IU Basketball News and Notes

[Stuhoo 91,940]

16 minutes ago, Artie86 said:

....does anybody else get the sneeky feeling that Coach DeVries and the players he brought in are going to suprise a lot of people in a positive way? I sort of get the feeling of "under the radar" and "sleeper". It definitely happened with IU Football. NO ONE gave Coach Cignetti and IU Football and prayer and now look where we are.

I see posters on here complaining about DeVries recruiting and it just baffles me. 

 

Yes; I very much get that feeling. I haven't said it in so many words because it sucks to eat the words after doing so, but I do get the feeling that this IUBB squad's potential is being notably underrated. There are three primary reasons for real optimism:

1. Each and every one of our top six players are seniors. Coachable, mature, D1-experienced seniors. 
2. Devries is a proven strong defensive coach. That won't completely overcome lack of athleticism, but experience + a good defensive system is a very big deal. Of note: IU's best defender last year was Leal, the least athletic guy in our rotation.
3. This team can shoot the ball. Better than any team from the Woodson and Archie eras.

(contrast this to the IU women's team this year: they are young and don't have many shooters. It could be rough)

[Scotty R 3,834]

1 hour ago, Artie86 said:

....does anybody else get the sneeky feeling that Coach DeVries and the players he brought in are going to suprise a lot of people in a positive way? I sort of get the feeling of "under the radar" and "sleeper". It definitely happened with IU Football. NO ONE gave Coach Cignetti and IU Football and prayer and now look where we are.

I see posters on here complaining about DeVries recruiting and it just baffles me. 

Some people just like to complain just to complain 

[Pagoda 6,129]

1 hour ago, Artie86 said:

....does anybody else get the sneeky feeling that Coach DeVries and the players he brought in are going to suprise a lot of people in a positive way? I sort of get the feeling of "under the radar" and "sleeper". It definitely happened with IU Football. NO ONE gave Coach Cignetti and IU Football and prayer and now look where we are.

I see posters on here complaining about DeVries recruiting and it just baffles me. 

I’m still optimistic for several reasons:

1) He wanted this job, the process with him started months before his hire.  So he’s had a vision for what he can do here for some time.  Scott hired him, and I’ve been very impressed with Scott.

2) A few people who have worked with him, both in the AD and external on the NIL front (so not IU fans), told me they are very impressed.

3) I generally like his staff.  Notably Bargen.

4) He seems to be bringing in high character guys.

5) I just get the sense he knows what he’s doing and is going through his process of building a team and program from wreckage Woody left him.

He won’t generate much buzz from the media — he doesn’t hobnob much with them.  Maybe the roster concerns are valid, maybe not, we’ve got to see what he can get from these guys.  I get we didn’t land some HS recruits, but on the other hand we haven’t played a game and the recruiting cycle isn’t over.  I hesitate to critique the sausage making process when it’s early and I have little insight into what is actually going on behind the scenes on that front.

We’ll see.  I think we’ll have ups and downs, but overall I’d guess CDD outperforms the bubble projections and makes the tourney without much drama and builds from there.  That would be great.  That’s my view until any red flags appear that suggest he can’t succeed here.  Red flag examples are getting blown out by Indiana St. at home, being an NBA guy new to college bball, or clear losing trends on the court or recruiting.  Pretty basic red flags.

All we can do is hope for the best.  May as well.  It’s out of our control.

[Stuhoo 91,940]

15 minutes ago, Scotty R said:

Some people just like to complain just to complain 

 

^^Complaining about people that "like to complain just to complain"^^

 

[HoosierHoopster 9,028]

2 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

 

Yes; I very much get that feeling. I haven't said it in so many words because it sucks to eat the words after doing so, but I do get the feeling that this IUBB squad's potential is being notably underrated. There are three primary reasons for real optimism:

1. Each and every one of our top six players are seniors. Coachable, mature, D1-experienced seniors. 
2. Devries is a proven strong defensive coach. That won't completely overcome lack of athleticism, but experience + a good defensive system is a very big deal. Of note: IU's best defender last year was Leal, the least athletic guy in our rotation.
3. This team can shoot the ball. Better than any team from the Woodson and Archie eras.

(contrast this to the IU women's team this year: they are young and don't have many shooters. It could be rough)

I'm largely in this camp/line of thought at this point, and would add:

4. DeVries has a track record of rebuilding teams into competitive teams.

5. Not just a a proven defensive coach, the guy is a demonstrated and recognized basketball mind -- we haven't had that here since Sampson. He's not another Crean, and he's miles better as an overall bball coach than Woodson or Miller. We have a legit bball coach -- and that goes to the Cig comparisons.

[LamarCheeks 22,656]

Schedule posters are available ... 

[FortWayneHoosier 6,998]

14 minutes ago, LamarCheeks said:

Schedule posters are available ... 

you get a gold star for the day......or a schrute buck...your choosing

 

[str8baller 7,923]

4 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

The thing that gives me some real hope that we'll be "good enough" defensively is that Devries is on the record as stating he likes what he currently sees defensively.

If (and this is the major 'if') we now have a coach that doesn't 'coach speak' much, that is good to hear. Especially in light of Devries' track record of having good defensive squads.

The thing that gives me some hope was when I was looking back at his statistical profile to get a read on him when he was first hired there wasn’t much of a trend. Some years (like last year at WVU) he had good defensive teams, other years he had teams that were led by their offense.  
 

I’m left to assume (hope) he can coach ‘em up at both ends of the floor. 

[Stuhoo 91,940]

IU's 1st exhibition from two years ago at halftime:

And this year's:

[AZ Hoosier 11,246]

20 hours ago, AZ Hoosier said:

They should be out shortly, but are not out yet.

They're out... ordered mine.

https://shop.iuhoosiers.com/collections/indiana-hoosiers-basketball

[Uspshoosier 54,895]

https://x.com/tiptonedits/status/1981437569796649301?s=46
 

deciding Nov 1st