Line ‘em up: Predictions and Game Thread NIT Round 2: UNLV vs Boston College
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Announcers kept saying we’re coming back home. Saturday or Sunday
TV said game would be in Vegas. Twitter sending mixed messages
Curtis Terry was on the radio yesterday and said that they anticipated staying on the east coast for the entire tournament, if they advance. We'll see.
Wait a second…
What about the lady Rebels?
Very intriguing
What about the lady Rebels?
Very intriguing
For personal reasons, I’m torn on us playing a team called BC.
Hopefully schedule it for before the Lady Rebels play, host a giant watch party after the game and have the tournament feed show the fans in the Mack... or move the whole game to the Cox
I have a feeling after this tourney, (and the last) NIL will be pivoted toward NOT helping the G5 teams... in some way. UCONN will probably win it all, but there's going to be a ton of upsets.
this is a new low for me - never been excited about the NIT before. I say we beat BC and get Kalib back for the quarterfiinals.
Hopefully the prices are reasonable. Will think about taking some people.
Look, there’s always gonna be fans that are miserable no matter what.
They didn’t handle business ant the end of conference and the team without the hurt players showed some heart.
They were up by 15..and held on.
I absolutely LOVE Whaley. I hope he doesn’t shop himself around and he stays. If only he was a few couple inches taller..
Cottrell..I know he has an injury and he isn’t the same
They didn’t handle business ant the end of conference and the team without the hurt players showed some heart.
They were up by 15..and held on.
I absolutely LOVE Whaley. I hope he doesn’t shop himself around and he stays. If only he was a few couple inches taller..
Cottrell..I know he has an injury and he isn’t the same
Why wait? He's basically had 2 weeks and was warming up tonight so he might be available
Does it matter ??? would we play better traveling back n forth and coming home to play in from of 2-3k or better on the road and staying back east -
It think it doesn't matter
I think we win either way
WE should be happy - poeple should celebrate more - tough crowd
It think it doesn't matter
I think we win either way
WE should be happy - poeple should celebrate more - tough crowd
Game is on Sunday, 6:30 at the Mack.
Game will be on ESPNU
Game will be on ESPNU
Just an opportunity to showcase Las Vegas... not exactly the fans/arena but the glamor of Las Vegas... personally the university should offer free tickets to anyone on campus that day and pack it full of students... but because it'll likely be in middle of Sunday full of Round of 32 games, the casual fans of the game won't necessarily attend as they'll be at one of watch parties around town
I have noticed that the are charging for parking, so most likely the NIT controls the price of tickets and parking fees.
God is forever - UNLV in the postseason is every 20 years or so. Go to the game - God is a Rebel fan and will be watching.
Tickets for my season tickets seats already show up on my account for the BC game.
We are going to struggle with Post. Kevin is going to have to play Karl quite a bit.
Kenpom rankings are slightly in our favor… I really dislike the rotation with Cottrell in play. Hoping to see less turnovers out of Hicks, or else he should be on his way out in the offseason.
Reflecting on the game:
The Good:
* For the most part very good rotational help on the wings. Our length and athleticism bothered their shooters
* Apart from a few JJ3 shifts, we did a very good job of keeping Xaivian Lee from getting a head of steam--that was good scouting/coaching and DTJ had a really nice defensive game"
* Outside Shooting - I think it's fool's gold, but to outshoot princeton from 3 by 15% is a huge win.
* Frontcourt of KeBoon and Whaley were really good and punished smaller players all night.
* In general, we played hard and physical which I think is a must against a team like Princeton.
* Nowell gave you really respectable minutes--is this him waking up or is this him with an outlier?
The Bad:
* Turnovers/Ball Security - We were sloppy with the ball way too much. Ball handling was especially bad as we'd try and penetrate off the dribble.
* The Webster/JJ3/Hicks/Cottrell/Whaley line up can't get buckets and can't defend well enough. It really looked like Kruger was using a pro substitution pattern, which I'm not against in the regular season but in the post-season where it's lose and go home I'd prefer not to leave 'Bad JJ3' out there or have Webbie run that much point.
* Both JJ3 and Hicks were pretty bad tonight
* Caden Pierce was far too tough a guard for everyone
The Ugly:
* Our response to the 1-3-1 was abysmal. In the first half we had Cottrell was the corner shooter who can't or won't shoot, and the second half our answer was sky passes back and forth in the high back court though I do love attacking it more with Whaley or Cottrell in the dunker's spot than the corner three.
