PB1230

Recruits/transfers always know that there may or may not be a position for them, if not taken by a current player staying, it could easily be taken by another recruit before they get a chance to visit. As long as the staff is honest about the situation, they will understand. There was a spot open when the visits for Dennis/McNeil were scheduled. They likely knew that each other as well as Reneau were visiting, but only one technically open spot. The staff could have told them we are currently full after the Renau commitment but that they were still welcome to come as there was a chance another spot could open up. From there, Dennis/McNeil are free to do as they like. And unless its eating up another timeslot that they could visit elsewhere, it doesn't hurt them to come.

I don't think anyone is advocating pushing JG out. I think the staff is only still recruiting as an insurance policy in case someone leaves

JG is a better post defender than Kopp is as a wing/perimeter defender, but Kopp is a much better wing/perimeter defender as JG really struggled defending outside the post. And yes JG is a vastly better rebounder IN THE PAINT where he can us his ability to elevate, but rebounding from the 3 spot is more about getting to loose balls in space, so moving JG to the 3 negates a lot of his rebounding ability. And JG is better around the rim, while getting to the rim requires ball handling ability that he does not have, and JG won't spend much time around the rim at the 3, so again you negate a lot of his ability

He of course should be working on skills that would make him a viable 3. At the very least, that makes him a more well rounded 4, but he just has a much longer road to get there than what a lot of people are willing to admit.

Yep, both Race and TJD came close if not surpassed their minutes in the NW game several times this year and JG was fine making up the remaining minutes . The biggest issues in that game were the inability of Kopp/Leal to produce, and JG proving he isn't a 3. LD would have only been needed in case of foul trouble with Race/TJD

The ones that are most adamant about wanting JG to stay are those mostly wishcasting him at the 3 spot, hoping he takes minutes from Kopp. For JG to play over Kopp, he'll need to develop an entirely new skillset, whereas Dennis just needs to get his 3 point shooting up to where it was before this past season (Dennis was a 36% career 3 point shooter before this past season).

I think Dennis has more of a shot at getting minutes at the 3 than JG. JG is more athletic, but Dennis would allow us to get more collective athleticism on the court at the same time

Think about how much better it would have been if Archie had 3point shooters. Or maybe the lack of 3 point shooters is what made it work - players knew they couldn't just stand around the perimeter

I am always confused by people that reference fictional villians (even if at the height of their power) as a good thing, especially when those villians end up losing in spectacular fashion in the end

Also don't underestimate the impact on practice. This past year with Brunk being out, TJD was probably being defended by Geronimo much of the time in practice - that was a noticeable benefit to Geronimo who played very well against much bigger players considering the size differential, but was a noticeable detriment to TJD's ability to finish around the rim. Need TJD and even guards being comfortable navigating around post players with legit size - Durr will be perfect for that.

I think the major issue with Phin is that he is a true PG, and ultimately needs to be playing with a natural scorer at SG for him to be playing well. Either because of lack of confidence and/or increased attention by the defense, he doesn't play well when he needs to be a primary scoring threat. His freshman year which most consider his best, and Phin was playing with Romeo. If you look at Phin's best games his Soph year, they coincided with Green lighting things up (that only happened sporadically though). And this past year, Franklin while a dependable scoring threat, it never came with the ease of Romeo or Green (when he was hot) - Franklin needed almost 50% more min/game to put up similar scoring numbers to Green who was ice cold half the time. I think with Phin playing with Johnson and/or Stewart (both likely much better scorers than Franklin) at the other guard spots, we very well might see Phin raise his game this year

I feel like Robert's admin job was wholly created to just to give him something so he wasn't technically out of a job since he wasn't going to be retained as an assistant, out of respect as a former player. I'm sure that Robert's plan was always to leave, but with a job in hand, he could at least be selective with his next coaching job.

Another version with SOUND Another version with SOUND

I had the same feeling about the Woodson-Allen similarities. Definitely very different outward personalities (high energy Allen vs laid back Woodson), but both their coaching styles seem to emphasize personally connecting with players above all else

Also, that's Spike standing next to him. Woody should just hang out courtside with Spike the rest of the season.

Wouldn't call Hollowell a total dud - he was talented, just had some effort issues. Plus its hard to judge him since he was buried on a great team for the first half of his 2 years at IU (small sample size)

yep, at NW he was their #2 scoring option, and at IU he seems like he'd be at best the #4 option and probably even further down the pecking order.

Leal and Galloway were always more long term developmental guys, and only played as much as they did this year because we were so young and thin. And in truth none of our 4 freshmen were really prepared to play extended minutes this year. But we only had 6 (which is crazy) other healthy scholarship guys, so those 4 freshman needed extended minutes. Look at some of the top teams in the conference and there are a lot of good freshman that got very limited minutes

Big thing with Phin is that his offense has a very symbiotic relationship with the other guards, and plays his best when coupled with an effective high volume scorer. He had that his freshman year with Romeo, and had that sporadically his sophomore year with Green when he'd go off. This past season neither Franklin/Durham really fit that bill (both could occasionally will their way to 15+ points, but it didn't come easy). Maybe in part because he needs someone else to draw attention away from him and/or he panics and his confidence plummets when he is looked to personally jumpstart the offense. I think that Phin might really thrive playing with Johnson/Stewart at the other guard spots.

He has been known to rock a plaid blazer

Well before Miller was fired, I had heard something along the lines of Miller himself rarely if ever directly coached players, and that it was all delegated to assistants. And if Miller had specific instructions for players, it was relayed through an assistant who would then talk to a player. Which I think is even worse than grad assistants being tasked with skills development, but fits with this sort of delegating down mentality

I remember towards the end of the season seeing a short video of Leal and Lander after a game at AH on either end of the court taking 3 pointers, and both hit like 10 in a row. The guys on the team can shoot, they just need confidence to translate it to a game.

If a SR is taking an extra COVID year, and is staying at the same school, they don't count against the scholarship limits so schools aren't forced to pull other committed scholarships