Fullbacksympathy

Stop paraphrasing shit from me that doesn’t exist (you’ve done this several times now). I never said Thor shouldn’t get *any* minutes. I said he shouldn’t start, and I was right. He definitely should get minutes. He’s a good positional defender and great passer. If he can shoot, he’s a starter hands down. You clearly have no idea what my point is. I haven’t gone after Thor out of context once. To be clear, here have been my points: 1. I thought early in the year Shamiel earned a look over Thor. The stats in the early games backed me up. Since then, Shamiel has fallen off a cliff in numbers, effort, and attitude. 2. I also thought Kobe outplayed Thor after a few games in the rotation and deserved the chance at more minutes than Thor. That’s what we have now. I’m not wrong for either of those thoughts. Shamiel got more minutes initially and lost them. Kobe got more minutes and has kept them. Andre returned so we don’t need Lat at the 5 at all, for good reason. That’s not my opinion. That’s directly from Hoiberg press conference. Want a citation? I don’t know what we disagree on other than you claim I call out Thor unfairly, which there is absolutely no evidence of from any post I’ve made. I LOVE THOR. I WANT HIS SHOTS TO GO IN. HE DESERVES IT. But you know what I love most about Thor right now? He’d be the first to agree to lessen his own minutes until his shot returns because that’s how great of a teammate he truly is.

Banton doesn’t outplay Thor? Yvan doesn’t outplay Thor? Kobe doesn’t outplay Thor? It is, in fact, simple. Thor has come off the bench the past three games. I like him off the bench. So I guess Fred and I are delusional. I’m comfortable with that. Also, I never shit on Thor. I love Thor. Read any post I’ve written about him. But he isn’t producing. That isn’t even debatable.

Good point. I think as a PG, we may Lebron Bryce by surrounding him with spot up shooters. Something like: Bryce Keisei Teddy Lat Wilhelm With that lineup you can basically just let him go to work and score or kick, but we’d struggle on defense. What I’d to see us is: 1. Trey 2. Keisei 3. Bryce 4. Teddy 5. Dalano ^^ with this lineup, any player can initiate the offense and it will always be spread out for driving lanes. On D, we’d be great on the perimeter and fast enough to recover/rotate when doubling the post. Every guy in that lineup could exploit a mismatch in isolation, and each is a serviceable 3pt threat with Keisei and Bryce being deadly on the wings.

He doesn’t get a pass. Losing confidence is a terrible trait. He and Thor both share this trait. Neither does Thor get a pass except from delusional people. Both of them to this point have been nothing short of terrible. I want both of them to do great. Kobe has been serviceable. He’s playing more. It’s pretty simple.

Regardless, problem solved if: 1. Trey 2. Kobe 3. Teddy/Thor 4. Banton/Lat 5. Walker/Yvan

The actual early game stats prove you entirely wrong but he’s been awful since. Thor has been consistently awful the entire season, tonight included.

Garza is the next Marc Gasol.

That aged bad because Shamiel has completely lost his confidence. Thor has hardly been any better, and Shamiel clearly outplayed him early in the season. I’ve also called for Kobe to start over Thor, and he’s proven to have earned that spot to this point. I like Thor first off the bench like tonight. At least Kobe can stay in front of guards defensively. Thor is a liability on defense period. Offensively, if he can’t shoot, his savvy doesn’t make up for that deficiency in a 5-out system.

All depends on whether Walker can stretch the floor. I might be wrong but I really think Wilhelm gets big minutes at the 5 next year if he can start the year at 220lbs. You could pretty much play positionless basketball w Wilhelm. He’s Lat with handles and elite passing skills. Meaner too.

Trey is a true PG and proved it tonight. I want Banton at the 5 making opposing centers look like clowns trying to stay with him. We double in the post anyway.

Looks like Trey has taking to some coaching, and so has Yvan. Trey looked good as a pace setting PG. He was incredible and is by far my favorite player on the team. I think Teddy should play the 4. He’s too slow to guard guards (foul trouble) but strong enough to body up bigs and expose them on O. I’d be curious to see: Trey — PG (this is better because he can attack and dish rather than have to spot up). Kobe — SG (our only possible spot up guard with enough skill to have some decent scoring nights) Thor/Trevor — SF (both defensive liabilities but can still space the floor and get threes off) Teddy/Lat — StretchF (Teddy gets too many fouls against guards but has the strength to guard 4s and Lat is prototype). Banton/Walker/Yvan — C (sounds crazy but I think Banton could be a Magic Johnson mercenary C for this team. He’s a good enough 3pt threat for a big to stretch the defense, and he’d be deadly in transition or initiating the offfense). We double the post every play anyway, so why not have Banton guards the block? At least with this lineup you’d see something skill wise resembling what is required for a 5-out offense.

