Good article on Otz (during 1st year at UNLV)

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t-noah

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I had read this a week or two before the Prohm firing and thought it quite interesting. Now that he is our guy I wanted to find it again and re-read it. He is definitely a hard worker.
A couple of quotes I especially liked:

" The players who responded positively and hustled were rewarded with playing time. The ones who took longer to come around — the guys who were wasting time — found themselves on the bench."

“He has phenomenal offensive strategies,” Hardy says. “Stuff that I’ve never seen. Just his ability to keep defenses guessing, putting guys in different positions. Sometimes it may look like I’m playing the 4 spot, but really it’s just putting me in a spot to attack where I’m at my best.

Otzelberger has diversified and, at the same time, simplified the playbook. Again, the goal is efficiency. Otzelberger aims to extract maximum value out of every possession, and he does that by streamlining the players’ responsibilities. When the ball is in Hardy’s hands, each set play has been sharpened to the point where split-second decisions come easily."
 
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t-noah

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I was a little worried with Otz before, at least in my mind. I thought he would micromanage things, be too complicated, too detailed. I was glad to hear he realizes it may be good to adapt, keep things simple, he... "simplified the playbook".

I was also happy to hear, you don't respond positively, practice hard, play hard, you don't play.
 
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t-noah

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Never asked for grace period.
Hope TJ doesn't need the one in Ames that JP talked about.
Haha, yes. If I'm TJ I might realize I have a grace period but I'm not counting on it, I want to go NCAA year one, 7th place Big 12. Then keep building.

How to do that? Bring in experienced point guard, or a 4* sub-Top 50 HS point guard like Hunter (who you may count on for 2 years before going pro). Then I get an experienced great PF/F transfer, and a good center/rim-runner transfer/JC.

Combine with current roster:
4-5 Foster/Conditt
4 Transfer
3 Hinson
2 Bolton
1 Hunter/Transfer (PG)

Bench: Conditt, Walker, Johnson, Jaz, F Transfer/stretch 3, PG/G Transfer, etc. (5 starters, 6 bench here, room for 4-5 more?)

Would have to really score big on guards/forwards incoming, develop Foster. No idea this would all work well 1st year. A lot a question marks in transfer market.
 

Gunnerclone

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Haha, yes. If I'm TJ I might realize I have a grace period but I'm not counting on it, I want to go NCAA year one, 7th place Big 12. Then keep building.

How to do that? Bring in experienced point guard, or a 4* sub-Top 50 HS point guard like Hunter (who you may count on for 2 years before going pro). Then I get an experienced great PF/F transfer, and a good center/rim-runner transfer/JC.

Combine with current roster:
4-5 Foster/Conditt
4 Transfer
3 Hinson
2 Bolton
1 Hunter/Transfer (PG)

Bench: Conditt, Walker, Johnson, Jaz, F Transfer/stretch 3, PG/G Transfer, etc. (5 starters, 6 bench here, room for 4-5 more?)

Would have to really score big on guards/forwards incoming, develop Foster. No idea this would all work well 1st year. A lot a question marks in transfer market.

That all seems really unrealistic. I’d say being around .500 on the season and not last in the conference should be the goal
 

t-noah

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That all seems really unrealistic. I’d say being around .500 on the season and not last in the conference should be the goal
You're right of course. Just playin around, dreamin a little. Trying to be more like you.
 

allfourcy

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I still think of what Floyd did his 2nd year (really an almost complete rebuild after Hoiberg graduated), bringing in Cato, Pratt, Willoughby, etc. That was pretty incredible.

Is it just me or are many of the players brought in over the years on our good teams, better than a lot of the starters we see still playing in the Sweet 16? Eh...maybe its just my cardinal colored glasses.
 

t-noah

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Is it just me or are many of the players brought in over the years on our good teams, better than a lot of the starters we see still playing in the Sweet 16? Eh...maybe its just my cardinal colored glasses.
No some of those guys/transfers were really special.
 
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cyclones500

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That all seems really unrealistic. I’d say being around .500 on the season and not last in the conference should be the goal

Yeah t-noah's vision a bit lofty (not impossible, but "everything" has to go right for it). I like the big-dreaming, though

My optimism/realism balance is 7-11 in conference, fringe NIT. Even that's probably asking too much, but thinking 14-18/5-13 isn't as much fun. :)
 
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Gunnerclone

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Yeah t-noah's vision a bit lofty (not impossible, but "everything" has to go right for it). I like the big-dreaming, though

My optimism/realism balance is 7-11 in conference, fringe NIT. Even that's probably asking too much, but thinking 14-18/5-13 isn't as much fun. :)

I would be a 8/10 excited if we went 14-18/5-13 next year. I don’t think people realize the hole were in right now. It’s easy to dream after a new hire, hopefully that settles down soon. Anything in the vicinity of Fred Year 1 would be a major cause for optimism going forward.
 

cyclones500

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I would be a 8/10 excited if we went 14-18/5-13 next year. I don’t think people realize the hole were in right now. It’s easy to dream after a new hire, hopefully that settles down soon. Anything in the vicinity of Fred Year 1 would be a major cause for optimism going forward.

Outside of specific record, I'd be encouraged if the team is playing progressively better in February/March even if it's rough go early in season ... with assumption there'll be enough roster returning for the following year that it gives hope for upward swing.
 

Gunnerclone

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Outside of specific record, I'd be encouraged if the team is playing progressively better in February/March even if it's rough go early in season ... with assumption there'll be enough roster returning for the following year that it gives hope for upward swing.

Im not going down that route because I can see mental fatigue setting in during a long and tough conference season that’s going to be new for a lot of the players on next years roster. Also, don’t lose to ******* South Alabama or whoever the **** comes to Hilton in the cupcake games.

Fans being back in Hilton will also be a huge thing to watch. Feel like the players were defeated by COVID in that regard, it’s a big part of being a player at ISU.
 

NetflixAndClone

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If we have an OOC like Fred's first year. We may be going into conference play something like 14-3 (lose against Iowa and the two challenge games.) or better.

At that point you just need to win a hand full of home games and we could be .500 at the very least for the season. Just gotta start building a culture of winning again.
 
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cyclones500

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If we have an OOC like Fred's first year. We may be going into conference play something like 14-3 (lose against Iowa and the two challenge games.) or better.

At that point you just need to win a hand full of home games and we could be .500 at the very least for the season. Just gotta start building a culture of winning again.

Probably could add at least one loss in whatever early-season exempt tournament we get ... assuming we get one. We're back down to mid-level invites after a few years of rising higher in the pecking order.
 

MattCampbell

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If we have an OOC like Fred's first year. We may be going into conference play something like 14-3 (lose against Iowa and the two challenge games.) or better.

At that point you just need to win a hand full of home games and we could be .500 at the very least for the season. Just gotta start building a culture of winning again.

this year, because of the circumstances, allows for a far quicker rebuild than any other year. That being said, I would like to see otz create a roster where we are competitive and set up for the future (get some frosh that have upside and aren’t required to get playing time),
 

RustShack

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this year, because of the circumstances, allows for a far quicker rebuild than any other year. That being said, I would like to see otz create a roster where we are competitive and set up for the future (get some frosh that have upside and aren’t required to get playing time),

How many good freshman are still available?