(2024) - SF Bryson Tucker to Washington via Portal

[lillurk]

2 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Has the undisputed king of very late five star commits struck again?!!?

Damn I hope so.

MOVE MALIK TO THE FIVE PLEEEZE

These shorter spring recruitments are much more like NBA free agency — meet the staff, see the facilities, here’s NIL range, can you be here in June, we’re also after Players B and C, think these players are returning….

So that and charism, plus what IU more broadly can offer?? Makes sense it’s Woody’s wheelhouse. Need to get better at the more typical, longer HS ones.

2 McD AA wings would’ve been nice this offseason. One is a nice consolation after the other dropped away.

Malik at the 5 can work defensively some of the time — really need a backup, truer 5 who can protect the rim and can stretch out to 20-25 minutes some nights. That’s an easier portal patch than someone with Malik’s skills.

[8bucks]

10 minutes ago, lillurk said:

These shorter spring recruitments are much more like NBA free agency — meet the staff, see the facilities, here’s NIL range, can you be here in June, we’re also after Players B and C, think these players are returning….

So that and charism, plus what IU more broadly can offer?? Makes sense it’s Woody’s wheelhouse. Need to get better at the more typical, longer HS ones.

2 McD AA wings would’ve been nice this offseason. One is a nice consolation after the other dropped away.

Malik at the 5 can work defensively some of the time — really need a backup, truer 5 who can protect the rim and can stretch out to 20-25 minutes some nights. That’s an easier portal patch than someone with Malik’s skills.

Hoping we can attract a younger 5 who can be here 2 years or more but would be seen as a backup in year 1 and a starter the following year. 

[lillurk]

Just now, 8bucks said:

Hoping we can attract a younger 5 who can be here 2 years or more but would be seen as a backup in year 1 and a starter the following year. 

Yes — all things being equal I like multi year portal players if you go that route.

Expanding on my assertion that Malik can cover you SOME defensively at the 5, think there’s a few considerations:

1. With Malik himself, you give away some rim protection but potentially take away some of the fouls he accrues far from the hoop.

2. As others outlined, you can diminish (but not eliminate) the need for some rim protection with better defense everywhere else.

3. No Edey next year, Dainja’s a part-time player, none of the other 5s in the B1G next year as of now project to be Edey/TJD/Dickinson-level performers IMHO

[Home Jersey]

16 minutes ago, lillurk said:

Yes — all things being equal I like multi year portal players if you go that route.

Expanding on my assertion that Malik can cover you SOME defensively at the 5, think there’s a few considerations:

1. With Malik himself, you give away some rim protection but potentially take away some of the fouls he accrues far from the hoop.

2. As others outlined, you can diminish (but not eliminate) the need for some rim protection with better defense everywhere else.

3. No Edey next year, Dainja’s a part-time player, none of the other 5s in the B1G next year as of now project to be Edey/TJD/Dickinson-level performers IMHO

Yeah, all good points. My big concern with Malik at the 5 is that he does not rebound well enough right now. Mgbako I think can be a good rebounder at the 4, but he is also not a high level/consistent rebounder as of now, and he will likely still play at the 3 IMO for at least a good amount of time if he does in fact stay. That said, I think Malik showed a lot of improvement this year and if he makes a similar jump next year, I could see him playing some time at the 5 and it working well... plus, Mack will be a great sophomore if we're able to keep him. My "sunshine pumping" hot take is that I'm hopeful Gallo shoots better next year (I'd take 33% on low-ish volume... just enough to keep defenses honest.). In 2022-2023, he shot 46%, I'm sure the volume was low and his 3PT/FG%s have been low otherwise. But in his last year of eligibility and with a hopefully more focused role, I'm hoping he can be more efficient.

[RaceToTheTop]

9 hours ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

This makes sense but it would be a net negative for the team. Getting Mgbako back needs to be high priority.  

Absolutely a priority, but that doesn't mean it would necessarily be a reality.  Sometimes kids are set on going to the draft regardless of where/if they think they will be drafted.  To me, it makes financial sense for MM to come back for another year IMO unless you can get a guarantee from a team that you are going to locked on a roster and not in the G league.  I don't see him getting that guarantee and not sure he would get drafted.

