Silat Player

That sounds like a very personal question...

So basic corporate professionalism is now part of the workflow of the basketball program? Who'd have thunk it? LOL

This is one of the difficult positions for a team like IU, who is rebuilding their whole team. Everyone seems to want a shot of starting. Its going to be difficult to find really high-quality backups. This is why program stability is so important. You've got to have guys on the roster to fill those positions, at least ideally, and then just use the portal to go after a few studs. I hope our coaches are really good salesmen.

TThat's very true. But its not from the portal. They're generally losing players because they are considered such good NBA recruits. But my point was that Duke doesn't lose players to the portal. I couldve made my point better, though, obviously. And let's face it. Duke's constant roster churn due to the draft has not helped their chances of winning championships in recent years, in spite of their massively great hs recruiting. Last years michigan team was lightening in a bottle with so many transfers that were relevant to that team. It will be interesting to see what else happens going forward. I sometimes wonder if Purdue has been doing so well during the last few years because teams have less chemistry because of roster churn vs how they used to be. Purdues stability overcomes some of their athletic weaknesses.

This. Look at teams like Duke and Purdue. They have very little turnover into the portal. Two completely different programs getting very different kinds of players - Purdue lower rated ones (compared to Duke). Duke getting the best recruiting class every year. The similarity is in the stability of the program. That's what IU needs to become. Hopefully, the players they lose in the future will primarily be Devries version of Creaning.

Hell has officially frozen over. I'm going to go outside and check the sky for comets.

2 more bigs. Definitely 2 more.

I'm almost glad that they are all gone. Maybe it's a true admission by Devries that his roster was just massively undertalented and not at all salvagable. You've got to have the jimmies and joes and it was clear pretty early in the season that IU just didn't have that.

Peter Jurkin type of career here. How ever will IU replace that level of production?

I think the other issue creating the perception of being "behind" is because IU has nearly their entire roster to refill. This is almost a situation like the school getting a new coach with the few players on the roster right now. With as many spots to fill as IU has, it is imperative that early signings occur. Momentum is a very real thing, and this program has absolutely none of it right now.

Has anyone broken the news to RTZ that Brad Stevens is not the current coach of the IU Hoosiers? He will be very surprised by that. Just sayin'

He was running from the Serbian mob.

Saw that Malik had 7 TOs today. Yikes. Maybe he wasn't in that line for chicken. Maybe he was in line to grab a few beers.

Well, Ben McCollum did. So...

Agreed. Way too many swing and misses in last year's portal class. You can't miss on several players when you're paying them so much money. And you need 7-8 great players. And by great, I mean either a great all-around player or someone who is just massively good at a specialized skill.

Yeah, this is what's been baffling to me.

I'll bet they are so excited. Can you imagine their actual reaction? Having to take the time to travel and prep for Lindenwood? I know they get paid and all, but still...

Yep. W/O seeing Andrej, it doesn't yet look like IU has a wasted roster spot. That is an improvement in itself from previous years. Ristic looks like he can play a bit, even for a kid who hadn't really practiced with the team much at all. Good to see that there will be a little depth on this year's team. Honestly, it would be nice if Andrej could actually give them a few minutes here and there. Front court depth could really be an issue with this team.

It'll be nice to finally have one of those guys. Has IU had one of those guys since maybe Dane Fife?

Mega probably has a payroll that's far too low for the SEC.

I think playing a team that puts up a lot of resistance is better than playing only cupcakes during a summer tour. Better to face some adversity now while you're building a brand new team.

I've got to disagree with you about expectations rising quickly with Crean. If that was true, there would''ve been a huge amount of pressure on him during his third year, because that team was horrible. It was only 12-20 overall and finished dead last in the B1G. In fact, it even had a worse B1G record than his 2nd IU team. The program was definitely far worse than it should've been by year 3, even with the dumpster fire that he inherited. CTC was shown a ton of patience by fans, IMO.

I did not have a Luke Brown mention on my bingo card today...LOL

It sounds like we're in bad shape in the frontcourt if Alexis plays any bigger role than say Peyton Sparks did. Just a spot player here and there.

Uh...DDV has zero players coming back from last year's roster. Of course he's going to have to "earn" a top 25 ranking. He's not going to get it based on last year's players or finish. If IU wins, the rankings and tournament will take care of themselves. I don't know why anyone would worry about preseason rankings at this point. Yes, they can be helpful, but he has zero returning players. LOL