Potential starting 5 for next year, does Juwan GoPro?

[Old Friend]

35 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

It depends on how much he values competing for a NC, imo. Personally I expect him to go to Kansas because I think neither us nor Vandy have what he says he's looking for. 

I have told many kids whom I've coached when they look at schools that may not be where they want them right now...."be the reason."

Phinisee - with the right players around him - is good enough to lead a great basketball team.  With Morgan, Davis, Smith and a cast of solid rotation players?  That's more than good enough to compete for a Big Ten title; and I'm telling you right now, Butler has less talent than that and they beat #1 last week.   What it takes to win a national title has far less to do with a collection of talent than it does chemistry and a team with pieces that fit.  Romeo fits with that group.   Smith just put up 20 on the road and looked like an NBA "4" doing it.  We all know what Morgan is and can be as a senior.  Phinisee is terrific.  He will be at least as good as Yogi was as a freshman....and I think better because I think he's better as a scorer than Yogi was then.  If Romeo looks....he will see he has every bit as much chance to win here as he does at Kansas.

"Be the reason."

[Old Friend]

1 minute ago, tortex28 said:

I can see where you're coming from there. Kind of like a Tyler Hansbrough type

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Hansbrough was the beneficiary of the best secondary break in the history of college basketball.  He was incredible at the rim run; and his team knew exactly how and where to get him the ball.  But yes..apart from that, Morgan and he are very similar.  A good comparison I wouldn't have thought of.

[Hoosier Guy]

16 minutes ago, tortex28 said:

I can live with that but I'm just not sold on Romeo coming to IU as of yet.

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I think those other four spots are set in stone. And obviously the fifth spot should Romeo go to IU

[BGleas]

23 minutes ago, Old Friend said:

I have told many kids whom I've coached when they look at schools that may not be where they want them right now...."be the reason."

Phinisee - with the right players around him - is good enough to lead a great basketball team.  With Morgan, Davis, Smith and a cast of solid rotation players?  That's more than good enough to compete for a Big Ten title; and I'm telling you right now, Butler has less talent than that and they beat #1 last week.   What it takes to win a national title has far less to do with a collection of talent than it does chemistry and a team with pieces that fit.  Romeo fits with that group.   Smith just put up 20 on the road and looked like an NBA "4" doing it.  We all know what Morgan is and can be as a senior.  Phinisee is terrific.  He will be at least as good as Yogi was as a freshman....and I think better because I think he's better as a scorer than Yogi was then.  If Romeo looks....he will see he has every bit as much chance to win here as he does at Kansas.

"Be the reason."

This is a great post!

[Bailey7878]

I can live with that but I'm just not sold on Romeo coming to IU as of yet.

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Romeo to iu. Bank it

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[Bailey7878]

Similar to the other projections, I would go with...
Starting
Phinisee FR
Langford FR/Grad Transfer
Smith SO
Morgan SR
Davis JR/Grad Transfer
 
Rotation
Durham SO
McRoberts RS SR
Hunter FR
Anderson FR
Thompson RS FR
TBD
Green JR (I struggle to see Green fitting in with CAM's style of play longterm)
Moore SO (Based off what we have seen so far, I really have no idea where to put him????)
Forrester FR (I wouldn't be opposed to Jake RS next year; year of strength training and acclimating to this level)
 

I don't see Durham getting minutes next year. The new guys are going to eat up his minutes imo.


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[ap2345]

3 hours ago, Bailey7878 said:

I don't see Durham getting minutes next year. The new guys are going to eat up his minutes imo.


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Unless we get a grad transfer PG Phinisee and Durham will see most of the minutes at that spot next year imo.

[VO5]

7 hours ago, Old Friend said:

I have told many kids whom I've coached when they look at schools that may not be where they want them right now...."be the reason."

Phinisee - with the right players around him - is good enough to lead a great basketball team.  With Morgan, Davis, Smith and a cast of solid rotation players?  That's more than good enough to compete for a Big Ten title; and I'm telling you right now, Butler has less talent than that and they beat #1 last week.   What it takes to win a national title has far less to do with a collection of talent than it does chemistry and a team with pieces that fit.  Romeo fits with that group.   Smith just put up 20 on the road and looked like an NBA "4" doing it.  We all know what Morgan is and can be as a senior.  Phinisee is terrific.  He will be at least as good as Yogi was as a freshman....and I think better because I think he's better as a scorer than Yogi was then.  If Romeo looks....he will see he has every bit as much chance to win here as he does at Kansas.

