Things That Need to Improve

[AdamOnFirst]

WLP got me thinking about all the hoops things that need to improve, and to me they kind of fall into two groups, one group I'm optimistic can easily be fixed, and the other I'm not so sure about.

Issues That Should Be Achievable to Improve
- Defensive cleanliness and chemistry. Lou quote Collins on this in his article. Even Brooks had a couple breakdowns likely due to rust. They have the athletes and the effort, seems like this should improve pretty naturally.
- Ty's shooting. We need deadeye Ty from last year in a big way. Getting 2023-24 Ty last night in the last 10 minutes on both ends of the floor was a massive difference maker. I don't know where his stroke went, but we need it back. I feel like we should be able to get it, he doesn't look hurt and he's been that guy.

Issues I'm Not Sure Where Improvement Comes From
- Who handles the ball, specifically to create for others? Books can do some handling and they probably have enough competent ball handlers that they aren't going to be overly vulnerable to the press, but I'm still not sure who consistently initiates the offense. Brooks mostly handles for himself, as does Nick. Leech is not bringing any bit of the ball handling we thought we were getting in his acquisition, which we really needed. Windham has the ability to do it and probably will in the future but unless he seriously develops over the season he doesn't feel reliable for more than token spells to be the key instigator yet. I'm just not seeing where it comes from. If Ty and Leech start really draining everything then maybe we have enough ball movement and spacing to not need more creation that we already have, but I'm not sure.
- Leech needs to be better. I'm... not seeing it with him so far, although he has proven he's a guy who is very happy and capable of stepping up to seek and take the big shots late. Of course, Langborg looked similarly questionable at times early last year, so maybe it's a learning curve. But it's not like we're even playing Big 10 teams yet. I'm not saying he's BAD, I'm just not sure we're getting as much out of acquiring him as we hoped for or probably need.

 

[Hungry Jack]

We can add to the list:
1. Game threads
2. Creativity behind complaints about Big Matt's offense
3. TheC blood pressure during games
4. Opposing team scouting reports

 

[Hungry Jack]

WLP got me thinking about all the hoops things that need to improve, and to me they kind of fall into two groups, one group I'm optimistic can easily be fixed, and the other I'm not so sure about.

Issues That Should Be Achievable to Improve
- Defensive cleanliness and chemistry. Lou quote Collins on this in his article. Even Brooks had a couple breakdowns likely due to rust. They have the athletes and the effort, seems like this should improve pretty naturally.
- Ty's shooting. We need deadeye Ty from last year in a big way. Getting 2023-24 Ty last night in the last 10 minutes on both ends of the floor was a massive difference maker. I don't know where his stroke went, but we need it back. I feel like we should be able to get it, he doesn't look hurt and he's been that guy.

Issues I'm Not Sure Where Improvement Comes From
- Who handles the ball, specifically to create for others? Books can do some handling and they probably have enough competent ball handlers that they aren't going to be overly vulnerable to the press, but I'm still not sure who consistently initiates the offense. Brooks mostly handles for himself, as does Nick. Leech is not bringing any bit of the ball handling we thought we were getting in his acquisition, which we really needed. Windham has the ability to do it and probably will in the future but unless he seriously develops over the season he doesn't feel reliable for more than token spells to be the key instigator yet. I'm just not seeing where it comes from. If Ty and Leech start really draining everything then maybe we have enough ball movement and spacing to not need more creation that we already have, but I'm not sure.
- Leech needs to be better. I'm... not seeing it with him so far, although he has proven he's a guy who is very happy and capable of stepping up to seek and take the big shots late. Of course, Langborg looked similarly questionable at times early last year, so maybe it's a learning curve. But it's not like we're even playing Big 10 teams yet. I'm not saying he's BAD, I'm just not sure we're getting as much out of acquiring him as we hoped for or probably need.

Agreed.

Leach does not strike me as a guy who is going to beat a lot of B1G guards off the dribble. He's no Boo (duh). But he has a very nice stroke that should be utilized in the offense.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

We can add to the list:
1. Game threads
2. Creativity behind complaints about Big Matt's offense
3. TheC blood pressure during games
4. Opposing team scouting reports

Don't sleep on game threads

 

[Southport Cat]

Agreed.

Leach does not strike me as a guy who is going to beat a lot of B1G guards off the dribble. He's no Boo (duh). But he has a very nice stroke that should be utilized in the offense.

