Sage and Howard should start
- Thread starter 1inamillion
- Start date
Agreed. Howard should’ve been on Boyd all day.
I like Howard as a 6 man, but Sage has definitely earned a start over Coop. He’s not bringing a lot to either end consistently right now and entering let him shoot from range territory.
I don’t know who should start. Surely the coaches have a good reason to stick to this line up. I just hope they address a few issues: 1. Those soft passes by Stirtz (hands down, our best player). 2. Allowing the other teams’s guards drive passed our guys to the basket for a lay up — no help ever comes, no one’s tries to take a charge, kids miss their defensive assignments, 3. Playing with a tempo on offense as if we are 10 points ahead when we’re down ten, 4. Players starting a fast break and then slowing down or stopping and passing the ball to a corner instead of aggressively continuing toward the basket. Fran would have had a meltdown with each of those. 
Cooper is tough but the other 2 forwards are too soft and are afraid to shoot. At least Cooper will take a shot and will occasionally hit 1.
Howard needs more minutes regardless if he is a starter. He’s our best defender and much needed on a team that consistently struggles stopping guard penetration.
I love Tate, but wish he would leave the 3 shooting to BS and Folgers….but yeah Tate > Cooper. Howard played tough on Boyd, but unfortunately it was too little too late…
lol standing at the 3 point line keep chucking up shots when your off is not tough, howard or sage at least will drive the ball
Sage gave the ball away 2 times in a row, dribbling is hard. We turn the ball over with bad hands and handles far too much. Need a center who rebounds. Need shooters to hit shots.
Got to play with the guys we have. Sage gives us some grit along with banks and Howard. If they need a 3, bring hausen.
Howard seems to be in the doghouse right now. Combs is just really hurting us at both ends and has been for awhile. Howard certainly brings more athleticism and defense than Combs. Don’t really get it.
Defensive strategy wasn't there tonight. Played Boyd too tight outside the arc and played Rapp too soft. Then we have guys who consistently refuse to have the occasional extraordinary game on offense against good teams, they always just hit their average or do worse. Outside of Combs' output @purdue I can't remember a player other than Stirtz lucking into a hot shooting night.
Coop is shooting 26% from 3 since the new year and is a hideous 4/17 in the last two games alone. Occasionally making one is not good enough to be starting.
Obviously want him to figure it out but he’s not even 1 dimensional on offense right now.
Not only is he soft, when it's crunch time he doesn't shoot. He's weak off the dribble and loses the ball to easily by dribbling into a crowd with no real idea of what he is doing. Also is kind of chippy around the basket and not great a rebounder.
He had 6 points in 40 mins with zero rebounds. It’s painful to watch
That's a Patrick McCaffery line right there.
I want Sage shooting 3's. At 39% he has the same 3 point average as Stirtz in conference play. I don't think I want Koch to take any more though.
Combs is playing way too much. Take his 25-30 minutes and split half of it between Howard and Sage. I think Sage is the best offensive player between the 3 and Howard probably best defensive. It's nice to have Combs as a 2nd ball handler but I don't think we need more than 10-15 minutes of that. He's just not good enough offensively.
Wisconsin is a good team, they should probably be even better than their 19-8 record. Put it in the rear view and focus on two huge games this week.
Wisconsin is a good team, they should probably be even better than their 19-8 record. Put it in the rear view and focus on two huge games this week.
Sage has shown a lot, but we’re already small enough on the front line without putting Sage at the 4.
When we have wide open shots we need to knock them down. We are not a great three point shooting team.
This roster is bad. We have 1 incredible player. Next year will be brutal if something doesn’t change.
Cooper started off 2-2 then went ice cold seems like when we need one he chokes a .bit
He did get caught with ball at end of shot clock a
Couple of times resulting in desperation heaves
I think he will shoot it good with his mechanics, eventually...his dad took a couple of years for real consistency.
Sometimes I feel like we often have players passing up decent looks, then the result is a desperation heave with the shot clock running out.
I think some of our guys have the ability to step up once Bennett is gone, and they can no longer depend on him. It's a phenomenon you see on college and high school teams all the time.
But yes, we also need to improve the roster. As I've said before, this spring's portal season will tell us a lot about what the McCollum era will be all about.
I wonder if Ben's first year coaching this team in the Big 10 will have any effect on his recruiting approach this spring, or not so much.
I guarantee it will. He rolled with guys he could depend on year 1 and all things considered, has been a success. His first trip through the league, he’s seeing exactly what he needs to win big roster wise.
Everyone beside BS plays as if the midrange game is illegal. Instead of taking a mostly open 15 footer they continue driving into no man's land. They play akin to Manchester City in soccer. Passing up good shots in order to try to find a great one (which often doesn’t exist).
I also think Year 1 was all about establishing a new culture for the program. Being on the verge of making the NCAA tourney is great, but I think Ben has been willing to sacrifice wins if it meant building a stronger long-term culture.
That's why he brought in so many guys from Drake (even guys like Matteoni, who seem to have little shot at contributing anytime soon). That's why he was incredibly picky when it came to the guys he did recruit last spring and summer. That's why Brendan Hausen, arguably the best shooter on the team, seldom gets on the court. It's all about the team culture -- ensuring the team plays a certain way, and approaches the game a certain way.
But, as happy as many of us have been with this season on the whole, it's clear the long-term success of the program will require an upgrade in talent, particularly with Bennett Stirtz moving on. It will be an interesting off-season, to say the least.
Howard was the starter to begin the season. I'm not sure what changed that. Combs hasn't been any better.
Yes you're right I forgot about that. I remember Howard kind of turning it over in opening of games and I think that's why if I had to guess reason for Combs starting. Mccollum doesn't want his teams to beat themselves which is reason why we don't push in transition as much as most want. Combs probably does take care of the ball but with him being so ineffective in other areas I don't think it's worth it. You could even still start him if you want but just sub him out more frequently.
Wisconsin is pretty good, but their last game before Iowa, Ohio State blew 'em away by almost 20. Wisconsin has the same record as Iowa, and the Hawkeyes are Minnesota and Maryland from being 21-6 right now. I mean think about that. But since they're not, the Ohio State game is about as much of a must win as there is. Right now it seems the success of the season rests on beating Ohio State.
Michigan has virtually a whole new team this year compared to last. I think you can count on Iowa seeing some changes before they tip it off next season.
I said to my brother when he was hired, Mcollum will be successful if he gets the players. The jury is out right now and if he doesn’t get them we will absolutely suck over the next 3 years. Recurring D1 is no comparison to the levels he’s recruited from over his career. We will see.
McCollum wants layups and uncontested 3s. I agree we are TOO picky at times, however.
What team doesn’t? Our problem as I’ve said multiple times is we don’t have hardly anyone who can finish around the rim, and we have 2 starters in Cam and Combs who don’t or won’t even look at the basket. Look, Ben is a proven winner but this has been pretty hard to watch lately.
Yes. If we can turn 1 lottery pick guy into ~3 good guys that make the squad more balanced, BMC is going to have us cooking next year.