Probably a regular season, and not a playoff one. Because you have to manage the enormous load of 82 games.
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Buie
- Thread starter clarificationcat
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Well, NBA players just take a game off if they're tired. No one play 82 games anymore.
There are many differences in Coach Chris Collins. You detailed some of them nicely.
This has all happened since
1) the extreme disappointment of the final Nance season.
2) the public calling out by Gragg, which sucked on several levels.
3) the arrival of Chris Lowery as an assistant coach
4) the designation of Bryant McIntosh as an assistant coach
5) the designation of Brian James as "Assistant to the regional manager" (thats for fans of "The Office")
6) the return of Talor Battle for a 2nd season with his half-brother Boo Buie.
I see a coach who has calmed down, yells (a lot) less at his players during games, blames his players (a lot) less after things don't go well (no more "make shots" excuses), is the center of the huddle during timeouts, is less enthralled with NBA style offenses, substitutes less randomly and more strategically, plays his better players more, has abandoned the "I have 10 starters" mindset, doesn't mind winning ugly, has incorporated data analytics into his thinking to some degree, is more results-oriented and is much more comfortable and confident than he was 2 years ago.
Team chemistry appears to have improved dramatically - a credit to the players and the coaches. The instructive all-out participation of both Battle and McIntosh in practice scrimmages has paid dividends as well. The defense improved schematically and individually. Practices appear to be pretty demanding, with Preston and Martinelli recently sporting black eyes. Collins deserves at least some credit for all of that. As do his assistants. Collins himself has credited his scout teams and assistants for their work, which reflects his improved self-confidence.
Lastly, Collins has recognized the transfer portal as an advantage, leveraging the NU graduate diploma to pick up key rotational pieces. (NU policy prohibits him from bringing in any undergrad transfer who has completed more than half of his credits toward graduation)
Its just what I see, you may see something different.
The biggest difference I see between now and then is when NU has a lead or is in a game, I have confidence that they can close. Yes, a lot of that is because Boo is a special player, but in the past it seemed like an entire-team brainfart (breaking the press, taking bad/quick shots with a lead, bad coaching, etc.).
Now if NU is up eight with five minutes to go I feel like they will still play good basketball. And if it's tied with 20 seconds to go, I know Boo will make something good happen. It won't be pass the ball around until our fourth-best shooter has to hoist up a 25-footer at the buzzer or our point guard slipping with eight seconds left because he's in too much of a hurry to play hero ball. Some of that is Boo's maturity, but a lot of that is Collins' maturity.
Now if NU is up eight with five minutes to go I feel like they will still play good basketball. And if it's tied with 20 seconds to go, I know Boo will make something good happen. It won't be pass the ball around until our fourth-best shooter has to hoist up a 25-footer at the buzzer or our point guard slipping with eight seconds left because he's in too much of a hurry to play hero ball. Some of that is Boo's maturity, but a lot of that is Collins' maturity.
I agree with this. One of the things that stood out to me the most in the Purdue game was how calm all the guys seemed to be. Yes, Boo was pumped after hitting the big shot at the end of regulation, but the last 10 minutes of back-and-forth basketball and seemingly high stress, and we didn't seem rattled at all.
Good post. Collins 2023 is a better coach than Collins 2017. And that’s 100% to his credit.
NU is unique in that long-term failure is…a little acceptable. To go from “only coach with consecutive seasons with ten game losing streaks, and it was actually three in a row” (right?) to NCAA tournament qualifier the following season speaks to his growth.
Not to get too far ahead, but this team is in position to be competitive next year, even after losing an all-time great. That’s pretty good.
Collins gave Preston and mart black eyes?
Maybe he can bring Gagg out behind the woodshed next
A few minor squabbles
2.) I am not a fan of zone defenses. I do think Collins used it to hide not very mobile post defenders as we saw primarily man defenses when Pardon and Nicholson have been on the floor. I believe that Collins has always preferred to play man-to-man defense, and we witnessed a lot of that strategy during both tournament seasons, he just realized his roster limitations and didn’t take the growing pains of less experienced players in man-man defense.