* Our response to the Princeton press (mostly 2-2-1 or 2-1-1-1) was to inbound into the corner and pray or into the crashing middle man running a non-ball handler right into a potential triple team.
* Cottrell on offense doesn't give you anything. Doesn't rebound well for 6'11", can't and won't shoot, sets really poor screens.
All in all, this went much better than I thought given the missing pieces.
The Good:
* For the most part very good rotational help on the wings. Our length and athleticism bothered their shooters
* Apart from a few JJ3 shifts, we did a very good job of keeping Xaivian Lee from getting a head of steam--that was good scouting/coaching and DTJ had a really nice defensive game"
* Outside Shooting - I think it's fool's gold, but to outshoot princeton from 3 by 15% is a huge win.
* Frontcourt of KeBoon and Whaley were really good and punished smaller players all night.
* In general, we played hard and physical which I think is a must against a team like Princeton.
* Nowell gave you really respectable minutes--is this him waking up or is this him with an outlier?
The Bad:
* Turnovers/Ball Security - We were sloppy with the ball way too much. Ball handling was especially bad as we'd try and penetrate off the dribble.
* The Webster/JJ3/Hicks/Cottrell/Whaley line up can't get buckets and can't defend well enough. It really looked like Kruger was using a pro substitution pattern, which I'm not against in the regular season but in the post-season where it's lose and go home I'd prefer not to leave 'Bad JJ3' out there or have Webbie run that much point.
* Both JJ3 and Hicks were pretty bad tonight
* Caden Pierce was far too tough a guard for everyone
The Ugly:
* Our response to the 1-3-1 was abysmal. In the first half we had Cottrell was the corner shooter who can't or won't shoot, and the second half our answer was sky passes back and forth in the high back court though I do love attacking it more with Whaley or Cottrell in the dunker's spot than the corner three.
* Our response to the Princeton press (mostly 2-2-1 or 2-1-1-1) was to inbound into the corner and pray or into the crashing middle man running a non-ball handler right into a potential triple team.
* Cottrell on offense doesn't give you anything. Doesn't rebound well for 6'11", can't and won't shoot, sets really poor screens.
All in all, this went much better than I thought given the missing pieces.
I thought in the first half out of a timeout we got a really good look against the 1-3-1, not sure why that wasn’t consistent way to attack. So it might not have been the approach but execution. The passes on the outside were lazy and didn’t allow any attack off them.
The press break is coaching for sure. It has been a problem all year. Looked like we were trying to go to Thomas in the corner and then a quick pass back to the inbounder and then hit Thomas again, but Princeton figured this out and the trap came more from the baseline and cut the return and we did no adjustment.
I thought the threes were mostly in flow of the offense except for a few from Boone and we did a nice job on quick ball rotation to get them. The difference was Princeton was a step slower and a hair shorter than the league so these looks were more open and we hit them more. Just like we bothered Princeton more than they were used to, we were less bothered.
The press break is coaching for sure. It has been a problem all year. Looked like we were trying to go to Thomas in the corner and then a quick pass back to the inbounder and then hit Thomas again, but Princeton figured this out and the trap came more from the baseline and cut the return and we did no adjustment.
I thought the threes were mostly in flow of the offense except for a few from Boone and we did a nice job on quick ball rotation to get them. The difference was Princeton was a step slower and a hair shorter than the league so these looks were more open and we hit them more. Just like we bothered Princeton more than they were used to, we were less bothered.
The press break is coaching and it's weird CKK can't figure it out. Like passing the ball into the corner to catch a double team is THE LAST thing you want to do against a press. But we keep doing it.
I agree. I dont see why Cottrell is coming in at the 4 when he cant play it. He cant shoot the ball, its abysmal and the announcers even called it out last night that he was asking for the ball from guys like DTJ and Webster and they didnt pass it to him because hes terrible with it. Hes also out of position defensively way to much and that really keeps him from getting position to rebound. Dude got out rebounded by smaller guards in the post. Any time Keylan had to come out and Cottrell went in for him, the team suffered on both ends.
They aren't used to teams with our length. They had a few way too open looks, Keylan was terrible at picking up the trailer in transition. Otherwise they struggled to get good looks from three in their half court for the most part. Settled for a lot of deep shots behind a screener which aren't ideal.
