2019 Off-Season IU Roster News and Moves

[Hoosierfan2017]

2 hours ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Because that isn’t who Justin Smith is. He’s a Maurice Harkless type of player. A guy that is seen in the NBA as a slasher and defensive guy who can play the 3 and small ball 4. Just like Harkless. And a guy they’d let work on a 3pt game but it isn’t exactly a necessity early on in his career.


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The only way Justin Smith is seen in the NBA is if he buys a ticket like the rest of us. 

I don't care about his profession aspirations, I only care about how he can help IU.

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

The only way Justin Smith is seen in the NBA is if he buys a ticket like the rest of us. 
I don't care about his profession aspirations, I only care about how he can help IU.

Well think of it like this, if he gets on the NBA’s radar, then he’s probably playing well. That’s a positive. But people here want him to play like an Emmitt Holt or Freddie McSwain but that’s just not who he is and he’s never been that type.


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[Alford Bailey]

On 10/11/2019 at 6:12 PM, Demo said:

Agree that he has the traits and experience to help defensively. But I just see a glaring misfit with Archie’s offensive philosophy. Just don’t see a role on that end. At all. I would like his fit as a 4 in a really high tempo style with a lot of player movement, like Eric Musselman’s system. Maybe what Smart does. Would have been fine with Crean. In an open court game he could absolutely be a problem. But Archie’s tempo and the stuff he runs, or at least what he was running last year, really minimize Smith’s strengths. I actually think transferring would have made a ton of sense for him. Since he chose to stay, I really hope the kid finds a niche. But I don’t see it. Love to be wrong. 

 

Totally agree. Smith is a Crean type as is Green IMO.

[mdn82]

Well think of it like this, if he gets on the NBA’s radar, then he’s probably playing well. That’s a positive. But people here want him to play like an Emmitt Holt or Freddie McSwain but that’s just not who he is and he’s never been that type.

 

 

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Ole Joe and his extremes. So fun to talk to. If he isn’t shooting a 3 every shot that means you want him to be Holt or McSwain. Just so you know he also has never been a player with any ball handling or shooting ability. So he is closer to those two players than what you want him to be. Have a great night Joe.

 

 

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[Hoosierfan2017]

40 minutes ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Well think of it like this, if he gets on the NBA’s radar, then he’s probably playing well. That’s a positive. But people here want him to play like an Emmitt Holt or Freddie McSwain but that’s just not who he is and he’s never been that type.


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Justin Smith can't shoot and he can't dribble. You need those skills to play on the perimeter. People want him to play like a Freddie McSwain because he doesn't have the skills to be a wing. So, what else would he be?

[HoosierAloha]

Ole Joe and his extremes. So fun to talk to. If he isn’t shooting a 3 every shot that means you want him to be Holt or McSwain. Just so you know he also has never been a player with any ball handling or shooting ability. So he is closer to those two players than what you want him to be. Have a great night Joe.
 
 
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I’d love to see Smith play with McSwain’s intensity and passion. He’d be on an All Big Ten team if he played with that type of determination. If we get production from TJD, Davis, and Brunk at the 5 while Smith rebounded, defended, and was the garbage man we think he can be I’d pencil us in to the NCAAs this season.


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[8bucks]

You guys rule smith out way to early. Look again at VOs 3pt % increase year to year. Sure VO had great work ethic but none of us really know what smith is doing this offseason.

To me he is not necessary to have a good year but if he can bump his 3pt shooting % up enough to be a threat from there than that is great. It is not out of the question.

Is it likely, no. And if he doesn’t we move on to the next guy.


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[mdn82]

I’d love to see Smith play with McSwain’s intensity and passion. He’d be on an All Big Ten team if he played with that type of determination. If we get production from TJD, Davis, and Brunk at the 5 while Smith rebounded, defended, and was the garbage man we think he can be I’d pencil us in to the NCAAs this season.


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Completely agree and feel that is our best shot to a successful season. Ready to get this season started.


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[triple]

7 hours ago, 8bucks said:

You guys rule smith out way to early. 


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Agree here.  If you write off four year players based on their freshman and sophomore contributions you miss the point of having four year players.  Looking forward to the payoff with Justin.

[lillurk]

1 hour ago, triple said:

Agree here.  If you write off four year players based on their freshman and sophomore contributions you miss the point of having four year players.  Looking forward to the payoff with Justin.

Also, those dismissing his defense are telling on themselves. Of course he was imperfect and prone to focus lapses, but how many guys In the conference could stay with Cassius Winston on a switch AND body MSU’s bigs on the same possession?

No one is saying he’s an NBA player now, but the raw tools are unteachable. 

[Hoosierfan2017]

2 hours ago, triple said:

Agree here.  If you write off four year players based on their freshman and sophomore contributions you miss the point of having four year players.  Looking forward to the payoff with Justin.

I'm not writing him off. There's a role for him on a successful team. I just question whether he's willing to play that role. 

