BA47591

Dear heavenly Father, let us land 3 or 4 studs before the string of Conerway, Bailey and Dorns.....

Funny how that works out. I was a huge fan of Malik Mack and Baye Ndongo 2 years ago and they've failed to improve as well.

The bigs that don't scare me are Bonke, Fru and Gurdak At this moment the PGs that could be gettable,,,,I think are Hammond and the frosh from Colorado. Wings are a dime a dozen.

The trend to big rosters is going to make the market at the 5 crazy.

It's heating up. Rooths and Fru are interesting pieces. I like that VT center too. The pg position will be interesting.

Yes please

I don't disagree. Alot of players of his archetype in the portal every year. Many of those with multiple years of eligibility. I feel like our rotation 1-8 has to be significantly bigger, faster, longer and stronger than this year. With the trend of size, unfortunately we will be paying over a mil for a backup 5. In theory, you could drop 12m on 1-8 and still not finish in the top 5 of the big ten. I may be in the minority but I'd go the euro route for half the rotation. Not just any players, we have two that didn't break a sweat, but Illinois looks pretty good to me as a short term philosophy.

He's wired pretty hot, to the point of uncountable. I checked out Brandon Benjamin. I started the underclassmen scouting immediately after we put this year's team together. Benjamin can rebound.

I liked Fru early in the season and if is one of 3 bigs that we need to compete in the Big Ten I'd be excited to have him. I'm not concerned about landing wings that can shoot, they're a dime a dozen. Bigs, a talented point guard and athletes that want to defend is the must if we want to evolve.

Coach K took a few late tournament losses before he got over the hump.

We are really really far from a moment like this at IU.

The big 3 were defensively lacking at there position. You have to have Smith on the floor which means you can't really have Loyer out there too defensively. Not past the first weekend.

I think I prefer Isaiah Johnson as high dollar pg add.

I'm not so sure some of the names mentioned were interested. I thought this hire required a massive offer to a big name and was wildly disappointed with the hire. I have grown to respect the x/o and game management of DD.Lets see what we look like by the end of May. I'm optimistic right now. Historically speaking, I'm not sure we could be less competent than this same time last year. I think there is a chance that we can have an enjoyable team, winning team with high integrity guys. The problem with not going the big money proven route, there may be 8 coaches better than ours in the conference, maybe not though.

.500 in conference was the absolute ceiling for this group and we almost got there. Not since Hulls was a sophomore have I seen a less capable roster. So from the Rod Clark hiring, post cluster F, I think DD did a helluva job. Every second prior,,,,,malfeasance. I think if anyone went into the start of the season thinking we were making the tournament, they can reminisce back to the the first 3 months of the DD tenure and consider it an education on how important staffing is. The two Carrs are a good start, we still need another one of their caliber or higher.

I'll have to bust out the old guidelines book and check out bench coach and how many can be actively involved in recruiting. Clark and Carr are the only 2 we have that are currently viable.

Anyone watch Colorado play this year? I fell for this with Myles Rice, but Isaiah Johnson looks good. His dad is an NBA skills coach. 3 years of eligibility left. Currently I would lean him and then probably Hammond. Unless someone could convince Sergio De Larrea into coming to IU.

I think Sam is a less athletic, less talented version of the incoming frosh that reclassified to come and play early. He is more advanced physically and played for a lower level mid-major that has developed a handful of productive players for the high major programs. We need 1-7 in the rotation next year IMO, to be a conference competitor and resemble a successful do over of year one. We need 2 or three proven players that will produce immediately at a high level.

Bonke, Murauskas, Avdalas would make a heckuva Big Ten 3-5.

Odds both Kenny and Drew are on the bench next season?

This is where we unofficially land players that will enter with a no contact tag. How much would Henri Vaseer cost I wonder?

I liked him too. Something went wrong between him and the NW staff.

Wait a month. I like the moves so far. I don't want to see people lose jobs, but Kenny and Drew were retreads from a prior regime that looked like temp hires to begin with.

Good catch. I was wondering. We knew the staff adjustments would be made. We have to look at this as a year one do over. Drew was thrust into a role he wasn't equipped to excel in. Kenny hasn't been a major recruiting factor for a decade. Both had short term contracts. Curious to see who the new guy replaces.

When he was at Montverde I thought he was a generational talent. I can't believe he hasn't developed even a little bit.