After watching the Big Sky digital media days interviews with Seton and Bill here are some thoughts about the upcoming ISU basketball season:
--there is a lot of enthusiasm in both the men's and women's camps. Bill Evans says he'll have plenty of shooters and he doesn't stay up late at night trying to figure out how the Bengals will score. He said Gary Chivichian is the best shooter he's ever coached. He said new JC forward Robert Jones is probably the best athlete on the team. And he said 7-footer Novak Topalovic has added about 20 pounds in the weight room the last two years. He praised backup PG Brandon Boyd, who is coming off a broken wrist, and of course he talked about the leadership of ET.
--Bill says he does stay awake worrying about his defense, particularly in the post. He said injury has kept Kyle Ingram from practicing much, and in general the Bengals are going to have to play better defense if they are going to be a contender for the conference championship. The KenPom numbers bear that out -- last year ISU was 263rd out of 351 teams in the nation in effective defensive field goal percentage at 51.7 percent. ISU was better in league play, finishing fifth in defensive efficiency against Big Sky teams. They need to take that next step up in efficiency to compete on the same level as the league's best teams.
--the women's team might be a year away from competing for a championship having lost Apiphany Woods and Anna Lee Polichiccio to graduation, and Megan Hochstein, who likely won't be available due to lingering injuries. The Bengals will probably start small with Lindsey Brown at the five and Grace Kenyon, back from a torn ACL, at the four. Seton said Grace is playing better than before her injury, and the Bengals will need her to be a force on the boards. Seton was also happy with the way Brooke Blair is playing coming off her summer of international competition. And ISU returns a number of players who started and/or contributed significantly last year, like Isabel Vera de Ray and Freya Newton. The coaches really like the group of international newcomers, especially Estefania Ors, a smooth 5-10 guard from Spain. But it will take them awhile to acclimate to this level of basketball. A real key will be the development of bigs Sai Tapasa and Jenna Morch, who will have to play significant minutes in the post at some point this season.
--not having seen either team yet, I have to say I like what I'm hearing about them both and I think it's going to be a fun basketball season.
--there is a lot of enthusiasm in both the men's and women's camps. Bill Evans says he'll have plenty of shooters and he doesn't stay up late at night trying to figure out how the Bengals will score. He said Gary Chivichian is the best shooter he's ever coached. He said new JC forward Robert Jones is probably the best athlete on the team. And he said 7-footer Novak Topalovic has added about 20 pounds in the weight room the last two years. He praised backup PG Brandon Boyd, who is coming off a broken wrist, and of course he talked about the leadership of ET.
--Bill says he does stay awake worrying about his defense, particularly in the post. He said injury has kept Kyle Ingram from practicing much, and in general the Bengals are going to have to play better defense if they are going to be a contender for the conference championship. The KenPom numbers bear that out -- last year ISU was 263rd out of 351 teams in the nation in effective defensive field goal percentage at 51.7 percent. ISU was better in league play, finishing fifth in defensive efficiency against Big Sky teams. They need to take that next step up in efficiency to compete on the same level as the league's best teams.
--the women's team might be a year away from competing for a championship having lost Apiphany Woods and Anna Lee Polichiccio to graduation, and Megan Hochstein, who likely won't be available due to lingering injuries. The Bengals will probably start small with Lindsey Brown at the five and Grace Kenyon, back from a torn ACL, at the four. Seton said Grace is playing better than before her injury, and the Bengals will need her to be a force on the boards. Seton was also happy with the way Brooke Blair is playing coming off her summer of international competition. And ISU returns a number of players who started and/or contributed significantly last year, like Isabel Vera de Ray and Freya Newton. The coaches really like the group of international newcomers, especially Estefania Ors, a smooth 5-10 guard from Spain. But it will take them awhile to acclimate to this level of basketball. A real key will be the development of bigs Sai Tapasa and Jenna Morch, who will have to play significant minutes in the post at some point this season.
--not having seen either team yet, I have to say I like what I'm hearing about them both and I think it's going to be a fun basketball season.