8bucks

Probably a good location. A lot of Canadian basketball talent recently. Cannot hurt to spend some time up there. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="KelleyHoosh" post="61719" timestamp="1398195521"]If youre too lazy to read, it basically says his coach estimates there is an 80% chance he will stay put if Gant's recruiter stays at Mizzou. Isn't interested in UGA or GT, doubts he will be released to another SEC school, UL and IU among schools that would pursue him[/quote] I was too lazy to read. Hmmm we need a new assistant. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="CampCrean" post="61673" timestamp="1398188802"]Vonleh and Etherington are bad examples[/quote] Why are they bad examples? Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="CR3AMnCR1MS0N" post="61662" timestamp="1398185920"]Does it seem to anybody else that it's been a few years, I guess since the sheeladipo class that we've had a group of guys who ALL want to be Hoosiers? Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners[/quote] What makes you think this? The recruits the last few years have said similar things. If you are using April's comments I think you also have to note that he really does not know who we are. He is not familiar with our offense and has not been to the campus. Noah, Troy and Stan did not want to be here? The 12 class did not want to come either? Zeller and Austin only chose IU because they like red? Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="Baltimore Hoosier" post="61601" timestamp="1398179793"]Let's see... JBJ is a program changing talent. Robert Johnson looks like he's ready to contribute right away too. Troy Williams is going to have a breakout year, and Yogi is Yogi. One of, if not the best PG in the country.I don't think the post is going to have to do much but rebound and block some shots. With the firepower on the wings, i have a feeling thats where most of the scoring will come from. I feel like a broken record....If you aren't excited, at least more so than last season, something is wrong. This is a tournament team. If I'm wrong, then maybe you Hoosier Doomsday Prepers are right, but I think the program will be back on track in 2014-15. [/quote] I think you ask a good question. Am I more excited about this season than I was before last season. In order to answer I have to jump back a year before we played a game and I am pretty sure there was more enthusiasm then than I have now. Why? We were coming off a season where at times we were the best team in the country and we had the highly ranked 2012 class plus the additions of another McD big and the 13 class to take over. I felt we may have some bumps but by the end of the year we should be a top 20-30 team. Going into next year I am not as optimistic as I was last year before we played a game. I do think we will be better than the year we finished so perhaps that is the confidence you mention. Just being better than last year though is not enough to warrant enthusiasm. I do think we can get to the top 20-30 level with this team so perhaps at best I have the same enthusiasm as last year Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="Hoosier_Cat_42" post="61068" timestamp="1397962749"]You're right that the PJ highlights were mainly blocks and some dunks, but there were a few that showed he had range to 15 feet. There were also a couple video's that showed a nice free throw stroke from PJ too. But ultimately, I made that comparison from a mix of PJ's highlight videos AND seeing PJ play in person, compared with the only video of April that I've found so far (the one in this thread). I guess you can't go off one video of April, but that's all we've got so far. Anyone who has seen PJ play in person, especially just shooting around in practice, knows that he can easily knock down open 15 foot jump shots all day. So even if the highlight clips didn't show it, I still think it is easy to see similarities in PJ and JA. Dare I say it, I think a healthy PJ may even be better. I've uploaded a video from back when we signed PJ. Watch at the 00:13 mark, and even better, the 00:50 mark (showed him making a great shot fake move and taking it to the basket for the reverse jam). Like I said, I hope JA ends up surprising people, but I still think he'll only be able to contribute as much as PJ was able to his first two years in the Big Ten; which was ZERO. However, with no Zeller or Vonleh in the line up, they may both get their chances to show what they've got this year. Peter Jurkin Video I referenced above: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa7QVjsUN3o"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa7QVjsUN3o[/url][/quote] You do realize that Jurkin has not been on the court primarily because his legs have prevented him from being a factor don't you? Your point is like saying Nerlens Noel played pretty well at UK in 2012/13 but has been a bust in the NBA. Do I think April will be great for us? I do not expect much next year but if he works hard and is able to avoid injuries he may be able to develop. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

I am not against signing April but I hate how all the videos are from AAU events and not HS games. I cannot stand seeing a "game" where you have a handful of people in folding chairs watching vs a gym packed with fans. Then you have guys that look like they play rec basketball against a kid we like. Not just these vids of April. I could have sworn we had one earlier where they were playing shirts and skins. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="Dunn Woods" post="60996" timestamp="1397925313"]this would be music to my ears[/quote] You actually want KJ to leave? Wow I can understand wanting more IN focused recruiting (of course KJ really kept the JBj relationship alive after the decommit) but we can do both so he does not hurt us here. Do you want more of a coach? We have three others who have each been HC so I do not think we need more here. Maybe better but that seems to fall in those three not KJ. I think we can survive without KJ but to say you want him to leave seems crazy to me. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="basketball4u" post="60681" timestamp="1397848939"]I was going to say something about Calbert and a few others but I didn't want to stir the pot. I can say Calbert was not impressed here and was actively looking other places. Sent from the gym using BtownBanners[/quote] So what inside scoop do you have on Kenny? Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

