Re: Question for ISU fans
Royce is an extremely tough matchup because of his combination of strength/size and ball handling ability. I've yet to see one defender who could both defend him off the dribble and handle him in the post. He took over down the stretch against Kansas with Thomas Robinson and Jeff Withey doubling him so it's not a stretch to say that he'll be able to handle the size of Drummond and Oriakhi. Like everyone else has elaborated on, his passing ability is what makes him special. Just really tough matchup all around.
As for Babb, he just does a great job of making sure to make every shot a tough shot. He will get in your face and contest everything as close as he can without fouling. Lamb will no doubt get his points but they will not come easy and he will likely shoot a low percentage. Should be a great game all around though. Both teams pose significant challenges but I think the Cyclones are going to be really hungry to get this win and make a run.
Re: Question for ISU fans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
awmuconn 
Other than Babb shutting down Lamb how do you see ISU defending Napier and Drummond without fouling etc
Defending Napier is the main problem. I'd expect to see Chris Allen on his to start the game, but I don't feel like Allen has lived up to his defensive reputation coming from MSU. We have had all kinds of problems keeping quick guards (Pierre Jackson, Phil Pressey, Tyshon Taylor) out of the lane this year. If Lamb doesn't come to play and Napier is killing us, I actually wouldn't be surprised to see Babb move over on to the hot hand in the second half.
Why would you want to defend Drummond without fouling? He's shooting <30% from the FT line on the season, and frankly hasn't been there very often at all. That said, we do need to keep White out of foul trouble, so I wouldn't be surprised to see White on Oriakhi and Ejim on Drummond. Ejim is a better defensive rebounder and help defender than White also.
Re: Question for ISU fans
Lamb could go off, but he will have to work hard to get himself open. Babb is good at ball denial.
Re: Question for ISU fans
Here is a link to the leading scorers this year:
http://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball...individual/136
According to this Lamb averages 17.7 ppg, that's pretty impressive. With that said, I would set the over under for Lamb's scoring in this game at about 15...that is no disrespect to Lamb, but I just don't think they will expect anyone on ISU to be capable of defending him and that's when it will happen...
http://www.wizardrecipes.com/blog/wp...4/the_lamb.jpg
http://cdn.smosh.com/sites/default/f...cat-turkey.jpg
Soon.
Re: Question for ISU fans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bringmagicback how bout uconn fans just watch a replay of one of babbs games. I dont think they realize how he plays defense. He doesnt d up after the player has the ball. He face guards and doesnt even allow the player to get the ball in his hands. Thats how he shuts players down.
When you watch him you will see he has no idea whats going on in the game. He pays no attention to the play, just stares directly at the player hes guarding. Hes like a shadow.
He really is a special player in terms of how he plays d.
THIS. Watch the fella in the yellow shoes. He guards his man like a fat kid on cake. Like stink on sh**. Like Scooby loves scooby snacks. Like . . . :jimlad:
Seriously though, he's a great defender.
Re: Question for ISU fans
All I know is that Babb constantly holds the best of the Big 12 to shooting percentages and scoring averages way below normal. If you can convince me that Lamb is better than the best of the Big 12, then go ahead.
As far as White goes, I think he can be stopped, but it depends on what you view "stopped" as. He looks to pass first anyways, so scoring will only come if he can't get off a pass. With White, you just need to stop the drive and get him to shoot from 7 feet or beyond and you will stop the scoring. That can probably be done by a talented guy. But you will never stop his passing. He is an amazing passer.
Re: Question for ISU fans
A Lamb will not last long in the Land of Lions.
Re: Question for ISU fans
You, as a Uconn fan, shouldn't be really worried about stopping White. You need to be concerned about keeping him from getting into the lane and setting up shooters.
When UConn is on offense, you need to hope that whoever Christopherson is guarding has the ball and can get into the lane and that UConn can get Ejim/White into foul trouble. That is your recipe to winning.
To me, whether Lamb has 5 points or 20 points won't make the difference in the game, it's how UConn defends ISU's three point shooting and how ISU keeps UConn's quicker guards out of the lane.
