B10 Opener
- Thread starter catfans5
- Start date
Important to get off to a good start and get a win. The team did a terrific job in going 11-2 with a short handed roster. When will Pardon be reevaluated?
Like most of us, he is day to day until he takes the floor. Nothing will come out of NU. I'm really not to sure how to take the latest 'inside info' around here. No one has proven as reliable as Haywood.
Jon Rothstein, national college basketball reporter for fanragsports is reporting that Pardon is doubtful for today's game. Glad to see a thread about a relevant basketball topic as opposed to predicting the minutes for next year's squad. It is a joke that some posters have not figured out the conference basketball season will start this afternoon.
Anyone have a guess who will try to stop Shep Garner? Lindsey, Law or Lumpkin.
Anyone have a guess who will try to stop Shep Garner? Lindsey, Law or Lumpkin.
I get what you are saying but he hasn't been in a real cast for weeks. On the sidelines he was wearing a velcro fastened brace. It looked pretty substantial but it looked like he could take it off too.
It is hard to know how much rehab and flexibility work he has been doing all along because we have no idea of the true nature of the injury.
Some brief thoughts from a small amount of surveying of their team... they are 96 in KenPom, but 166 in offensive efficiency and 70 in defense. However they play at a very fast tempo, #31 in the nation so just barely behind Iowa for what I believe is fastest in the B1G.
Shep Garner a 6'2" Jr G is their leading scorer at 14.6 ppg, but they also have 5 guys (their starters) averaging in double figures so it looks pretty well distributed. They don't appear to be very big - the roster has one guy at 7'0" (Satchel Pierce) but he's a Jr who hasn't touched the floor. Their starting C is 6'9" 246, Mike Watkins a RS Fr who is averaging 10.5 and 8.4 boards, so Skelly and Benson will match up with him I presume. The other starters are - 6'3" Fr G Tony Carr who averages 11 ppg, looks like he is ostensibly the PG but Garner handles the ball a lot too; then SF Jr 6'6" Peyton Banks, who from his stat line plays mostly outside; and PF 6'7" Fr Lamar Stevens, who plays mostly inside. Both F's avg 12 ppg, but Banks gets most of his from 3 while Stevens hasn't hit a 3 yet this year, and also avg's 5.7 rebs pg.
As a team, they only are shooting 42% from the floor which is pretty bad, but they do shoot 35% from 3 which is respectable (NU is 46% and 37%). Of the team's 98 3's, 74 of them come from Banks and Shep Garner (37 each), and a further 15 are from the PG Tony Carr. They have a couple of Gs that come off the bench - Josh Reaves and Terrence Samuel who will eat some minutes but don't look terribly frightening. And then the only big who gets meaningful minutes off the bench is Julian Moore, who hasn't done much.
So they have a few guys who can shoot the 3, but aren't great on offense overall. They don't have too much inside, I imagine Lumpkin will get matched up against Lamar Stevens their F. Their bench doesn't look great, and from their assist #s I don't think they pass particularly well. But it does look like their team D is pretty decent, and they are at least fairly athletic. May be a bit of a defensive struggle.
Let's get off to a good start in B1G play. Go Cats!
NU is a 2 pt. Fav on the road in B10. NU just can't lose this game. It's not a 'must' win, but ....
Small spread of less than 3 points, and we are 4-14-1 ATS in our last 19 games vs PSU. Game should be a good measure of how far the Cats have come under Collins.
Our defense and rebounding will be the key. Hold PSU under 70 points and I think we get the road W to open the season.
GOUNUII
This looks like an intriguing matchup. I like our chances inside as long as Benson is ready. I am a bit concerned about our ability to guard their perimeter but Law and Lindsey give us athleticism and length out there assuming Sanjay takes the #4. If we can get into their bench with our bench, Skelly and Tap could have big offensive days, it would seem. Barring some sort of bizarre Chicago State-esque shooting performance, I think we can keep PSU down in scoring.
It will be the first football game I attend since college, so I am excited; also excited for the PSU game, though..
Good report, but one point of clarification; Satchel will most definitely not see the floor today, since he is a transfer (from Va. Tech) and must sit out a year.
Haha okay yeah that explains why he hasn't played a minute yet thanks. I assumed he was just a stiff or something.
Open to any more info from people that have actually seen them play too... I just glanced through the roster and stats, I've seen like 5 minutes of them randomly on BTN so far.
Will be attending in person today and we are driving the rest of the way to NYC post game so pretty pumped.
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