So when you look at the list do you come away thinking wow, great recruiter? Great being the key word. I do not. I do not think he is a lousy recruiter but looking at your list I say he has done a good job. I meant to quote and include Camp Creans list. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="CampCrean" post="60056" timestamp="1397652274"]That was also when no one wanted to be here...[/quote] That is why my list only included kids since 2012. Even since then Crean has been good not great. He certainly puts in a lot of time and energy though. You cannot hit on them all, I understand that but the list of misses is longer than the list of great recruits. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="Baltimore Hoosier" post="60003" timestamp="1397608783"]^This Crean has done a great job of recruiting.. He landed Zeller after winning 12 games the season before. He picked up Vonleh, and now JBJ. All three of these guys were heavily recruited by several high major programs.. When people knock Crean's recruiting prowess, it doesn't really make sense to me. But he also recruited Jurkin, HP, Patterson, Jeremy, Luke, Remy, Austin Crean can land some really big gets. He has also landed a good share of guys that did not work out here. Since he seems to recruit everyone he probably has more whiffs than the average coach. I do not think he is a terrible recruiter just based on the examples you gave but I don't think he is a great recruiter because he has had too many misses. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners[/quote] Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="CampCrean" post="59672" timestamp="1397495226"]I promise you that Brad Stevens will not give up an NBA job after 2 seasons..or 3...or 4. Stop with this nonsense [/quote] You may be correct but I know someone who has talked with Brad and they would not be surprised to see him return to college. He enjoys coaching players more at the college level. NBA coaches get more time off in the summer, he believes, and he wants to see if that helps offset some of the drawbacks. I agree that he is unlikely to return this year but if his enjoyment of NBA coaching does not increase I could see it happening before his 3rd year. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

I thought the beauty of this site was that there were no limits on the use of what some considered premie stuff Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="HoosierAloha" post="59617" timestamp="1397467359"]I guess the boosters at O$U are happy with the job Matta is doing...[/quote] I am sure Matta had to pay to get this kid - dws Do I think he has always played fair, with OSU as your school maybe not, but there is no proof otherwise. OSU beat us for another recruit. One we needed more than they did. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Wonder why Noah would have been sour on the program to dissuade Goodluck from coming. Noah had not been here long to have been able to have inch of an opinion Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Never baseball but coached probably 10 or so basketball teams and 15 or so soccer teams. Never would have thought I would coach soccer but have learned to enjoy coaching that most. Looking into starting a running club for elementary aged kids this summer. Keeps you young. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

