Game vs LeMoyne

any bet that we will see a lot of zone this year? Aubery and duncan could get better but defense will remain as their weakness. on the other hand, you need keep your best shooters in the game.

They are definitely elite by D2 standards. At the same time, they are D2 and not a high-major D1 team. For comparison, Duke just played an equally elite D2 team -- defending D2 national champion Florida Southern -- and won 112-68.
  1. I made it pretty clear that itā€™s no excuse to lose to a D2 team.

  2. Iowa is not Duke.

  3. You are clueless if you think Augustana and Florida Southern are equal.

Let me preface this by saying I loved watching Stauskas play and he deserved BIG POY, but... He was one of the worst defensive players I've ever seen. No feel for defense whatsoever. If he was isolated on D he was going to be exposed. I say this to defend (no pun intended), Robinson and Dawkins, their offensive potential over shadows their defensive shortcoming. Coach Beilein will have minutes for them if they play D with effort, smartness, box out, and help out on the boards. Robinson is not only a shooter, but he's a scorer, and a passer. Playmaker, as in creator for others? I'm not so sure. Jury is still out. The turnaround he hit in the lane was impressive; he made it look easy. Offensively the game comes natural for him; very instinctive. I don't see how he doesn't score at least 10 a game. His added strength will really help him. Dawkins, he can shoot the ball, yesterday's game non withstanding, and he can score, but he's not instinctive, he needs instruction, he's still learning. Vertically, around the rim he's elite. Going to enjoy watching these two.

Oh boy.

You are too sold to even both discussing this with, but Iā€™m just going to say that I would take the under on 10ppg from Duncan, barring re-injury from one of the big three (Walton-LeVert-Irvin).

There is just too many mouths to feed to expect 4 guys to average double digit scoring.

Iā€™m more than willing to discuss it. I may be wrong, wouldnā€™t be the first time today. Maybe there wonā€™t be enough shots for Duncan this season, thatā€™ll be the only thing keeping his scoring average under 10. He will produce given opportunity. We shall see.

I donā€™t think there will be enough shots for him to score 10ppg. I also am waiting to see how well Duncan scores and defends against high major Division 1 wings. I have no doubt that he will be able to hit threes, but I donā€™t think itā€™s a lock that he will be putting up a lot of points around the rim. The biggest concerns Duncan had coming in are hard to gauge based on playing against Le Moyne.

So, yeah, Iā€™ll take under 10 points you can take 10+.

I think I have a fair chance on this bet. 4 players in double figures per game is doable. 30 second shot clock should help. Coach Beilein dials up 6 Robinson 3ā€™s a game. I got this

Not many surprises in this game. Most of the players looked about as I expected.

  1. Robinson is a perfect fit for this offense and will get PT based on shooting ability alone.

  2. Meanwhile, Chatman is pretty much the opposite of that, and despite his size and passing ability, I just donā€™t see how they can have him in the regular rotation. Just too big of a liability at both ends.

  3. We are still going to struggle at the 4 and 5 many nights. Every player we have over 6ā€™8" has one or more major flaws (Doyle- athleticism and endurance, Donnal- toughness, Mo- Experience and strength, DJ- Experience and too perimeter oriented, Chatman- see above).

  4. Great to see Caris and Derrick looking like their old selves.

  5. Off night for Dawkins plus no Irving made this game much closer than it normally would be.

2 Likes

For those that didnā€™t watch the game or the replay. Some video up here in Five Key Plays.

How can Doyle only get 1 shot attempt? He was open all day long, had a huge mismatch and not one single player on the court recognized this mismatch? Doyle is 6ā€™9 250 and he canā€™t get any looks?

I understand it was an exhibition but thought it was a lackluster performance overall. Didnā€™t shoot well behind the arc, didnā€™t force many turnovers, didnā€™t get to the foul line at all

If he was better at PnR he would get more looks in the post.

Not inclined to draw too much from this game, either good or bad. Without strong defense and interior play, weā€™re going to have some meh games against weaker teams, where we win comfortably, but not impressively. Itā€™s going to be at least the Xavier game before things even start to be sorted out with regard to a regular rotation, and everyone getting their legs.

Iā€™m still waiting for you to explain how Florida Southern is equally as elite as Augustana.

Um, not sure why you are bringing up this old stuff, especially as it concerns such an arcane subject as the relative quality of insignificant D2 programs. Although I honestly donā€™t follow D2, I think it is fair to say that a defending national champion is at least on a par, quality-wise, with a non-champion. I mean, if you claimed that last yearā€™s Kentucky team was more ā€œeliteā€ than last yearā€™s champion Duke squad, you could definitely argue that, but insofar as Duke won the championship and Kentucky did not, I think the opposite argument would be at least equally valid.

Florida Southern went 34-1, but lost their top 2 players including a 21ppg scoring All-American.
Augustana went 30-2, but returned itā€™s top 8 players.

In other words, logic would say Augustana would be considered a more elite team than Florida Southern this season. Losing to Augustana is still embarrassing, but comparing Iowa vs Augustana as apples to apples with Duke vs Florida Southern isnā€™t very fair. Duke is a top 10 team playing against a Florida Southern team that might miss the NCAA Tournament. Iowa is a mid-tier Big Ten team playing the preseason #1 team in DII. Still embarrassing, but very different scenarios.