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Games thread- MEN'S BBall hosting ASU (Thurs., 2/8/24; 6:00 PM MT; FS1) and #8 Arizona (Saturday, 8:00 PM MT; ESPN)

Just some random observations from last night:
- I'd be scared to see where our record would be if Hadley hadn't really upped his game this year.
- Lampkin has gotten careless with the ball of late. He needs to slow down his game and not try to make the spectacular play every time.
- To that point, when we get stagnant later in games it's when we try to force the offense through him after the other team has adjusted to it.
- In those cases the only two players who should be controlling the offense should be KJ and Cody. I was confused why Tad had Hammond running things for about a 4 minute stretch in the 2nd half.
- TDS needs to get tougher and get in the mix more. He's not driving or crashing as much which leaves Lampkin battling alone. It was great to see Cody really get active on the boards in the 2nd half.
- Teams are targeting Hammond on defense with better athletes and to take advantage of his laziness playing through screens and sticking to his man. He also needs to stop picking up his dribble without having a next action option.
- We are a team that can be be bullied. Not liking that.
- Tad has zero trust in Dak and Diop and you can tell they feel it in how they play. At least he addressed that he needs to play more players in his post game. The 6 man rotation last night might have us as tired as UofA tomorrow.
- Last but not least, not feeling overly confident for tomorrow night based on last night's play, injury situation and how we match up. Here's hoping they are spent from 3OTs and travel and the crowd is lit.

I'm really interested in some of these points.

  • Eddie is an interesting dude. You cannot bring a double-team on him in the post, he'll pass out of it, often to a cutter -- he's a really good passer in those situations. But, if you let him iso and back down from 10 feet, he's error-prone. He has fallen in love with his handle in a way that makes me queasy. We like forcing him touches -- we need to in order to make the 4-out, 1-in we often use when he's on the court work -- but I cringe when I see him start to back down. When he gets a clean catch down low, *that* is when I get excited -- they either bring the double, and he passes for a good look, or he gets a good look at the rim.
  • I was, similarly, confused as to why Julian was initiating the offense late last night, rather than KJ. I don't know for sure, that was the plan, either. I'm OK with that, if KJ and Cody are moving, but we seemed to just be running an pnr/pop in the corner with Julian and Hadley, which... isn't great. Led to great outcomes, but that's low percentage. That was baffling and led me to wonder if KJ was gassed, or otherwise looking to defer for some reason.
  • Yeah, Julian was struggling to stay in front last night. Like a lot of the roster, he didn't look 'locked' in', particularly on defense.
  • Dak and Diop are really interesting to me. They clearly need more time on the floor, but we cannot go long stretches with them failing to box out, not being an offensive threat like that. It's a quandary, and one that really limits the roster.
  • Yep, crowd was bad last night. It worried me that they said there were still unclaimed student tickets for Saturday, too.
 
I watched some of the Utah/Arizona game last night. Utah matches up better with Arizona because they've got multiple 7 footers they can throw out to match the size of the UA front court. Even then there were offensive possessions where Arizona would pull down multiple offensive rebounds.

Unfortunately I think CU needs to beat Arizona like Stanford did, by shooting a high volume of 3's and hoping it is one of those nights. The keg will be packed, students will claim their tickets, it will be a fun environment but it will be 1/4-1/3 Arizona fans.
 
Any word on LOB's timeline for coming back? He does so much to improve our rotations and flexibility while being disruptive.
 
Any word on LOB's timeline for coming back? He does so much to improve our rotations and flexibility while being disruptive.
After the game Tad said anywhere from tomorrow to two weeks, but that he was no longer limping. He warmed up last night but couldn't go. I'd say he's close, but expecting him to come back and be close to 100% tomorrow seems like a bad bet.
 
This seemingly routine play is one of the reasons Cody is an NBA lottery pick. It's a transition layup midway through the second half. Cody makes it look easy but ASU was well positioned with a defender in front of the play and a trailing shot blocker.

The first ASU defender Miller gambles with a reach in. Miller made other gambles throughout the game, he is not a disciplined defender. But the reach requires Cody to cross-over which slows him down and brings Neal, a rangy 6' 6" wing, into the play for the classic chase down block.

It's what Cody does next that is special. Like a Judoka Cody slows down and uses Neal's momentum against him, absorbing the contact. Then using his long wingspan he fully extends with his off-hand to avoid the shot block and smoothly finish at the rim. Most players do not have the length and athleticism to make this move. A lot of college players who have the physical gifts to make this play mistime it by rushing or trying to get to their dominant hand.
 
This seemingly routine play is one of the reasons Cody is an NBA lottery pick. It's a transition layup midway through the second half. Cody makes it look easy but ASU was well positioned with a defender in front of the play and a trailing shot blocker.

The first ASU defender Miller gambles with a reach in. Miller made other gambles throughout the game, he is not a disciplined defender. But the reach requires Cody to cross-over which slows him down and brings Neal, a rangy 6' 6" wing, into the play for the classic chase down block.