We need someone for next year but we need someone for the year after as well. I think if things break right we could be a fringe sweet sixteen team next year. If so and IF all out top players return we may be a big away from being a top 5 team in 2015/16 Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Had a chance to sit with someone down here at the FF that shared some interesting info. Not earth shattering but interesting. I did not realize this person had a direct connection/friendship with Brad Stevens until the last 10 mins our so of our conversation otherwise I probably would have focused on that more. As it is we talked work for 90% of the time and only shifted to hoops at the end. When I mentioned I had been to Butlers two championship games they mentioned, as if I knew, that they had visited with Brad a few weeks back. Again nothing earth shattering other than to share that Brad told them that the NBA was nothing like being a college coach. He specifically mentioned how the NBA player is not coachable like the college kid. There was also some discussion on power of the athlete vs the coach. I was expecting them to then say he is ready to come back to college but I think there are a couple of things that will keep at least another year. One is that he appreciates the contract length he has and I got the idea that his competitive nature would keep him from jumping now. Interestingly though that same competitive nature may lead to a jump if they continue to struggle and he does not feel he can have as big an impact as in college. The second item is there is a benefit is that during the summers he thinks NBA coaches will have more family time than college coaches. I think he will want to play that out and see if that is the case. Stevens is about the only one right now I would consider over Crean. Crean is likely back next year and will likely right the ship enough to get another year or two. If however we struggle next year it is not unreasonable to assume Stevens would be interested. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Laker season ends April 16. Doubt anything would happen prior to that. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Definitely a pro UK crowd so far. Oh yeah. Dallas has a big TV. [attachment=710:ImageUploadedByBtownBanners1396919050.019989.jpg] Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="Baltimore Hoosier" post="58141" timestamp="1396902557"]I'm willing to give Crean another year to right the ship. I belive that last season was an anomoly. The roster turnover, two of which were lottery picks, and the loss of a couple transfers coupled with underperforming recruits made things extrmely difficult. I think there is reason to be optimistic about 2014-15. Maybe I'm wrong.. I like the pieces that are in place though. I keep thinking about Crean's 2007-2008 Marquette team. They were small but extrmely efficient and won a lot of games. They ended up losing in the second round of the tourney in OT to a good Stanford team. They started 3 guards, a swing forward, and rotated a big man. Dominic James, who was from the Indy area I believe, started at PG @ 5'11.. Not that I am happy or satisfied with losing in the 2nd round of the tourney, but I think this team has just as much, if not more talent than that Marquette team.. .[/quote] I agree that the pieces are in place for a sweet sixteen type of run next year. I do not see the pieces yet to move beyond that. Even if we had 2015 commits they would be verbal only so that does not worry me much. We need to get of the gates well next year so that the 15's who will be signing in Nov will see something encouraging here. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="Hoosier0908" post="58125" timestamp="1396899939"]First post, been a viewer for some time. Happy to be here! A couple of points: 1) Cunningham visiting USC is troublesome, but not the end of the world. Would be a great 4 year player, but I'm not that concerned if we don't land him. 2) Does nobody realize that we have 3 scholarships for this year/next?! Whomever else we sign this year, this late in the game, will be taking spots away from (potentially) "higher talent", "immediate impact" players in 2015. Let's say we sign some kids to fill the scholly's. What happens next year? Crean runs kids off? Unless we find "lightning in the bottle" with a late kid, you could say banking the scholly's is not bad. [/quote] Crean has said he would never bank a scholarship so I would not expect him to change unless no one is out there. I think the kids we are after see this. Why be a late addition here. Yeah you might get time next year but the expectation is that we will bring in more talented guys and you see less time as you get older. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="Baltimore Hoosier" post="58110" timestamp="1396897304"]This isn't the fab 5. There was an insane amount of turnover. Crean put the best players on the floor. Do I think they were all utlizied properly at all times? No. But for the most part, when you're relying on freshmen to be scorers, things can go sideways in a hurry. Troy's numbers were almost identical to Oladipo's his freshman year including shooting %, PPG, rebounding, etc. What did you expect?[/quote] I am not JS but thought your question "what did you expect " was fair and thought I would answer as well. I thought Noah should have been about what he was. Perhaps more of a force as the year ended. Could have been the injury. I expected the other freshman to play about as well as they did. I expected the sophomores, who were part of a top ten class, to contribute heavily. Not all top ranked kids contribute but in this class we have had 4 of 5 underperform and now 2 maybe 3 are gone. We encouraged Creek to leave largely because the coaches thought the freshman and sophomores would be better. I expected Austin to give us some steady leadership, outside shooting or perhaps some of what Will gave us his junior year. He gave some minutes and seems like a good kid but in year three his contributions were limited. I understand his injury set him back physically but I would have hoped he would have developed more of a leadership position. I expected Will to have a really good year. Maybe not like Vic last year but more like the way he finished the year. The coaches have regularly raved about will being like a coach on the floor but something was way off with him this year. Either his game regressed, he was not a good leader or probably a combination of factors. In short, I expected to see much more from our Sr, Jr and Sophomores than we saw. These guys were not necc McDs kids but were all part of highly ranked classes and were three stars or higher. Crean gets a lot of credit for developing players so I expected solid veteran play and leadership from these kids. Some of this is on those kids but since we are talking about several kids a lot of this goes on the coaches too. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

[quote name="Baltimore Hoosier" post="58062" timestamp="1396884575"]Where was this program when Crean stepped in? He's already landed 2 top 50 recruits, one being a McDonalds All-American for 2014 in case you haven't been following. Why on Earth would Crean landing or not landing a guy who may or may not amount to anything on the college level have anything to do with you backing him or not? Remember Perrea? Ranked in the top 25 in many publications?? Gimmie a break.[/quote] Crean did great on the rebuild. He brought us back to prominence with quality kids. The task of rebuilding and continually fielding a highly competitive team are not necessarily built on the same skill set. Expectations are lower during the rebuild and have naturally now increased. Now Crean is measured on his ability to field a highly competitive team, still with quality kids. This year the results were very disappointing. It was disappointing not because we lost Vic, Cody, CWat and Hulls but because we jettisoned Creek and Remy and we did a poor job on the 2012 class. If we want to give another mulligan for this year because of his rebuild efforts I understand. I do expect us to be better next year but I am not convinced we are close to fielding a highly competitive team. As you build a program, especially on the heels of last years success we should have more recruiting momentum than we are showing. Blackman and RoJo will definitely help but at best I would think we are 2 years away from being a FF caliber team. I can live with that if we jump up to top 25 next year AND we appear to have a better succession plan in place when we lose Blackman,yogi et al. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners