Early 2022-2023 Top 25

[Josh]

What's the word on Diabate and Houstan?  Are they projected to return to Michigan or leave for the draft?

[IUFAN1976]

2 hours ago, Honkyman said:

Perhaps. Obviously, TJD coming back is huge. But 3-point shooting is still a liability. We'll have to wait and see how much.

Yes, based off the last 2 years but I am hopeful we’ll make a jump in 3 point consistency, especially the veteran players having already spent a complete year under Woodson.  He shouldn’t have to completely teach his defensive philosophy, which should allow him to put more emphasis on offense 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

3 hours ago, Josh said:

What's the word on Diabate and Houstan?  Are they projected to return to Michigan or leave for the draft?

No one Knows yet. Houstan is rumored to be staying. No one going on limb for Diabate. 

[vemmeistars]

From what I’ve seen reading Michigan message boards, they believe it is unlikely that either returns. There’s speculation that houstan has a 1st rd promise from a team (Thunder?) and diabate tested well enough at combine to get a team to take a flier in him in the 2nd rd.

[Stuhoo]

 

Goodman updates his early Top 25 and we are now at #9.

Wanna talk bluebloods? He has us ahead of UK, Kansas, and Duke.

 

 

[jepwatso]

5 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

 

Goodman updates his early Top 25 and we are now at #9.

Wanna talk bluebloods? He has us ahead of UK, Kansas, and Duke.

 

 

[IUFAN1976]

5 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

 

Goodman updates his early Top 25 and we are now at #9.

Wanna talk bluebloods? He has us ahead of UK, Kansas, and Duke.

 

 

That’s great!  I know most people don’t think we are a top 10 team but I do, especially if we get some guys, like I think we will, knock down 3’s and make a jump with improvement 

[cthomas]

5 minutes ago, IUFAN1976 said:

That’s great!  I know most people don’t think we are a top 10 team but I do, especially if we get some guys, like I think we will, knock down 3’s and make a jump with improvement 

I think we have a great chance to end up there. We have a lot of roles to figure out. The fact that for the first time in a while we were better at the end of season gives me renewed hope.

[MikeRoberts]

1 hour ago, cthomas said:

I think we have a great chance to end up there. We have a lot of roles to figure out. The fact that for the first time in a while we were better at the end of season gives me renewed hope.

Eh, not sure that was true, maybe comparatively to the past few seasons. We ended the season losing 8 of our last 12 games. Thats not great, actually pretty poor. Those two wins in the btt skewed a lot of views quickly

[cthomas]

8 minutes ago, MikeRoberts said:

Eh, not sure that was true, maybe comparatively to the past few seasons. We ended the season losing 8 of our last 12 games. Thats not great, actually pretty poor. Those two wins in the btt skewed a lot of views quickly

You can certainly look at it that way with justification, but in recent years those BTT wins would have likely been one blowout loss. Feels like progress to me.

[5fouls]

15 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

 

Goodman updates his early Top 25 and we are now at #9.

Wanna talk bluebloods? He has us ahead of UK, Kansas, and Duke.

 

 

I don't think we're Top 10 unless someone (most likely Bates) takes a big step forward and becomes a consistent perimeter scorer.  We may get into the Top 10 early in the season as younger teams are still figuring things out.  But, by the end of the year, if we have not become a better shooting team from the arc, I have to think there will be at least 10 teams better.  If I had to make a prediction, I would guess a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament.  

[pumpfake]

3 hours ago, 5fouls said:

I don't think we're Top 10 unless someone (most likely Bates) takes a big step forward and becomes a consistent perimeter scorer.  We may get into the Top 10 early in the season as younger teams are still figuring things out.  But, by the end of the year, if we have not become a better shooting team from the arc, I have to think there will be at least 10 teams better.  If I had to make a prediction, I would guess a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament.  

While I feel there should be optimism for next season and beyond, there are still question marks.  Especially in regards to shooting.  We absolutely need some returning players to come back improved.  I always maintain that freshmen are rarely a sure thing.

[Brass Cannon]

2 hours ago, pumpfake said:

While I feel there should be optimism for next season and beyond, there are still question marks.  Especially in regards to shooting.  We absolutely need some returning players to come back improved.  I always maintain that freshmen are rarely a sure thing.

Yep. Lucky if Bates, Galloway and Geronimo can come back even marginally improved as long as we get one shooter out of the bunch we won’t have to lean on the freshmen too much. 

[HoosierHoopster]

20 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

Yep. Lucky if Bates, Galloway and Geronimo can come back even marginally improved as long as we get one shooter out of the bunch we won’t have to lean on the freshmen too much. 

