Stromboli

I like this video from the ITH article. It shows his possessions on missed shots, too, which really helps get an idea for how he plays.

JBJ has dreamt of playing pro ball for years, and so is easy to see him want to make the jump. I feel like I'm in the minority in that I love having him out on the floor. He is a legitimate star, but somehow we've never treated him that way. If I'm not looking at the situation through my crimson colored glasses, he's probably going to go. I can't get a read on TB. I know that this year was a major punch in the balls for him. If he goes, it is easy to see his high school bud CuJo go too. I will say, the guys on the team are very close, and I think they believe that they are very talented and have a shot to do some damage next year. In conclusion.... I have no idea what's going to happen. I just like IU basketball.

YEEEEESSSSSS. This makes my day. Justin Smith plays angry. He uses his body to create space and goes up aggressively. Plays spacing well like a wing should, looks for all kinds of shots. From what I understand of Archie's defense, Smith's physical style will translate well. Excellent size. Good kid, good family. Wants to go to business school. Seriously this is a program building type move. I'm not usually prone towards hyperbole but I honestly believe that Smith is going to be a bigger contributor for us than OG, Juwan, or Troy. He has tools, size, aggression, flat demeanor, and seemingly the right mindset. He played good competition and showed very consistent production. Jordan Tucker has a higher ranking, but honestly doesn't seem like his spot shooting and hands-off play will translate to the Big Ten. Clifton Moore is a giant "maybe" at this point, but from what I've seen doesn't play real hard. Justin Smith is the real deal. I love it.

Help is on the way!!

Yeah? I learned that the atomic bombs were really what saved Japan from devastation. Had we not dropped them in an awesome show of power, we would have been engaged instead in a long, bloody battle on their homeland that would have wrecked their population, culture, and infrastructure. Instead we kept Japan mostly intact, as we were just then getting all the way across the Pacific. And regarding Germany.... what are you going to do. It was a 6 year war, and it took all 6 to win it. Clumsy bombing techniques like loading huge B-17s with tons of bombs and dropping in the vicinity of the target was the best we could do, hence the damage. Aaaaaanywho... Did we ever reach a consensus on whether or not Aver's is any good?

Does anybody read Sun Tsu's "Art of War"? Basically the most successful outcome to a conflict is to win, and to preserve as much as possible. It makes no sense to take a city that you have just blown up the infrastructure, pissed off the subjects, and burned all the resources. Archie came in with a preservation objective, and I think it is the right one. Keep the team in tact, keep the recruits he had. Build from there. Let 2018 be the first class of Archie's guys. And 2017 is going to be very good regardless.

Let it rain!! Rain dance!!!

After my post earlier today in support of Gelon, it does seem like he's out. Especially with All coming, and Grant's absence in the video. Al Durham has been pumped about being a Hoosier for a long time. Easy guy to cheer for.

Good point about roster balancing. But those spots don't have to be freshmen. He can get transfers that may bring more experience. We are obviously over-committed right now. What's nuts is that this is with recruits decommitting. Crean still had additional offers on the table! Two months ago we were all waiting for Jordan Tucker to commit to be the 4th in the class, and hoping we could land Mark Smith too. What the heck.

First off, if you followed Mr. Gelon on Instagram you'd know he's already met a nice girl. She's a total smokeshow, and she's crazy about him. I thought about posting a pic, but feel that's a little creepy and over the line. Just take my word, Grant is doing just fine. Next, best case for Mr. Gelon would be to work himself into a productive role at Indiana. He has good size and good athleticism (hard to know this since he got very few minutes this year). He came in as a shooter, and was 60% from 3 this year. There is no reason he can't be a Zeisloft guy as he gets older. Zeisloft became a huge part of a great team. Lastly... This is just me, but I feel like your post is an example of why there is some hesitation to call IU a great place to play. Indiana fans seem just as happy to turn against their own players as to cheer for them. That, to me, is not a good fan. A good fan accepts the players and hopes for them to play well, not to get replaced by a better prospect. We hated when Crean dumped his own guys. Indiana high school coaches hate it. And I'm sure that the players hate it. I'm going to coin a new phrase here. Let's Crean the Crean. We are going to be VERY LUCKY to have our team next year be the same guys as last year. Let's be grateful for that. From the looks of it, we may have the exact same guys, with the addition of Justin Smith and Collin Hartman (OG is gone, but he was out anyway). Add to this a season of maturity and experience, and ideally better coaching and defense. Let's realize we're in a better position now than last year, and not turn against our own guys. Then go all in on dissecting the 2018 class, which will be huge and won't require dumping our own guys.

