[Xs & Joes #3] Roster Construction: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

In Episode 3 of Xs and Joes, Mike Wiemuth (iu-in-philly) and Bob Moats (cbobmoats) dive into what makes for good roster construction and analyze a few of this season's rosters from across the country.

In Episode 3 of Xs and Joes, Mike Wiemuth (iu-in-philly) and Bob Moats (cbobmoats) dive into what makes for good roster construction and analyze a few of this season's rosters from across the country.

In this episode …

Segment 1: A High Performing Roster: A simple yet very difficult thing to do.

1) Follow the Shoe/Follow the Gourd: How do we, oftentimes, miss the point of Rankin/Bass by thinking that “misfits” have clear, binary paths?

2) The Sweet Spot Performance Curve: Why are OADs better than most other freshmen but are, usually, not as good as Sweet Spot Upperclassmen? (Charts)

3) The only thing that matters…is it working? Can the Good, the Bad and the Ugly basically be the same thing?

Segment 2: Model Rosters: Who they are and how are they performing

1) UConn: Could they be the last to “do it this way”? What the model program actually looks like. (Team Sheets)

2) Kentucky: Is this your dad’s UK team? How shooting has changed some things in Lexington.

3) Michigan State: Can you blame players for “effort” or is there shared responsibility here? The parts can be greater than the sum.

Segment 3: Misfit Rosters: What are they trying to do and how are they doing it?

1) Purdue: Can a true system-scoring-based team actually achieve at the highest level? Just how much can you exponentially increase the sum of the parts.

2) Houston: Will they continue to stifle in the toughest conference in D1? Small ball and lockdown faces a great overall test.

3) Indiana: Do they have what it takes to get somewhere? Is the gun loaded or do they need a shovel?

Segment 4: Results

You will not win a National Title, a Conference Title or even gain a tournament berth in the first half of the season, but you certainly can lose one. Where do you need to be at the end?

The YouTube video is below, and you can listen to the audio wherever podcasts are available.

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If you thoughts or comments about the episode, feel free to comment on YouTube video, comment below, or reach out to Mike (@M_Wiemuth_) and Bob (@BobMoats) on Twitter or in our BHN Discord.