It's what Cody does next that is special. Like a Judoka Cody slows down and uses Neal's momentum against him, absorbing the contact. Then using his long wingspan he fully extends with his off-hand to avoid the shot block and smoothly finish at the rim. Most players do not have the length and athleticism to make this move. A lot of college players who have the physical gifts to make this play mistime it by rushing or trying to get to their dominant hand.
thank you for breaking that down -- that's exactly the sort of thing in which my non-technical basketball mind is interested in gaining insight
 
Looking at Kenpom just now to see just how awesome KJ is being. Long story short, he's awesome.
1707511813308.png

But he's only 2d on the team in ORTG. #1? J'Vonne ****in Hadley! 45th highest in the nation at 129.2 That's also good for highest in the P12. Yes, low usage rate, but bro has been ****ing nasty when he gets his shots.

3d on the team? Cody with a pretty fantastic 120.

KJ could also be said to be "struggling" in conference play as his rating for conference play is 110. He's not been nearly as efficient going to the rim.
 
Looking at Kenpom just now to see just how awesome KJ is being. Long story short, he's awesome.
View attachment 69735

But he's only 2d on the team in ORTG. #1? J'Vonne ****in Hadley! 45th highest in the nation at 129.2 That's also good for highest in the P12. Yes, low usage rate, but bro has been ****ing nasty when he gets his shots.

3d on the team? Cody with a pretty fantastic 120.

KJ could also be said to be "struggling" in conference play as his rating for conference play is 110. He's not been nearly as efficient going to the rim.
J'Vonne has had some really awesome games when we've needed him. Guards can't guard him, when opponents put a big on him it, in theory, opens things up for TDS. That hasn't always held true in practice, but in theory it's a great approach.
 
I'd be scared to see where our record would be if Hadley hadn't really upped his game this year.
This is always the weird space of critiquing rosters, especially in college.

Every team, ever, could have been better than expected if every one of their players made solid gains year over year.

Conversely, every team, ever, could have been worse than expected if every one of their players backslid, or didn't improve.

You take the good with the bad.

It's just as easy to say, if TDS, LOB, and Julian took the same solid steps forward that KJ and J'vonne did, this might already be a 20 win team.

Is the glass always half full or half empty?
 
This is always the weird space of critiquing rosters, especially in college.

Every team, ever, could have been better than expected if every one of their players made solid gains year over year.

Conversely, every team, ever, could have been worse than expected if every one of their players backslid, or didn't improve.

You take the good with the bad.

It's just as easy to say, if TDS, LOB, and Julian took the same solid steps forward that KJ and J'vonne did, this might already be a 20 win team.

Is the glass always half full or half empty?
It's the same mindset that says a lot of our recruiting wins were lucky, but all our recruiting misses were completely avoidable.

Or that thinks there is some sort of weird circumstance where the other team doesn't have coaches that make adjustments, only our team makes adjustments or fails to make the appropriate adjustment.
 
It's the same mindset that says a lot of our recruiting wins were lucky, but all our recruiting misses were completely avoidable.

Or that thinks there is some sort of weird circumstance where the other team doesn't have coaches that make adjustments, only our team makes adjustments or fails to make the appropriate adjustment.
Maybe Tad should use more timeouts in recruiting.
 
OT: uniforms. csu with a new look. I like the idea.

What the **** is wrong with you. This is a cu game thread.

This game is going to suck for me even beyond the crushing loss. Kids got me up at 230
 
OT: uniforms. csu with a new look. I like the idea.


dude abides GIF
 
Not sure about the choice of this game for a white out, given that's one of UA's colors
I made the same comment when I saw the announcement at the ASU game. Black would have been much better. Although I know the team will be in white
 
Beating Arizona won't be easy, but the Buffs have as good of a setup as they could ask for. The Buffs are mostly healthy and playing at home, with the opponent on the second game of a road trip and coming off of a 3OT game two nights ago. If this team is going to get a signature win, this is the opportunity.

I will be in the building tonight. I am also moving out of state in April, so this may be my last time on campus for the foreseeable future. Hope it's one to remember.
 
J'Vonne has had some really awesome games when we've needed him. Guards can't guard him, when opponents put a big on him it, in theory, opens things up for TDS. That hasn't always held true in practice, but in theory it's a great approach.
It took Hadley a season to completely change his game from what is was in Juco. I give him a ton of credit for taking that on and completing the transformation with great results. I know their had been speculation, but can he return next year? On his post game he mentioned his girlfriend first in giving him support and confidence this season. Can we hope she's an undergrad? 🤞
 
What? we are 1.5 faves!? I realize no Cody or TDS in Az but...what matchups do we win other than KJ. Hope for no foul problems and 40minutes of intense D and rebounding. Who guards Larsson, Love?
 
OT: uniforms. csu with a new look. I like the idea.

They looked terrible. Like a 4th graders designed them and only goth shades of every color to work with.
 
What? we are 1.5 faves!? I realize no Cody or TDS in Az but...what matchups do we win other than KJ. Hope for no foul problems and 40minutes of intense D and rebounding. Who guards Larsson, Love?
Random idea: Hadley -> Larsson, Williams -> Love.
 
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