BGleas

NBA guys are excellent with X's and O's. Way more advanced then college coaches.

Agree. Just saying if he did go to Maryland, while certainly a great pull for Willard, you never know how the pieces are going to actually fit together. While Dickinson can hit 3's, he's still best around the paint, same with Reece, and how does that impact Young's ability to penetrate. I'd be surprised if Dickinson stays in the Big Ten too though.

And who knows? If Maryland gets Dickinson, it could flop. Young, Dickinson and Reece sounds like a great group, but how well do Reece and Dickinson play together? How does that work offensively. You just never know. Remember that Maryland team that had Trimble, Stone, the Suluiman (sp?) and Layman? They were really good with Layman at the 4 and that core group. The next year they added that transfer at the 4, I think from Georgia Tech maybe? But, that pushed Layman to the wing, taking away his advantage of being defended by 4's the previous season, and the transfer 4 and Stone didn't really mesh. They had a decent season, but weren't close to being National Title contenders that they were touted to be. Long story, short, the pieces don't always fit.

As Stuhoo said, they're different players and play different roles. Gunn is a wing and Cupps is a point guard. Gunn came in as a wing that lacked strength and couldn't make shots. Cupps is a point guard that brings bball IQ, much like Smith from Purdue, good handles, strong passer, doesn't turn it over and can make shots. Just different players with different credentials coming in. With that said, I think Gunn can make a leap and has a lot of tools to work with.

Why do you think he won't be more prepared then Gunn? Gunn came in pretty raw. Cupps is a coaches kid that has played extremely high level basketball on the AAU and high school circuit. Again, if Braeden Smith can do what he did, I see nothing in Cupps game that indicates he can't be a regular rotation contributor next season.

Purdue also asked Braeden Smith the be the starting point guard and play 30ish minutes per game, that's an entire different ballgame then backing up XJ and playing 15ish mpg. Everything I've seen, and I'm not a huge follower of these guys in high school, indicates that Cupps is better then Smith. So if Smith can be the starting point guard on a team that wins the Big Ten regular season title, wins the BTT title and is a #1 seed, then I sew no reason why Cupps can't be a regular rotation player for IU and be a plus-contributor in 15mpg. I actually think we're under-selling Cupps. The kid can play.

In fairness to Woodson, he's alluded to the same thing, and pretty much said he's never run an offense like this but was playing to his personnel. I actually like that. My frustration with some of our previous coaches was that they ran their system regardless of personnel, I'd much rather have a coach that adapts to his guys strengths. With that said, I also think Woodson could have done some more things to play a more current style this season, especially given TJD's ball-handling and passing improvements.

Would also prefer he goes out of conference, but if he does go to Michigan I'm isolating on him every trip down. Get him switched onto XJ or another scoring guard/wing we have coming in and Go To Work!

All true, but there is no problem in that. 13 guys can't play. Most rotations only go 8-9 guys at most. It's actually great having your 13th scholarship guy that is "all-in" on the program, is a program and university ambassador, works extremely hard, is a phenomenal teammate and as far as we know doesn't complain about being the 13th guy. That's actually a pretty ideal situation.

Completely agree. I'd like to see us add another guard and a wing.

I would absolutely prefer Ledlum.

Yeah, I got a ton of heat from a select few on here last summer for maintaining that JG was NOT a wing and that he needed to focus on being a junkyard dog, dirty work forward that defended, rebounded, etc., and stop worrying about the perimeter play. He was never going to be a wing here and certainly wasn't taking Kopp's spot.

Just going off what my UNC fan buddies say, but what they say is that he's a straight gunner that not only takes horrible shots but takes a high volume of them. They were begging for him to be benched.

The UNC fans that I know are ecstatic that Love is leaving. Most wanted him benched completely during the season.

The only way that would be an issue would be if Reneau and Sparks play together, which based on what Woodson has said, I'd have to think they'll be the 5 platoon. Even with a more free-flowing offense, not run through the post, you still need two bigs. As has been mentioned, Reneau is foul prone and goes through defensive lapses. You'd have Reneau at something like 25mpg and Sparks at something like 15-20mpg. Maybe 5 of those minutes are together.

