HoosierHoopster

"Even if he doesn’t start right away, having him on the roster gives Indiana the depth to allow Jordan Geronimo to fully transition to the three spot - something he’s reportedly working on - without being too thin up front." "...he should give Indiana a midrange scoring threat it hasn’t had in years" Amen

Very impressive Some other guys out of Lawrence North Mike Conley Eric Montross Greg Oden Chris Hill

That, but also in fairness Montverde is prime recruiting grounds for the top college basketball programs, the players go there both for the level of competition/competitive play and for the exposure / recruiting

Yeah but I think JG's and Bates' emergence is going to be the key, and I think both will produce at a significantly higher level offensively

The D will be outstanding. Now we're looking for improved O.

Deep.

You can hope for more. Believe in yourself! :)

Good, balanced article / assessment. Crazy to consider JG has 3 years of eligibility, and in that this year isn't necessarily a 'defining' season for him, with Race and TJD leaving next season. The pluses to his playing more are what I tend to focus on: - 7th in B1G in blocks and rebounds on a per 40 basis - highest off board rate on team, 2nd def board and block rate, and that's with - 3rd highest effective FG rate, 55.9, and with good form on his outside shot and in big game moments - then there's a point that's been argued here - he's a "better lateral defender" and far better rebounder than Kopp. Uh, yeah. But the skill development side points are right on, to make that big step some of us think he's about to have, he'll have to - limit TO's and fouls - develop his perimeter skills including dribble drive / handle, showing improved outside shooting percentages on more shots - improve his FT shooting I still think he probably starts the season off the bench with Kopp starting (TJD, Race, Kopp, X and one of JHS or Bates, JHS imo), but continues to grow his minutes well into starter (and more importantly finisher) minutes as the season progresses. JG's and Bates' growth, imo, is the real key to our season.

Well, IU is projected at the top of League and pre-season ranked this season and is 3-1 in these games. Seems like a fairly good shot at it.

Even more fun on bottle 4 of beer

Exactly— it’s absolutely better for the team it pulls the defenders out, opens lanes, spreads the Floor

What do you guys think are the keys to IU living up to the pre-season rankings / expectations? - growth/increased production of JG, Bates and/Galloway- more outside shooting - JHS’s immediate impact as point/combo guard - TJD taking another step up with mid-range / outside shooting - crazy depth up front with TJD, Race, JG and Ren? - other? I think how good we can be is going to largely depend on one or more of JG, Bates and Galloway having that real jump up in their games / contributions (i agree with Goodman … ewww)

^^ Yeah I think they'll stay with the lineup - type approach, for the 'teams' - TJD has the chance regardless to make that step up from his already largely dominant play by adding in that jumper / shot we keep hearing about. If he does and does it effectively, I'd bank on his slotting in the first team.

I don't mean to discount Kopp (really, I don't), but while I understand Woodson favored veterans last season (and agree to a certain extent), Kopp to me would be much more effective coming off the bench. He can shoot, his perimeter d is decent, he helps on the floor vocally, he understands SF positioning well. But there's just no good reason to insist on playing a guy as a 'shooter' 25 MPG when the 'shooter' takes about 3 outside shots a game in those 25 and scores 6/game, especially when you have guys like Geronimo and Bates who are much more versatile, clearly can score, etc. So they were young, and fairly inexperienced. Now they're not. Just no good reason to stand pat on set lineups. And btw TJD's thoughts on that -- that guys need to play together for chemistry etc. -- are right on.

Agree generally on the volume comments and not drawing sweeping conclusions based on limited shooting -- that's always a good rule to follow. By the same token, though, just looking at Kopp's "percentages" is itself basically misleading. He shot 36% overall, on 3.1 shots per game -- for a whopping total 6 PPG. Meanwhile he played 25.1 MPG. 25-plus minutes, and he took only 3 shots a game and scored only 6 PPG. Meanwhile, JG played (on the season) 12.6 MPG, scoring 4.4 -- and that number obviously went up significantly to close the season when he played 20-plus minutes. Bates scored 3.9 per game, while playing 14.5 MPG - he was only taking 1.8 treys a game. He shot 40% his last two years of HS ball from deep. Yeah he has to convert that to the college game, but there's really no reason to think he can't/won't. The focus on just percentages ignores all of this. Bates can shoot, I'd bet on him shooting more and better this season. Would bet the same for JG too, his form is there, and he knocked down some really bigtime 3's in several games, including coming in cold off the bench. Woodson essentially played two entirely separate lineups last season and wouldn't change them up, including Kopp/Stewart no matter how poorly they played. I hope that approach changes this season.

One of these things is not like the other....

It could just as easily be Bates, but I am so looking forward to seeing JG's junior season, think he's going to crush it

I think Woodson is looking at it as another way to vault IU back into the national spotlight. We’re headed back up the ladder anyway (imo), and it’s a series that helps, we’re building the program now, Woodson has the horses coming in, UK fans can talk about relevance all they want- while we’re beating them, again

Cal:

I have no idea if his shot will improve much, the hand/wrist injuries seem to have screwed it up. But his impact on both ends was and will be important. His assisting was right there behind X and Rob, he moves the ball, he reads and gets tot spots, he's strong 'downhill' and ups the tempo (which should improve this year), and he's one of our best on D, the guy that gets in the head of the offensive player. Sure, it'd be great if he improves his outside game and the D has to extend out on him, but he helps us regardless in so many ways.

Yeah and the quote in my post above by TJD about the set lineups in practice i’m sure has a typo — the word “would” is “should”. He’s talking about how guys should play with each other for chemistry etc. I wondered all season why Woodson insisted on playing / starting Parker and Kopp together, no matter what. I do hope Woodson gets out of that fixed lineup mindset, it’s not a good plan, period

Nothing

Nahh i got it lol

Crean was not a good defensive coach, lol, just wasn’t— but i think you’re reading in a bit here, his enthusiasm over deflections was always mocked, but active D and deflections go together and on that he wasn’t wrong

As they say it's up to Scoop and the proof is in the pudding. Kid has so much talent -- and fire -- he was a frosh and dealt with off-court things and the demands of Woodson on D, now he's coming in with that experience, a full summer, and Woodson says he thinks Bates is the guy who will have that big jump. The kid shot plus 40% his last two seasons in HS -- I think he finds his range this season. if he does, look out!