WTKA Roundtable 10/17/2024: I Hope We Win

MGoBlog: The MGoPodcast

Things Discussed:

• Basketball talk with Seth: They're a fascinating portal team because they're not just the best players they could get; they're players who fit the kind of team May wants to coach.
• How much do we take preseason rankings seriously? Torvik and Kenpom have good numbers but the more transfers you have the dirtier their data. Projection is a larger component than it was in the past.
• Basketball talk with Brian: The one interesting spot is the four, because they want to play Wolf there, but not sure they can play against a small lineup.
• That's the thing about this roster: they can morph to play any kind of team. Rubin Jones gives them the flexibility; he can be a point in a huge lineup or he can play the four against guard lineups. Use Wolf against Iowa, use a small lineup against IU, etc.
• Basketball talk with Craig: Wolf and Goldin should work very well on the offensive end because Wolf has ball skills. Can Wolf guard a wing though? We'll have to see.
• Tschetter is more important than you think: he's slimmed down, is a skilled offensive player. Seth wants him to be the microwave off the bench, but if he can keep in front of wings a little bit more he's your other 3/4.
• Freshmen? Cason is going to be a starter next year probably so they're going to bring him in. Players might want to redshirt if they're D-I players who aren't NBA players (e.g. Brooks). Different math for Pippen, who could blow up this year or next, and is unlikely to stay in college if he becomes the player we think he'll be. Bigs should redshirt now.
• OSU-Oregon: Glad OSU lost because it fixed a rule hole and both OSU's schedule's a joke. Penn State's schedule's a bigger joke. Seth: they're flat track bullies.
• Football Talk: The coverage is in bad shape. Zeke Berry has me very worried.
• Could have been more about the Washington surface as guys were taking 3rd steps to gather themselves instead of moving like normal. Last time that field was tested for traction they were right on the border of acceptable, especially mattered when Giles Jackson is stopped and Berry is still in motion.
• Craig thinks Evan Link did better, Brian thinks the body of work says he's still the worst FBS right tackle so how much better can he get?
• Iowa-Washington: UW always comes away with 0 points in the redzone, but turnovers were the difference, and that came from Iowa knowing their defense versus Michigan giving away early open outs to Rogers. After watching Rogers vs Michigan I wasn't surprised a defense that knows who they are were able to exploit that.
• Guys coming along? Offensively no. Brian hasn't seen anything from the OL to think they can turn a corner, Orji stuff is tossed out the window, Tuttle's gonna get hurt. Brian is pretty checked out on football. Feels like modern college football has undermined how we invest in our teams, because once you lose a few games you're just looking at the portal instead of wondering who on your team you can develop.
• Defensively: Seth thinks Brandyn Hillman is going to be a really good player.