Stromboli

Game of Thrones. The last two seasons kind of wasted what they had built, but it's still the greatest show ever created. Just the scale of it was insane. Someone said Deadwood. Agree. Peak HBO. Firefly! The greatest series that never was. "My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." Letterkenny. Anyone else watch this? It's a Canadian show that probably wasn't supposed to be anything, but it's kind of blown up. Definitely my favorite thing on TV now. If you start watching, just skip S1E3. You'll be quoting this show immediately. Pitter patter! And then reality TV, I'll take Alone.

I'm all for looking at things with a critical eye, but you guys saying we should have trashed Assembly Hall are nuts. All but maybe 5 programs in the country wish they had an arena steeped in history and environment like ours. It is a total asset to our program. And now with a plush locker room. Edit to add: Remember they guys aren't living in Assembly Hall. The fans' access to restrooms at halftime won't sway a recruit, or get a player to close out faster. Improvements should come to their day-to-day stuff. Easy access to training (tubs, massage, rehab, etc) at times convenient to a college student. High quality meals and frankly eating environment can add a lot to the experience. Feed them well. Little stuff like modern practice clothes and warm-ups they can wear and like. Sound systems around their living areas, TVs to watch games and gaming. Again, high quality food in these areas. Bathrooms that aren't awkward. Study halls that give the college experience. Comfortable travel, ideally done smoothly so kids aren't sitting on a hot bus breathing exhaust for 45 minutes before they leave. Film rooms that are modern and encourage them to learn it. I think Archie realizes most of this, and hopefully addressing it with Glass. Anyone with input would be appreciated.

What about according to Cincy's twitter page?

Yeah, I'm curious... How big is Van Zyl's parents' house? And what were his middle school cross country times? This stuff matters.

Looks like we need to make a few things clear: 1. Bribery is accepted. Even encouraged. PM me for details. 2. I'm just looking for a reason to ban Old Fart and his blathering. I'll do it for half price. 3. Chris007 is appointed Master of Whisperers. USPS will be referred to as Grand Maester Parcel. 4. Alaska can stay. Alaska, let me know if you had any trouble finding my Venmo. 5. There is now an Official Food of BTOWNBANNERS (the "OFBTB"). Any derogatory statement pertaining to the OFBTB will be a bannable offense. Incidentally, the stromboli is the OFBTB, as recently appointed by at least one mod. -Mgmt

Alright, maggots! Time to shape up, 'cause this pizza sandwich just got deputized!

jbell, appreciate the information, but it is inconistent with what else is out there. IndyKev from HSN is a Cutter of some sort and gives reports of what he encounters in town. On June 7 he posted: "I saw DeRon walking yesterday ( counldnt get photo ). Appears to have lost a lot of weight, including his Kilroy Sports gut he was carrying around. He looked really good. We need a big season from him. I hope we finally get one in his last." And then on June 12 he posted this: "Update. I just talked with DeRon. Down 20 pounds. Dude looks skinny to last year DeRon. He said he is working hard to get it off and wants his last year to be a great one. The kid looked impressive. Best body I've seen him have here, in any year." As others have noted we've got plenty of pictures, and De'Ron is looking good. I hope everyone remembers that when Archie got here, De'Ron was the guy he seemed most jazzed about (and Devonte after that). I have no doubt the staff is excited about Joey. Having both guys playing well just helps this team immensely. Would love to see the sophomores make some strides this year. The only reason this roster has holes is because we don't trust the sophomores yet. For me, the most fun "what-ifs" come from Jerome and Damezi. I'd love to know what Damezi is doing this year to get up to speed.

Nah. You all have access to the Summerball Talent Rating and Observation Metric (the S.T.R.O.M.), which accurately predicted both the rise of Cross and the fall of Morton.

