Are you guys ok? One hour and 46 minutes!?! I cant wait!
Longer than the previous two pods but didn’t get the MEGAPOD label so I assume this is just the expected length going forward.
I listen to a lot of podcasts and I just want to say Moving Screen has hands down one of the coolest intros I’ve heard. Who composed it?
Finally listened to the whole pod and, Dylan, I think we need to hear the definitive Nebraska rankings here. Not sure you got them into the top ten in the conference with your off the cuff bottom three (I suppose I might have missed a fourth school).
I’m still plodding away at this (mega)pod. I’m not good enough at working out to finish it in one sitting.
I did get through the Rutgers section. I do feel like they and OSU are still “incomplete” grades until we know if their stars are returning. What I will say is that it seems BQ has also fallen into the trap of “Miles Johnson is an impact player”. As I’ve said before, he’s a solid replacement-level center and fit into what Rutgers wanted to do pretty well. Thus he’ll be missed. But I’m still not sure how the narrative of him being such a good player came to be - for the good things he did on defense he also collected a ton of fouls and tried to block everything…not to mention being invisible on offense.
It’s always fun when you guys have genuine disagreement - Dylan frustrated to speechlessness and Brendan just laughing the whole thing off…about something as consequential as Nebraska being 13th or 11th in conference.
Great pod. Love the back and forth about freaking Nebraska! That and the Minnesota parts were the highlights for me. Excited to see if a Low/Mid Major Allstar team can compete in the B1G this year.
The Nebraska debate was the best part of the pod. I was cracking up.
I also liked the question that Dylan posed: Which incoming uptransfer PG will have the best season - Walker, Jones, Pickett or Russell?
- Walker - will be the offensive centerpiece on a talented team
- Jones - best team but secondary role
- Pickett - high usage player but lots of questions about new team
- Russell - his offense is just so so bad
Seems a bit harsh on Fatts. He had a poor year this year but just the year prior he was 108 ORTG on 28% USG. And even this year he was 100 ORTG on high USG. Certainly not “bad” per say.
He’s tough to get a read on though. If you told me he’d be the best one I wouldn’t be shocked, and if you told me he’d be the worst one I wouldn’t be shocked.
Yeah, I think that is probably my order too. My order of upside is this though:
- Russell
- Pickett
- Walker
- Jones
Fatts is really talented, but it’s unlikely that he will be able to channel his game to be an efficient player.
Pickett will have an opportunity to be one of PSU’s best players.
I think Walker is slightly less talented than those other guys, but he is more likely to reach his ceiling in MSU’s environment.
Jones isn’t needed for big numbers. Just needs to play his role.
PSU is probably the easiest choice for worst of the four teams so Pickett may be bolted to the floor. He is probably a safe #4 when I think again.
@adamsmit86 I think Dylan and Quinn used the same expression on the pod and I might be confused about the definition of upside because they both had Russell at #1 there too. Does upside just mean translating his existing game to the B1G level or adding a new element to his game? Like his FT% is good so maybe he can be a 36+% 3pt shooter?
You really think Jones is a secondary role guy??? Some guy is going to be feeding the ball to Dickinson they only have 107 assists returning from the roster and Brooks accounts for 84. I doubt it will be Johns/Jackson unless we are expecting a big uptick from Williams their best post passer or a few of the frosh to make up for the difference.
I just think he’s a more talented player than the other guys. He’s quick, athletic and can score at all three levels. He also played at a mid-major-plus school in the A10 so the jump in competition isn’t quite as large as it is for the other 3 guys.
I think he can shoot, but he obviously needs to take better shots. Can he do that in a more structured environment with better players? I don’t know. I realize a lot of times inefficient players can never change that part of their game and that’s just who they are. The upside for me is based around a scenario where he channels his talent in a more efficient way.
A secondary scorer yes. But the starting PG
Walker is going to be interesting. I never thought I’d see the day where B10 fans are hyping up an up-transfer from Northeastern as this incredible piece of the puzzle for the conference next year and potentially MSU’s best (and certainly most important) player. Wow…Northeastern.
Anyway, they need him to play because he’s the only pure PG on their roster and they saw what happens this past year when they don’t have one. I think he’s going to get a ton of minutes, he’ll be asked to do everything, and there aren’t a lot of other options except to play Akins (who I think has to play a lot of 2 on this team). So in that way, he’s set up to have the biggest season.
With that being said, putting that much pressure on an up transfer while being coached by hyper critical Tom Izzo is asking a lot. Additionally, it is still unclear whether passing to one of his teammates is going to result in a good outcome. Their centers are a mess, Hauser needs to bounce back, Brown could be an excellent shooter or he could be glued to the bench, and the rest are freshmen.
I think its just as likely Izzo destroys all of Walker’s self confidence after game 4 and he sits on the bench 80% of the time.
I just finished the pod. Loved the debate on Nebraska…the banter was great. I think they will beat Minnesota and Northwestern for sure. I just don’t know if they can move up more…maybe if Rutgers doesn’t get their draft guys back or if Iowa or Wisconsin implodes?