Could be a possibility that the staff knows or -- in my opinion -- simply have reason to believe that they feel that MM isn't sure and is waiting to hear from scouts.  Teams simply don't have the luxury of waiting around now and its probably best to go ahead and try to build a roster assuming they aren't coming back and then adjust if they do.  I still think MM's best path to pros is as a stretch 4 but I'm not sure he feels that way.

[RaceToTheTop]

6 hours ago, Uspshoosier said:

CB pick for IU 

FWIW, the crystal ball came from a Maryland University contributor.  Tucker is from Arlington, Virginia --- literally 20 miles from Maryland University.

[RaceToTheTop]

Bryson played on the U16 team in the FIBA Americas Games in which the US won gold.  He averaged 9.5 points and 4.3 rebounds.  He's young for his class -- will turn 18 the summer after he graduates.  His dad was a good college player.  Started his career at NC State then transferred to George Mason.  Averaged 21 points as a senior.  Review of his game from Eric Bossi:

Tucker is a big wing who has a pretty polished game on the offensive end of the floor. He is able to use his size to finish in the lane where he is also a very functional athlete who can get off the floor quickly in small spaces, changes direction well in traffic and has a great frame to build on in a college weight room. Where he really stands out, though, is with his ability to score from the mid range. Tucker gets to his spots without wasting dribbles, elevates and is problematic for defenses trying to stop him from scoring from between 12 and 17 feet.

As Tucker gets away from the rim and shoots deeper jumpers, his shot does tend to flatten out a bit so while he's not a poor shooter from beyond the three-point line, there's still plenty of room for him to improve out there. While he's able to quickly get to his spots for one and two dribble pull-ups, Tucker could also benefit from developing his handle a bit more. Because of his size and ability to carry more muscle on his lean frame, he should be able to make the adjustment to the college game relatively quickly.

 

 

[dwtaylor1055]

hopefully this one gets wrapped up soon if it hasn't already been wrapped up behind the public's eye.  Need to move onto the next domino, can't wait too long with the number of holes needing to be filled.  

[ap2345]

41 minutes ago, dwtaylor1055 said:

hopefully this one gets wrapped up soon if it hasn't already been wrapped up behind the public's eye.  Need to move onto the next domino, can't wait too long with the number of holes needing to be filled.  

It could happen soon. 

[Demo]

Who would have thought that a MCDAA wing scorer’s “play style”consists of force feeding the post, cutting to the weak corner and just kind of hanging out? 
Snark aside, I would think no other visits is probably promising.

[JSHoosier]

8 minutes ago, Demo said:

Who would have thought that a MCDAA wing scorer’s “play style”consists of force feeding the post, cutting to the weak corner and just kind of hanging out? 
Snark aside, I would think no other visits is probably promising.

You forgot midrange jumpers as opposed to 3s.

[Golfman25]

14 minutes ago, Demo said:

Who would have thought that a MCDAA wing scorer’s “play style”consists of force feeding the post, cutting to the weak corner and just kind of hanging out? 
Snark aside, I would think no other visits is probably promising.

Waiting until April?  For what?  Sounds like they didn’t close the sale.  

[CSP]

5 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

Waiting until April?  For what?  Sounds like they didn’t close the sale.  

It's March 28th? 

[Home Jersey]

3 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

Waiting until April?  For what?  Sounds like they didn’t close the sale.  

FWIW, TD "predicted" Tucker to IU just a few minutes ago. Obviously take with a grain of salt. 

Because I agree, if no more visits scheduled... I'd think the staff was pressing hard for a commitment before he left. Maybe that happened privately, and they're just waiting for April until the check clears. That does leave a window for something to change. You'd think for all the talk of increased NIL resources, we'd basically be ready to have payment in "cold hard cash" (not literally cash) ready to go. 

[Go_Hoosiers]

6 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

Waiting until April?  For what?  Sounds like they didn’t close the sale.  

Sounds to me like Indiana is just the opening bid.

[tyappleg]

He just committed... lol

[tyappleg]

[ap2345]

1 down

[Chris007]

Just now, tyappleg said:

He just committed... lol

This means the check cleared. But I don't know that for sure so don't quote me

[dwtaylor1055]

Can I say Woody is cookin now?