With Troy beating Florida State and St. Thomas giving Creighton a run, the Zootown Classic looks much more interesting than it did 2 weeks ago. Most of the predictive models (Torvik, Haslametrics, KenPom) have the Griz with narrow victories over Troy and the Tommies (yes they are the St. Thomas Tommies, kind of like having a name like John Johnson, but I digress) and a more comfortable but still somewhat narrow victory over Merrimack. Torvik actually has them losing to Troy and St. Thomas.
Things to look for:
1. Preparing for 3 games in 3 days is tough. I am assuming each assistant was assigned a team to scout and prepare for. We have smart assistants so should be fine, but it’s the implementation of the scouting report with the players that is hard in an event like this. Ironically, Merrimack may be the hardest to plan for. I saw a little bit of their last game and they play a zone defense that I can’t even explain. It may be the most “hair on fire” zone defense you will ever see.
2. Benches need to show up. Playing your best players 34+ a game 3 days in a row will likely result in diminishing returns.
3. Who are the Griz (I think I already know but others prefer a more conservative approach)? 3 games at home against Big Sky-level teams will go a long ways in answering this question.
4. Will the Griz have a significant home court advantage? It seems like every year for the past 3-4 years fan and student support has been slipping. A morgue is not a home court advantage. Get out and support and be loud.
Things to look for:
1. Preparing for 3 games in 3 days is tough. I am assuming each assistant was assigned a team to scout and prepare for. We have smart assistants so should be fine, but it’s the implementation of the scouting report with the players that is hard in an event like this. Ironically, Merrimack may be the hardest to plan for. I saw a little bit of their last game and they play a zone defense that I can’t even explain. It may be the most “hair on fire” zone defense you will ever see.
2. Benches need to show up. Playing your best players 34+ a game 3 days in a row will likely result in diminishing returns.
3. Who are the Griz (I think I already know but others prefer a more conservative approach)? 3 games at home against Big Sky-level teams will go a long ways in answering this question.
4. Will the Griz have a significant home court advantage? It seems like every year for the past 3-4 years fan and student support has been slipping. A morgue is not a home court advantage. Get out and support and be loud.