We played for 40 minutes and were competitive with a Top 20 team. This was the first 40-minute scrap of the season. I was happy with the team and coaching tonight. Proud of the effort. I think this is momentum for Walker’s return, and I think we’re gonna make things interesting from this point on. Let’s go.

Why call for a pick and roll and not fing use the pick Banton?! 6’9”!!

Really liking the rotation tonight. It looks like Doc had a practice to himself on defense as well. Fantastic effort to this point. The 1-4 high offense is brutal to guard (I’m partial to that O). Trey giving us minutes as a true PG has me intrigued as well. I kinda like him and Banton rotating.

Thing is, an Yvan who can finish at the rim is a really good player. Hoping that's what Walker is.

70-62 bad guys

One thing I liked about the last game is Fred basically let Eduardo foul out and learn what it's like to rack them up. We never did that with Jordy and it drove me crazy. Let bigs foul out so they learn how to stop fouling. I don't think Eduardo is soft at all, but I don't think he's mean. That's one thing I love about Yvan. He's not nice about rebounding or defense. I wish he could power up to the hoop with the same anger. Eduardo is already a much better offensive player than Yvan, and his length is going to develop more and more in the PnR with Banton (I hope).

Think Jacobson's athleticism with more skill and does nothing but bomb threes. He'd be a prototype 4 for the 5-out and be pretty scary next to Wilhelm over the years.

Fred is a dude. I'd expect at least one more surprise by way of a transfer or grad transfer. Zero inside info, but I think he will ruthlessly upgrade the roster every season he can.

There are only 25 5* players. There is only one other B1G team that got one. They don't grow on trees. They are NBA players. Fred also hauled in a Top 20 4* center with no siblings here. I also think Keisei would've been a 4* if he played in the states. His shooting is other worldly, and it's not Lat other-worldly. He has no conscience. He's the #2 JUCO SG. This is a hell of a class.

Recruiting can only go so fast, but Fred has essentially already flipped the roster. The kids just aren't here yet. I don't think it unwise to expect a massive shift next season. Bryce McGowens isn't some overhyped JUCO star. He's a bonafide program changer--possibly the best SG recruit in the country. He's the freshman who goes to KU or Kentucky or Duke and starts day 1. With him in the lineup, we can: 1. Have an unguardable player who can score from anywhere. 2. Allow Trey to be an absolute soldier on defense whose primary purpose is to make someone's life hell for 30 minutes. He obviously has his offensive shortcomings, but he is a world class defender and athlete. I love watching him play defense. 3. Take legitimate pressure off of Banton as a ball-handler. He can do everything Banton can do offensively--not as good of a passer but a much better scorer. Either guy can initiate the offense or play off the ball. 4. Give us crazy length on the defensive perimeter without giving up any athleticism. Add snipers to that dude and it's a completely different team. I'm not seeing a bunch of bad players. I'm seeing an incomplete roster of role players who are being asked to do too much. Trey, Teddy (most of the time), Lat, Kobe, Derrick, Yvan, and Trevor are all role players--ones I'd be happy to have on any team. But they can't be role players if the squad doesn't have any stars. Delano is a budding star in another year. Bryce will arrive as one. Keisei and Wilhelm are optimistic question marks, but they both bring skills we don't currently have and are required for Fred's system. So rather than sulk too much about a team that can't score in droves, I'm choosing to picture some really good role players on next year's roster and enjoy their competitive spirit when they bring it this season. The cupboard ain't bare. It's just not stocked yet.

1. This was a rare awful defensive effort, which is why we got slaughtered. 2. We can’t shoot. I think that’s conclusive by now. 3. This is, statistically, possibly the best conference of all time. Let that sink in before getting too down. 4. Due to #3, we can’t get away with #2 and win only with defense this year. There’s just too many fantastic teams. 5. I’ll start truly judging this year’s team when Walker enters the lineup. 6. I’ve seen plenty of good looks generated by our offense all season (and last season). Help is on the way next year, but it’s very hard to bring it every night know you’re gonna shoot 20% this year.

I’d like to see: Lakes Lat Teddy Banton Thor At least roll out a lineup that is supposed to have people who can shoot. Spread it out and let Banton/Teddy drive and score or dish. We have no possibility of scoring in the lane with a big until Walker arrives. Might as well own it until then.

74-67 bad guys 7 threes

I’m not optimistic for our W/L this season, though I think Walker makes us a different team offensively. I’m extremely optimistic, however, for the trajectory of the program. Our defense with great athletes is pretty special, and our offense has help on the way next season. We’ll be in every game this year with Walker in the rotation. I’m not optimistic about a bunch of wins, but we’ll be competitive because of our defense.