lillurk

In re: PU guards discussion, I think Ethan Morton’s pretty good. But can we agree that you could summarize lots about the Archie era by recalling that he recruited Ethan Morton as though he was gonna solve lots of backcourt problems for IU?

Yeah, have not seen the post you’re referring to but the multi-year players in the range from “solidly four-star” upwards are incredibly valuable. Occasionally you get a Carmelo or Anthony Davis at the very top, or a Tyus Jones/Justice Winslow/Jahlil Okafor class with sophomore Grayson Allen. But in a lot of ways stacking talent is a volume game: if you’ve got ~8 or more top 75 players across multiple classes on a single roster, you can afford for some to take awhile to develop, others to underperform, etc., so long as you usually hit your evals, develop, and keep ‘em.

I ended last season assuming one or both of Race and TJD would depart, and thus JG was a shoe-in for end-of-year conference 2nd or 3rd team honors in ‘23. I still think he’ll be that good, though the roster may mean he’s an honorable mention, or 6th man of the year, or just one of those dudes who does all the little things on a contender and doesn’t get such recognition.

Tapping the sign

Don’t believe so, not yet at least

At least two of these guys seem a liiiiitttttle too defensive on this. I didn’t see a soul mention names. TJD played on two IU teams (plus HS and AAU teams) before this. No one’s saying your name!

He’s seemed congenial with TJD, even getting a positive mention on the Hysterics podcast. Wonder if fans were tweeting, or friends texting, or there’s some other undercurrent?

I think the way the team played — both tactically and results-wise — at the end of the season is part of the equation too. Tactically, Race finally started making 3s, the offense was far more dependent on X to make plays and reads out of the PNR, Trayce played the best ball of his career, Geronimo was more dependable than ever, Galloway was healthy again. Results: nearly won in Mackey, we’re probably the best or second-best team in the BTT, played well against Wyoming. Forget the St. Mary’s game for a minute. All of that’s coming back. The rest of the tournament teams from the league likely take a step back. IU‘s foundation of TJD, Race, X is very good. It returns some role players we know do some valuable things, including a couple who could potentially grow into starter-caliber contributors. And then it adds a strong freshman class, including two guys who should be ready based on HS experience and scouting consensus.

IMO TJD returning and the roster changes setup nicely for the 5 star frosh to have roles without a ton of downside risk. Like if JHS had to be your clear primary PG and ballhandler…that can work, but it’s just much more comfortable for him to get a bunch of minutes as a secondary one, focus on defending and playing within the system offensively. Same with Malik: if he’s ready for 20 MPG, it’s probably there for him to earn. If he’s not quite, well, fine, 12 will do.

If IU hosts #6 UNC, visits #9 KU, neutral w/#3 Arizona, and plays @a ranked Big East team (Nova, X, Creighton), it’s going to have the kind of schedule you need to be on a protected seed line (ranks are Torvik’s current projections)

Some takeaways I liked here: 1. Older bro is currently an IU senior 2. As he’s just turned 15, he’s so young his coach had to tell him who Jordan Hulls is 3. Close with Trent Sisley

I was correct

The evidence is clear

Who wants to join me in overanalysis here my guess is either this has nothing to do with IUBB or it’s positive

Rewatched the post-PU win hype video that IU made yesterday. Tamar’s energy and enthusiasm on the court and in the locker room stood out. His skill and development matter most. But wanting to win, playing hard, bringing energy…good signs. He has the sauce

In the big picture, a non-frosh who was formerly a highly-regarded recruit is a great guy to have around in a role where realizing his potential really raises your team’s ceiling.

Yes, would add that even a bump into the low 30%s wouldn’t necessarily make him a “good” 3Pt shooter by an objective metric, but would mean defenses have to at least respect the chance he takes one that’s too easy. Which in turn should give him additional breathing room to drive.

If he continues in this fashion, let’s remember going forward that when we’re talking about teenagers, “not sure he plays hard enough to maximize his talent” is 1) something that can change in a hurry and 2) not a character flaw. Playing hard is a learned trait.

Yeah I rewatched the 2016 game @Iowa to clinch the conference title and had totally forgotten Niego was the only PG available behind Yogi at the end of the year.

To me this sounds like a player who’s as good or better shooting than the typical “just-a-shooter” type and also offers enough else to be a high major guy. A fit if you have other ballhandlers, maybe?

Without doing a year-by-year look back, that’s probably a common thread in Painter-era down years. And it’s hard to find that guy in the portal. They needed Pack, or an XJ, and I don’t know how many of those are out there in a given year. Edit: upon further review that’s absolutely one commonality of Purdue 2013, 2014, 2020.

Yeah peak Jason Kidd was the best and most important player on two NBA finalists — the sun, moon, and stars of the Nets’ offense and a great defender. Then almost a decade later he played 35 minutes a game as a role player and won a title. Incredibly lofty comp. Woody’s been around high-level hoops for 45 years, so I don’t think he makes the comparison lightly. But geez.

Thanks. In my defense his post is 11 minutes before mine, and his tweet about it three minutes after

I’m a player wayyy below that level, but I’ve played in some high-level pickup games. If you caught me during shootaround while we warm up, I might can 7, 8, 9 in a row on a good day. But even the pickup game pace and shot contests are enough that I’m not really a great shooter by the standards my run. (now if anyone wants to hear about the morning I hit two game winning threes, I’m happy to share)

If he has been invited to the NBA Draft Combine, that hasn’t been reported yet.