I think it's roster mismanagement if you don't have two big bigs to cycle in. At least 6'10". It has very little to do with offense, but everything to do with defense. You can still score if you have 5 guards. But if the other team has a big, you have to have the guys to defend him. By its nature the defenders in the lane pick up fouls, and so you really need two of them. I've mentioned before that Archie really got hamstrung this year by playing Juwan at the 5, and then having his best player on the bench for huge periods of time. Positionless as a term gets tossed around far more than as a true strategy. I think a better way of saying it is that you want versatile players. Of course everyone wants the 6'9" players that can pass, drive, shoot the 3, and defend 1-5. Duh? There just aren't many of them. Rob Phinisee wouldn't excel on a "positionless" team, but if Rob Phinisee wants to commit to you and take on the traditional PG role, then by golly you let him. You scheme around the talents of your players. For the advanced analytics guys, the NBA has prioritized running data to see which players complement each other, and then basing lineups on that. I think it's called the Net Rating. This is the origin of the GSW "death lineup." Also, you guys may remember a couple years back, Yogi teamed up with Dirk to form the unlikely most efficient (although seldom used) lineup in the NBA. Archie has made glancing comments in the past about seeing how guys play with each other to determine lineups, and so it's possible that he's keeping this data himself. The "PG/SG/SF/PF/C" terminology is hokey and dated, but I think we all know what it means. Just as easy to use the 1-5 designation and get your point across. It's just a quick way of communicating a player's attributes. Another interesting take is the guy that used his company's mapping algorithms and determined there are 13 positions. The article itself hasn't gained much traction, but it's just another way of saying that what you really want are good basketball players, rather than pigeon-holed traditional roles. https://www.wired.com/2012/04/analytics-basketball/

Trayce is a big kid. Archie said at the winery thing that arriving last week he measured at 6'9 3/4" in shoes, 245. That weight is carried in the "center of power" too. In case you cant tell, that's Trayce next to Dale Davis, who banged against the best of them. Also, it shouldn't go unnoticed how Trayce has interacted with Indiana fans. Hes 100% behind the program. Recruits all those other guys (unsuccessfully) on social media. Now posts pics of he and Armaan saying "best friend." And with 1/10th the fanfare of Romeo. To me he's an A+ on how he's handled it so far. Armaan seems like a great kid too.

He chimed in...

Then maybe avert your gaze from this nugget. In case you didn't see it, Jerome was responding to rumors he wont be back:

RealIU returns.

From today. People in the comments interpreted it to mean hes coming back.

Alright alright alright

, he said with a sinister grin. He sipped his prune juice, adjusted himself, and remarked, "Yes, it's all starting to work nicely."

Good morning, dudes So I got to Grand Park for EYBL yesterday. I only spent a couple hours there, and missed a few of our targets like Nimari Burnett and RJ Davis. My biggest takeaway is that star-power was largely absent from the event this year. That's half because the coaches weren't allowed to be there, which makes the entire thing seem less like a show and more like watching scrimmages. And half because the players just aren't as exciting this year. There were no must-see players like there have been in the past. Even the pockets of NBA guys just standing around yucking it up were gone. (For all I know Friday/Saturday were better) I made sure I checked out the IU targets I knew about. By far Matt Cross was the most noteworthy. First the bad. The only thing I came away with was that he's in that tweener size like Justin Smith. He's a 6'7" "Power Forward" that doesn't really play from the perimeter or play back-to-the-basket. He cannot play 5 and shouldn't play 3, but doesn't have the length for a B1G 4. Afterwards I saw--as WayneFleek pointed out--his efficiency is pretty awful. Not a great look to take that many shots, with that many misses, and have a losing team. Otherwise, he was easily the best player on the floor. He plays heads-up ball, so he's affecting the game on every possession on both ends of the floor. Willingly fights in the lane. Definitely athletic; more of a smooth athleticism than plain explosive, but he moves like a basketball player. So in my view, the reason he was getting so many shots (and points) is because he was working for them. Every possession down, he'd fight his man and give the PG an easy pass to get it to him, and then he'd try to make a shot. The others 3 weren't moving much. It really seemed that he was trying to help his PG make a safe pass. Now, should he have tried to distribute more? I don't know, maybe. Or maybe the coach wanted him shooting. Anyway, he was the best player on the floor. As for the other guys I watched, nothing popped off the page. Jaden Ivey was probably my favorite other player to watch, unfortunately. I wasn't there long enough to come away with opinions I'd trust. It is fun to go to these things, though. You see a real slice of life, with these kids fighting to make the dream come true, as some pretty deranged parents/handlers scream from the sideline. But then between games, you see the kids shuffle along in slides and hoodies and realize just how young they are. Nothing like the braggadocio you'll see on social media or how some fans want to view them. They're just sleepy, insecure kids.

