Michigan State will win the Big Ten Conference regular season if Delvon Roe gets/stays healthy. He would be the top frosh in the conference if he didn't have micro fracture surgery (the thing Greg Oden had) ten months ago. He is trying a quick recovery. Tom Izzo said he is about 60% right now. Even though he is not completely healthy he still can help the Spartans. He is a very smart player which is usually a characteristic of the nonathletic players. Once he regains his full athletic ability he will be fun to watch.
The Spartans are slightly undersized at the guards, but have superior quickness. They are very deep as they want to play up tempo while applying a lot of pressure on the basketball. Gordon Suton is back for his senior year and I expect him to up his play. He has always shown flashes of being a good player but lacked the consistency. I predict he puts it together this year and helps the Spartans big time.
Raymar Morgan could contend for player of the year in the conference. He is super athletic and can play inside and outside. They will be running a lot this year and he should get a lot of "easy" (you have to work hard to get easy points) points in transition. He definitely lacked consistency last year and Michigan State will only go as far as he takes them.
I expect Michigan State to be in the top 10 range nationally all year. They might not be a top 5 team, but somewhere right outside of that. They have the talent, but I have to question if they have quite enough experience to make a deep run in the tournament. Only time will tell.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Early Thoughts: Wisconsin
I just watched the first half of the Wisconsin-Long Beach State game. Long Beach came out playing well from the start. They are coached by Dan Monson who is the former Minnesota coach.
Wisconsin is pretty young especially for a Badger team. They usually like to play upperclassmen for the majority of the minutes. They are still experienced compared to most teams just not up to par with the "Wisconsin style."
They didn't look good on offense in the first half. It is the first game of the season so that can be somewhat expected. They lacked much movement. Long Beach State was moving without the ball much better than Wisconsin in the first half. Long Beach State would have been leading at the half if they did not start to take some suspect shots...mainly off balance three's.
Wisconsin will be solid this year of course. I would predict they will be in the 15-20 range in the national polls all year. They will be solid defensively and you will rarely get more than one shot on each possession against them. They won't make many unforced turnovers and when you do all those things you will be in any game. That's basically the Badger recipe.
Wisconsin is pretty young especially for a Badger team. They usually like to play upperclassmen for the majority of the minutes. They are still experienced compared to most teams just not up to par with the "Wisconsin style."
They didn't look good on offense in the first half. It is the first game of the season so that can be somewhat expected. They lacked much movement. Long Beach State was moving without the ball much better than Wisconsin in the first half. Long Beach State would have been leading at the half if they did not start to take some suspect shots...mainly off balance three's.
Wisconsin will be solid this year of course. I would predict they will be in the 15-20 range in the national polls all year. They will be solid defensively and you will rarely get more than one shot on each possession against them. They won't make many unforced turnovers and when you do all those things you will be in any game. That's basically the Badger recipe.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
First Week of College Games
This week college basketball started its regular season. I've had a chance to watch a few games. Here are some of my early thoughts.
Indiana will be slightly better than most expect. That said, it will be a long year. Northwestern State forced them to turnover the ball way too much. IU got caught in the air with no where to go many times. They have no inside guys to go to offensively. They will probably get out rebounded every game this year.
They will improve a lot over the season. Some of their guards have the athleticism, but made a lot of fundamental errors and Coach Crean will clean that up quickly. IU played everyone tonight so that hurts rhythm between the players. They will shorten their rotation after a couple more games.
Michigan hasn't looked too impressive early. They struggled against Michigan Tech until late and they played a little bit better against Northeastern, who is a solid mid-major team. Manny Harris is the real deal though. He is my pick for Big Ten player of the year. I believe the coaches picked Robbie Hummel from Purdue. Hummel makes Purdue go, but Harris is the most skilled player in the league.
Michigan needs an inside presence. They are bringing Sims off the bench right now, but I think he will end up starting as the year goes on. The reason for my logic in that is they need him on the court as much as possible. If they get their 1-3-1 half court trap working really effectively it could help them win some games they have no business winning since you don't see many 1-3-1 traps throughout the season.
I'll try to get some predictions and previews up here in the next few days.
Indiana will be slightly better than most expect. That said, it will be a long year. Northwestern State forced them to turnover the ball way too much. IU got caught in the air with no where to go many times. They have no inside guys to go to offensively. They will probably get out rebounded every game this year.
They will improve a lot over the season. Some of their guards have the athleticism, but made a lot of fundamental errors and Coach Crean will clean that up quickly. IU played everyone tonight so that hurts rhythm between the players. They will shorten their rotation after a couple more games.
Michigan hasn't looked too impressive early. They struggled against Michigan Tech until late and they played a little bit better against Northeastern, who is a solid mid-major team. Manny Harris is the real deal though. He is my pick for Big Ten player of the year. I believe the coaches picked Robbie Hummel from Purdue. Hummel makes Purdue go, but Harris is the most skilled player in the league.
Michigan needs an inside presence. They are bringing Sims off the bench right now, but I think he will end up starting as the year goes on. The reason for my logic in that is they need him on the court as much as possible. If they get their 1-3-1 half court trap working really effectively it could help them win some games they have no business winning since you don't see many 1-3-1 traps throughout the season.