Has felt to me through five games that he is taking a lot of contact but not getting much respect from the zebras. Exception to this was the EIU game where he dominated the second half. He is aggressive, he is initiating contact, he has a clean stroke from the outside and he makes his foul shots. I think I disagree with your take here, but I do agree what we see now and what we see in the BIG are two different things.

If the scale is Boo then sure he falls short. But I am quite happy with his ability and think we will easily get 80% of Boo’s production. Other guys (you mention Berry) have to bring it 40 mins a night now.

 

[Max_Power]

Has felt to me through five games that he is taking a lot of contact but not getting much respect from the zebras. Exception to this was the EIU game where he dominated the second half. He is aggressive, he is initiating contact, he has a clean stroke from the outside and he makes his foul shots. I think I disagree with your take here, but I do agree what we see now and what we see in the BIG are two different things.

If the scale is Boo then sure he falls short. But I am quite happy with his ability and think we will easily get 80% of Boo’s production. Other guys (you mention Berry) have to bring it 40 mins a night now.

Leach has been the second best player on the team. He had a bad night and in particular a bad first half. Both Nick and Jalen were tentative with Brooks being back. It was clear that they told them both to be more aggressive in the second half.

Jalen just had an off night. Hopefully he will be back to what I have seen to date on Friday.

 

[rwhitney014]

Thing is, Berry will improve if the trigger ballhandling improves. At his best, he's a catch-and-shoot guy, off screens for 3s or off in-bounds for the mid-range jumpers. The better the passing, screening and movement without the ball is, the more efficient he'll be.

Brooks will help with that; he hit Nicholson on the crucial lob late last night, and I thought Leach had missed some opportunities for similar easy points earlier in the game. But Leach has to step it up in that department too. We don't need him shooting 10+ FGA a game. We do need him hitting around 37-40% from 3, so that opponents can't sag defenders into the midrange to slow down Brooks and Nick there. We also need him to have a much, much improved A/TO.

Hopefully some of this comes with more game experience with the full roster now. Cohesion matters.

Food for thought:

2021-22 Buie (jr. year, we went 15-16)/2024-25 Leach (so far!)

PPG: 14.8/14.1
APG: 4.3/2.8
TO/G: 1.9/1.6
3-pt FG: 34.1%/33.3%
2-pt FG: 45%/48%
Usage rate: 26.7%/24.5%

Leach is doubling up Buie's FTA per game, though much of that is thanks to the 15-16 he went from the line against EIU. (That was clutch!). Otherwise, a lot of similarities here - the assists jump out as the biggest discrepancy. Buie found another level, and the program did too as a result. We'll see if Leach can as well, even if it's not quite where Boo set the bar.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Has felt to me through five games that he is taking a lot of contact but not getting much respect from the zebras. Exception to this was the EIU game where he dominated the second half. He is aggressive, he is initiating contact, he has a clean stroke from the outside and he makes his foul shots. I think I disagree with your take here, but I do agree what we see now and what we see in the BIG are two different things.

If the scale is Boo then sure he falls short. But I am quite happy with his ability and think we will easily get 80% of Boo’s production. Other guys (you mention Berry) have to bring it 40 mins a night now.

I don't see him being able to beat most B1G guards in isolation.

 

[clarificationcat]

Leach has been the second best player on the team. He had a bad night and in particular a bad first half. Both Nick and Jalen were tentative with Brooks being back. It was clear that they told them both to be more aggressive in the second half.

Jalen just had an off night. Hopefully he will be back to what I have seen to date on Friday.

He is not quick enough to get to the basket consistently. He generally gets beat to the spot by the defender, so he’s not going to create a lot of opportunities for others off the dribble. But he does have a nice pull-up jumper that compensates for his lack of quickness. And I think he will hit open 3’s and he is not scared of taking big shots. He is definitely more like Langborg than Boo. We just don’t have a point guard so he gets stuck initiating the offense a lot.

 

[clarificationcat]

Thing is, Berry will improve if the trigger ballhandling improves. At his best, he's a catch-and-shoot guy, off screens for 3s or off in-bounds for the mid-range jumpers. The better the passing, screening and movement without the ball is, the more efficient he'll be.

Brooks will help with that; he hit Nicholson on the crucial lob late last night, and I thought Leach had missed some opportunities for similar easy points earlier in the game. But Leach has to step it up in that department too. We don't need him shooting 10+ FGA a game. We do need him hitting around 37-40% from 3, so that opponents can't sag defenders into the midrange to slow down Brooks and Nick there. We also need him to have a much, much improved A/TO.

Hopefully some of this comes with more game experience with the full roster now. Cohesion matters.

