Stromboli

Your signature line: "Your reach should always exceed your grasp." Devonte: "Ok." You: "No not u."

It's possible the strained thumb ligament didn't need surgery, also. Doesn't matter. It's a PR game now. They needed some NYC celebrity orthopedic guy recognized by the NBA. They needed something tangible to explain the 29% from distance. Get a medical record saying "yep, that strained ligament from the Duke game where Romeo got upstaged by other lottery picks definitely caused the poor shooting then and for the remainder of the season," get a quick scope, and now GMs can feel warm and fuzzy about drafting the new and improved Romeo Langford. It's not a serious surgery, or he wouldn't be ready to workout for teams in the coming months, which he plans to do. I obviously don't have any intel about the extent of the thumb injury, and I'm mostly talking out of my butt here. But I have a fairly good understanding of how this stuff works. Indiana held everybody out at one point or another this year. I'm certain that if Indiana's staff thought Romeo needed mid-season surgery on his thumb (especially surgery that can apparently have him back to work within weeks), they'd have shut him down, both for Romeo's health and to avoid any backlash from future recruits. ALSO, remember that the agents are playing a game here and trying to sign the kid. Someone laid out the plan for a high draft pick, and kind of wants to control the influences here. Wants to prove to Romeo that he'll invest in him, etc. Probably has a relationship with the ortho doc to make sure the medical record says what it needs to. Then send an email to Jonathan Givony with prewritten statements from Romeo and get the ESPN announcement out, already controlling the narrative and angling for a high pick.

I'd say with 95% certainty Romeo has an agent. That article to Givony at ESPN was clearly done by an agent. It was a prepared statement. They had already begun to spin things. It was laying the groundwork to get drafted high. It sounded nothing like a Romeo comment. And it was directed at NBA teams, rather than the IU fanbase. I doubt Romeo would have reached out to ESPN to make the announcement, anyway. Also, who do you think is paying for Romeo's thumb surgery in New York? It's not IU. Who is paying for him to do his training? Rehab? Flights and lodging out there? An agency is fronting all of those costs. I'd love to sit down with Archie and hear his real thoughts on the whole ordeal. I suspect he'd have a lot to say, and have reasons that would convince us the blown season was beyond his control. But he has to keep quiet, and it makes him look like a dope that can't figure out how to handle his team.

I wrote awhile ago that I can't see how Quinones would improve us more than Windham. For some reason Quinones' game reminds me a little too much of Jordan Tucker. And the offer list and IMG concern me. And yeah, Windham has put up very good numbers in the MIC. I have a hard time reconciling why people argue against Windham, but then say they definitely want Leal and Galloway. Forget about the rankings, and look at who's game is going to translate to B1G wins. My hot take is that Harlond Beverly has the tools to be the next Oladipo. Honestly Archie better be sitting down with a notepad creating an offense and a looser, more confident roster, or it won't matter. Harlond did watch the MSU game. Also remember this is the guy that prides himself on defense more than offense. Strommy like. Strommy want wingy.

Good luck, young man! Glad you were a Hoosier!

Everyone thought Quinones was a Memphis lock after his visit a few weeks ago. Time passed and he didn't commit, to the surprise of many. Then he schedules his official to Indiana, and this thing is real. Two nights ago he was on Instagram Live and listed his top 4 as Indiana, Memphis, Maryland, and Michigan.

Interpret this how you will. Who knows if he's leaving or being pushed out. Maybe a little of column A, a little of column B. Best of luck to Jake.

Chasing 5* players is so 2018. If we've learned anything, it's that the only way to the Final Four is with guys literally everybody hates. 2*. So hot right now.

I feel like I'm able to empathize with Archie sometimes. This is his big chance and he knows it. He moved his family here, he cashed in all of his chips and bet on himself here. This opportunity must work for him, for so many reasons. And so he's got all of this pressure, and it is seeping through, not always in the best ways. I think he was a little high strung last year and early on this year. I think the loss of confidence was at least partially due to Archie transferring some of that pressure on the guys. As the losses mounted, Archie withdrew a little bit, and to me it felt like he was going through a learning moment. He held his composure and did not throw guys under the bus or anything, but I think he also became pretty resolute that he needs to churn out some wins, and any players not on board to do that will be disposed of. I like to think that after he sees some success and settles down from these pressure-filled midlife years, he'll be warmer and more affable with his players. At this point, he does not have that security, and so he'll continue to be colder and harsher. I hope that he does find ways to be more effective in encouraging the guys. The old "beatings will continue until morale improves" approach may not work when getting guys to play loosely and confidently. The article on Devonte explores that to some extent. Like it or not, there's a human element here, and an effective leader acknowledges that there may be different approaches that can yield better results. I'm seeing some complaints about the assistant coaches; no shot doctor, no offensive guru, no family atmosphere, apparently no halftime speeches/advice from anyone. It will be something to follow.

Step aside, everyone! Time for the ol' Stromboli closer!

And I think Rivals is the better fit for you.

My buddy's boss knows someone on the BoT. Donovan is coming to be an assistant coach just for the offense. He said he saw the text on his boss's phone.

Yeah. I haven't watched him. I'm not for or against him. I do wonder if there's a difference between him and Quinones if you remove IMG brokering deals for Quinones.