3. Barnhizer suffered a broken foot during the offseason before his freshman year, and he was gradually recovering his form throughout the season. On the other hand, Roper, as a freshman, seemed readt to compete in the B1G conference right away. Nicholson did not possess the same level of skills as Hunger when he came out. Although Nicholson had a tall and athletic physique, he lacked the current size and struggled with touch around the rim. Additionally, his hands and positioning were not up to par. However, Nicholson's development as a player during his time here has been remarkable. Matt went from being out of position and prone to fouling to becoming one of the better post defenders in the B1G. Hunger, on the other hand, demonstrates better touch and natural offensive abilities. He showcased these skills against Detroit, taking advantage of his size and technical advantage. If he develops as well as Nicholson did, Hunger has the potential to become a pretty good B1G center. Nonetheless, he still needs to improve his defense a lot , and there are moments where he seems to force things offensively instead of letting the game come to him within the team's strategies.
Hunger is a redshirt freshman who suffered an injury in his first year. Considering the circumstances, he is surpassing expectations this year by receiving significant playing time. It's important to acknowledge the presence of two experienced centers ahead of him, who possess fully developed Division 1 bodies. Hunger still has a couple of offseasons to catch up in terms of adding mass and improving defensively. With proper development, he has the potential to become a strong asset for the Cats.
As far as Clayton goes, Collins hasn’t shied away from playing freshman PGs. Buie and McIntosh are two examples.
I’d like to see Collins go to the bench a minute or two earlier during blowouts honestly.
Lots of excellent posts on this thread. Collins is a passionate fighter (early on, maybe almost too much so) and someone who brought a lot to the table initially but can also learn and adapt. Both have served him well as he matures into the role. Given the academic restrictions, I think he’s doing more than a great job. If we can navigate NIL as a university, I still think we will one day see CCC engraved in WRA as Chris Collins Court.
You're on the money, CCat. Yes, Collins has changed some. But the idea that his in-game strategy has gone through some complete metamorphisis after his first seven or eight years probably has more to do with our perceptions than actual strategy.
The defensive intensity is obviously a different beast. But there's also better execution ... especially from Buie last year. I feel like this year's group also is more complete.
For me, this whole thing begins with the departures of Kopp, then Nance. Thankfully, Collins was forced away from his reliance on those two. He put the same faith in them that he did with Buie, and it rarely worked out well. He was gambling and losing in so many aspect of the game with his highly-rated recruits. Like early Buie, they were given many more opportunities than they deserved. Thankfully, Buie's game continued to improve.
And anybody who believes Collins barks less at his players wasn't in the building on Sunday. There were a few times he was all over a couple players in the second half. And I'm not sure that lead was ever less than 10. The psychotic timeout stare down at Nicholson or Preston (i forget which) was especially Chrissy.
He was a bit nutty for someone with a 15-20 point lead. Hopefully it's a good sign of higher expectations.
To me, this team had an expectation of making the tournament again. so seeing Clayton play is surprising.
I don't remember that expectation when Boo and McIntosh came onboard.
I don't remember that expectation when Boo and McIntosh came onboard.
I think this thread has been great - positive and insightful. Only two comments to add. Stone cold killers at crunch time are born, rarely developed. Buie is one, Barnhizer is another. There may be others. Some development sure, but you either have it or you don't. The second comment is that the fortune of staying relatively injury free comes and goes. Knock on wood.
Makes sense. I’ve said it before, but the presence of Kopp and Nance hindered Boo’s development. Nance didn’t possess that clutch gene and the rest of the ream could sense that. Kopp was a whiner that had a much higher opinion of his value than he should have. His constant sulking still gets under my skin. CCC is to blame for this as the effectiveness of these two in crunch time was clearly inadequate. CCC fell in love with the recruiting ranking. Watch how Boo completely controls the flow of the offense. He knows exactly where everyone should be and if they are not, he lets them know.
I didn't watch much of the Detroit game, but Hunger made a move with some nifty footwork that had me jumping off the couch. I think he's going to be a good one.
One discussion we haven't had is the role fouls have played in rotations. I seem to remember in past seasons the top players being in foul trouble throughout games. I looked up past seasons and my memory was somewhat rewarded. It's really tough to manage rotations when there's so much foul trouble.
