Indiana State Sycamores (4-2) vs. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (2-2)
Thomas Assembly Center - Ruston, LA
Wednesday, November 26th, 2025
Tip: 7:30PM EST
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[November 26, 2025] Indiana State Sycamores (4-2) at Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (2-2)
- Thread starter Jason Svoboda
- Start date
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Indiana State Sycamores (4-2) vs. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (2-2)
Thomas Assembly Center - Ruston, LA
Wednesday, November 26th, 2025
Tip: 7:30PM EST
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Haslemetrics has this is a pick'em.
haslametrics.com
ESPN's Predictor has LA Tech a 71/29 favorite.
Haslametrics: A unique approach to college basketball analysis
The goal of Haslametrics is to provide unique statistical insight and to offer predictive analysis based on teams' prior performances in a given season.
haslametrics.com
ESPN's Predictor has LA Tech a 71/29 favorite.
So this will be JVB's first start, right? I fully expect LA Tech to think what worked well to continue to work well. They essentially went right into the chest of Hall and bullied him to the rim, shoving on every play to boot.
Ball State obviously watched film and then ISO'd Hall to death in the post. Complexion of the game changed when we moved to JVB yesterday. Hiding Hall off the ball on defense when we moved to JVB/Hall combo worked well.
Ball State obviously watched film and then ISO'd Hall to death in the post. Complexion of the game changed when we moved to JVB yesterday. Hiding Hall off the ball on defense when we moved to JVB/Hall combo worked well.
Maybe that will give Young a boost. I don't think he is comfortable or confident yet.
Really think with Boogie in the line-up all 3 of our “3” will benefit from it. Bruno and Camp don’t need to have the ball in their hands to do their thing with JVB and Hall on the court. Young might get some more breathing room if there is another scoring threat guard on the court with him. Should be interesting how this turns out
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It’s a good question. Are we there yet? Or does he come off the bench early in the game.
Also, how much of the game will he and Hall be on the court at the same time? A whole bunch I hope.
I'm already questioning some of the stuff from the staff so I supposed I'd just add this to the pile if he doesn't start. IMO, starting him is a no brainer. To me, the real discussion is who out of Hall, Young and Wagner you start at the other two guard/wing spots.
You can't fuck around and get in a hole because we're missing Vorst and potentially Scott if his ankle is bad. They had 28 points in the paint and 12 second chance points. I'd fully expect them to try to push their height and length advantage even more in this second matchup if we're down 2 of our 4 "bigs."
SycamoreBlue3209
The Newsom Level
Young came off the bench last season 19 out of 28 games. He has experience in that 6th man role and may be better served as a second unit scorer (maybe our Lou Williams lol).
I’d like to see X and JVB on the floor more together, but doubt they make the move to start them both yet.
Plays very selfishly to me.
I don't think he is selfish, but I think you are seeing him pressing to show that he belongs here. He just needs to let the game come to him instead of trying to do too much. I think @SycamoreBlue3209 is onto something here with him being the 6th man of our team......wouldn't that be awesome if he resembled a Lou Williams?!?! Some guys just play better in that role. I like the direction the team went in the second half on Saturday. Like @Jason Svoboda said I am having my own concerns about the decisions being made by the staff, but hopefully they saw and learned some things Saturday, too. I also didn't like the way it sounded that our HC who is supposed to be recovering, needed to step in and provide insight to the staff. From the outside looking in, that doesn't give me the warm and fuzzy feels about this staff.....but maybe I'm reading too much into that.
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This.
Sterling Young was SWAC POY last year while starting less than half of his games. Jayden Daughtry only started 2 games for us last year and was arguably (probably not that much of an argument) our second best player. The starting 5 doesn't really matter much, it's who finishes the games. How the game flows and who's playing well will dictate that, not who the starting 5 was.
If Sterling is a go-to player, he can be that player playing 25+ minutes off the bench. JVB and Hall need to start together - it just worked far too well to go away from it. JVB also showed me a lot defensively against Ball State that I'm encouraged by.
Unit balance is highly underrated IMO, too. If you run your best five out and they have drastic separation between your next guys up, you completely can derail any flow. Also, and this isn't a knock against any one player, but sometimes it is better to get your burn against the other team's second unit as they may not be as good in certain areas like defense and you can exploit that if that is the plus part of your skillset.
I absolutely agree, Jason. I think it would help a guy like Young, who seems to be a streaky player, get his confidence and rhythm going against another team's 2nd unit. Let him get going, then it may not matter when the first unit comes back to the floor. If Young has went on a run, the first unit comes back in with an emphasis to shut him down, which then opens up holes for other guys who can score. I really hope we try this.....certainly worth giving it a chance.
This is spot on, and we have witnessed that huge separation between A & B squads on many, many ISU teams in the past. Several years I would argue our starting 5 were on par with the top half of the league, but then the second unit comes in and it's like an NBA team playing a high school JV. So yeah, the balance thing is really important. Good observation, my master...
Besides, as the always quotable Tates Locke preached in his "Fundamentals of Coaching Basketball" class, starting only matters to mothers and girlfriends.
And, I’ve always wondered about our practices…….starters against 2nd unit players who are barely at the DI level…..and some who should be at Division II.
In other words, players who don’t provide the practice competition that our starters need to develop. And usually a big drop off size and strength wise.
It still puzzles me as to why our “bigs” don’t bulk up more during the off season.
In other words, players who don’t provide the practice competition that our starters need to develop. And usually a big drop off size and strength wise.
It still puzzles me as to why our “bigs” don’t bulk up more during the off season.
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It's the day before game day vs that team we already played and I have to wonder...
Is it deja vu all over again?
Now that we've already played them, can we exploit their weaknesses for a double-digit win?
Now that they've already played us, can they exploit our weaknesses for a double-digit loss?
If we do win by double-digits on the road, how many spots will we jump up in KenPom?
Who will start, Xavier or Jo?
Could they both start?
How many minutes will Xavier and Jo share on the floor together?
If Xavier and Jo remain healthy, will Zyair ever see the floor again?
Has LA Tech been practicing their free throws?
Have we been practicing our three-point shooting?
Who will be our leading scorer in this one?
Where will our guys eat Thanksgiving dinner?
Or did I already ask that question?
Is it deja vu all over again?
Now that we've already played them, can we exploit their weaknesses for a double-digit win?
Now that they've already played us, can they exploit our weaknesses for a double-digit loss?
If we do win by double-digits on the road, how many spots will we jump up in KenPom?
Who will start, Xavier or Jo?
Could they both start?
How many minutes will Xavier and Jo share on the floor together?
If Xavier and Jo remain healthy, will Zyair ever see the floor again?
Has LA Tech been practicing their free throws?
Have we been practicing our three-point shooting?
Who will be our leading scorer in this one?
Where will our guys eat Thanksgiving dinner?
Or did I already ask that question?
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Honestly, if they shot the ball better and made free throws....they would have beaten us last game so we better be ready. We need to negate their athleticism too.
If Ball State shot the ball drastically better they would have beaten us too. Same with every other game we played and won this year - had they just shot the ball better they would have beat us.
Profound take.
If my aunt had balls...