Sorry to hear that USPS. I'll be there at some point this weekend. The ITH article today had some new names. I'll try to peek at all of them.

Maaaaaan this place is chippy today. Edit: Even the usually even-keeled posters are pushing back. Nothing even going on right now.

Likely not. He just registered at HSN as Bedford1432. Four posts in 7 minutes. Stuhoo ran him off!!

Lol. Good catch. Even has the exact same "Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk" at the end of each post.

I don't know, you'll have to ask the gurus, I didn't speak with them. Just giving my opinion. And since it's maybe the only time I've made public a negative opinion on a recruit, and that same recruit is likely committing to our rivals, you bet your sweet bippy I'm going to recall that public negative opinion. What did you see about Morton that made you so salty about missing on him?

Guys, Archie went to watch this kid play last week with NY Ren. Morton was supposed to be the star 6'6" PG that would blossom in AAU this year after having an underwhelming year playing up last year. Instead Archie capped the weekend by offering his teammate; a better PG. Purdue didn't jump in with their fresh Sweet 16 banner and steal a kid on the rise. We won't know how the Leal/Galloway offers play in here. Did Archie get wind Morton wasn't interested, or did Morton get wind that Archie was moving in another direction? We do know that Archie offered Leal AND Galloway AND Davis before any notion Morton was announcing soon. Before I'm called a hypocrite/sour grapes whatever. December 6, 2018, I posted in this thread: I really haven't understood the hype. How many of you lamenting another Archie recruiting failure have actually watched the kid and determined that he's a difference maker? Well put. And I don't want to hate on Morton too much. D1 coaches think he's D1 capable. And the only bad thing about choosing Purdue is that you have to be a Boilermaker, otherwise I can't hate on their program either. I don't think this one would sting as much if we weren't in the midst of a slew of rejections.

I'm not really holding out hope here. But for guys like Old Friend and others that want to vilify kids, this at least shows that they're wanting to win at IU at the same time they're working towards individual goals. Article from Memphis newspaper: Indiana made a big impression when Quinones and his family traveled to Bloomington for his official visit. He called it his favorite visit of the ones he’s taken with his family during the process. Relationships with coach Archie Miller and strength coach Clif Marshall were enhanced on the official visit. They emphasized family and bringing a championship back to Indiana. “It was different," Quinones said of the time in Bloomington. “At that visit I feel like I bonded with the returning players better than at any of the other visits. Jerome Hunter, De’Ron Davis and Devonte Green and all those guys just want to bring Indiana back to where it used to be. Hanging banners and stuff like that.” https://dailymemphian.com/section/sports/article/4907/Quinones-decision-could-impact-the-rest-of-Penny-Hardaways-recruiting

There have been a few of us going against the grain on Morton the whole time. I never saw why the fanbase had so much hype for this kid. Like Stuhoo just pointed out, the kid really doesn't produce in AAU. He's outshined by everyone else out there. If anything, his assists stick out, but that will happen when you're kicking to a kid hitting 67% from 3 (RJ Davis). There's no doubt he's a D1 level player. Lots of coaches want him. And props to Purdue for getting the early commitment. They have earned it. Painter is on a real hot streak the past few seasons. Honestly at some point the recruiting will have to catch up with their success. Archie is a whale hunter. He's going after impact players. Get 2 impact guys a year, and you'll eventually have a very talented team. Outside of Romeo, we're definitely having a rough go with getting some top guards. Let's stay on it. Two impact recruits a year builds a good team.