Re: Question for ISU fans
After looking at both message boards I am surprised how confident both fan bases appear to be. The majority of both expect to win on Thursday by a decent margin. I think it'll be a great game most likely but either team could run away with it as well.
Re: Question for ISU fans
I think someone also needs to make the case that if UCONN goes up and gets lulled into false security ISU can pull right back in it with threes. I don't know much about UCONN other than they are streaky, they have off and on stretches. If they try to play lazy I think ISU will have their way. See KSU game for reference.
Re: Question for ISU fans
[QUOTE=isufan;2748246]You, as a Uconn fan, shouldn't be really worried about stopping White. You need to be concerned about keeping him from getting into the lane and setting up shooters.
When UConn is on offense, you need to hope that whoever Christopherson is guarding has the ball and can get into the lane and that UConn can get Ejim/White into foul trouble. That is your recipe to winning.
To me, whether Lamb has 5 points or 20 points won't make the difference in the game, it's how UConn defends ISU's three point shooting and how ISU keeps UConn's quicker guards out of the lane.[/QUOTE]
This is the key, Lamb is really good but based on the strengths of ISU he won't beat us, it will be the other guards we really need to keep in check.
Re: Question for ISU fans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CyFan61 After looking at both message boards I am surprised how confident both fan bases appear to be. The majority of both expect to win on Thursday by a decent margin. I think it'll be a great game most likely but either team could run away with it as well.
I'm not confident at all. It seems like UConn is a sleeper team that has so far underachieved based on their talent level. If they put it all together, we could be in for a long night.
Re: Question for ISU fans
Uconn fan here. Want to address a few things here:
1) I think the thought throughout the country (which started with Uconn fans) that Jeremy Lamb is disinterested isn't fair. I see him trying to get open, moving without the ball. His problem is a lack of aggressiveness once he has the ball in his hands. He tends to have trouble pulling the trigger when he's got a split second window to shoot the ball. So he tends to disappear a lot in the 2nd half of games (Syracuse in the BET, and West Virginia in the BET, although he did hit a big 3 in OT to help us win). I would not be surprised to see him struggle in this game. Teams have been very physical and aggressive with their defense, so he hasn't taken as many shots. He's tended to be efficient, however, so hopefully he can get his 15 or so points while shooting around 45-50%, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him with only around 10 or so.
2) Andre Drummond has the athleticism to keep up with any big man in the country. I'm not trying to be cocky here; he is likely the #2 pick in this year's NBA draft and as far as a true center goes, he's probably the fastest and most athletic 5 to enter the draft in the last decade. He definitely has the tools to keep up with Royce White...but he's still young and I could see him struggling. Sometimes he needs a fire lit under him. We were losing to WVU by 9 with about 5 minutes left. Jim Calhoun told Andre that if Kevin Jones, the guy Drummond was guarding and one of the best scoring threats in the nation, scored again, he would be taken out of the game. Drummond had done an OK job on Jones prior; he hit some really tough shots, but also got by Andre a few times. For the last 5 minutes of regulation and the entire OT, Drummond locked him down and Jones didn't score a point. I guess what I'm saying is that Andre can keep up with anybody, there's no question. Now, if it was that easy, we'd be a much better team this year, so who knows if he'll play that well Thursday. But this notion that Royce White is too much for the most hyped center prospect since Greg Oden is a little peculiar to read.
The key in this game, IMO, will be whether or not Uconn can guard the 3. We tend to overhelp in the lane, leaving three point shooters wide open. As you all probably know by now, our 3 point defense was 2nd last in the Big East this year. We have the ability to defend the 3 solidly, and have the last few games, but who knows which Uconn team shows up? If you guys are getting open looks and hitting your 3s, it's going to be a tough game.
Defensively, you all need to watch out for Ryan Boatright. He's our 3rd guard and backup PG who plays 20-30 minutes per game. He's about 5-10, but incredibly fast and athletic. He plays similarly to Allen Iverson; not to say he's as good as the Answer, but has a similar style of play. From what I've heard, you guys struggle to limit penetration. If that's the case, he is going to be our biggest weapon, as he usually does a great job getting into the lane and either pulling up, taking it to the rim, or drawing defenders and dishing off a pass to the big men for an easy layup or dunk.
