bad or anything.
I think next year the expectations should basically be this year but with a bit fewer season-ending injuries, and I wouldn't be surprised if this team surprised people and got a decent seed in the tourney.
think it will really surpise people if they get a decent tourney seed. There were signs of this team turning a corner in the BIG tourney and NCAA tourney. I believe they will be very competitive in the upper third of the BIG next year. (In a year where seemingly everybody is leaving, we will have everybody coming back).
Also, I think the ND game deserves front page write up treatment, and not just the blurb from right after it ended. A little disappointed I haven't seen that.
Yeah, that's my feeling as well. But there is a contingent around here that assumes Beilein is a terrible coach who will fail hard forever, so they'll be surprised when this team doesn't crater and finishing in the top 4-5 of the conference.
They will need to get some defensive development from the front line; I like Wagner and think Irvin will have a nice bounce-back his senior season, but it's still a team relying on Doyle and Donnal to become even average defenders, and neither has shown that ability consistently. Throw in a couple incoming freshmen and...
What needs to happen is that the wings and guards get better both getting to the hoop and staying in front of their men when they drive. I don't expect Dawkins or Robinson to be great, but being able to deny those initial drives consistently would be a godsend for this team, as I think guys like MAAR and Walton should be solid defensively (I know Walton has been down this year, so who knows on that front). Other than MAAR, nobody seems willing/able to consistently drive to the hoop, so you get these weird possessions where they try to screen a dozen times and then jack up a late shot because defenses stay home. While it would be great if someone took a step like Nik/Burke to that dominant offensive level, even having two guys on the offense who can Make Plays (TM) going toward the hoop is essential for this offense to hum along. Robinson showed he had some wiggle and a healthy Irvin (he just looks out of sorts after that back surgery) should be able to do that sometimes, but if someone other than MAAR emerges this offense could be great.
I agree that the ND blurb was disappointing. I get that the team didn't meet expectations of some, but the end of the season still deserves a nice code.
They should convince Wagner to try fried sago grubs.
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March 22nd, 2016 at 10:25 AM ^
I don't think Irvin is done recovering, both physically and mentally. I think he lost some muscle this offseason and it negatively affected all parts of his game. His shot has always been wonky, but this season, especially as it has worn, it has started to look like a trebuchet. He has to hoist the ball to get it to the rim, and I don't rememer that part of it early in his career. Also, I can almost guarantee he lost some of his vertical leaping ability due to the injury. I don't think I can remember one dunk from him this year, and he did it somewhat frequently last year.
The other thing I think is that there was a general decomposition of the offense. They seemed like they lost the will to run hard off of cuts, make decisive passes, and do all the little things. I think it exposed the deficiencies in each individual players game, as they weren't able to get to the spots and shots in which they excel.
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