Asha’man

I mean do we want to promote the party lifestyle as a key recruiting tactic? We want grinders not party animals. I’m sure they will all have their fun but let’s not make it a key selling point. Sell basketball first.

Are you sure it’s not “Love Like Cousins”?

https://www.barttorvik.com/trankpre.php since Torvik keeps getting talked about. Here is the link to his 2025-26 projections.

Making the athletic department its own company is probably the next wave coming. Ends any academics complaining about the money on the sports side of things.

Not really a test of optimism. This kid is a clear bench piece and young. He will develop this year or will get recruited over. But he has good measurable and put up points and rebounds vs better competition than kids going to high school in Indiana.

As a fan, I’m a fan of the team and rarely follow players after they are gone. Tweet or no tweet, it doesn’t matter. Fresh start or keep a player from last year, doesn’t matter. In the words of Al Davis “just win baby”

Yeah he is a depth piece. Still need to get one of the bigs that have been talked about here all week.

Curtis or Federico and then I think the last couple spots might go to some true freshmen. Help with some class balancing.

It’s only overachieving if you believe the preseason rankings. If you don’t think they are accurate as they don’t have Michigan as good as they were or Louisville, then it’s not overachieving. I see a top 25 type roster. It will come down to coaching. Really like the Dorn pickup as well. The Florida kid will provide some decent depth.

Regardless of what preseason polls and torvik ratings say, IU will be a top 25 team by the end of the year. Still need to get that defensive big, but that will happen imo. Plenty of cohesion needs to be built with all new faces and new coach.

It really is a crapshoot and I recommend not putting any stock in any preseason ratings. I’m optimistic bc I think these players for what DDV wants to do as a team. But just because some random preseason poll or torvik rating says one thing doesn’t mean that a team overachieves by doing well. It means that the rankings and torvik preseason ratings are trash. Torvik and kenpom ratings are great the further into the season you go. Typically not worth the time other than talking points before the season.

Targeting a player doesn’t mean he will start. He will get plenty of run. I don’t think his skillset leads to a best 5 after an athletic rim protector is added. Glad he is in the team and part of the puzzle.

Doubt all you want. He isn’t going to be good enough defensively to start with the other offensive weapons. Get a rim protector to help on defense bc there is plenty of offense already out there. Then when some of those offensive weapons go to the bench he can come in and put up some points. Can he shoot it? Yes. But he isn’t a prolific shooter on volume.

Bailey is a backup 4/5 imo. Our best starting 5 will include Tucker DeVries at the 4.

I think the floor is a NCAA tournament appearance. The ceiling, who knows. We could compete for a conference title, a la Michigan this year. Or the ceiling could be a .500 record on conference and we end up a 8/9 seed. Probably be somewhere in the middle. But I’m optimistic it will be a good first year.

There is an argument to be made that the rest of the roster should be made up of incoming freshmen and sophomores. Excluding an experienced rim protector. This will allow for some continuity going into the 26/27 season. And a more targeted approach to the portal and high school recruiting.

Neither Michigan or Louisville had preseason hype. They made their own hype with their play. We need to win games not the press conference or the preseason hype. We will be competitive and we shall see how it goes. But DeVries record shows he knows how to win. Have some confidence.

Long way off from who? Guess it depends on expectations for year 1. I just want to safely be in the dance. But I also bet DeVries wants to make a run as it’s his son’s last year. He is taking players to make a team and coach them up. I think as we get rolling with high school recruiting then things will stabilize but so far I see a roster that’s only half put together and the computers have us ranked where we should expect to be in the dance. Let’s see how the rest fills out. Also, go look at all the star rankings for Purdue. They are mediocre. Yet Painter knows how to build a team and they will be a top team next year. It’s not about stats if you know what you’re looking for. We will find out this fall if coach got it right or not. But his track record is one of success.

This is how I see it as well. I want DeVries as a 4 more than a 3. I’m sure some minutes at the 3 will happen. But I want a guard driven roster. And it also helps with team defense, as DeVries may struggle guarding opposition wings/SF.

Obviously there are some guys we project to start but I hope it’s decided on merit.

Maryland Terp Enjoyer with some strong words on that posts comments. Yikes.

Yeah we all have our favorites. I’m holding out hope for Freeman. He was the one player we have been going after I have been hoping we get above everyone else.

Why? Just curious what about him makes you the most excited.

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Looking at the shot chart for Miles I noticed he is actually 47% from the left corner from 3. Maybe by design or maybe not, Lamar’s shot chart is his worst from that spot but the opposite corner he is over 70% from 3. basically a couple guys who will shoot daggers from opposite corners and will absolutely spread a defense out.