Stromboli

This Coach Adragna guy is really putting out some great videos. This is now the 4th on the season, and each kind of builds on the last. The things he points out in prior videos, he follows up to show new wrinkles. In his most recent breakdown of the Troy game, he hits on defensive assignments again, the in-bounds plays, offense against the zone (really interesting here), and then just some other stuff. And, just because I didn't post the last one, here's from the North Alabama game: Last year I did a decently long breakdown of my thoughts on the season, and why we just weren't built to compete from a talent standpoint as shown in the analytics from Bart Torvik (I use Torvik's site because it's free, but it's crunching the same data as Kenpom). One of the big take-aways was that IU just didn't have the horses. Using his "PORPAGATU" stat (points over replacement player adjusted per game at that usage), which basically puts the average player at a 1.0. If you come in above that, you're giving your team an advantage over the average. Of course under a 1.0 and you're a liability. Last year we had Juwan and Romeo each scoring very high, above a 4 score for each. After those two, we basically had placeholders. No other player on our team was really giving us an advantage. When you went to the rosters of the Sweet Sixteen teams, you'd have 4-6 players who had excellent PORPAGATU stats. *I get that the scheme/coaching can affect how efficient player can be individually--no stat will be perfect. Not looking for a debate on that. Of course, this season is very young, and so we really need some games to create the data to see any trends. After our first game, Al Durham was almost off-the-charts in efficiency after not missing a shot. At this point, we've got 4 games in and so we can start to get a feel for what we've got. The competition is obviously weak and so that might be inflating some of our numbers, but at least it will be a good starting point to follow along. Here's where we are after 4 games (you can click the pic I believe): Al has come back to earth, but still sitting at the top. Very nice spread of talent there, rather than haves and have-nots. How about Race Thompson, in 4th with a very healthy 3.7? Joey Brunk sitting at 2, which is very close to where he was at Butler, and one of the reasons I opined he'd be starting over De'Ron this year. Again, it's very early, and I'd expect those numbers to decrease as the defenses we play improve. But we have absolutely seen some development from last year, especially guys like Race and Damezi. Coming into the season I think the worry was whether our lack of a star would be a weakness or a strength. Thus far it appears it's a strength. The offense is better. As Coach Adragna says in his video, it's more interesting, and more fun to watch.

Some gems from Reddit: As an Evansville fan for the past 30 minutes, this is the greatest day of my life. Calipari about to refuse home and homes with the entirety of Indiana. Kentucky is 1-3 in their last 4 vs teams from Indiana. Pointed out: Kentucky paid $90,000 for this loss. Why is it called an upset if everyone's happy?

Don’t forget this great pic of Archie walking into Assembly Hall the first time.

Man, I’m bullish on this one. I think it’s been IU for some time. I have no sources beyond my own bias. Which is significant, lol. I think he likes our program the best. I think there’s enough connection (Ostrom, Race, Leal and Galloway) to make it easy. I think the absence of another 4/5 in the recruiting class helps, as does the presence of older guys to handle the 5 his freshman year. None of these programs are doing that great right now, so I don’t think he’s concerned with that. And that interview by Brent Tipton just felt very pro-IU. He really didn’t seem interested in talking about the other schools. But for IU he did, listing coaches and players by name and saying it felt like home. Reports are that his parents were engaged and enjoyed themselves. Of course he may choose Marquette. He and his family have been great through the whole process and so I’m sure we’ll wish him well. ...be a lot cooler if he came here though. Let’s stack talent all over the roster. I can’t wait for us to maintain a top 10 rank through a season.

Now this is interesting. Both Inside The Hall (by Ryan Corazza) and The Daily Hoosier (reposting Tony Adranga) have their film study feature. Both included the same defensive breakdown by IU that resulted in a PSU bucket. While Corazza blames Al for not covering the guy with the ball, Adranga breaks down assignments and attributes it to a miscommunication between Brunk and Thompson. For my money (exactly $0) I get more from Adranga. First, check the first slide by ITH: https://www.insidethehall.com/2019/11/11/film-session-portland-state/ Now watch the video by Adranga starting at 3:19:

And after three days.... Let’s resurrect this bish. We’re lucky that our giant fan base can support multiple content providers. One of the most thorough new guys is The Daily Hoosier. Rather than providing his own film study, he just linked an excellent video done by Tony Adragna. More than just showing the plays, he explains our system, and even trends he sees. I learned a ton just from this one video, and I really hope he keeps posting them after each game.