Food for thought:

2021-22 Buie (jr. year, we went 15-16)/2024-25 Leach (so far!)

PPG: 14.8/14.1
APG: 4.3/2.8
TO/G: 1.9/1.6
3-pt FG: 34.1%/33.3%
2-pt FG: 45%/48%
Usage rate: 26.7%/24.5%

Leach is doubling up Buie's FTA per game, though much of that is thanks to the 15-16 he went from the line against EIU. (That was clutch!). Otherwise, a lot of similarities here - the assists jump out as the biggest discrepancy. Buie found another level, and the program did too as a result. We'll see if Leach can as well, even if it's not quite where Boo set the bar.

Berry had some wide open looks from the corners yesterday and missed all of them. Interestingly, he then made two much tougher shots. I think it’s mainly a confidence thing at this point. Needs to get comfortable with game speed and see some shots fall. I think he will have a good game on Friday.

 

[NUThump]

Berry had some wide open looks from the corners yesterday and missed all of them. Interestingly, he then made two much tougher shots. I think it’s mainly a confidence thing at this point. Needs to get comfortable with game speed and see some shots fall. I think he will have a good game on Friday.

CC usually tries to ride a hot hand, and after Berry hit those 2 I thought a bigger run was coming. I don't think he took another shot after those, though.

 

[SmellyCat]

Leach has been fine, but he seems like the type who could have off nights against bad teams and big nights against good teams. In other words, streaky.

I'm not worried about Berry at all, except for one thing, which I'll mention below. It's too early to compare percentages to past years, especially given last night was the first game with Barnhizer and Berry is coming off an injury of his own. He made big plays (including the biggest one) defensively. He's fine and will be fine. As long as we're not expecting 20 ppg, he will make open shots and help the team immensely.

My biggest thing to work on is difficult to articulate, but it's basically just a certain sloppiness on rebounds and passing that have led to turnovers. Berry seems to throw at least one easily intercepted pass every game that would not be a problem if he were just a little crisper and attentive passing. I hate those plays, because they often lead to transition buckets for the other team.

For rebounding, the Cats have been ok, but there have been way too many plays this year where they seem to have the position and a hand on the ball and are just not coming down with it. I can't really single out anyone, because they all seem guilty. I'm not saying rebounding is easy, but there's nothing worse than seeing your team nearly get a defensive rebound but losing it out of bounds or ending up in some three-point shooter's hands.

 

[rwhitney014]

Berry had some wide open looks from the corners yesterday and missed all of them. Interestingly, he then made two much tougher shots. I think it’s mainly a confidence thing at this point. Needs to get comfortable with game speed and see some shots fall. I think he will have a good game on Friday.

Sure, but in the end 2-5 is 40% and that’ll play. Of course we’d like every open shot to go down. He’s always been a rhythm guy. Second half yesterday appeared to be a good building block for him, I agree.

 

[EagerFan]

If Leach turns out to be a 90% ft shooter by the end of the season and can give us the kind of stats he had last night consistently, I'll count it a decent win for the portal.

 

[macarthur31]

Per Torvik, I pulled out the non-con game stats of our tourney teams, as those are the most apples to apples comparison (though the 25 team is only about "halfway through" their noncon.) The # of games that year in parentheses. In the final column, I added kenpom's noncon strength of schedule rating - that is the difference of adjusted efficiency between us and our non-con opponent of that year, just to get a sense of how comparable the non-con opponents were from year to year.

Cats Offense

Year	OffEff	eFG	TO%	OREB%	FTA/FGA	3FG%	2FG%	FT%	NCSoS
2017 (13)	111.2	51.9	15.9	33	32.3	37.1	49.6	75.4	-3.23
2023 (11)	96.2	45.8	17.5	32.3	28.9	31.1	45.1	74.9	-4.28
2024 (11)	106.3	53	14.9	29	26	34.7	53.6	71.8	-7.35
2025 (5)	109.2	52.4	16.9	36.3	35.3	33.3	53.5	69.9	-6.37

The 25 squad is offensively efficient - that means they'd score 109.2 points for every 100 possessions. (I didn't add tempo on here - we're currently 66.5 possessions, which is 346th in D1. You better be efficient if you don't burn through alot of possessions.). While they haven't protected the ball per usual standard, they attacking the glass at an impressive rate, as well as getting to the line. However, if they can get their FT accuracy to that First Dance squad, that could mean 2-3 possessions to the good. I wanna see that 3FG above 35% (the '24 'Cats were 42.4% from 3FG in B1G. That's friggin' elite.)