Anyone else notice the pace was much quicker? Didn't hold the ball that much. We knew that we were bigger and stronger and didn't wait to attack. I do think we purposely slow it down for Kalib, hard for him to keep up with faster paces. Also went smaller most of the time.
Watching it live, I didn't like how we attacked the 1-3-1. That high pass over top felt like it was a turnover waiting to happen. But, we didn't turn over that much from the 1-3-1, and we were able to get a bunch of good looks, with several being practically uncontested at the basket.
Anyone else notice the pace was much quicker? Didn't hold the ball that much. We knew that we were bigger and stronger and didn't wait to attack. I do think we purposely slow it down for Kalib, hard for him to keep up with faster paces. Also went smaller most of the time.
Watching it live, I didn't like how we attacked the 1-3-1. That high pass over top felt like it was a turnover waiting to happen. But, we didn't turn over that much from the 1-3-1, and we were able to get a bunch of good looks, with several being practically uncontested at the basket.
Yeah, the pace was alot quicker, possibly due to the fact that it stopped them from settling into their press and the 1-3-1 as fast. Also probably because we ran 3 or 4 guards to counter their lineup and that means a lot of faster movement. I was all for them launching 3s, till they started hitting the wide open ones, but it seemed every time they got on a streak, we switched up the defending and countered with good shots.
I saw BC play St. John’s earlier this season in Brooklyn. Post is skilled; a good passer and shooter but, at least in that game, he didn’t seem like a real banger inside. I don’t know that Jones is a good matchup with him because a defender would have to get out on him and move their feet; not let him get uncontested shots or make uncontested passes. Either of the Boone’s would be better, I think, and if Kalib can’t play then it’ll be Cottrell who needs to step in and step up. He needs to get coached up over the next couple of days. I have some faith that this staff can get him ready for that role because I really liked how Nowell seemed prepared to contribute against Princeton. If Post is neutralized with matching size and agility on the perimeter and tries to shift inside, then Jones can come in and muscle him down there. The Rebels have the personnel to give him trouble if they are prepared and execute.
Cottrell isnt a post player. Thats the problem. Despite his size he doesnt play near the post at all. Its why his rebounding numbers are terrible as well, out of position and gets boxed out by guards. Watch him on offense, he flows to the corner or the top of the key and doesnt roll to the basket or get near the lane. I dont get it given his size.
Tore his Achilles freshman year. Averaged 16 min a game at west Virginia the next year, when it usually takes well over a year to get full speed after an Achilles repair.
Then breaks his foot the summer here, then we know the rest.
It is hard to say what a healthy Cottrell would be. We haven't really seen it. Neither has WVU really. Had 10 games that first year.
He has good size, good enough 3 pt shooting to be a pick and pop player. Hard to say if ever gets that healthy to be honest.
He is a case I can see turning into a decent role player here if he gets healthy(really healthier), or quit basketball altogether due to his issues. Foot fractures with big men can be career killers.
Then breaks his foot the summer here, then we know the rest.
It is hard to say what a healthy Cottrell would be. We haven't really seen it. Neither has WVU really. Had 10 games that first year.
He has good size, good enough 3 pt shooting to be a pick and pop player. Hard to say if ever gets that healthy to be honest.
He is a case I can see turning into a decent role player here if he gets healthy(really healthier), or quit basketball altogether due to his issues. Foot fractures with big men can be career killers.
Take the Rebel goggles off.
Cottrell is beyond terrible. If he doesn’t want to bang down low. He’s a waste of a scholarship.
Injuries can derail a career but he really needs to hit the gym to get back into what ever basketball form he had prior to 2 years of injuries if he wants to stay and contribute. I get you can be out of form and lose your shooting touch, but hes been healthy all year and its not come together, he just wants to chuck 3s and doesnt hit on them. He hasnt adjusted his game to that fact and while his % may look average for the amount of shots he takes, his size and ability should be playing closer to the basket. There's no reason why his FG% at 6-11 should be 38%.
He has not been healthy all year. He barely was cleared for fall practice, then re aggravated something about halfway through the season. Hard to say what % of healthy he actually got to. Its not like that info is broadcasted. They keep that stuff close to the vest.
He may never amount to much for us. That is almost probable at this point.
But the idea that he was a terrible recruit to begin with? That isn't exactly fair. Averaging 16 min at West Virginia when not fully 100% isn't bad. Hard to anticipate a second injury when it isn't directly related to his previous injury. It was maybe indirectly related, but those are again very hard to predict.
