Shooter

Don't know about angst. It's just the fun part of planning and building a roster. It's more fun to me than discussing who liked who on Instagram, or what some Twitter burner said. Anyway, the thing with Bailey is not so much about individual post defense. It's about a weakness in rebounding and shot blocking from our projected 5, and how we could gameplan and roster build around that.

I agree that seems most likely. And if we're planning around Bailey at C, that means we need big forwards to help rebound, and perimeter guys who can contain dribble penetration.

I share your concern, but here are our options: A. Play a center with Devries and Bailey. (Which means Devries guards a wing) B. Play a big wing with Devries and Bailey. (Which means Bailey guards a center) C. Don't play Devries and Bailey together at all. D. Play zone. It's not gonna be option C. I doubt it's D. Maybe Devries is more athletic than I think and capable of guarding 3s full time. But if not, Bailey is going to have to play some center for those two to get on the court together.

Devries-Freeman-Bailey would be an incredibly talented and versatile frontcourt. If we start Bailey at 5, we need big wings like those two to help him rebound. Would still want a sturdier rebounder/screener/shotblocker type of C in the rotation as well.

The first three responses to my question were all different, which makes this a fun discussion topic. It depends on how you see Devries and Bailey. I go back and forth between a long athletic wing, or a rebounder-screener big. Really, I want both of those guys on the roster to give coach flexibility depending on matchups.

I imagine Wilkerson, Devries, and Bailey are locked in as projected starters. Let's assume the starting PG is in the Conerway/Enright mold (defensive minded distributor). What are you looking for to round out that lineup?

Big time pick up. Wilkerson, Devries, and Bailey are going to be a really fun trio on offense. Conerway would be a great fit to bring needed toughness and defense to that group. Let's make it happen.

Yea, not sure how I'd feel about adding a Purdue guy, but he's definitely someone I'd like in the rotation. 3&D wing archetype.

Probably goes without saying, but Conwell, Dix, and Bidunga would be an A+ start to next season's roster. It seems like we have a real shot with all three. Once we fill out the rotation, would love to see us take a couple of developmental guys like Briscoe from Crispus Attucks to round out the roster.

Bidunga had great rebounding and block numbers at Kansas. Top 15 nationally in block rate. Top 100 nationally in offensive and defensive rebounding percentage. Similar size to Reneau but totally different games. Bidunga is more athletic, less skilled offensively. More comparable to Tugler from Houston.

TJD was third team All American as a sophomore. I'll take some more "raw" dudes like that!

Only 1 or 2? That will be an improvement

Agree. This is McCollum's first season ever in D1. Otherwise his entire playing, assistant, head coach career was in D2. DeVries played D1 and was a longtime assistant under Altman and McDermott. Multiple trips to NCAA tournament as a head coach. One year experience in a big conference. I think there's less risk of the non-basketball parts of the IU job being "too big" for DeVries.

McCollum is super impressive. But I'd be a little concerned about him in the IU fishbowl if we went that direction. This is his first season associated with Division I basketball in any capacity. Not as a player, assistant, nothing. Jumping from that right into the IU job would be a massive change. I have zero concerns about him from a coaching basketball standpoint. The dude can coach.

Yea, it's pretty clear that Woodson cultivated an "us vs the world" mentality in the locker room, and "the world" included IU's own fans and media. He played up things like Ballo getting death threats, or TJD getting that awful letter in the mail (both absolutely horrendous, but the work of a few isolated idiots). He used those to try and deflect legitimate criticism of his coaching from fans or media with a "see, they're all crazy" siege mentality. So glad that era is over.

Devries would be a B- hire. Young-ish coach who has done very well relative to expectations so far in his career. That said, he's entirely unproven at the level we want to be at. Has never had a single digit NCAA seed or coached a top 50 Kenpom squad. His accomplishments at Drake were also partially influenced by his son, who was a borderline top 100 recruit and the most talented player in the league. So he had a talent advantage relative to his rivals. I would be cautiously optimistic if he's the guy.

6 teams for 3 spots: SDSU, Indiana, Texas, UNC, Xavier, Boise St. If VCU loses, they get added to the bubble and it's 7 teams for 3 spots. If Memphis loses, one spot is taken and it's only two spots available. 28 of the 33 brackets updated this morning on Bracket Matrix have Indiana IN the field.

Thanks for clarifying. What a ridiculous concept this thing is in the portal era. I'm voting with my feet, I won't be watching.

At this moment, Ohio State is NET #40, Northwestern is NET #53, and IU is NET #54. But I can certainly see the TV suits demanding Indiana over Northwestern.

I doubt Cronin leaves UCLA anyway. But I think he's a good example of a very good but unsexy coach. Brownell, the more I look into him, I don't understand why he wasn't fired by Clemson at some point.

Cronin and Brownell are not on the same level. Mick Cronin made the NCAA tournament 13 consecutive seasons before missing it last year. Brownell made it only 3 of those 13 years.

Interesting resume comparison between two guys in the news today - Fran McCaffery and Brad Brownell. Both are high major coaches for 15 years, at similar level jobs. McCaffery: 8 NCAA Tourney appearances. 6 seasons finishing in Kenpom Top 25. Best season, NCAA 2 seed. Never been past Round of 32. Brownell: 5 NCAA Tourney appearances. 4 seasons in Kenpom Top 25. Best season, NCAA 4 seed (projected this year). One Elite 8, one Sweet 16. I'm taking Fran's resume, despite the lack of tourney results. Do this two years ago and it was not even close in favor of Fran. Is IU really going to hire a guy who has delivered worse results than Fran McCaffery?

Consensus from Bracket Matrix seems to be 6 teams for 4 spots, currently in this order (highest to lowest chance): San Diego St, Indiana, UNC, Texas, Xavier, Boise St. Any bid thief would take away one of the 4 available spots. UNC and Boise St have opportunities to help themselves tonight.

So he's going to love Mgbako? Seriously though, it's sounds like you are describing Matt Painter. I've often thought that Painter's best quality is that he knows exactly what he is looking for in a player, and doesn't care about stars.

Agree with your overall point. I don't know a ton about McCollum's personality, positive or negative. But that's a huge factor in making the right hire. We can sit here and look at resumes, but there was nothing obvious in the resume to tell you that Archie Miller would fail and Pat Kelsey would succeed. Have to trust Dolson et all to do the interviews, vetting and make the right choice.