Cats Defense

Year	DefEff	eFG	TO%	OREB%	FTA/FGA	3FG%	2FG%	FT%
2017	91.5	43.4	19	30	35.6	31.9	41	66.5
2023	85.1	41.9	24.1	25.2	29.5	31.5	37.1	68
2024	97.4	48.2	21.9	27.1	31.4	33.8	46.5	72.7
2025	97.2	48.9	21.1	25.7	31.5	31.4	50	63.5

Defensively, we got a ways to go - opposition is too efficient right now. For me, if we're gonna go dancing, it's gotta emulate that '23 squad where Chase Audige did a season-long impersonation of the God Shiva on the defensive end, and we made opponents turn it over like crazy (Even in the B1G, we led with 20.1% TORate forced).

 

[clarificationcat]

Sure, but in the end 2-5 is 40% and that’ll play. Of course we’d like every open shot to go down. He’s always been a rhythm guy. Second half yesterday appeared to be a good building block for him, I agree.

I think most good shooters will make well over 40 percent of uncontested catch and shoot corner 3’s. It’s the best shot in basketball as Montana State showed last night. I bet Berry makes 8 out of 10 in practice. Hopefully, he will get his confidence back and we can keep getting him a few clean looks from the corners every game.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Per Torvik, I pulled out the non-con game stats of our tourney teams, as those are the most apples to apples comparison (though the 25 team is only about "halfway through" their noncon.) The # of games that year in parentheses. In the final column, I added kenpom's noncon strength of schedule rating - that is the difference of adjusted efficiency between us and our non-con opponent of that year, just to get a sense of how comparable the non-con opponents were from year to year.

Cats Offense

Year	OffEff	eFG	TO%	OREB%	FTA/FGA	3FG%	2FG%	FT%	NCSoS
2017 (13)	111.2	51.9	15.9	33	32.3	37.1	49.6	75.4	-3.23
2023 (11)	96.2	45.8	17.5	32.3	28.9	31.1	45.1	74.9	-4.28
2024 (11)	106.3	53	14.9	29	26	34.7	53.6	71.8	-7.35
2025 (5)	109.2	52.4	16.9	36.3	35.3	33.3	53.5	69.9	-6.37

The 25 squad is offensively efficient - that means they'd score 109.2 points for every 100 possessions. (I didn't add tempo on here - we're currently 66.5 possessions, which is 346th in D1. You better be efficient if you don't burn through alot of possessions.). While they haven't protected the ball per usual standard, they attacking the glass at an impressive rate, as well as getting to the line. However, if they can get their FT accuracy to that First Dance squad, that could mean 2-3 possessions to the good. I wanna see that 3FG above 35% (the '24 'Cats were 42.4% from 3FG in B1G. That's friggin' elite.)


Cats Defense

Year	DefEff	eFG	TO%	OREB%	FTA/FGA	3FG%	2FG%	FT%
2017	91.5	43.4	19	30	35.6	31.9	41	66.5
2023	85.1	41.9	24.1	25.2	29.5	31.5	37.1	68
2024	97.4	48.2	21.9	27.1	31.4	33.8	46.5	72.7
2025	97.2	48.9	21.1	25.7	31.5	31.4	50	63.5

Defensively, we got a ways to go - opposition is too efficient right now. For me, if we're gonna go dancing, it's gotta emulate that '23 squad where Chase Audige did a season-long impersonation of the God Shiva on the defensive end, and we made opponents turn it over like crazy (Even in the B1G, we led with 20.1% TORate forced).

We don't have a defensive Shiva on the roster. I think the close thing is Mullins, but he's a rotational player who won't get Chase minutes because of his offensive limitations. That could change, I guess.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

We don't have a defensive Shiva on the roster. I think the close thing is Mullins, but he's a rotational player who won't get Chase minutes because of his offensive limitations. That could change, I guess.

I thought Big Matt was God Shiva.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I thought Big Matt was God Shiva.

He’s Shiva the Destroyer (of free throws)

 

[Gatabowl]

Sure, but in the end 2-5 is 40% and that’ll play. Of course we’d like every open shot to go down. He’s always been a rhythm guy. Second half yesterday appeared to be a good building block for him, I agree.

Shooters shoot and the hope is he’s a lot closer to last year than the year prior (indeed 40% will play!). The thing that can’t slump is his defense. The strip at the end was excellent but he had some lazy lapses last night. You can’t be a 3 and D guy and not be great defensively. Max effort and focus.