Who Is running the Grinnell system?

[hjmphelp]

Hey, Coach! Great to hear from you!

I'm sure its too early to really answer your question, but based on a few observations I can piss in the wind with the best of 'em!
1.This 1st year class is much faster than the last few classes and to a man they appear to have better hands. That should translate into more trips up the court and more steals.
2. This 1st year class has 3 or 4 excellent ball handlers. Several of these kids are unbelievable passers and can see the court extremely well. That leads to more open shots.
3. This 1st year class has 3 or 4 good to excellent shooters compared to only one or two in each of the last few classes. We will have to wait to see if they shoot as well as a whole as the class of '04 (S Nordland, Wood, Malinowski). Anyway, i count at least 8, maybe 9 guys that can shoot lights out if given more high quality opportunities to do so.
4. This 1st year class should contribute to improved point guard play. Add that to the improved play at the end of the year from 4th year T Carlson and it could make a HUGE difference.
5. All the returnees started 'gettin' it' at the end of the year last year and the 1st years sure look like they already have a handle on most of it.
6. Team chemistry. Wow! Looks to be the best in years!


There will still be a few weak areas, but i'll let the opposing coaches figger out what those are. 

Speaking of opposing coaches, sure wish that first System matchup could have been with Redlands, but...MacMurray will be a fun game for everyone, I think. Look for a few records to be shattered in that game even though it is very early on.
Best of luck to you this year and keep in touch! i feel that tourney matchup getting closer every year!

[TeeDub]

Hey Jeff,

I don't know how close we are to a tourney matchup, but it would be nice just to be there...I want to believe that the style of play lends to a potentially interesting run in the post season.  I hope we get a chance to prove or disprove that theory.

I'll be keeping my eyes on the System vs. System game.  Part of me thinks that these kind of matchups may not be a scoring bonanza because of the inability of either team to get to the legs of the opponents due to the substitutions.  In addition, I wonder how effective the pressure will be on an opponent who also lives on the same thing everyday in practice.  For us, the scoring is more a product of the defense than the offense which lends to my curiousity of such a matchup.  But I'll be watching the box on the game nonetheless.

I thought we were getting pretty close to a GC/UofR game but I think that is on the back burner now.  Who knows what the future will hold.  The scoring numbers that we put up last year (132.4 / game) and the consistent huge numbers from GC will always lend to the hype of such a game.

So, back to my original question.  Can you look at your Pioneers and say, "they look like a 120+ team to me", versus a 100+ team?  Do you know what I mean?

[hjmphelp]

Geez! You won't let me obfuscate, huh?

120+ non conf
115-120 conf.
ie., something more similar to the "success years" as opposed to last year.

I doubt anyone will ever touch your record! ;-)

I agree about the system match up too, but I've heard tha MacMurray's version is, how shall we say, "quite unique". A very mediocre Cornell College team beat us both last year due to the knowledge of Head Coach DeGeorge and assistants Wood and Choquette. The latter are both gone and GC could be much better this year-certainly quicker. This game could be just as big a crapshoot as the entire MWC season!

[TeeDub]

Jeff,

I went to a state school, so I don't even know what obfuscate means, but once I was able to muddle through your confusing post, it started to come clear (only kidding)...actually, I enjoyed all the System chatter.  And actually you kind of answered my unasked question, which is to know what factors play into the production of points...

The record from last year is nice, but our goal this year should be to keep our opponents from being the second leading scoring 'team' in the country.  As you know we started off with a bang and put up HUGE digits on the scoreboard, but as we entered conference, the numbers faded dramatically.  Yes, I attribute that some to the conference foes' understanding, but additionally, we tightened up and lost some of the 'freedom' that allowed us to score 172 and 160 in back to back nights in December.  Sorry, just thought I'd take a crack at this 'obfuscating' stuff myself.

Thanks for wisdom Jeff....

[hjmphelp]

Yup! That happens every year here. Now that you guys have been at it for a couple of years, your opponents sorta know what works and what doesn't in terms of trying to stop what you do. About now, they will start getting overconfident and you guys will start getting more w's because now YOU know how things are supposed to work, too. In other words whoever scores the most points in a game wins, no matter what.


Now THAT is obfuscation, ever though there may or may not be some truth in it! 

[TeeDub]

There is some truth in your obfuscation, but I think it even goes a little beyond that.  I believe that much of the System power is mental.  The constant on court pressure is not just trapping defenders, but the mental pressure of never being able to let your guard down.  The pressure opponents feel to get to the three-point shooter, the pressure they feel to keep us from getting offensive boards, the pressure to not turn it over and break neck speeds, the pressure to resist the pace that is nearly inevitable....

Now, when it comes to conference, if we can get a couple early conference victories against over confident opponents, a new pressure starts to permeate throughout the league play.  The pressure of the machine, the System, that is on a roll....it's powerful.  Powerful mostly because it makes our guys play with more freedom and more freedom only generates more power to the machine....

[Mr. Ypsi]

Ah, yes ... my favorite t-shirt:  "Eschew Obfuscation"!

The blank stares are worth the price of admission!

[hjmphelp]

JR-I think you justcoined a new cheer!

Power to the Machine!!!

[Knightstalker]

"Welcome to the Machine"  I love any chance I get to quote Pink Floyd lyrics.

[hjmphelp]

What a great bleacher to bleacher chant!

Welcome to the Machine!
Power to the Machine!
Welcome to the Machine!
Power to the Machine!

The System Lives!

Just another Brick in the Wall!
(You can't close the door when the Wall's caved in!)

[Knightstalker]

Eat your Meat!  How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

[smedindy]

Careful with that trey, Eugene?

[dansand]

I see where Black Hawk College, our junior college here in Moline, IL, is planning to use the Grinnell system this year. Their coach, Troy Noble, claims (and I think he's right) they will be the only JC in the country to use "the system (Noble calls it "Grinnell-style")."

[hjmphelp]

I believe there is at least one Womens Juco employing the system this year, Henry Ford CC in Dearborn Mi.

[digs]

Big game on Saturday as Redlands takes on UC Riverside.  This appears to be the first match-up of 2 system teams.  UC Riverside claims to run the system and we all know how Redlands tore up the Grinnell records last year.