I'll try to get some predictions and previews up here in the next few days.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Coach's Journey Forum
I have created a coaching forum. I hope to grow it into a big forum with superb information. I'm contacting all my coaching friends and hope to get them to contribute regularly. I have found most coaching forums are either for the really basic or for people to advertise their products. I'm hoping to provide a place for any coach at any level to contribute and learn from the forum. Here is the link to the forum... http://www.hoosierhoopsreport.com/smf/index.php?action=collapse;c=5;sa=expand#5
I have also listed it in my links section for future reference. I encourage all coaches to register and to visit the forum regularly! Thanks.
I have also listed it in my links section for future reference. I encourage all coaches to register and to visit the forum regularly! Thanks.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Perception is Reality
Perception is reality is an old saying. It's very true in basketball. If people perceive you as being a fundamental team then you probably are a fundamental team. If people perceive you to be lazy and undisciplined then you probably are a lazy and undisciplined team.
I coach AAU in the spring and summer. My team is pretty talented...no top 100 players in the nation but solid players with the potential to play college basketball. Many will be borderline division 1 players. I have been around AAU tournaments for many years from either playing or now coaching. I will tell you after the top 50 players in the nation (which is very easy to see the difference in the top 50 and everyone else) it is a bunched and crowded group. You know how many 6'2 shooting guards there are in America? What seperates them all...athleticism, skills, but an often overlooked factor attitude.
I'll define attitude not just as body language and actual language but also the willingness to hustle and make the extra effort plays. It's the perception of what kind of player/person you are. College coaches don't want to take a borderline talent that is going to cause them problems. So, even though the player might be a great kid and usually has a good attitude if they come to the bench moaning about coming out or are complaining to the refs...those things could hurt a "good kid."
Perception is reality and kids need to understand they are being judged more often by their worst moments instead of their best.
I coach AAU in the spring and summer. My team is pretty talented...no top 100 players in the nation but solid players with the potential to play college basketball. Many will be borderline division 1 players. I have been around AAU tournaments for many years from either playing or now coaching. I will tell you after the top 50 players in the nation (which is very easy to see the difference in the top 50 and everyone else) it is a bunched and crowded group. You know how many 6'2 shooting guards there are in America? What seperates them all...athleticism, skills, but an often overlooked factor attitude.
I'll define attitude not just as body language and actual language but also the willingness to hustle and make the extra effort plays. It's the perception of what kind of player/person you are. College coaches don't want to take a borderline talent that is going to cause them problems. So, even though the player might be a great kid and usually has a good attitude if they come to the bench moaning about coming out or are complaining to the refs...those things could hurt a "good kid."
Perception is reality and kids need to understand they are being judged more often by their worst moments instead of their best.
NBA League Pass
NBA league pass broadband is doing a free preview until Nov. 11th. I decided to try it out last night and I wish I would have known about this from the start of the season. It's pretty sweet. Can watch 3 games at once and get stats whenever you want.
If the college version is like this for the computer I would have to look into it. I prefer college basketball over NBA but I still enjoy the NBA more than most people do. College is more intense and players play with more energy overall. NBA players are in the NBA for a reason (usually). They are truly the best of the best if they play focused.
I would check out the free preview of NBA league pass broadband if you like basketball. It's pretty neat and its free so you can't beat that.
If the college version is like this for the computer I would have to look into it. I prefer college basketball over NBA but I still enjoy the NBA more than most people do. College is more intense and players play with more energy overall. NBA players are in the NBA for a reason (usually). They are truly the best of the best if they play focused.
I would check out the free preview of NBA league pass broadband if you like basketball. It's pretty neat and its free so you can't beat that.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Situational Scrimmaging
How often do you scrimmage in practice? Most coaches try to scrimmage a little bit at the end of practices if not more. Although they are usually controlled and stopped for teaching points I think more would be accomplished with applying situations to the scrimmage. It adds game dynamics and game strategy but it also will add to the players' focus. They aren't just "playing" for the sake of scrimmaging. They have goals and things they must get accomplished.
Any coach will agree that practice must be as close to a game environment as possible, but most don't had situations to scrimmages. Coaches might practice situations once a week, but why not add a few situations to all scrimmages. Even setting the scrimmage at a tie game and 3 minutes to go. It doesn't have to be drastic, but anything is better than nothing.
I was at a Butler University practice the other night and Brad Stevens said "the more situations the better" and it really clicked with me. Preparing for late game situations is crucial. In pressure situations you need the confidence that you will get the job done.
The more situations, the better.
Any coach will agree that practice must be as close to a game environment as possible, but most don't had situations to scrimmages. Coaches might practice situations once a week, but why not add a few situations to all scrimmages. Even setting the scrimmage at a tie game and 3 minutes to go. It doesn't have to be drastic, but anything is better than nothing.
I was at a Butler University practice the other night and Brad Stevens said "the more situations the better" and it really clicked with me. Preparing for late game situations is crucial. In pressure situations you need the confidence that you will get the job done.
The more situations, the better.
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