Jalen Windham Everyone wants Indiana kids that play with edge and can shoot. Schilling talks to one and everyone balks. He scored 9.7 ppg on Indy Heat with Trayce, Keion, and Mulloy. He was 88.9% free throw, and 44.7% from 3 on 103 attempts. Also good size at guard. The rankings and other offers are worrisome.

My in-laws are in town. Naturally I went to the gym for a break. I'm warming up on the basketball court and there's some 25 year old kid with man-**** on the free throw line practicing his behind the back pre-shot routine like Carsen. Nauseating.

I'm just going to chime in on Joey Brunk. I feel like I'm in the minority in that I prefer we bolster the 5 before we target a shooter. The first reason for this is that I think the high volume of poor shooting is leaving this year. I made this point elsewhere, but it was the Morgan/Langford/McRoberts/Fitzner that really killed our 3pt shooting percentages. Those guys took a ton of our attempts, and each of the 4 was under our average. Which means this will literally be addition by subtraction as to the 3pt shooting (maybe not as to the overall efficacy of our offense). Take those 4 guys out, and our 3pt percentage would at least put us at average, ideally opening the lane up for our offense to run better. I might be wrong, but the 3pt shooting still feels like something that will get better. Next, Juwan had to play most of our minutes at the 5 this year. He was out of position, and still handled most of those minutes. Trayce will not be a better post defender than Juwan next year. No one else is coming in. No one else showed me they are ready to defend opposing 5s. And shoot, De'Ron is decently effective there, but he might be injury prone, and is usually foul-prone. Simply put, I do not feel comfortable going into next year with no one else coming in to help us guard the 5. I think we need two legitimate 5s on the roster. Playing a 6'8" center just doesn't cut it. Now let's look at the actual player, and the effect he can have on our offense. I spend a lot of time looking at the barttorvik.com PORAPGATU! stat. That is, Points Over Replacement Per Adjusted Game At That Usage. It's an attempt to gauge an individual player's value over other players. For the full explanation, go here: https://www.bigtengeeks.com/new-stat-porpagatu/ The short story here is that after Romeo and Juwan, Indiana's roster was not good. Many subpar players soaking up minutes, if what we want is success in the B1G and tourney. Here's just a quick look. Look at the PRPG! stat, 3rd column after names. Notice that the good teams are 4-6 players deep with good players: Duke Virginia MSU Michigan Purdue (this one was eye-opening) Even Iowa Now here we are. We have Romeo and Juwan, very good (although not elite). And then we have bench players when comparing to teams above. And so people say they think a shooter will fix things or whatever, but to me we just need elevated play 1-5. For what it's worth, I wonder what, schematically, Archie could do (or do better) to put guys in a better position to succeed. That's not what I'm going after here, and I'm trying to avoid it. Evan Fitzner was supposed to come in and bring a threat. Last year at St. Mary's his PRPG! was just a 1.1. He was not an impact player or transfer. He was down to 0.8 this year, for some reason unable to maintain his 40% 3pt shooting. We all saw the open looks that didn't go down, so I don't blame that on Archie. De'Ron, as much as we love him, is still just a 1.3 PRPG!. Joey Brunk this year at Butler was a 2.5 PRPG!. Not a star, but that's at least the level of play that can keep up with other rosters' role players. If he were to come, that would be higher than anyone we have returning. He buys us two years of very good depth at a position that is difficult to fill. I think he'd be a huge get.

Props to Chris for using discretion with this information. Probably not easy not to share every piece of information he gets. But putting that info out there in December wouldn't have been a good decision on many levels. Both a gentleman and a scholar. I was with some Butler fans over the weekend. They are not happy with Jordan. They think they're basketball royalty now, and don't feel he is maintaining The Butler Way. They also have some weird hatred towards IU and call us rivals. I'll never get that. For the most part it feels like Indiana and Purdue fans cheer for Butler when we can. I have my thoughts on Brunk but I'll put them in the recruiting thread.

Kira Lewis will go to a very good program. He's already proven himself. Remember he reclassed, this was supposed to be his senior year in HS. USPS still makes fun of the mancrush I had on this kid. I'd be somewhat surprised if he comes here. But it would be awesome.

Just checking into my new favorite thread! Hope springs eternal or some $#!+.

I sure hope the team is amped for this game tonight. I'm more excited about this game than even the OSU game. The guys are playing looser, and playing to win. And having Wichita State come to town is awesome. They are a major program in the last decade, and another great non-conference game. They are playing winning basketball, too, going 13-3 over their last 16 games. And Greggggg knows how to coach in March. That's a reputation Archie used to enjoy as well. Maybe this will be a step in that direction? Will Romeo play? Will Justin get benched again? Will Devonte continue his ascension as de facto lead scorer going into next season? Will we see Rob shut down another star guard? Will I get a seat close to Ms. Marshall? I sure hope so. Go Hoosiers.

Sorry to hear about that. What county? Do you have an attorney? This pizza sandwich might have some advice for you. (I don't represent you, by the way.) PM me. And have fun at the game. Perfect time for parents and kids to go. And plenty of daylight to show her around campus. Get a picture of her at Sample Gates. Who knows? She might frame it some day.

I only filled out one bracket, and its 98th percentile right now. I know Purdue will probably win, but I'm still thrilled to have picked them to lose tonight. Love seeing Ja Morant seize the moment. Really too bad MSU, Minny, and Maryland are grouped so close.

MSU down by 1 at half. Maryland down by 6 at almost half. I think both will pull out the wins. Man if Izzo goes down early again, I don't know that he could shake the early choke reputation.