[HoosierAloha]

You guys rule smith out way to early. Look again at VOs 3pt % increase year to year. Sure VO had great work ethic but none of us really know what smith is doing this offseason.

To me he is not necessary to have a good year but if he can bump his 3pt shooting % up enough to be a threat from there than that is great. It is not out of the question.

Is it likely, no. And if he doesn’t we move on to the next guy.


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I think we have similar ideas but just approaching it from opposite perspectives.

Smith could potentially increase his 3PT% this season. He shot quite poorly last season so I’d hate to see it fall. In his first few seasons, VO had the drive just not the skill (time) to pull off the moves he thought he could. In his first few seasons, Smith has appeared to be disinterested at times.

Sure, we can have a great year without Smith. However, if Smith were to play with the drive of a McSwain and within himself we’d have a better year. Although, I do think we see a bit of that junkyard dog mentality from TJD once he gets his feet wet.

I think Indiana has sacrificed being a good to great program to groom certain players for the next level. I’d like to see that reversed and see players sacrifice to make the program better. If that starts with Smith being the rebounder, defender, and trash man I referenced earlier I’d be happy.


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[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

I'm not writing him off. There's a role for him on a successful team. I just question whether he's willing to play that role. 

Except you want him in a role he doesn’t fit and one that will make him fail. He’s a 3/4. He’s a slasher, defender and when focused and aggressive a rebounder. We’d love to see his 3 game get better because it helps the team that much more. Not wanting guys to expand their game and get better literally makes no sense. A guy like Smith can work on his 3 ball and still work on the rest of his game and he’s already a natural slasher and good defender. And if he has a dream of playing in the NBA and has the work ethic to make it happen, then that is awesome and every fan should support that and hope he continues growing as a player. Good lord, people call me a pessimist yet want to dog on Smith for trying to make a dream come true. You really don’t have to be a good shooter to be in the NBA and you don’t even have to be able to dribble. Smith has the tools to make a roster and him trying to make himself better and into an NBA prospect will only make this better.


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[Hoosierfan2017]

13 minutes ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Except you want him in a role he doesn’t fit and one that will make him fail. He’s a 3/4. He’s a slasher, defender and when focused and aggressive a rebounder. We’d love to see his 3 game get better because it helps the team that much more. Not wanting guys to expand their game and get better literally makes no sense. A guy like Smith can work on his 3 ball and still work on the rest of his game and he’s already a natural slasher and good defender. And if he has a dream of playing in the NBA and has the work ethic to make it happen, then that is awesome and every fan should support that and hope he continues growing as a player. Good lord, people call me a pessimist yet want to dog on Smith for trying to make a dream come true. You really don’t have to be a good shooter to be in the NBA and you don’t even have to be able to dribble. Smith has the tools to make a roster and him trying to make himself better and into an NBA prospect will only make this better.


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How does he not fit the role that HoosierAloha described? He isn't a perimeter player. He can't shoot and he can't dribble. How many 3s in the NBA can't shoot or dribble? Hell, how many 4s in the NBA can't shoot or dribble? He shot 22% from 3 and 51% from the line last year. Of the 9 guys who played 10+ minutes last year, he had the 3rd highest turnover percentage. 

Smith had the 9th worst 3 point percentage last year on a team that was dead last in the B1G in that category. I'm all for players improving their games, but it'd be rather silly for his focus to be on 3 point shooting. Ideally he wouldn't shoot any next season.

If he wants to make the NBA then that's great, but he can do that on his own time. Archie's job isn't to get players to the NBA, it's to win basketball games. Right now Smith plays for IU and his job is to play the role IU needs him to play to help the team. Making the NBA is a whole lot harder than you make it out to be. Juwan Morgan went undrafted and was just waived by the Jazz and he's 10x the player Justin Smith is. 

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

How does he not fit the role that HoosierAloha described? He isn't a perimeter player. He can't shoot and he can't dribble. How many 3s in the NBA can't shoot or dribble? Hell, how many 4s in the NBA can't shoot or dribble? He shot 22% from 3 and 51% from the line last year. Of the 9 guys who played 10+ minutes last year, he had the 3rd highest turnover percentage. 
Smith had the 9th worst 3 point percentage last year on a team that was dead last in the B1G in that category. I'm all for players improving their games, but it'd be rather silly for his focus to be on 3 point shooting. Ideally he wouldn't shoot any next season.
If he wants to make the NBA then that's great, but he can do that on his own time. Archie's job isn't to get players to the NBA, it's to win basketball games. Right now Smith plays for IU and his job is to play the role IU needs him to play to help the team. Making the NBA is a whole lot harder than you make it out to be. Juwan Morgan went undrafted and was just waived by the Jazz and he's 10x the player Justin Smith is. 

