Cupcake U AT Drake Bulldogs (3-2, 0-0)

Where has Josh Young gone in the last week? On the surface, you might see his 17.4 PPG average on the season and think that he’s really improved from last year. But, at this point, I think that’s far from the case. In the past three games, Josh has shot 20% (6/30) overall and an awful 15% (3/20) from 3PT range. On top of the cold shooting, he’s turning the ball over nearly twice as much as he has the entire rest of his career (3 TO per game versus 1.6 his freshman/sophomore years).

About the only silver lining is that he’s getting to the line a lot more (7.2 FT per game versus 3.3 FT per game his first two years). Plus, when he is getting there, he’s shooting them considerably better (91% FT% this year versus 77% his first two years).

While he was clearly forcing his offense against Butler (not his fault, we had absolutely none in that game), I don’t think that has necessarily been the case the past few games. I have had the chance to watch all three games since his 30 PT explosion against Morehead, and it simply seems like his shot is off. While all of those shot attempts I listed above weren’t wide open – he has had a number of decent looks and just hasn’t been able to bury them the past few games.

Bottom line, I’m hoping that this is just a small funk that he is in that he can shoot his way out of. No reason to sound the alarms at this point, but if he gets through tomorrow and this weekends games and is still shooting at or below 30% from 3PT on the season, I’m going to start getting worried. While we were able to still beat New Mexico with Josh having another off game, he is so important to this team’s success that I think we need him to get back to form.

Next up comes Lincoln, a Division II team from Missouri. I took a look through and they appear to be the cupcake of all cupcakes. They were absolutely housed by Missouri earlier in the year, and in their “regular season” games, they are 3-3. I can’t see who their third win is over but two of their wins are over smaller regional Missouri colleges. Doesn't appear they've beaten anyone that is in our ballpark.

Right now, I think it’s fair to say that there are two quick bright line tests we can do to determine whether we should be scared of an opponent at this point:

• Can they shoot the three? For Lincoln, all signs point to no. While again, I can’t dig up all of their statistics, of the games I did locate, they are shooting in the 28% range, and it appears that only one guy has had just one game where he shot the three well (6-8 from 3PT). I have no concern that they’re going to be able to handle our zone.
• Can they take advantage with size? The tournament in Cancun surely showed we are susceptible to an inside post presence, particularly when we are on the defensive end. Looking through who has received the majority of Lincoln's minutes, we’re looking at guys that are from 6-0 to 6-5. There do appear to be a few 6-7 guys, but they definitely look to be off the bench and not prominent roles.

To me, I don’t even think there’s much cause for concern at all with this team. I’d be disappointed if we don’t win by 30 points, and absolutely rock the house as we drop the championship banner during halftime. Hopefully we can coast to an easy 80-50 win and Josh Young can smell that 30 point range again.