Future teams

[Helicopter]

Should be out for a week or two. Some sort of knee scope cleanout.

Nothing serious from what I understand.

Great news.

 

[Helicopter]

I think his opportunity is really going to boil down to what Gillam can do. If Gillam displays enough ball skills or outside shot...then it's going to be tough for Davenport to find the floor. I would think it would be easier for Davenport to be on the floor as a small ball stretch 4 type of player (this year)...than it would for him to find time among the talented wing group. Next year could be a different story.

I have a wait and see with any 3 star or lower prospect. It is so hard to evaluate who is going to contribute until I see them play against High D-I competition.

I remember being super high on Quadri Moore because his tape looked awesome from HS and AAU. Then I saw him scrimmage (black/red) and he drained 3 treys. I was convinced he was the next Jason Maxiel. I also came away from that scrimmage thinking the Gary Clark kid needed a redshirt. After that I reserve judgment until that first real game.

 

[Loser Mentality]

After listening to the Andy Katz's Podcast, I think this will be the players and fans first real chance to see how individually talented they really are.

Brannen said he's coaching to his talent, thus giving all players an opportunity to show what they are made of and their worth to his system. With that being said, maybe we will see more of the players matching their highlight tape abilities.

The sky is the limit.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Personally I think a lot of the "play fast" stuff is wishful thinking by the fans. Fans who were tired of Cronin now just want the complete opposite, regardless of if it works. Teams that play fast don't tend to do any better and Brannen has averaged around 150 in pace, so not exactly running all the time.

I doubt the defense will get simpler. Cronin tried to coach just one defense and perfect it. Brannen probably won't have as complicated of a defense, but he will also play more defenses and players will have to learn the subtleties of each defense. Brannen has talked a lot about working on defense during the summer practices.

Offensively, I expect us to push when it's available and take the first open shot. But not to be constantly pushing. As JoeRunner said, few teams have the players to play a pro style where every player (or at least the 1-4) can push the ball. Also I expect to get on players about shot selection and even pull them, NKU had a very good Efg%, doing that requires the right players taking the right shots. If someone who shouldn't be shooting takes a long jumper or a bad three, I expect Brannen to get on them just as much as Cronin would have.

I guess we will see. All we've heard from Brannen is talk so far. Cronin used to talk about pressing and running every year and put more focus than Brannen has on recruiting for that system. And yet come conference play, we almost never pressed. It seems like most pressing teams are long/tall athletes. But Brannen recruited quick guards and big, plodding centers, so it's hard to see us pressing a lot.

I anticipate us playing mostly half-court defense, but focusing more on getting the ball down court quickly on offense. Test the defense, if it's there take the shot, if not pull it out and run the offense. As I've said before, my biggest concern is our rebounding, you can't run if you can't get the rebound.

Yeah Virgina had lowest amount of possessions per game and they do ok If you take out the top and bottom 25 in possession per game there really isn't much separating them anyway.

 

[Emperor Snapper]

Personally I think a lot of the "play fast" stuff is wishful thinking by the fans. Fans who were tired of Cronin now just want the complete opposite, regardless of if it works. Teams that play fast don't tend to do any better and Brannen has averaged around 150 in pace, so not exactly running all the time.

I doubt the defense will get simpler. Cronin tried to coach just one defense and perfect it. Brannen probably won't have as complicated of a defense, but he will also play more defenses and players will have to learn the subtleties of each defense. Brannen has talked a lot about working on defense during the summer practices.

Offensively, I expect us to push when it's available and take the first open shot. But not to be constantly pushing. As JoeRunner said, few teams have the players to play a pro style where every player (or at least the 1-4) can push the ball. Also I expect to get on players about shot selection and even pull them, NKU had a very good Efg%, doing that requires the right players taking the right shots. If someone who shouldn't be shooting takes a long jumper or a bad three, I expect Brannen to get on them just as much as Cronin would have.

I guess we will see. All we've heard from Brannen is talk so far. Cronin used to talk about pressing and running every year and put more focus than Brannen has on recruiting for that system. And yet come conference play, we almost never pressed. It seems like most pressing teams are long/tall athletes. But Brannen recruited quick guards and big, plodding centers, so it's hard to see us pressing a lot.

I anticipate us playing mostly half-court defense, but focusing more on getting the ball down court quickly on offense. Test the defense, if it's there take the shot, if not pull it out and run the offense. As I've said before, my biggest concern is our rebounding, you can't run if you can't get the rebound.

This. The relationship between pace and efficiency is nonexistent anyway; if he can develop a consistent top-30 offense in efficiency, peaks in the top 10, I don't care how fast or slow they play to get there.