Mr Flynn sounds like a helluva guy. Nice words, Stuhoo. ... But the applicant sounds like a real jerk, if you ask me. The kind of guy that never washes his hands. Probably smells like dirty couch. Probably deals with excessive gas. That kind of guy. As for Marquette, I suppose I like the program. They are proud of their history and love basketball. Our kind of people. After the Vandy thing almost every other fan base looks good.

I mean. He definitely perks up a bit when talking about Indiana, no? Feels like he pumps the brakes when talking about any other school.

I hope everyone watched Archie's comments yesterday. He makes note that they've made some not insignificant changes to the offense. We'll see what those might be. Someone asked whether or not Archie could see Trayce playing his way into the starting lineup. Archie (in his own way) seemed taken aback and just responded that so far through all tracked practice Trayce leads in points scored, and by over 100 points. It's funny that Archie spends more time talking about Armaan, but it seems like Archie knows he's got a real player in TJD. I would expect we'll see a lot of Trayce. I also think everyone--the team, the coaches, the fans--have learned from the hype surrounding Romeo last year. Archie mentioned that Jerome is going to hit those shots he missed in the exhibition. He also mentioned Jerome's post-up game. I've talked about this before. Jerome might be working on his perimeter skills, but he defaults to post-moves. He's pretty tricky at finding his shot, and looks to score. Al was 3x as confident and at-ease during his interview. You can inject that right in my veins. The interviews from the players over the last couple years have been awful. Ready to see some personality and some moxie. As to Al, someone insinuated to Archie that Al would serve as a backup to Rob, and Archie again kinda prickled and made clear that Al is a much larger part of the team than just a backup PG. InsideTheHall did their usual pregame piece, and notes that WIU is a very good 3pt shooting team, I think it was top 20 in the country by percentage. But they don't really look to rebound or even play the inside game. Hard not to be reminded of the Sycamores and the Mastodons from a couple years ago. Man, what a kick in the junk that was. So maybe this will be a good measuring stick to see whether or not the defense really takes 3 years to install (groan). This is supposed to be the worst team we play all year, and so ideally we'll get a good look at everyone on the bench. GO HOOSIERS

Remember the article interviewing his coach? Talked about Dawson calling all the coaches personally to inform them of his decision to cut them? And also his mention of appreciating that MU has been recruiting him the longest? In my brain, Dawson wants to be a Hoosier, but also wants to treat Wojo et al. with some respect. So he's going back ASAP to personally inform Wojo he's out. Honestly I don't have a feeling that this is good or bad, but I did get caught up in the speculation that he was going to commit early this week. At least we get some game action tomorrow!

Get ready for the Jacquez Henderson show. Juuust to rub some salt in these wounds, Davide Moretti, Kira Lewis, and McKinley Wright are all listed on the SI.com Top 50 players list.

Appreciate the work, fellow--albeit inferior--sandwich. I can't do those things without getting emotional about it. IU would be 25th out of pure fandom. Nope, make that 24th, so Purdue could be 25th. Louisville would get docked because I'm mad at them for also pursuing Lander. Memphis because I want to build the narrative that NBA guys can't necessarily coach. And so on.

Maybe this was already discussed. Dre Davis played AAU with Indy Heat, same team as Ivey, Pack and Furst. Ivey of course has committed to Purdue and in my view projects to be a very good player for them (he was over 43% from 3 at EYBL, averaged over 14 ppg). There has been some rumbling that he would decommit, but that could just be speculative chatter. I went to watch some of the games at EYBL. Watching the game, Davis was the guy that got your attention. Just the most active and aggressive out there, making things happen. And then you'd look up who this kid is, and you'd see that he's got a (then) low rank and committed to Nebraska of all things. It really didn't fit. I think with that early commitment to a basic nobody team, nobody paid too much attention to him. But he absolutely showed out. Averaged 17.9 points, and 6.1 rebounds. Only 41% shooting, but still a guy making plays. Plays more like a small forward than a SG. Maybe Ivey got in his ear to go to Purdue? The Louisville offers to Dre and his little brother is an interesting wrinkle. Purdue fans seem to want to bank the scholarship, or find another big to keep the pipeline going there. With his now open recruitment, I'd bet there are some programs that would have liked to watch him play. I would not say that I got the impression that he's a star in the making. But he is a productive player, and effort alone can go a long way. As an aside... I'm pretty pro-player in all things. That said I really hope de-commitments don't become a common thing in CBB.

