[431] Banner Monday: Mailbag, Big Ten Roundup, and Defending the Pick-and-Roll

On this week’s edition of Banner Monday, Jerod and Ryan answer a handful of your questions in our mailbag segment, we get Mike DeCourcy’s preseason thoughts on IU and the Big Ten at large, and then Jerod and Ben Ladner take a deep dive into two different methods of defending the pick-and-roll. NEED TICKETS? Remember: use the URL http://iutickets.shop when you need to buy IU basketball or football tickets. That URL will take you to SeatGeek, where you will find the ticket prices arranged by value (it’s a really helpful setup), and all purchases are fully guaranteed. Plus, it’s our affiliate link, so when you use it and buy tickets we get a commission — making it a great way to support the show. Also: use the promo code ASSEMBLY for $20 back after your first purchase. Again, the URL: http://iutickets.shop. THIS WEEK'S RUNDOWN In Segment One [2:18] ... Jerod opens with his Banner Moment about what Indiana’s preseason rankings mean, and then he and Ryan dive into answering a handful of listener questions, including: • Has anything over the last month or so increased or decreased our confidence in this team? • Who will give Indiana its first loss of the season? • Who is Jerod’s favorite Hoosier since Calbert? (He and Ryan have the same answer.) • What IU player has the national media not been talking about enough this offseason? • Will Phinisee, Hunter, and Forrester all find consistent spots in the rotation? • Might Archie alter his philosophy about sitting a guy with two first half fouls this season now that he has more depth? In Segment Two [27:34] ... Mike DeCourcy joins the show for his first weekly Big Ten Roundup segment. He and Jerod cover the following: • What did Mike glean about Indiana from Big Ten Media Day? • When he attends an IU practice, what will he be most interested in seeing? • His preseason Big Ten Power Rankings Top 4 — does Indiana make the cut? • What team out of these three is most likely to surprise: Penn State, Minnesota, or Iowa? • What did he learn about other Big Ten teams from Big Ten Media Day? • What player in the conference is flying under the radar that people need to be more aware of? • Jon Beilein’s comments about cheating at Big Ten Media and Mike’s general thoughts on the FBI trial and what, if anything, then NCAA might be able to do about what has been revealed. Follow Mike on Twitter: @tsnmike. And in Segment Three [50:31] ... Ben Ladner joins us for our first edition of Basketball 201, in which we want to provide insight and education and some of the concepts and strategies that will be major talking points during and after IU games this season. In this first installment, we discuss pick-and-roll defense. Ben explains why ball screens have become so much more prevalent in recent seasons, and then we dive into two common strategies for defending them — hedging and switching. Indiana did a lot of hedging last season, and Archie Miller has discussed trying to switch more this season. What are the pros and cons of each approach? To watch the video of this segment (which includes the visuals), use this link: https://youtu.be/qgOCK7vtSz8?t=3172 Here is a link to the article Jerod mentions from The Ringer: Is It Possible to Know Too Much About Basketball? (https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/10/19/17999336/los-angeles-clippers-second-spectrum-courtvision-steve-ballmer) All of that and more on this week’s edition of Banner Monday.