Stromboli

Ok, dudes. I fired up my googler and got to digging. There's this talk that IU needs to "compete with the big boys." I wanted to know just what is entailed to put together a championship roster. So I looked up the recruiting profiles of the last two championship teams, 2016 Villanova and 2017 UNC. I'm going to list starting five, along with their composite rank and height. VILLANOVA 2016 Brunson, #22, 6'2" Hart, #84, 6'5" Jenkins, #78, 6'6" Bridges, #86, 6'7" D. Reynolds, #369, 6'8" Average Composite Ranking = 127.8 UNC 2017 Berry, #30, 6'0" Williams, #92, 6'3" Jackson, #9, 6'8" Hicks, #16, 6'8" Meeks, #58, 6'10" Average Composite Ranking = 41 Not bad. If I had piles of time it would be interesting to see how this shapes up for the Final Four each year, too. Without looking, I can't imagine USC or Gonzaga are crazy high. Now let's take a shot at the Indiana starting five in 2018-2019. (Let's not argue on this, its just for demonstration) Phinisee, #96 Langford, #5 (now that Bagley reclassified) Hunter, #51 Thompson (total guess here), #101 Davis, #41 Average Composite Ranking = 58.8 Please note, even if you remove the outlier from Villanova's starting five (369), their average is 67.5. Then realize that we have waves of talent still on the roster, many top 100 guys as back-ups. Add in that perhaps we have ourselves a top tier coach, and I'd say talent on the roster won't be the issue. Really, neither will height. We're actually shaping up to be an athletic, long roster.

Some perspective... RP is ranked higher than Hartman, Morgan, Green, Newkirk, Moore, Durham, McSwain, and Thompson. These are all guys we expect to offer huge contributions to IU if not this year, then in the future. This won't be groundbreaking insight, but I have learned that there is huge value in actually watching these recruits play. The talent literally pops, and you can see which players are in control, know where they need to be, see the action, etc. I've only seen RP's videos, and will agree that there's nothing too exciting. Given his high ranking, as well as the unwavering interest by the staff, I'm more than happy to give him the benefit of the doubt. Remember, this staff isn't married to every recruit that comes through. Lots of guys that wanted to come, but Archie let walk. Moretti, the Minnesota PG, Jallow, I'm sure I'm forgetting many others. This staff legitimately wants Phinisee, and I have to believe that has something to do with the way he handles himself on the floor, not just on highlight reels. I happened by the OSU forum yesterday. They very much want RP, almost treating him as one of their keystones. Count me in the group that would love to get a commitment from RP. Frankly, we need him.

I got the reference. But that's a pro thing. Drafts are about acquiring assets--that can be traded--as much as filling roster spots. College basketball doesn't have trades, and you only get 5 players on the floor. A good PG can't back up DD.

Brad Stevens is speaking at my church today. Absolute pandemonium! Huge Church (St. Luke's United Methodist), but it's standing room only. Traffic was backed up almost a mile. Husbands in the traffic line were abandoning their families to jog it in with the kids, leaving mom to park the minivan. Blue is here. Kids aren't even going to Sunday School, opting for the service. More chaos than Christmas or Easter. Indiana, man.

Do you ever watch high school ball videos, and wish your college team moved the ball that well?

I remember the Indiana Kentucky All Stars game, the game in Kentucky found an Indiana squad without 5 of its players, so only 8 on the roster. Still, he managed 0 points.

Huge chance I'll try to get there. This will be fun.

Oh man! What a day! What is this event called? Will there be a problem getting tickets at the door? EDIT: I see now. Forum Tipoff.

Ha! I love reading Purdue's expectations. They like to use quasi-arithmetic to add up all the reasons that they are the best program in the Big Ten, and why this is the year they'll get to the Final Four. Every time they miss out on a recruit it's "yeah but he wasn't that good." With Trevion, it's "we're Big Man U, wait till CMP gets ahold of him." Their self-ordained "Big Man U" thing is simultaneously obnoxious and a little cute.

Uhh. I'm not that cool with fat-shaming a 17 year old kid. It's likely a reflection of the kinds of foods that have been made available to him through his life. On some level I like to think we're a little classier around here. Besides, when he backed that dude down with an atomic hip check he created enough space that vertical wasn't needed.

Nice summary and perspective. It's true that we should be thrilled already, and still have a very real shot at having the best class we've had in years. In Archie's FIRST class. Side note. Conceptually, it's easier for me to call Race a 2018 Recruit. That's when he'll play, and those are the guys he'll be graduating with. Some Hot Takes: Justin Smith will graduate with over 1200 points, and about 12 clutch plays/thunderous dunks that will become part of Hoosier Lore. Jerome Hunter will develop into a key cog on a team that sees a deep tourney run. In five years Kentucky will be begging us to do a home-home series.

Mods, let me know if I'm getting too far off topic here. I'd imagine most of us quelled our frustrations with Crean's Swan Song of 16'-17' by following the incredible story of Yogi's success in Dallas. It came just at the right time. Here's a video of how a smaller player can be effective. This is Yogi starting against the reigning champ Cavs, while on his first 10 day contract. The Mavs were bad, and the cynic would say Yogi, fresh from the D-League, got the start as part of an aggressive tank by Cuban. As in his Instagram post, Yogi said "Not Today!" and led the Mavs to a victory against Cleveland. Active hands, awareness, getting under Kyrie's skin. Taking the ball from LeBron. This highlight vid shows Yogi's defensive highlights in addition to his points/assists.