"Be the reason."

I appreciate this post and think it’s great, but the only thing that matters is what Romeo thinks. It’s really nice for us fans to see/think that, I’m just not sure Romeo sees it that way.

[Bailey7878]

Unless we get a grad transfer PG Phinisee and Durham will see most of the minutes at that spot next year imo.

We will get one so durhams minutes will be reduced. He needs alot of work.

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[MoyeNeeded]

Romeo doesn't play streetball now.

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[AKHoosier]

Does Morgan graduate this year?  That may play heavily into the equation here.

If he gets his degree he may take his talents overseas, with a puncher's chance of getting drafted.

[GloryDays]

I wouldn't expect Juwan to leave early for the NBA. He very well might get paid to play in a couple yrs, but I don't expect it in the NBA.
If he was to leave IU would really be in tough shape. I like the incoming class, but not a lot of instant impact guys. The grad transfer route is a nice option, but preferably for a complementary piece, not a primary scorer (Starting SG). 
Best case scenario: Juwan is B1G POY, Green figures it out, Romeo does the right thing and Davis gets a little fire. IU wins the B1G and makes a tourney run for the ages. 
More realistic The returning guys learn to consistently play defense at a high-level and the new guys are as advertised and IU makes progress in a still weak conference.  
 Starting 5: Phinisee, Green, Smith, Morgan, Davis. Rotation: Durham, Hunter, Thompson, Grad Transfer. 
 

Replace Green with Hunter and your in business.
Wouldnt suprise me if Greens gone.He just doesn't seem to fit Millers style.Plus I think the length and scoring ability Hunter brings will be hard to keep on the bench.


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[RaceToTheTop]

10 hours ago, tortex28 said:

I can see where you're coming from there. Kind of like a Tyler Hansbrough type

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Hansborough averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds over his college career.  Morgan is very much a poor man's Hansborough.

[CSP]

4 minutes ago, brumdog45 said:

Hansborough averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds over his college career.  Morgan is very much a poor man's Hansborough.

Morgan has far more potential then TH

[CSP]

10 hours ago, Hoosier Guy said:

I think those other four spots are set in stone. And obviously the fifth spot should Romeo go to IU

We're 9-7... other than Morgan, no one's spot is set in stone. 

[CSP]

For some reason it won't let me quote now, but Romeo plays far, far from streetball. Yes, NA presses and gets up and down the court, but that's because they lack size and always have a quickness advantage. 

[Bailey7878]

Replace Green with Hunter and your in business.
Wouldnt suprise me if Greens gone.He just doesn't seem to fit Millers style.Plus I think the length and scoring ability Hunter brings will be hard to keep on the bench.


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Green wont be back imo. Hes a crean type player and doesn't fit the system. If we get a high iq grad transfer at guard then it will be tough for him to get minutes.

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[Hoosier Guy]

16 hours ago, btownqb said:

We're 9-7... other than Morgan, no one's spot is set in stone. 

Yes IU is 9-7. That means a lot of new starters next year. Three freshman imo

[HoosierTrav]

13 hours ago, Bailey7878 said:

Green wont be back imo. Hes a crean type player and doesn't fit the system. If we get a high iq grad transfer at guard then it will be tough for him to get minutes.

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We have a high IQ frosh PG coming in. I agree he seems like a bad fit and may not like his future with us going forward. 

[Stromboli]

Assumptions:  Everyone is back but Clifton.  No grad transfers.  This is based entirely on a brief shot to the bench during the Minnesota game (see below) where everyone was happy for a Justin Smith play except Clifton, who looked less than thrilled.  Even De'Ron looked happy about it.  Devonte may have questions, and may love the East Coast, but he hasn't played his way into a better opportunity, I think he likes the prospect of playing big games, and I think probably has a connection with Coach Miller and IU.  Total guesses.  