I'm betting we see a big time jump from Bates, he is a legit 3-level scorer, needed to bring his D up to Woodson's standards, then had personal and family issues to address, but the talent, athleticism, competitive edge and underlying skill are all there. Frosh to soph jump coming. And I think JG is going to be a beast.

[DWB]

2 hours ago, HoosierHoopster said:

I'm betting we see a big time jump from Bates, he is a legit 3-level scorer, needed to bring his D up to Woodson's standards, then had personal and family issues to address, but the talent, athleticism, competitive edge and underlying skill are all there. Frosh to soph jump coming. And I think JG is going to be a beast.

Certainly hope you're right about Scoop, but I'm not convinced it'll happen this year. JG? Absolutely I think that will happen. Looking for really big improvements from him. And I'm still betting on one of the "lower end" of the bench surprising us to the up side.

[HoosierHoopster]

23 minutes ago, DWB said:

Certainly hope you're right about Scoop, but I'm not convinced it'll happen this year. JG? Absolutely I think that will happen. Looking for really big improvements from him. And I'm still betting on one of the "lower end" of the bench surprising us to the up side.

As they say it's up to Scoop and the proof is in the pudding. Kid has so much talent -- and fire -- he was a frosh and dealt with off-court things and the demands of Woodson on D, now he's coming in with that experience, a full summer, and Woodson says he thinks Bates is the guy who will have that big jump. The kid shot plus 40% his last two seasons in HS -- I think he finds his range this season. if he does, look out!

[Stuhoo]

 

Borzello/ESPN pops us up to #14:

14. Indiana Hoosiers

Previous: 15

Given that the Hoosiers have finished better than ninth in the Big Ten once since 2016, it feels like a risk saying this, but here goes: With Trayce Jackson-Davis withdrawing from the NBA draft and returning to Bloomington, Indiana will likely enter the season as the Big Ten favorite. Jackson-Davis is a dominant force on the interior and will get preseason All-American recognition in some circles, and he's leading a core of four returning starters from a team that won 21 games in Mike Woodson's first campaign at the helm. The Hoosiers are also adding five-star recruits Malik Reneau and Jalen Hood-Schifino, as well as ESPN 100 prospect Kaleb Banks. Expect a step forward from former top-25 prospect Tamar Bates, too. The glaring issue for Indiana is going to be perimeter shooting; the Hoosiers shot just 31.9% from 3 in Big Ten play last season, ranking next-to-last in the league.

Projected starting lineup:

Xavier Johnson (12.1 PPG)
Jalen Hood-Schifino (No. 24 in ESPN 100)
Miller Kopp (6.0 PPG)
Race Thompson (11.1 PPG)
Trayce Jackson-Davis (18.3 PPG)

[HoosierHoopster]

33 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

 

Projected starting lineup:

Xavier Johnson (12.1 PPG)
Jalen Hood-Schifino (No. 24 in ESPN 100)
Miller Kopp (6.0 PPG)
Race Thompson (11.1 PPG)
Trayce Jackson-Davis (18.3 PPG)

One of these things is not like the other....

[Brass Cannon]

34 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

 

Borzello/ESPN pops us up to #14:

14. Indiana Hoosiers

Previous: 15

Given that the Hoosiers have finished better than ninth in the Big Ten once since 2016, it feels like a risk saying this, but here goes: With Trayce Jackson-Davis withdrawing from the NBA draft and returning to Bloomington, Indiana will likely enter the season as the Big Ten favorite. Jackson-Davis is a dominant force on the interior and will get preseason All-American recognition in some circles, and he's leading a core of four returning starters from a team that won 21 games in Mike Woodson's first campaign at the helm. The Hoosiers are also adding five-star recruits Malik Reneau and Jalen Hood-Schifino, as well as ESPN 100 prospect Kaleb Banks. Expect a step forward from former top-25 prospect Tamar Bates, too. The glaring issue for Indiana is going to be perimeter shooting; the Hoosiers shot just 31.9% from 3 in Big Ten play last season, ranking next-to-last in the league.

Projected starting lineup:

Xavier Johnson (12.1 PPG)
Jalen Hood-Schifino (No. 24 in ESPN 100)
Miller Kopp (6.0 PPG)
Race Thompson (11.1 PPG)
Trayce Jackson-Davis (18.3 PPG)

He better start hitting 3 or else I want Galloway or Geronimo 

[Honkyman]

2 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

2 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Projected starting lineup:

Xavier Johnson (12.1 PPG)
Jalen Hood-Schifino (No. 24 in ESPN 100)
Miller Kopp (6.0 PPG)
Race Thompson (11.1 PPG)
Trayce Jackson-Davis (18.3 PPG)

 

I agree that is the likely starting lineup at the beginning of the season. The starting lineup could change depending upon player performance or Woodson could simply go to the bench earlier than last season. The real issue is which players are on the floor at the end of close games.