Posting only because it is pertinent to the topic. Yogi just posted this a few days ago. Edit: Man I love Yogi. I agree that he's the exception, not the rule. Otherwise there wouldn't be benches calling "baby in the post" when he's on the floor. Anyone who says height/length isn't a real advantage in basketball just isn't being real.

Guys I hate to be contrarian, but I have a different view of Juwan. As IU got to the point last year where it was clearly a lost season (at some point we're all going to go back and reflect on just how dark it got), Juwan seemed like the only guy on the floor trying. Seriously he behaved like he wanted to win when no one else did.

What do you have against our happiness? To be clear, he is a 2019 releasing a Top Ten? That's funny. 247 shows that the only visit that has occurred was from Archie in June. That may have coincided with a visit to Jerome. Looks like UNC offered the day before his Top Ten was released. UNC already has 2018 commitment from Coby White, an extremely talented PG that just moved up the rankings to around #25, so not much playing time there. OSU offered, but they're the hometown team and he may not be into that. Purdue probably nauseates him, so no issue there. Considering the entirely empirical evidence that our logo is the most prominent in the edit, his assumed bro Hunter committed, he's issuing Top Tens two years out, and certain roster holes that may exist, I'm concluding that Mr. Francis intends to reclassify (it's so hot right now) to 2018 and commit to IU, likely today so he can jump any other pending PG offers. This will cause the Second Commitment Bonanza of 2017, whereby Romeo and Moses get nervous about losing their spot, also committing within 24 hours. It's gonna be a good day, Boys.

With all due respect, the notion that length has nothing to do with defensive potential is just wrong. I suppose you can call it an assumption, but that doesn't mean it's not true. Its basketball. A good defender who is undersized is an anomoly. I can't even believe we're arguing this. NBA measures height, wingspan, and standing reach. All else being equal, give me the guy that appears to have the tools to play both ends. Teams know we will switch on defense. Having a 6' guy creates a ***** in the armor to be exploited.

First, let's remember that we come to love our players for the most part. Morgan was ranked around 110, and some of us feel he's going to be our best player this year. Hartman was like 205, and when he announced he was coming back there was some whacky chatter about what it meant for our success as a team. If we pull in Phinissee, he's going to get the same love, and may be an impactful player. I don't see us in the running for Garland. He's got his head in the clouds. Good for him, a young man with his prodigious talent can afford to think in those terms. But his interviews have him talking about "creating a super team" with other freshmen, as if maybe he hasn't realized the buzzsaw he's about to run into in college ball. He's always talking about working on his pick and roll game, because that's what they need in the NBA. The point is that he just doesn't seem dialed into his college choice. He doesn't care about candy stripes or any of that. Basically, I just don't see him being sold on IU. Out of Devoe, Akinjo, and RP, I don't have a strong preference. Each has attributes. If I had to pick, I'd say Devoe. I'm trying to view each player as 50% offensive and 50% defensive. And Devoe has the length to help us build a shutdown defense. Let's get our work done on defense. Again, no strong preference. Any will be welcomed.

And if he were, what are the chances we'd still be under CTC?

So it's hard not to like his production at Peach Jam, the best young players in the nation. He is higher on assists than anyone else we're offering (that's just a guess...). And 18.7 ppg at Peach Jam for the facilitator says something. I really try not to get caught up in comparisons like this, but his game is very Yogi-like. Fast, abrupt step-backs or drives to create just enough space to get a shot off. He even ran up the floor with the ball to the 3pt line and knocked one down, just like the Yogs. Do I want this guy? Well. I want a PG. Phinissee is pretty well accepted not to be a huge contributor for a few years. Akinjo is likely more day-one ready. I can't see that he is leaps and bounds ahead of Devoe, and Devoe seems to have the build for Archie's pack-line. If Akinjo were to commit, I'd be thrilled. Get him in here and start building this thing. Also, FYI, I saw in an interview it is pronounced "AkinYO."

Duuuuude don't ruin it by reading this thread! This show is too awesome. SPOILERS The whole Bran character has been snoozeville for me ever since he took his tumble from the tower. Just the most boring storyline and I really hope the whole darn story doesn't get solved through some dumb magic. His lines this last episode were the moooooost boring. Dani has kinda turned into a beach. Her whole insistence that Jon Snow bend the knee based on her richard-head father's claim sucks. And yeah she's getting worked right now in the battles, too. That incestuous wench Cersei is on a scorched earth tear. Weirdly little Samwell at the Citadel is the one really keeping things going for the good guys. I'd prefer to see him get the victories over Red Woman (please like 2 more topless scenes before she dies) or dumb Bran. Check out the Ozzy Reviews guy's episode reviews, they're actually pretty good.

As a guy that looked around this season as the Hoosiers did their nose dive, this site is far and away the best option. I joined because I like the membership, information, and generally respectful and lighthearted discussion. It does seem like all of a sudden things got chippy in the last 2 weeks.

Can we get that phrase censored on here? I would hate for my kid to see it. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using BtownBanners mobile app

Archie lurrrrves Dariuses.

I'm a huge fan of Henry, and really thought he could contribute on the floor. And it's not like just Damezi "took his spot," IU has 5 brand new guys at the 6'7" to 6'10" range. I agree that Damezi fills a role here that we need. This team is bereft of scorers. Now we've got a few wings that like crashing in, but no one that fills that niche that Damezi does. And it's super rare to get a shooter that also possesses this kind of length on the defensive end. He's a great piece to the team. And finally, kind of the silver lining to the Plight of Aaron Henry... His story may well serve as a reminder to other recruits that if CAM offers, you may want to jump on it. It's not all bad that in this story, we're seen as the hard-to-get offer.