I've never been into Mother Bears. Really more of a stromboli at Nick's guy... Guys , Moore and Durham aren't cant-miss recruits (even though Durham seems like an awesome kid). And we have enough talent on this team that we don't need freshmen beyond Smith next year. It goes way further to miss out on these recruits but build the team-first mindset. For our players to buy in, Archie needs their trust. "Creaning" is a snide term with negative connotation. Let's drop it from the program.

I was a Pizza Express guy. I'd get the "Big Ten" for $8.88. Large sausage pizza, breadsticks, and two drinks. Eat half for dinner and the other half for lunch the next day. I thought it became Hotbox Pizza? Interesting to hear Archie say that Justin Smith is just 50/50, although maybe he was just being political. Also interesting to hear him all but confirm that there won't be any transfers as far as he can tell.

Yeah I think Justin Smith will be the best college player of the three. He plays angry and physical. Has a propensity for plays that demoralize the other team. Seems to understand floor spacing and timing to be a great wing. We need physical guys like him to compete against MSU and other tough teams.

I hope we can narrow down some talent that is 6'10" and above. Having an unending supply of guards and wings is great, but it's hard to compete without at least two competent bigs on the roster.

I'm excited for the direction we're going, but some of this talk is nuts. It's looking like we'll have the same guys, minus 1 or 2 of our best players. Archie is (probably) better than Crean, but Crean wasn't wholly ineffective. And remember these guys stunk. These exact players, and lost repeatedly. I think it would be wise to temper expectations for a few years.

Priller is living the best days of his life, and he doesn't even have to be good at playing basketball. Why would he go? And Gelon is staying. He posted this yesterday.

I think, with CAM, we're moving beyond the days of "dumping" players. CAM has stated that each guy brings value, and he's going to invest in them. Shows good leadership for the team and fanbase. If it means we have to eat a scholarship offer that doesn't pan out, then so be it.

I'm not actually in the workouts, but do take interest in the information provided from the team. From what I see, I have to disagree with you. Those sand box workouts are an excellent way to strengthen all the ligaments and supporting muscles in your legs specifically to prevent injury. It gets them off the hardwood and out of their shoes, which provides more wear and more restriction on their movement. The sandbox stuff is really state-of-the-art stuff. They also do a lot of olympic weightlifting workouts, which--properly taught--are crucial to overall health. For example, a well coached squat (a$$ to grass) and deadlifts will make everything stronger, including knees, and make for a strong posterior chain (hamstrings, basically everything along the backside). This makes the strength more balanced and prevents the most common injuries. Combine in cleans/******/jumps and you get more explosive power coming from the hips. I know it seems like we get a lot of blown knees, but I really think this is a time that correlation does not imply causation. I'm not a huge fan of Lyonel Anderson's sideline antics, but I do think he does a very good job conditioning the team.

Let's say Thomas goes. That makes us pretty shallow at the 5. We have a ton of guards, but no pure PG after Newkirk graduates. Some definite holes. Al Durham is still pretty heavily involved in all things IU on Instagram. I really think that after Justin Smith, he's going to take the next opening. That makes the Wright/Smith/Bamba odds look pretty long.

Gave me goosebumps. Weird to have this much hope two weeks after this terrible season ended.

This is giant. We've got some players. We're going to have a team! When can CAM start actually working with them?

Grant Gelon just put an IU pic of himself shooting. Could be interpreted as an announcement that he's still committed to the program. Also the dudes seem to be enjoying their time in the gym together. DD posted with JBJ, McSwain and Green. Neat to see them all hanging out.

His first name isnt Archie, it's Ryan. I didn't see anything.

How do we know it didn't go Spuds>Irish>Notre Dame>Paris>Hilton>Sex Tape>Kim Kardashian>Reggie Bush>USC>Different USC>Final Four>Phoenix>Dumbledore>Magic>Oladipo>Came back for his junior season?

Pancakes > Syrup > Maple Syrup > Maple > "May pull"> I may pull on my candy stripe pants again for next year. Best news of the day!!