Hoosierfan2017

In mpg Geronimo was 9th last year. He was only ahead of Trey in total minutes because he played 14 more games. He played 14 more games but only played 13 more total minutes. Of the 8 guys ahead of him in mpg last year, 6 of them are back, including the two frontcourt guys ahead of him. We added two freshmen who are better than Phinisee/Stewart. One of them is a top 30 frontcourt player. I could totally see Geronimo 9th in mpg again this year because I don’t see him developing into a starting wing in one offseason. We’re very strong at his position and got even stronger during the offseason. Of the 8 guys listed above, the only one I could see him getting more minutes than is Kopp, but we’ll need Kopp’s (theoretic) shooting so maybe not.

TBH I’ve become less of a fan of NIL too. At first it didn’t really bother me. But now it’s obvious that it’s being used to get players to particular schools. Like the transfer who got $800k to commit to Miami. He isn’t getting $800k for NIL. He’s getting it because some billionaire donor had some pocket change and felt like using it to improve Miami’s basketball team. Or the Pitt WR who got $3.5 million to transfer to USC. It’s not my money. But it’s free agency and it will change what college sports are like. With the transfer portal it’s going to be a mess. It is what it is, I suppose.

It gets so massively overplayed. And Phinisee being referred to as an “excellent point guard” just… isn’t true at all. His numbers speak for themselves. He was below average. During Archie’s 3 seasons Phinisee played in 32/35 games, 27/32 games, and 27/27 games. He played in every game of Archie’s disastrous final season, so I’m not sure how his injuries would’ve affected Archie. Like you said, one of Archie’s biggest failures was being unable to recruit a better point guard to replace Phinisee in the starting lineup. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. He tried every year. He just failed.

Such a tool. I never understood why people liked him so much. Very glad Woody fired him.

Agreed. Can’t stand Notre Dame/their arrogant fans (many of whom never even went to school there).

I don’t really like it. UCLA and USC are both quality athletic programs, of course, but having them in the Big 10 is just weird. They don’t fit the vibe of the conference. But, I suppose it’s either get with the times or get left behind. Better than becoming a Big 12 or a PAC 12 where the quality programs leave.

IU v. UNC would objectively be a much bigger matchup and I don’t think anyone can honestly disagree. UVA has been nice the past decade or so. IU and UNC are two of the most storied programs in college basketball. 11 national championships between the 2 schools. It would bring lots of eyeballs to the television. IU v. UVA doesn’t have the same draw.

Most 5 stars we’ve gotten have been contributors as freshmen. Lander and Bates were duds, and I think that has soured some on what to expect from top ~30 guys. TJD, Romeo, Bryant, Vonleh, Yogi, Zeller, Gordon, JBJ. They all came in and contributed as freshmen. 5 stars are big contributors at schools across the country.

I feel like that crowd won’t be happy until our roster is full of 13 Indiana boys. I’m happy we’re going after players across the country. Too much talent out there to focus exclusively on one state.

Were people actually mad about him missing the state championship game? Seems like a silly thing to get mad about.

Newman’s a career 35.3% from 3 on 3.5 shots per game in college. Last year he shot 32% from 3. Kopp and Johnson both shot better than that last year. Maybe he’s a shooter, but he hasn’t been a maker in college.

Eh, I mean I doubt we’re talking about hardcore drugs. Some of the most successful NBA players smoke weed. I’m pretty anti-weed, but it’s not really that different from players going out drinking during the season. Ideally they wouldn’t do that either, but college kids will be college kids. There’s just no upside to saying this publicly.

Yeah I agree with this. No need to dime on your former teammates like that. It’s all stuff that could have been addressed in private. Just kind of weird comments from him imho.

Surprised by Phinisee’s inclusion. Didn’t figure him as one of the malcontents.

Leal hasn’t shown that he’s our best shooter or even an above average shooter at the college level. Through 2 seasons he’s shooting 30.8% from 3. Sure, it’s not high volume, but that’s not nearly good enough given his limitations.

The frontcourt definitely wasn’t the issue. Race/Trayce combined for 60 mpg last year, which leaves around 20 mpg for a backup frontcourt player. Race wore down at the end of last year, so maybe Woody tries to play him a few fewer mpg next season. I’d like for Reneau to be good enough to get a large bulk of those minutes, and I expect him to be good enough. He’s ranked/rated in between where Thomas Bryant and TJD were as high school seniors. Both of those guys were good enough as freshmen to be 20 mpg guys on quality teams. I think Reneau will be too.

Woodson is a better coach than Archie, but even the best coaches need some horses to work with. I want JHS playing 25 mpg and Reneau playing 18-20 mpg. We have a very solid top 3. Our next four, based on their play last year, was mediocre. If we want to be a top 15 team next year we need a lot more from guys 4-7 than what we got from Bates/Kopp/Galloway/Geronimo. Some of that can be from those four improving, certainly, but what we really need is for the two 5 stars to come in and play like it.

I don’t agree. I think people are really overhyping our ‘depth.’ Take away the two 5 star freshmen and the top 7 is Trayce, Race, Xavier, Kopp, Geronimo, Bates, and Galloway. That’s the same roster that finished 9th in the conference and got blown out in the round of 64 minus Stewart and Phinisee. I’m optimistic for next season because we’re bringing in two top 30 freshman from the high school national champions. I’m expecting them to be major contributors because top 30 guys typically have been on IU teams. If those guys aren’t playing significant minutes then I truly don’t see the top 15 hype that folks are speaking about.

I would be shocked if one of the 5 stars only plays 10 minutes per game. Lander and, to a lesser extent, Bates, have skewed people’s opinions on playing time for 5 star caliber freshmen. Here are our recent ones besides those two as freshmen: TJD - 29 mpg Romeo - 34 mpg Bryant - 23 mpg Vonleh - 27 mpg Yogi - 28 mpg Zeller - 29 mpg If either Reneau or JHS is only playing 10 mpg I’ll be disappointed.

The problem for him is that the increased playing time is only coming for him if he can play on the perimeter. He could only get 13 mpg last year with really no competition for the backup 4 spot. Now he’s got Reneau to compete with, who is rated higher than Trayce was in high school (who averaged 14/8 as a freshman).

Geronimo will really have to improve his game to increase his minutes. We’ll have Trayce, Rave, and the 5 star freshman ahead of him in the frontcourt.

Excellent news! Shaping up for a strong season next year.

If you want to talk about “vs Big 10 level competition,” it’s 9-8, not 12-8. Two of the 12 wins were against cupcakes. A third win, the one against St. John’s, he played 4 minutes before breaking his wrist. We need better guard play. That’s not debatable. If he improves enough to give that better guard play, great. If he’s similar to last year and plays heavy minutes I will be disappointed. If that’s “unfathomable” to you, oh well. We need better guard play that what Trey Galloway has given.

Idk… I mean, he played in two games before he broke his wrist and those were against two cupcakes. We were 12-8 in total in the 20 games he played. We lost four straight in February prior to his groin injury, in which he played heavy minutes. He started in 3 of those 4 games. I’ll be disappointed if he’s continuing to play heavy minutes this year.

Good to see a dirty player like Chris Paul get humiliated like this.