IU Basketball News and Notes

[Home Jersey]

First look is Sunday 3pm. 140 hours.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

First look is Sunday 3pm. 140 hours.

That’ll be a real tough test.


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[cthomas]

3 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

That’ll be a real tough test.


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It will at least be a measuring stick for where we are now. Hopefully, it exposes things that still need to be done.

[Home Jersey]

9 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

That’ll be a real tough test.


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We will learn a lot about our guards and defense. Zeigler is one of the best guards in the country. Their transfer Lanier could be really good too. Mgbako has an interesting match up with Dubar. 

[Hovadipo]

42 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

First look is Sunday 3pm. 140 hours.

Anyone know if I’ll be able to go back and watch a replay on ESPN+? Bears got flexed to the late afternoon slot and that’ll be the priority. 

[Uspshoosier]

8 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

Anyone know if I’ll be able to go back and watch a replay on ESPN+? Bears got flexed to the late afternoon slot and that’ll be the priority. 

Yeah you should be able to.  Go to the ESPN app and click on the college basketball icon and you should be able to watch the replay.   Watching Xavier and Dayton from the other day right now 

[johnsoniu]

17 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

  Watching Xavier and Dayton from the other day right now 

I would expect nothing less ;)

[HoosierFan1994]

5 hours ago, Demo said:

For those interested, John Fanta, Fox’s Big East guy, was in Bloomington for practice today and has several observations in his feed. Nothing super noteworthy except, maybe, more validation that Tucker is outplaying most of our expectations.

Not going to compare the two players as they are different but I'll compare the situations: I think what OG was in 2015-2016 is what Tucker will be for IU in 2024-2025. 

I love Fanta on the Field of 68. I'm trying to be careful not to fall for this again, but there is so much talent on this roster. This top 8/9 will compete with anyone. 

[cthomas]

9 minutes ago, HoosierFan1994 said:

I think what OG was in 2015-2016 is what Tucker will be for IU in 2024-2025. 

I can't remember a 5* recruit being as ignored as Tucker. When I listen to him talk, the confidence and maturity just shine through. Whatever success IU has this season, Tucker will be a big part of it.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

8 hours ago, cthomas said:

I can't remember a 5* recruit being as ignored as Tucker. When I listen to him talk, the confidence and maturity just shine through. Whatever success IU has this season, Tucker will be a big part of it.

Part of his being ignored may be due to the fact he did not play on the '23 summer AAU circuit and get that visibility.

[Demo]

53 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Part of his being ignored may be due to the fact he did not play on the '23 summer AAU circuit and get that visibility.

Part of it for sure. Another may have been that his path always seemed sort of set. Early on the perception of him was that he was a virtually done deal to Mich St, to the point that a lot of schools seemed to stop working him. Then the Ignite thing happened and that was definitely the end because there was just no history of kids bailing on Ignite and going to school. If Kenya stayed in his ear that entire time when others didn’t, good for him. 

[Stuhoo]

Part of it is that compared with portal recruiting, practically no incoming freshmen are high profile.

 

[IUFAN1976]

9 hours ago, cthomas said:

I can't remember a 5* recruit being as ignored as Tucker. When I listen to him talk, the confidence and maturity just shine through. Whatever success IU has this season, Tucker will be a big part of it.

Even though he’s a young college freshman, that’s what I noticed about him was his confidence and maturity.  Once he gets his footing as a player, I can see him taking on a leadership role at some point in his basketball career.  He’s seems to have leadership skills

[lillurk]

I want to be excited about Tucker but I’m a little worried about his shooting. Since he didn’t play summer ‘23 AAU there’s less data than lots of guys but what data there is looks shaky, the scouting has been positive but not effusive in that regard, and any praise of a perimeter player’s midrange shooting is damning with faint praise that he’s not taking and making 3s.

Now, I hope I’m wrong, players get better, and the lack of data can work in his favor: small sample may be distorting his numbers AND the scouting.

[HoosierHoopster]

9 hours ago, lillurk said:

I want to be excited about Tucker but I’m a little worried about his shooting. Since he didn’t play summer ‘23 AAU there’s less data than lots of guys but what data there is looks shaky, the scouting has been positive but not effusive in that regard, and any praise of a perimeter player’s midrange shooting is damning with faint praise that he’s not taking and making 3s.

Now, I hope I’m wrong, players get better, and the lack of data can work in his favor: small sample may be distorting his numbers AND the scouting.

He's a midrange player to date - a very, very good midrange player. Definitely should and hopefully will expand his game to the perimeter but that's not been his game to date. Will say that man his 2-point shot looked good in the scrimmage.

[steubenhoosier]

5 minutes ago, HoosierHoopster said:

He's a midrange player to date - a very, very good midrange player. Definitely should and hopefully will expand his game to the perimeter but that's not been his game to date. Will say that man his 2-point shot looked good in the scrimmage.

IIRC, we had an excellent midrange player a couple of years ago who torched PUke and became a 1st round draft pick 

[HoosierHoopster]

Just now, steubenhoosier said:

IIRC, we had an excellent midrange player a couple of years ago who torched PUke and became a 1st round draft pick 

Yeah JHS was outstanding and while Tucker needs to develop/show outside shooting, a really good mid-range game is underrated. Demar Derozan is the outlier example, fantastic player

[IUFAN1976]

1 hour ago, HoosierHoopster said:

He's a midrange player to date - a very, very good midrange player. Definitely should and hopefully will expand his game to the perimeter but that's not been his game to date. Will say that man his 2-point shot looked good in the scrimmage.

He just has to be able to knock one down occasionally and that will make his already good mid-range game more robust 

[str8baller]

11 hours ago, steubenhoosier said:

IIRC, we had an excellent midrange player a couple of years ago who torched PUke and became a 1st round draft pick 

He was our pg and it was mainly because edey can’t defend, especially a PnR. I’m not sure I place the same value in that attribute in a frosh wing. 
 

This will be a good opportunity for him to learn to find scoring opportunities off the ball. Also, he’ll get some opportunities at the end of the shot clock to take 15footers off the bounce but otherwise those chances should be few and far between. 

[Stuhoo]

Woody from the presser today:

• Langdon Hatton has been a surprise and can do some things the staff didn't think he could do. Has improved athletically and can get up and down the floor.
• They had a game-style scrimmage the other night and Malik made two out three from 3pt during it. 
• Both Trey and Jakai played and played well during the scrimmage; 15-18 minutes apiece. Neither is fully recovered. Woody can't yet say whether they will play on Sunday, so they might - the trainers and team doctors will inform about their availability.
• As a team they are taking more threes.
• The team has been working their a$$es off.