A good omen, dudes. This abomination finally broke. Poor past decisions are coming to an end. I'm taking my 5 and (almost) 2 year old. Gonna cheer for Jerome and his return. Take some obligatory pics at Sample Gates. Ogle coeds. And hang on to a hope that Bobby makes an appearance today, waves, and takes a seat in Assembly. Hoping for a good show!

Welp, I logged on and gave it a like.

This was not a coach decision. The players voted. I'm all for it. Frankly I'm more surprised by Al than Devonte, I'd never really pegged him as a leader. Devonte is a senior guard, and highest returning scorer. Exactly what we need. Whatever attitude he has is an asset. Most successful people have an edge. I know we Hoosiers love us some humility and all, but this team needs a little F-U swagger. As far as Archie believing in him, he always has. Remember Archie was intrigued by Green's play and attitude from the beginning. And his comments just a couple days ago showed that he intends to give Devonte more slack this year and just accept some bad with the good. In my opinion, this shows growth by Archie as well. My own diagnosis of the extremely poor shooting (like 311th? Last in the B1G?) was that the whole team had the yips. Archie was maybe uptight with all the expectations, and it rubbed off on the team. If a guy had an open 3, he still didnt want to take the shot. Btw, Devonte posted this last night.

Archie:

30% from 3 is losing basketball. At that rate don't guard him. Same with 40% from a long 2. This anecdotal junk completely ignores the trends and patterns that increase scoring efficiency, which helps IU reach this NCAA tournament fantasy. I've posted it before, but there's an article by ITH showing how Holtmann just left Smith unguarded, and it worked like a charm. This is not Justin's audition for the NBA. He needs to focus on rebounds, dump-offs, putbacks, and defense. He can get 12+ points a game like this, and help the team. Indiana fans aren't dopes. If he recreates himself like this and gives us some highlight dunks and jaw-dropping blocks, he'll be a fan favorite. https://www.insidethehall.com/2019/02/12/film-session-ohio-state-6/

His introduction at Hoosier Hysteria will be insane. Excited to see how he looks.

Now wait right there, Mr. Loaded Chicken Sandwich. This here forum's already got itself a sandwich, and yer lookin at him.

Trey in Bloomington this weekend

Indiana picked to finish 11th by Street & Smiths Ouch. That felt personal.

