*** Official Florida A&M vs IOWA STATE Game(Day) Thread ***

[bosco]

Anyone who knows basketball, can just watch where Billew is looking and positioning when on D and know that he is a little lost most of the time. He is also not asserting himself on O, when he could cut to the basket he is either not doing it OR is a second of so late in doing it. He doesn't position against his man well on either end. I'm rooting for him, I just think the time before the season that he wasn't with the guys has set him behind. We'll see if that is true soon enough.

Yes it's obvious he is thinking more then reacting out there which I feel he would get more comfortable with more PLAYING TIME and for the life of me I don't understand why he would get only 5 mins in a game we are beating the other team by 20+ for most of the game.

 

[NENick]

Thought we played pretty bad overall and still won by 38, which is good I guess.

I'm sure TJ and staff know what they're doing here but in future seasons I guess I'd rather see us play some more competitive teams even if it means the non-con record is a little worse.

I thought, overall, they played ok. Plenty of energy, very balanced scoring, shot well from the field. Not Gilbert's best game, with the couple minutes of one-on-one at the end of the 1st half and missing FTs. I suspect TJ talked to him, then it looked like he rolled an ankle. Hopefully nothing serious.

I think we're all ready for competitive games. It's coming.

 

[madguy30]

Yes it's obvious he is thinking more then reacting out there which I feel he would get more comfortable with more PLAYING TIME and for the life of me I don't understand why he would get only 5 mins in a game we are beating the other team by 20+ for most of the game.

How do you know that would work?

He's gotten in earlier in other games. Did it work?

 

[bawbie]

Yes it's obvious he is thinking more then reacting out there which I feel he would get more comfortable with more PLAYING TIME and for the life of me I don't understand why he would get only 5 mins in a game we are beating the other team by 20+ for most of the game.

I think there's a couple reasons why - in one of the earlier scrub games someone reported that Omaha and Rock were put through a rigorous practice before the game. I think that's likely occurred more often, where they feel the practice time is more valuable than gametime up 30.

TJ is clearly trying to get something out of these games for the starters that he finds it valuable to play 7 guys 25+ minutes. I'm not going to pretend to know more than TJ in that regard.

That said - if it were me, I'd play the end of the bench 10+ minutes in a game like this, but TJ knows what he's doing

 

[bawbie]

I like to think that this team will have good depth to 10 players once Ward comes back. That doesn't mean 8, 9, 10 will always get more than 5 minutes, say.

But on any given night, we have guys who have the ability to step up and give quality minutes if called upon.

In the 3rd season, there's some trends from TJ that I think we can rely on.

- He's never going to play more than 7-8 guys in big games - note that does NOT mean there isn't depth beyond that

- He had a tendency to "go small" when looking for mismatches. Early in the season they played with lineups that had Milan at the 2, Watson at the 3, etc. We haven't seen those at all recently, but now with the emergence of Pav, you see a lot of 4-guard lineups, which I expect to continue into conference play

 

[theshadow]

but in future seasons I guess I'd rather see us play some more competitive teams even if it means the non-con record is a little worse.

Well, there will be 2 more conference games going forward. I assume that qualifies as "more competitive."

*20 conference games
*3-game holiday tournament
*Big East battle (currently through '24-'25)
*Iowa
*6 non-con

 

[NENick]

I'm sure the 4-guard lineup will be used at times, but rebounding will be a concern. It seemed there were some offensive rebounds given up last night when that lineup was on the floor.

 

[madguy30]

I think there's a couple reasons why - in one of the earlier scrub games someone reported that Omaha and Rock were put through a rigorous practice before the game. I think that's likely occurred more often, where they feel the practice time is more valuable than gametime up 30.

TJ is clearly trying to get something out of these games for the starters that he finds it valuable to play 7 guys 25+ minutes. I'm not going to pretend to know more than TJ in that regard.

That said - if it were me, I'd play the end of the bench 10+ minutes in a game like this, but TJ knows what he's doing

If the players were used to this, which would be a vast majority of the games, how do things look late in a tight conference game?

I've yet to see or hear an example of any coach clearing their bench for 10-15 minutes in a blow out in the non conference.

 

[rosshm16]

Yeah even just one or two. The type that are good wins but not bad losses.

Same reason I'm disappointed we don't play @KU this year.

 

[Gunnerclone]

If the players were used to this, which would be a vast majority of the games, how do things look late in a tight conference game?

I've yet to see or hear an example of any coach clearing their bench for 10-15 minutes in a blow out in the non conference.