Kopp probably got the minutes he did in part because his fouls per 40 were very low. Meanwhile, after the 2019-20 season, Young was a foul machine. Beran's minutes went up last year because he wasn't committing 4-5 fouls per 40 minutes. Audige's minutes increased last year for the same reason.
Very generally, last year's team just didn't experience the same level of foul trouble they had in the past. There are several potential reasons; I feel like the team last year was much more locked in to improved defensive footwork on the perimeter, for example.
Kopp would need a broom in his hand to get in foul trouble.
Not disagreeing with you on his defensive prowess, but his fouls per 40 at Indiana increased to 2.6-2.8 from 1.7-1.8 at NU. Just speculating that with other rotation players in foul trouble, he backed off a bit.
In the 2020-21 season, Kopp played all those minutes because Collins thought the team was better with Kopp playing. Yes, staying out of foul trouble allows you to remain in the game, but the coach also has to want you in the game.
Essentially, Collins viewed his roster as two centers (Nance, Young), one stretch 4 (Beran), one small forward (Kopp) and 4 guards (Buie, Audige, Berry, Greer) with Anthony Gaines being used in various ways.
When Kopp was not on the court for NU that season, we got outscored 291 - 213.
I was in the building on Sunday and would respectfully disagree. I won't say that he doesn't yell at the players at all anymore, but I think it is certainly less than in previous years.
Also, I liked the continued intensity on his part in spite of the big lead. I surmise that this is partly just who he is - not being satisfied even during a blowout (which is a trait common to most successful coaches, IMHO) - but also a calculated move on his part, to make sure the players stayed focused during the game. How many times have we seen a team (any team, not just us) take its foot off the gas and then regret it later? I would much rather have a coach that maintains a certain degree of intensity.
I'm not sure I follow your logic here. What does having tournament expectations have to do with getting Clayton playing time? Having tournament expectations and getting Clayton valuable experience (as well as allowing our star PG to rest) are not mutually exclusive, in my opinion.
I suspect since we stunk, we got outscored when a lot of players were not on the court.
Ha! Yes that is true. Every player on that team got outscored when he was on the court. Every player also watched his teammates get outscored while he was sitting on the bench.
But of all 9 guys in the rotation that year, when Kopp was on the court we played our best as a team.
When Kopp was on the bench, we played our worst.
This was primarily due to situations where Nance was the 5, Beran was the 4 and Kopp was on the bench, meaning we were undersized. We got walloped 126 - 75 in that situation, which only covered 55 minutes of game time.
NU had 6 returning starters and 3 incoming transfers.
Figured NU would go with the upper classmen trying to make the tournament. But he is trying trying to develop Clayton as well.
Without Battle here Boo may have transferred out last season or this for NCAA tourney glory and more cash.
We will see what type of leader Boo is now. Easy to lead when you are winning and no expectations.
I think he will rally the troops, but we will see.
I think he will rally the troops, but we will see.
It's easy to say this in hindsight but this thread was one of the first things I thought of after tonight's Chicago State trainwreck. It's pretty obvious all of us got out ahead of ourselves. I can't blame the team for doing it also. It's too bad.
We'll see what they do with it, but this has been a pretty resilient group.
LOTS AND LOTS of lessons to be taken from this one.
We'll see what they do with it, but this has been a pretty resilient group.
LOTS AND LOTS of lessons to be taken from this one.
Figured to see you after last night. Thanks for not disappointing.
Obviously I'm guessing / trying to read the tea leaves, but it seems to me that Battle has had a strong influence on Boo's game and his attitude. Before Battle showed up, Boo would visibly clash with Coach Collins and even turn and walk away when Collins was talking to him. That stuff doesn't happen any more and now he (Buie) talks about how strong his relationship is with CCC.
Battle was a great player at Penn State who could get into the paint, was very crafty and made big time shots. Boo's game morphed from being (primarily) an undisciplined jump shooter in the early days to a much more versatile scorer and floor general.
Battle was in a unique position to explain to Boo "Your coach really likes you - he is trying to help you improve - you should listen and stop pushing back so hard."
Or maybe Boo just matured.
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