Anyway, here's to a great game on Thursday. Good luck (but not too much!), and if you guys end up beating us, I'll be rooting like crazy for you to knock off Kentucky.
Re: Question for ISU fans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rico444 Uconn fan here. Want to address a few things here:
1) I think the thought throughout the country (which started with Uconn fans) that Jeremy Lamb is disinterested isn't fair. I see him trying to get open, moving without the ball. His problem is a lack of aggressiveness once he has the ball in his hands. He tends to have trouble pulling the trigger when he's got a split second window to shoot the ball. So he tends to disappear a lot in the 2nd half of games (Syracuse in the BET, and West Virginia in the BET, although he did hit a big 3 in OT to help us win). I would not be surprised to see him struggle in this game. Teams have been very physical and aggressive with their defense, so he hasn't taken as many shots. He's tended to be efficient, however, so hopefully he can get his 15 or so points while shooting around 45-50%, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him with only around 10 or so.
2) Andre Drummond has the athleticism to keep up with any big man in the country. I'm not trying to be cocky here; he is likely the #2 pick in this year's NBA draft and as far as a true center goes, he's probably the fastest and most athletic 5 to enter the draft in the last decade. He definitely has the tools to keep up with Royce White...but he's still young and I could see him struggling. Sometimes he needs a fire lit under him. We were losing to WVU by 9 with about 5 minutes left. Jim Calhoun told Andre that if Kevin Jones, the guy Drummond was guarding and one of the best scoring threats in the nation, scored again, he would be taken out of the game. Drummond had done an OK job on Jones prior; he hit some really tough shots, but also got by Andre a few times. For the last 5 minutes of regulation and the entire OT, Drummond locked him down and Jones didn't score a point. I guess what I'm saying is that Andre can keep up with anybody, there's no question. Now, if it was that easy, we'd be a much better team this year, so who knows if he'll play that well Thursday. But this notion that Royce White is too much for the most hyped center prospect since Greg Oden is a little peculiar to read.
The key in this game, IMO, will be whether or not Uconn can guard the 3. We tend to overhelp in the lane, leaving three point shooters wide open. As you all probably know by now, our 3 point defense was 2nd last in the Big East this year. We have the ability to defend the 3 solidly, and have the last few games, but who knows which Uconn team shows up? If you guys are getting open looks and hitting your 3s, it's going to be a tough game.
Defensively, you all need to watch out for Ryan Boatright. He's our 3rd guard and backup PG who plays 20-30 minutes per game. He's about 5-10, but incredibly fast and athletic. He plays similarly to Allen Iverson; not to say he's as good as the Answer, but has a similar style of play. From what I've heard, you guys struggle to limit penetration. If that's the case, he is going to be our biggest weapon, as he usually does a great job getting into the lane and either pulling up, taking it to the rim, or drawing defenders and dishing off a pass to the big men for an easy layup or dunk.
Anyway, here's to a great game on Thursday. Good luck (but not too much!), and if you guys end up beating us, I'll be rooting like crazy for you to knock off Kentucky.
While I agree with everything you just said... Still can't figure out why Vegas has us favorites, why our season was better, and why you guys struggled so much.
I watched you guys play at Lville and completely gave up. I watched you play several times this year when the team played with no emotion. While you guys def have a tangible advantage, it will be interesting to see how well you adapt to a system that you have never seen before.
Re: Question for ISU fans
Ok for all you UConn fans asking about Babb I quickly looked up some stats of people in the big 12 he has guarded this year.
Rodney McGruder from Kansas State is averaging 15.4 pts per game, Babb held him to 11 points in one game and 13 in the other both times he shot under 40 percent from the field.
Marcus Denmon from Missouri is averaging 17.6 points per game, Babb held him to 10 points in the first game against Missouri and Denmon only got off 7 shots.
J'Covan Brown from Texas has a 20.1 PPG average and was held to 12 points on 3-16 shooting at Texas, that's 18%.
He completely shut down Pierre Jackson of Baylor after he had dropped 30 on us in the first 30 minutes of the game. I would say the guy can defend.