Making guesses at the roster starts with a giant hole where there should be a competent shooting/scoring guard.  Someone that plays on the perimeter, is a threat to score in a number of ways (except post play), and will never be expected to guard the opposing team's post player.  In our case, a perimeter guy that can provide some offense.  We just lost Curtis, who was our best bet to fill this role.  RoJo leaving will be a huge loss that we are not equipped to handle.  If Romeo comes, then this is an easy fix.  He'll slide into this spot and succeed.  If not, then who will?  I know there is discussion that Jerome will play shooting guard.  Maybe someday he will.  If you've watched his game, he does not play like a shooting guard.  He plays like a 3/4.  Sometimes facing the basket, sometimes pure post play.  A little bit of 3 pt shooting.  In my view, he's not a guard yet.  Damezi, on the other hand, very much plays like a long SG.  Better shooter than anyone we have.  He helps on defense, but won't be a "big."  And you watch him time his sprints to an open spot, or squirting out behind the 3pt line in transition or after an offensive rebound for a dagger 3, and he plays like a good SG.  And at 6'6" he's got the length Coach is looking for defense, and some quick slashes to the basket.  If he earns CAM's trust, I can see Damezi filling in some minutes at the SG spot.  Otherwise, I think it will be a mix of players with undefined skill sets like Al and Zach, who still bring hard defense and dependability to the floor.

For point guard, we have to use Phinisee.  Expectation for me is that he averages about 5-5-5.  That may seem low on points, but for a contributing non-star freshman PG, that's fine.  I got to see Rob play.  On videos he looks small and maybe not built for the next level.  In person, he is much more robust.  I think Coach called him sturdy in an interview.  He's wider/stronger/taller that the other kids on the floor.  On his way down the floor he is absolutely trying to set something up for his team.  I think he'll be fine, and frankly I think Archie will be ride-or-die with him because we need it.  Then Green and Al can spell him when needed.  If he proves to be reliable, you know he's going to be a fan favorite.  Slightly undersized PG from Indiana?  That's the stuff.

The "3" spot (we'll call it a wing) is wide open.  Zach is proving that he needs to be on the floor.  Justin may continue to do the same.  For Justin, I said last year I think he's going to be finishing his IU career with some great numbers that stack up well on the leader boards.  His temperament is just rock solid.  And he wants to dunk on every body.  Jerome will fit here nicely as more of a gadget wing.  Get him out there to make some plays and find a mismatch.  Too big for a guard to guard, too shifty for a big.  I haven't gotten the sense that Jerome will be a day-1 contributor.  

We will have one "5;" De'Ron.  There's been a lot of negative talk towards De'Ron recently, but I'm a big fan.  "Duuuuhhh, but he don't hustle hard enough."  Right.  Few 6'10" guys can go full bore.  Frankly there are just very, very few athletes in existence that can play this position, and that we have one is important.  Coach Flint likes to quote Calipari, in that if you don't have a post presence, then your team is a fraud.  Juwan is an excellent inside player and doesn't back down from anyone, but he's not a 5 and shouldn't be expected to play that.  In my view, even if De'Ron returns and averages 20 minutes and 7.5 points a game, having him is a very important piece.  Not to mention we don't have anyone else that can play a 5 on the team or coming in.  I reeeeeally hope we get TJD in '19, who seems ready to lead a team playing as a very mobile 5.  

Lastly, the 4 (no, I'm not very good at going in order).  Lord willing, Juwan will return.  This is his team this year, and it will be his team next year.  I've heard him say that he talks with OG all the time, and OG urges him non-stop to "get to the league."  OG is having a blast.  Juwan has had more valleys than peaks in the first 2.5 years.  But man, I hope Archie can sell him on staying to have a full 4 year career, enjoy the full experience, the senior speech, make a last run, all of it.  If he comes back, then he's our 4.  Race, Justin, and maaaaaybe Forrester can get some time here.  

Tl;dr  Starting 5:

 

1.  Rob Phinisee

2.  Damezi Anderson (or Romeo)

3.  Justin Smith

4.  Juwan Morgan

5.  De'Ron Davis

First man off the bench is always McBob, who will get starter's minutes.  Al gets 10 min/game.  Devonte gets 7.  We'll usually have 4 guys on the floor at 6'6" or taller.  Juwan gets his dog points.  Justin averages 11 pts a game of mostly dunks and free throws.  The team has De'Ron on the floor 50% of the time, the rest of it a faster line-up.  And we all watch with bated breath to see if a couple of freshmen can provide an upgrade to our backcourt.