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Username Post: Where we are opening the Ivy        (Topic#19757)
Bruno 
PhD Student
Posts: 1414

Loc: Brooklyn, NY
Reg: 11-21-04
01-13-17 06:28 PM - Post#218192    

It was an enjoyable non-conference season, winning more than we lost, watching some of our freshmen grow, watching our best player become a bona fide star, and running an aggressive and high-scoring offense.

It was also a season that featured one of the weakest schedules in the nation, very poor defense inside the three-point line and in the paint, and some personnel disappointments.

This team scores, and their dominance at the FT line is a big reason why. They've exceeded 75 points in all but three games, and the biggest part of that is their nation-leading pace at getting to the line and their exceptional conversion rate there. The offense and personnel creates movement - lots of drives for Tavon, Obi, Speith, Anderson, Fuller. This is the quickest Brown team I can remember on offense and it's been fun to watch.

The other thing that's new and refreshing has been the way the defense has forced turnovers and converted to easy points, which they are doing very well. This team turns the other guys over. I've been barking about that for years and it is great to see the shift.

Fuller really has turned into a bona-fide Ivy big man. Howard, while undersized, has played a very cool and collected (and skilled) game down low. Anderson has shown he's maybe the quickest player in the league as a freshman, and a very nice all-around game. Speith is a star and does everything on the court. Tavon has found his stroke and continues to be the ball handling leader, and still penetrates and distributes well. JR has embraced and played his role absolutely perfectly, and is shooting it better than anyone around. Daugherty has shown what he has and just keeps getting better.

On the flip side, it's been a bit of a disappointing season for Obi. He's struggled shooting it - whether it's from 2, 3 or the line - and hasn't punished teams who have left him open or sent him to the line. Erebor is progressing but has been more raw than I expected, and Wilkinson came into camp not fully healthy. And I feel like we heard so much about Triplett coming into the season, and he just hasn't shown any of it - on offense or defense.

Net-net, it's a team with talent that knows how to score but not how to stop, particularly inside. That's not a huge surprise given that they weren't great last year and they lost the league's all-time leading shot-blocker.

I think the keys to the Ivy season, and whether this team can sneak into the top 4, will depend on the following.

1. Can they shore up the penetration when playing man? This year's Ivy is pretty good offensively. This year's Brown team is pretty athletic. Brown has had some good success mixing up the defense with the 1-3-1 but the man defense isn't stopping penetration. It's either the on-ball defense or the help, but one of them needs to get better for Brown to be able to get late game stops.

2. Will they continue to lose the offensive rebounding battle? Part of what contributes to giving up the easy FGs is O-rebounds they give up. With Fuller starting to play more, expect this to get a little better as he's Brown's best rebounder. But with a thin frontcourt and with Howard not grabbing a lot of rebounds, will the guards be able to pitch in to give more help to Speith and Fuller?

3. Will the march to the Line continue? Close to 30 pct of Brown's scoring comes from the line (according to Kenpom) - that's tops in the nation. Brown moves very well and has a bunch of savvy foul-drawers, taking advantage of the closer officiating. Will the Ivy officiating allow them to keep up this pace?

4. Will they outshoot them from 3? In 13 of Brown's 16 games, the team who shot better from 3 won the game. Brown can shoot the three, but can also give it up, and has won only one game where they shot worse from 3 than their opponent did. The three is huge for this team.

Big questions for Brown. My guess is that they start the Ivy season positioning for the 6th spot in the league, and will have to improve to get into that top 4. But the cliff between the first 4 and the second 4 is wide this year, so it's a lot to overcome. We'll start to find out tonight against what is likely the best team in the league on the road.
LET'S go BRU-no (duh. nuh. nuh-nuh-nuh)


 
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