lillurk

Chronic took some criticism on Twitter last night for suggesting we need post depth but I think his point was about the future beyond next year. In a “normal” year it’d be an ideal spot to take a sit out transfer. Might make sense to grab someone else’s decommited HSer from a coaching change or a more “project” guy who would know he had a shot at minutes in 2022-23 and beyond.

Yeah I tend to think Race can shoot better than we’ve seen.

To me, on this squad, he’s ideally a 2 with more handle than you have to have there. I’d hope X/KL/RP would handle most of the minutes at the 1. Stewart would probably do fine there if need be. As far as the 3, yeah, probably a little slight. I think you can get away with a 6’5” guy there against most teams for a good # of minutes

A lot of IU’s next target probably depends on 1) do they think Thompson can shoot well enough from 3 (~34% or better?) to play the bulk of the minutes at 4, and 2) can Hunter handle and defend well enough to do the same at the 3?

Yeah the sweet spot for this team is probably a 2/3 with good size and shooting, and Locke’s 6’2”. I’m optimistic you can cover most minutes at the three with Stewart, Hunter, and some combo of Leal, Galloway, Geronimo. But it’s easier to see how that might fail than everywhere else on the floor. Not because those options are bad, but because they’re better suited at 2, 4, or they need more seasoning

I like both and think either could carve out a role. I am also SO excited to have an IU squad with the depth not to need to depend on a player (or two) who are a year (or two) away from being solid contributors. The overwhelming bulk of minutes will go to players in at least their third year, except whatever time is carved out for a second year 5-star PG. if one of the other underclassmen gets high-leverage minutes, it will be because he earned them.

I agree, and he did some things well that portend well for his development, I think. Got to the rim and finished well, positioned well on defense, not scared. He needs to defend without fouling and fix his jumper, but IU’s depth next year should allow him a role he can fill more easily. I like him long-term as a secondary creator.

Keion isn’t in the portal (yet?) so you can’t add him unless you put “Keion Brooks Jr.;Kentucky” (spaced just like that, no quote marks) in the “add anybody” box.

A fun thought exercise: who are the best guards in the conference next year? As of now I think it’s, in some order: Jaden Ivey, Duane Washington, Andre Curbelo, Armaan Franklin, Xavier Johnson, and Parker Stewart.

And those examples you mentioned had good defenses! The last few years’ Michigan teams are good examples, too

As I mentioned in the transfer portal thread, adding Johnson here moved IU from projected 32nd next year to 22nd. https://barttorvik.com/rostercast.php (at some point it’ll be updated so Johnson is ON next year’s projection)

I mistyped, up to 22nd with XJ

You can play with Torvik’s “rostercast” for stuff like this. As of now, w/o Race and Armaan, IU projects to 32nd next year (obviously that will change somewhat once rosters are set). Add Johnson, up to 32nd. Add Brooks too, up to 18th. Those two plus Armaan is back, 17th. All the above plus Race, too: 14th. (Since Brooks isn’t in the portal you have to use the “add anybody” field and list his name exactly as “Keion Brooks Jr.;Kentucky” spacing just like that, no quote marks)

Where’s this from? The IU brand, and wins, will get IU in the door, always have. But you can also see a situation develop where the assistants really beat the bushes and Woodson is a killer closer. Kids like the pro connection and the scheme, parents trust him.

I agree. In addition to the talent, I like how many guys have a thing or two to prove. Gonna be fun to watch a team with a chip on its shoulder.

Bill Comar came to an athletic dept role — same title Matta has now I believe. There may have been some other staffers GAs who had relationships prior, too. Comar and Ostrom are the ones I know.

In fact others immediately shot this down. Don’t have the tweets handy

Probably no reason to — this past year was a “bonus” year so they already have a fifth year of eligibility if they want it

I’m also encouraged about the snowball effect this could have. I don’t want to overstate things but IU could be quite good next year in a way that seems unlikely very recently. That sort of success gets recruits interested, and begets more success. It got a lot easier to imagine what a successful Woodson regime looks like, and it also seems we’ll see it much sooner than we might’ve.

Perfect list. Remember how he said after the FSU loss that he wanted this IU team to be different? I think he’s gonna be a part of a team like that.

Cone looks like a microwave shooter sixth man with or without Lander back, IMO

“We happen to have some folks in common, so the trust factor for me is pretty high (with coach Woodson).” — CJ’s dad, Christopher. https://www.insidethehall.com/2021/03/31/class-of-2022-lawrence-north-guard-cj-gunn-remains-committed-to-indiana-after-conversation-with-mike-woodson/ Wonder if we’ve underestimated how many connections CMW still has in Indy.

Yeah Lincoln is nice but it’s FARRR from lots of stuff unless you’ve got people in NE/IA. His recruiting there impressed me.

I’d really recommend the Fisch interview that quote is from. Woody’s always learning and growing as a coach, willing to admit he doesn’t know it all and adapt. Mentions liking having interchangeable 6’6”-6’7”+ guys to switch on defense, learning to love the three, putting shooters around stars...all encouraging. Personally, having watched IU play too many waterbug guards and too few rangy forwards for years, the size/athleticism emphasis is music to my ears.

The goal is to win basketball games. That requires good players. Recruiting is hard, and some of the lowest-hanging fruit are the players already on your campus who want to play at IU but were curious who the new coach would be and wanted to keep their options open. Let’s be reasonable.