Wisconsin continues to own Tom Crean by winning in Bloomington

TW said:
Yes, NC did lose two in a row in conference. But not at the beginning of their conference play. In fact, they lost 3 out of 5 along the way. They lost the Championship game to Villanova. If you're talking about a different year, fine, but it doesn't really say anything about the Hoosiers.

In no way does the Indiana roster compare to the Tarheels of last year. Not even close.

Even more important, the Indiana offense consists of a bunch of guys who will go for the shot before they'll take that extra pass to create a better shot. There isn't the kind of team unity to make them cohesive, and because they lack the bodies to play body up on the boards, they're going to fall a little short.

Happ is not a good shooter is kind of a misnomer. He's shooting 67% where he's supposed to be shooting the ball. In the paint. It would be a bonus if he could shoot further out but I remember a guy named Wilt Chamberlain who couldn't hit anything more than 8 ft. from the basket, and guess what he did?

Coaches don't ask him to shoot from the perimeter, and for good reason. He's a monster on the boards, and is in the top 4 or 5 in offensive rebounds and in defensive rebounds. That's awesome. He gets a lot of points with put-backs off misses, and that's something that forces defenses to drop down on him, and try to shield him out, giving up the perimeter for a lot of jumpers for the rest of the team.

Happ needs to work on free throws. I said that. He needs a little special time on the line, and someone there who knows how to make him use muscle memory to make the shot, not try to think it through the net. The best way might be to have him recite something like the Gettysburg Address while shooting. Seriously! It works. His mind is on the words, and his body will learn to react automatically for the free throw. It's how I broke myself when I was in HS.

I was shooting between 40 and 50% free throws and the coach told me that if I didn't pick it up, I'd be on the bench in close games. I spent hours in the gym shooting, and reciting the Gettysburg Address to myself. I went from that miserable level to over 70% during that year, and as a Senior, ended up over 80%, using the same technique for practice.

But, it took one heck of a lot of work to get there. Hundreds upon hundreds of shots, and establishing my rhythm.
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I was not talking about lasts years UNC team. I was referencing the last one to win a title

As to Happ. His comparison is not Wilt. Happ is 6-9 not a 7 foot center. His comparison is more Kevin McHale. The swing offense is built around guys, like Happ who can play with their face to the basket. I not saying he needs to be ditty behind the arc shooting but at his size and in the flow of the offense he needs to develop that 10-15 foot game.

I'm not discounting Indiana at all. Their offense is more open than UW ssame offense Crean ran at Marquette. They beat North Carolina and Kansas. I remember the Final 4 UW team that had a bad run in February. Happens. It's 2 games into conference. Long way to go
 
The only comparison I made to Wilt was that his game, like Happ's, is inside the paint, and his free throw ability was also terrible. Reading anything else into the statement, stating they had/have similar play styles is on your own.

I do wish Happ had McHale's skills, but that doesn't come along too often, and I doubt that will develop within the maximum 2 1/2 years Happ will be at Wisconsin. Too many big guys leave early. Happy might leave after this year or next, and never finish four years of competition. That said, he needs a lot of work to get there.
 
My concern TW is that Happ's form is so unconventional from the free throw line. It just seems odd to me that after 4 years of high school and 2+ years in the UW program that he's still shooting free throws the same way. Maybe they tried to change his form and it just didn't work.

I agree with what you are saying about him needing some concentrated work on free throws. As you say, you dealt with it in high school. Happ is in the middle of his 3rd year in college. When are he and the coaching staff going to work on it?

I'm not complaining too much, he's a rare talent in the paint and I'll take it. I really don't even need to see him ever make the mid-range jumper, but it'd be nice to see him get the FT average closer to or above 70%. He's a good ball-handler for a big man so it'd be nice to have him available late in games to help with pressing teams and able to make FTs consistently when he's fouled.
 
Jay Bilas has compared Happ to McHale. The last true post guy we had was Steimsma and he was even able to step out and take a shot outside the paint. He's never going to be kaminsky in that way but within the flow of the offense I would love to see that mid range shot developed
 
If Happ could find that mid-range shot, and improve his free throws, the guy could be a candidate for #1 player in the nation. Without those two, he remains a solid college player and at best, a role player, in the NBA. But, all that can change. I keep thinking about how Kaminsky changed his entire game over the course of one summer. We could see that with Happ over the summer of 2017.

I understand how they can see him in comparison to McHale, but Kevin brought so much more to the table, moving outside as well, for quality shots.
 
TW said:
If Happ could find that mid-range shot, and improve his free throws, the guy could be a candidate for #1 player in the nation. Without those two, he remains a solid college player and at best, a role player, in the NBA. But, all that can change. I keep thinking about how Kaminsky changed his entire game over the course of one summer. We could see that with Happ over the summer of 2017.

I understand how they can see him in comparison to McHale, but Kevin brought so much more to the table, moving outside as well, for quality shots.
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Difference between Happ and Kaminsky is frank played guard in HS. Big growth spurt junior / senior year. He was always comfortable on the perimeter. While Happ has the footwork to be a player at the next level he is not quick enough.
 
Actually, Happ has good moves to the basket. He can put the ball on the floor and get inside. But, not a slashing driver. His problem is not being able to shoot outside the paint.
 
TW said:
Actually, Happ has good moves to the basket. He can put the ball on the floor and get inside. But, not a slashing driver. His problem is not being able to shoot outside the paint.
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That was my point. He has good footwork but he's not quick. Fine at this level but won't translate into next level
 
He has to improve to play in the NBA. Kaminsky wasn't even a blip on the radar screen of pro ball at this same point in his college career. He came out of nowhere his last two years to mature.

I've never stated Happ is that kind of presence, but I see some growth in ability left in him, and see him as a potential role player in the NBA. That's the role I see possible for him at this point.
 
TW said:
He has to improve to play in the NBA. Kaminsky wasn't even a blip on the radar screen of pro ball at this same point in his college career. He came out of nowhere his last two years to mature.

I've never stated Happ is that kind of presence, but I see some growth in ability left in him, and see him as a potential role player in the NBA. That's the role I see possible for him at this point.
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If you could teach quickness I agree. I think Happ can be better than Kaminsky in the post but won't develop the same perimeter game. He projects size wise a 3 at the next level. Not a good fit. Now if he can develop a 10-15 shot he has an outside chance of getting drafted. '
 
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