Understand and agree. We should always be ranked or at at least close in the preseason discussion. I guess I more meant in regards to your comment about being disappointed with the portal? What were/are your expectations there? Especially given nothing has happened yet.

Genuinely asking, what are your expectations in terms of what we should be getting out of the portal?

Depends on what you mean by "spot minutes"? We all love Reneau, but he's not TJD. I don't expect him to be playing 32+mpg. As has been discussed, he's foul prone, and he also has defensive lapses. Getting ahead of myself, but I would envision Reneau getting around 25mpg and Sparks probably 20mpg, which would include them playing together for maybe 5mpg.

Or, just maybe we're replacing 4 starters and more, so I'm describing what I'm looking for in those replacements. It wasn't a refection of those starters were losing. Hmm LMAO! And no, I wouldn't consider Bates a "dawg" that doesn't mean our team didn't have that. Especially in the PSU example we were discussing on HSN.

I think we're largely agreeing. I want multi-skilled athletes all over the court, especially the 1-4. Banks fits the profile of an ideal 4, but agree that he might not be ready yet and that we need to find someone ready to play that spot while Banks develops. I guess my point on needing bigs and Reneau is that I do not want a lineup of Reneau at the 4 and an even bigger, post players at the 5. That brings us right back to where we've been but with a drop-off because none of those guys will be as good as TJD. We need an athletic 5 as you described with multi-dimensional athletes and skilled players surrounding that big. For now, Reneau is what we have at that spot and he is very promising, albeit not the ideal profile. But, I do not want another big that takes back to having two post players in the lineup. That just doesn't fit the profile of teams going deep in March. Again, I think we're largely agreeing here in what we want the team to look like, just coming at it from a bit different angles.

Completely agree. You need a defensive minded backup there that can actually give you 15-20mpg. A guys with length and that offensively can pick and rim run/finish. But not a post guy offensively.

You're too focused on the "stars" or what people had hoped Bates and Geronimo were. The reality is both guys are one-dimensional players. Forget the rankings and the potential, and go get multi-skilled players that can do multiple things on both ends. That's what these teams still playing have. No, they don't have anyone with Bates "potential", but they have guys that can do a variety of things on both ends. Guys that can bit shots, create shots and are dawgs. Despite the potential and athleticism, that isn't Bates or Geronimo.

I'm not really worried about the 5, and really don't want a post-dominant 5 coming in that wants to start. We need athletes and multi-skilled ballers at the 1-4. These teams from the Sweet Sixteen on aren't built with post-dominant 5's and aren't running their offense through the post. Woodson has also said he doesn't really want that. Let's go with Reneau at the 5, go get him a quality, serviceable athletic backup that can rebound, block some shots and switch defensively. Then go fill out the roster with multi-skilled, athletic dawgs and ballers that just love to hoop. I want guys like Banks at the 4, and go get a guy in the Watford, Troy Williams, Miller (kid from Miami), Jalen Wilson or Pickett mold at the 4, and then find as many ballers and hoopers at the 1-3 as you can. I don't think either of the Furst or Kaufman-Renn rumors are true, but even if they are I would really only want those guys backing up Reneau. Not starting alongside him.

I think you're overthinking this. According to several reports we were very much in with Dexter Dennis and several other high level transfers in the event that TJD and Race Thompson left last offseason. Both guys stayed, so sticking with the current group made sense. So by most reports Woodson had guys ready. Then his two current recruiting classes mirror the style of play with JHS, Banks, Gunn, Reneau, Cupps and Newton. Those two classes are one big (Reneau), a combo guard (JHS) an athletic wing(Gunn), a long, athletic forward/wing combo (Banks), a skilled PG (Cupps) and an ultra-athletic guard/wing (Newton).

Exactly. Especially when you're pretty consistent in getting top 5 or so seeds, with the occasional 1-2 seed mixed in. Before someone references Crean, he never had that consistency. Keep racking up top 4-5 seed apparences and you'll more then likely breakthrough. Jay Wright, Bo Ryan, Tony Bennett, Lute Olsen back in the day, etc.