I have thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Jordan Geronimo. Our first out-of-stater in a few years. Fast riser. Funny the stress we had over Ethan Morton and even guys like Lester Quinones. This dude gets an offer 6 weeks ago, and now gives us all these great sound-bites and enthusiasm. The prototypical wing frame. 6'6", 7' wingspan, large hands. And athleticism. It feels like this guy is just now becoming self-aware, something that will happen over the years. A good opportunity for Archie to make a star. Now. Let's not go crazy. He had two great games in AAU, just put them together at the right time. Take a good look. Everyone talks about scoring over 20 points, but it happened twice over 17 games. He scored 3 pts or less 5 times within that same span. On the same circuit (different division) as Trey and Anthony, he averaged 3 fewer points per game than Anthony, and 7 fewer ppg than Trey. And Trey was shooting over 60%. My point being everyone needs to temper expectations here. Clifton Moore was supposed to be in the NBA by now. Jordan has shown much more actual good play than Clifton ever did, so it's definitely not the same. Just don't act like he's a failure if he isn't the next Vic. We have access to about 3 little highlight videos. The good news to me is that he is only just getting moved out to the wing, and so he's just now figuring out the position and how good he can be. The Inside The Hall article speaking to his HS coach spelled out what he really is, at this point: “He looks so much like many of the kids who were selected in this last NBA Draft. He’s long, athletic and he has a great stroke from behind the arc,” Pastore said. “He’s not only athletic up and down, but he’s athletic laterally. He’s an elite defender, he can cover at least four positions on the basketball court.” With St. Paul’s Gordon has taken note of Geronimo’s help-side defense and impeccable timing, which helped Geronimo become a strong presence around the basket. “I know our high school team doesn’t play in the Big Ten, but he has averaged 3 blocks a game for the last two years, which over 45 or 50 games, that’s a pretty impressive statistic,” Gordon said. To that effect, Pastore said most of Geronimo’s on-court time has been spent under the basket due to his size and wingspan. Only recently has the recruit made the long-term switch to the wing. The transition came in part last season with St. Paul’s. Gordon said Geronimo was slotted at the 3 or 4 spot for the Pelicans, but that position was always housed around the perimeter. His time playing on the outside increased this summer on the adidas Gauntlet circuit with Mass Rivals. As he started taking over more games with his scoring, the recruiting attention followed. “He can play the wing and be a ball mover, but he’s learning how to be really aggressive from the wing,” Gordon said. “How to shoot when he’s open, how to attack the hoop.” Geronimo’s on-court progression seems natural. Pastore views him as a positionless basketball player with the ability to be effective both inside battling for rebounds or outside contesting and shooting perimeter shots. “When you can cover multiple positions in college basketball, you’re going to find your way on the floor,” Pastore said. “I think that’s going to happen for him.” Those looking for Geronimo’s calling cards on the court can focus on two things, his defensive versatility and reliable 3-point shooting, according to Pastore. He's a 3-and-D guy, apparently. With the ability to be more. Some of these breathless scouting reports need to take about 15-20% off. I do think it's true that if he brings tenacity on defense, he'll see the floor. A couple words about the recruitment. You likely have seen the TDH article. Romeo spent a lot of time with Jordan, and even told him Archie and staff got him to the NBA. I also saw on reddit, young Jordan attended 3 different fraternity parties, lol. Awesome. Let him know what kind of celebrity he can be. Bloomington can get down. It's an fun place to spend college. Edit: Link at EB's request. Just a comment in the post about the commitment: A word about the team. We have something good here. A collection of likable guys investing in the program. Brunk is raising the workout intensity. Armaan hosted Jordan last weekend, and Romeo spent a lot of time with him. TJD has been very vocal in his support of guys we recruit. It feels like the team is growing, and some of the attitude stuff won't have a place anymore. I love it. About Matt Cross. I see we're in the stage where we trash the recruit we didn't get. Fine. I would have loved to have had him. I understand that Rabjohns reported that he was being recruited as a 4. I think we all put too much into that. He's a basketball player, and a good one. He is 6'7", which means he has very good size to be a versatile player. Calling him a "4" makes it sound like he was supposed to play Power Forward. He was not that. I've said elsewhere, if you actually watch him, he plays like a big guard. And he put up elite stats in AAU all season, stuff that top 5 guys do. Anyway, with my own opinion that he's a big guard, not a "4," it makes the loss not so bad. We have 3 good 4* wings committed for 2020. I'm not a fan of the oversign. So let's focus on a true big. Best of luck to Matt Cross. About Dakich. The text of his dumb tweet was Possibly something interesting happening w #iubb 65 replies14 retweets128 likes 1.) I've read a few hundred comments based on that tweet. The only purpose of the tweet was attention for Dan, and it worked tremendously. 2.) I really don't need anyone else to tell me whether or not I should like Dan. I have experiences and opinions, and I can use them to make up my own mind. I think he's trash. He's not a gentleman. We should aspire to be better. Recruiting, I'm pleased with what we have, but it's not enough to make us a top 10 team. We need more talent. At least one top 50 guy. Obviously Garcia would be ideal here. And frankly banking Loveday would be incredible, also. Hard to have experienced bigs if we don't get them on the roster now. And an hour ago Inside the Hall has posted a new highlight video of Jordan. Check it out. https://www.insidethehall.com/2019/09/04/video-jordan-geronimo-adidas-gauntlet-highlights/

Whaaaaaaat this is awesome! Big fan of this kid. Big fan of the team Archie is building! Let's goooooo!!!!