And we haven’t played in a while.

 

[bawbie]

One interesting bit - in the 4 games since Orlando, the team is shooting 49% (34/69) from 3-point range, including Curtis Jones going 9-14, Tamin 9-17 and Pav 5-9.

On the season we're up to almost 38%.

 

[MJ271]

One interesting bit - in the 4 games since Orlando, the team is shooting 49% (34/69) from 3-point range, including Curtis Jones going 9-14, Tamin 9-17 and Pav 5-9.

On the season we're up to almost 38%.

Hopefully that gives them some confidence that carries through the rest of the season. For the most part, I didn't feel like most of the looks they were getting from 3 in Orlando were that bad; they just couldn't make anything, which also made the rest of the offense way easier to guard.

 

[Cyclonepride]

In the 3rd season, there's some trends from TJ that I think we can rely on.

- He's never going to play more than 7-8 guys in big games - note that does NOT mean there isn't depth beyond that

- He had a tendency to "go small" when looking for mismatches. Early in the season they played with lineups that had Milan at the 2, Watson at the 3, etc. We haven't seen those at all recently, but now with the emergence of Pav, you see a lot of 4-guard lineups, which I expect to continue into conference play

Such a luxury to be able to go big or small or in between while maintaining a solid lineup in any instance.

 

[DrShip]

I'd love to see some kind of BIG/Big XII challenge in the future (that Iowa doesn't count towards, obviously). I know all the reasons for it, but it's just sad how ESPN pumps that SEC/ACC challenge more than they ever did the Big XII/SEC challenge. Would seem like a good counterpunch for Fox.

 

[CloneLawman]

Maybe earlier in the non conference, but as soon as students are gone, I'm 100% fine with them playing the scrubbiest srubs that ever scrubbed until conference play starts

Scrub a dub dub!!

 

[bosco]

I think there's a couple reasons why - in one of the earlier scrub games someone reported that Omaha and Rock were put through a rigorous practice before the game. I think that's likely occurred more often, where they feel the practice time is more valuable than gametime up 30.

TJ is clearly trying to get something out of these games for the starters that he finds it valuable to play 7 guys 25+ minutes. I'm not going to pretend to know more than TJ in that regard.

That said - if it were me, I'd play the end of the bench 10+ minutes in a game like this, but TJ knows what he's doing

Ok this is plausible. And I agree with you in regards to Watson and Omaha. What is better use of game time? Giving 25 + mins to Tre King for him to beat up on the 312 ranked team or give Watson/Omaha 10+ mins?

 

[madguy30]

Ok this is plausible. And I agree with you in regards to Watson and Omaha. What is better use of game time? Giving 25 + mins to Tre King for him to beat up on the 312 ranked team or give Watson/Omaha 10+ mins?

Tre King every time when it's one game a week and they play in Norman in 2.5 weeks.

Beyond stats there's likely all sorts of technique/habit-oriented factors at play that we as spectators can't comprehend that are essential to success over the next three months.

 

[Clonefan32]

I get the Omaha frustration. I think the metrics are awarding margin of victory, and some of these big wins are the reason our KenPom and Net keep going up. I also think you have a group still building chemistry, and that can be accomplished even in a blowout.

It's just so hard with Omaha. When he's out there he looks totally jittery and uncomfortable. It's an interesting juxtaposition when you see Milan out there, who is so under control and poised. It's just like Omaha is unclear where he's supposed to be on the floor, and where he should look for his offense. And maybe if you gave him more time in these blowouts it would click, but I don't think it's likely. I think the reality is he's a guy that's just going to get some run in games where we have foul trouble.

 

[chadly82]

Watson got 9 min tonight, Biliew 5. I'd like to think both will get around, or atleast that in conference games. We play better and stronger when our 8 and 9 players are getting these minutes.

It may not seem like much but it makes a difference in our guys rotating and staying fresh. I don't think there is a huge drop off in our 8-9 for those amount of minutes. The door is open for the 8-9 to get more minutes also with their play.

Don't forget Hasan will be back soon. That's a potential 10 man rotation. Good depth will help us in conference.

Fran is that you? lol

 

[riceville98]

Makes me wonder - I don't know inner workings of scheduling - do schools bid for bye games or does the host school extend invites? Or maybe both? Maybe in this case both programs schedule famu then it was determined it's more efficient for it to be on same trip. I have seen many times teams doing a "regional swing" so there's probably some collaboration among them.

The regional thing has happened before. The odd part is the back to back days--Not sure how that come about