Archie’s job is to make players better, put players in a position to succeed and as part of being a basketball coach at a school like Indiana he has to help guys reach their goals and dreams. What player would ever commit to Indiana if they feel the coach doesn’t care about their goals to reach the NBA? You think Al is playing PG now because that’s what is best for the team? Because that’s what he is best at? Probably a part of his growth and what scouts want to see and Archie likely sees that as a positive because he can now develop Al into a multi purpose guard. Which makes the team better. You think Archie is telling Smith to quit working on his game because he’s not going to make the NBA? Or is he encouraging him because he knows it will make the team better? You would be an awful coach at the college level. Smith is a perimeter player. Being a slasher is being a perimeter player. The amount of 3/4’s that cant or couldn’t shoot the 3 is a pretty good number. And Smith May never become a rotation player but may a bench mob dude and I’m sure he’d be happy with that.


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[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

How does he not fit the role that HoosierAloha described? He isn't a perimeter player. He can't shoot and he can't dribble. How many 3s in the NBA can't shoot or dribble? Hell, how many 4s in the NBA can't shoot or dribble? He shot 22% from 3 and 51% from the line last year. Of the 9 guys who played 10+ minutes last year, he had the 3rd highest turnover percentage. 
Smith had the 9th worst 3 point percentage last year on a team that was dead last in the B1G in that category. I'm all for players improving their games, but it'd be rather silly for his focus to be on 3 point shooting. Ideally he wouldn't shoot any next season.
If he wants to make the NBA then that's great, but he can do that on his own time. Archie's job isn't to get players to the NBA, it's to win basketball games. Right now Smith plays for IU and his job is to play the role IU needs him to play to help the team. Making the NBA is a whole lot harder than you make it out to be. Juwan Morgan went undrafted and was just waived by the Jazz and he's 10x the player Justin Smith is. 

Juwan Morgan was a great college player. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. There are players playing in the NBA that he was better than in college. That happens. Smiths career isn’t over. His dream to make it to the NBA isn’t over.


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[Hoosierfan2017]

5 minutes ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Archie’s job is to make players better, put players in a position to succeed and as part of being a basketball coach at a school like Indiana he has to help guys reach their goals and dreams. What player would ever commit to Indiana if they feel the coach doesn’t care about their goals to reach the NBA? You think Al is playing PG now because that’s what is best for the team? Because that’s what he is best at? Probably a part of his growth and what scouts want to see and Archie likely sees that as a positive because he can now develop Al into a multi purpose guard. Which makes the team better. You think Archie is telling Smith to quit working on his game because he’s not going to make the NBA? Or is he encouraging him because he knows it will make the team better? You would be an awful coach at the college level. Smith is a perimeter player. Being a slasher is being a perimeter player. The amount of 3/4’s that cant or couldn’t shoot the 3 is a pretty good number. And Smith May never become a rotation player but may a bench mob dude and I’m sure he’d be happy with that.


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I would be an awful coach because I wouldn't play a guy who can't shoot or dribble on the perimeter. Ok Joe. Just because someone is the size of a perimeter player doesn't mean they should be one. You didn't answer my question. How many 3s in the NBA can't shoot or dribble? 

Archie's job is to coach the IU basketball team. If he's playing players in roles because that's what the NBA wants and not because it's what's best for the team then he's not doing his job. Tom Crean "helped guys get to the NBA." He still got fired because he didn't win. 

We have two players on our team with realistic NBA hopes: Jerome Hunter and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Could other players end up making it? Sure. But it'd be a long shot. No one has said Smith shouldn't "work on his game". But if he's out there hoisting up threes every game we're in trouble. 

[Hoosierfan2017]

6 minutes ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Juwan Morgan was a great college player. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. There are players playing in the NBA that he was better than in college. That happens. Smiths career isn’t over. His dream to make it to the NBA isn’t over.


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IU isn't an NBA farm team. If Justin Smith or anyone else doesn't want to play the role that's best for the team then Archie will find someone else who will. Sure it's not glamorous, but there's no shame in doing the dirty work on the basketball floor. Put backs and good defense. Freddie McSwain did it, and he did it well. Theres no reason Justin Smith can't do it too. 

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich]

I would be an awful coach because I wouldn't play a guy who can't shoot or dribble on the perimeter. Ok Joe. Just because someone is the size of a perimeter player doesn't mean they should be one. You didn't answer my question. How many 3s in the NBA can't shoot or dribble? 
Archie's job is to coach the IU basketball team. If he's playing players in roles because that's what the NBA wants and not because it's what's best for the team then he's not doing his job. Tom Crean "helped guys get to the NBA." He still got fired because he didn't win. 
We have two players on our team with realistic NBA hopes: Jerome Hunter and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Could other players end up making it? Sure. But it'd be a long shot. No one has said Smith shouldn't "work on his game". But if he's out there hoisting up threes every game we're in trouble. 

Archie’s job is to coach the team. And part of that is helping Smith succeed at IU and beyond IU.


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[Hoosierfan2017]

2 minutes ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Archie’s job is to coach the team. And part of that is helping Smith succeed at IU and beyond IU.


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Yes, and Smith will be most successful at IU if he plays a role that fits his skillset.