Honkyman

IMO, it is worth having Peter Jerkin (who started and averaged 7.5 points his senior year at East Tennessee State), Jeremiah April, and Tim Priller sitting at the end of the bench if it means IU also brings in a Victor Oladipo or an OG Anunoby. What difference does it make whether it is Peter Jerkin sitting at the end of the bench or Jake Forrester? Coach Knight used to always recruit players who sat on the bench (except when he wanted to teach a rotation player a lesson). Some of them became role players by the end of their time at IU--but not all of them. Crean is no longer the problem at IU and nobody should be blaming him for players he recruited who are still on the team. I hope we can focus on next year rather than 3-4 years ago.

How could it impact the APR? Those three recruits were not yet enrolled at IU. The point is Miller could have pushed one or more additional recruits out (in addition to Grant Gelon) and brought in players he recruited himself. But he chose to keep those three and who can blame him? All three have talent. He was familiar with Al and Justin having seen them play on the recruiting trail. And, Al and Justin have been regular contributors. It is only Moore who has sat on the bench although this past year he didn't look too bad when he played and played hard.

The coach is responsible for everyone on the team whether he recruited them or not. Its his team. Miller pushed one player out when he came aboard and he could have pushed Moore out as well if he didn't think he had the potential to help the team. As for talent this year, this year's team had a top ten recruit, an all Big Ten player, two top 100 players and several players ranked just on the other side of the top 100. IU had more talent than several of the teams that defeated them. This year's team had enough talent to make the NCAA tournament (and should have) as evidenced by some of the teams they beat, including crushing Marquette and defeating Michigan State twice. Teams without talent don't beat the teams they beat.

I knew about the law school part although (as a law school graduate) I don't think it would be too hard to do both. Lots of people have worked their way through law school taking more than the usual three years. Does anyone know why he is leaving Butler?

Which rumor are we invalidating? That Brunk is going to law school while he plays for IU or that Brunk is even considering IU?

Moore played several times and didn't look bad. Same with Forrester. They have work to do but both showed promise. More importantly, they played hard, harder than some of the starters. They should do as individuals whatever they feel is in their own best interests as far as staying or transfering. But I wouldn't be so dismissive. There are no 2019 recruits where we are frontrunners or even more than a long shot. We lose three players and we're down to nine scholarship players (assuming Romero goes pro). Plus we don't know yet whether Hunter will be available. If there are injuries next year, we could have a pretty short bench.

Michael Lewis was a great shooter in high school--led the state in scoring, as I recall. He was willing to take on the roll as distributor at IU and was one of the all-time great point guards. He would make an excellent assistant coach and one who could convey the IU culture perhaps better than the other assistants who are there.

Its hard to predict we will be better next year given how we played this year (including against Ohio State in the Big 10 Tournament and Wichita State in the NIT) and what we've got coming back. We lose our two best players. We have one starter recruit coming in with Trayce Jackson-Davis who may be a better defender but not likely a better scorer than Morgan. We will still lack consistent shooters/scorers, good free throw shooting. Maybe the backcourt steps up with a year of experience, maybe Hunter becomes the player everyone hoped, maybe we convince another starter type recruit to come to IU, maybe our team will figure out how to better defend 3-point shooting. Maybe Miller starts to coach at a level everyone expected. But we can't count on any of those things.

This game epitomized the season: inability to hit shots, inability to hit free throws, inability to defend against the 3-point shot, too often lackadaisical effort. Now IU loses its two best players. We're getting one starter recruit in Trayce Jackson-Davis who may be a better defender than Juwan Morgan but not likely a better scorer. It's a stretch to predict that the team will be as good as this year's team given who is coming back. Maybe Al, Rob, Devonte, and Justin will become consistent shooters/scorers but what are the odds? Coach needs to lose that way too predictable weave offense because it rarely seems to put players in a position to score.

Too early to say. The team looks better without Romeo than most would have predicted. But we're not beating NCAA teams in the NIT. In other words we're not beating teams at the level of Michigan and Purdue or even Ohio State that we will need to beat to make the NCAA tournament next year. We will have some of the same liabilities next year as this year, e.g., inadequate 3-point shooting. We don't know how Hunter will be next year. And, we don't know how ready Jackson-Davis will be at this level. Romeo certainly didn't live up to expectation (which were unfair and unrealistic). We could use one more really good player.

Neither Mack nor Holtman were offered the IU job. Its possible they made their preferences known but Archie Miller was the only candidate offered the job.

Romero deserves the benefit of the doubt. He had an injury and he's sitting out until he feels he is ready to play. Back injuries can be difficult to recover quickly from. I don't know why there is all this discussion. Who cares if some fan thinks he's faking it? Besides, without Romero we're getting a taste of next year's play and its not as bad as some thought it might be. Substitute Trayce Jackson-Davis for Juwan Morgan and you've basically got next year's team. (OK we'll also be without McRoberts and Fitzner who have both looked decent in the NIT).

It's not coincidence that Green's increase in scoring has occurred during IU's winning over the past several weeks. Since the Wisconsin game, Green has shot 55% from 3-point range while the rest of the team has shot 22%. His 3-point shooting has kept the team in several games. Without Green, Indiana would have lost more games and might not have even made the NIT. Indiana will need Green's good play to continue to win during the NIT and next year.

I seem to remember that Coach Miller had a home visit with Trenton Watford and family. Was that the end of the recruitment.

Devote Green's solid play is one of the reasons for IU getting back on track at the end of the year. He almost bailed IU out against Ohio State with 26 points. And, St. Francis' lead would have been even greater without Devonte's 3-point shooting the first half.

Both Noah Vonlee and Thomas Bryant must have benefited from their time in the G League since both became NBA starters.

What does this conversation about Damezi Anderson have to do with 2019 recruiting? Just curious.

We would have been better with Keion Brooks than without him. But the team's performance in January and February hurt us. Had Brooks announced in the fall like Jackson-Davis did we probably would have gotten him. But we didn't. I'm sure he will do well at Kentucky--maybe not one and done--but he will contribute positively. Time to move on. We have a strong enough roster to do better next year even if we add nobody else. Players have to improve upon their weaknesses over the summer. Hopefully nobody transfers and everyone is healthy. And, hopefully everyone buys in and the coaching staff figures out better how to run a more dynamic offense. I'll be cheering on the team in the NIT and I'm looking forward to a better season in 2019-2020.

Romeo may get drafted on the hope that he develops. But no guard who can't shoot will play in the NBA. It's not going to happen. On one level I don't blame him for taking the money. Anybody watching yesterday's game can see he isn't ready to play in the NBA. But who wants to sit on the bench all season.

Yea, let's get in a Twitter fight with the parents of our top recruit. That's really smart and helpful.

Romero may be a lottery pick. Most projections have him in the 8-12 range, although I've seen one mock draft that has him at 29. But I don't know how he can play guard in the NBA without an outside shot. Even if he is a lottery pick, he won't play in any meaningful way until he develops a reliable 3-point shot.

Why are IU fans contacting players on social media or responding to a player's parent's twitter? You only embarrass yourselves and our school. It is stupid and harmful. Leave it alone.

Sad. Outplayed, out-coached.

The whole team has reverted back to its January/February style of play.

Archie probably asked Keion for the last word.