Transfer Portal w IU Interest

[RaceToTheTop 23,944]

8 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

I'm kinda getting that feeling about Ballo but then again I did just hit a bowl

Ballo's three visits set up are IU, Louisville, and Kansas State -- all pretty much back to back with the first being at IU.  Louisville has money but players all bailing the program and had to go to like choice #5 for their coach.  Kansas State has a good coach who has used the portal well, but in terms of history of using players like Ballo, it's pretty non-existent.  From an individual standpoint, I would have to think that Ballo would view IU as the best situation.

In terms of offense, I certainly get the spacing issues at IU.  But something that does deserve some consideration is that Ballo hasn't been a guy who demands a ton of touches on offense.  He's a dominant rebounder and good interior defnder, but he's a guy that only takes 8 shots per game since he's been a starter at Arizona and a decent number of those are on put backs as he's an exceptional offensive rebounder.  He's not likely to be a guy who IU feeds the ball to constantly like we did with TJD -- he's not likely to get the touches Ware did as well.  But he is a big who was used to setting picks on Arizona to get shots for other guys, something we didn't really ask as much of from TJD or Ware.

The dude is ranked as the top or second best guy in the portal right now.  There is a reason for that.

[IUc2016 7,076]

8 minutes ago, RaceToTheTop said:

Ballo's three visits set up are IU, Louisville, and Kansas State -- all pretty much back to back with the first being at IU.  Louisville has money but players all bailing the program and had to go to like choice #5 for their coach.  Kansas State has a good coach who has used the portal well, but in terms of history of using players like Ballo, it's pretty non-existent.  From an individual standpoint, I would have to think that Ballo would view IU as the best situation.

In terms of offense, I certainly get the spacing issues at IU.  But something that does deserve some consideration is that Ballo hasn't been a guy who demands a ton of touches on offense.  He's a dominant rebounder and good interior defnder, but he's a guy that only takes 8 shots per game since he's been a starter at Arizona and a decent number of those are on put backs as he's an exceptional offensive rebounder.  He's not likely to be a guy who IU feeds the ball to constantly like we did with TJD -- he's not likely to get the touches Ware did as well.  But he is a big who was used to setting picks on Arizona to get shots for other guys, something we didn't really ask as much of from TJD or Ware.

The dude is ranked as the top or second best guy in the portal right now.  There is a reason for that.

He is also planning to visit UNC and Florida. 

UNC is also in on Aaron Bradshaw so that could play into this as well

[steubenhoosier 542]

10 minutes ago, HoosierX said:

It was a little over top that people felt we weren't going to get any portal players. The simple reality is that we're going to be the best offer for a lot of these kids. So I'm not sure how much credit Woodson should get when we land them. I'm not saying no credit, but I also doubt many of these kids will be coming because he is the coach.

Not sure about that. When TJD and Ware both credit Woodson for getting them prepared for the league, and with the way TJD has played, there is a story that can be told. 
A big who has NBA aspirations has to pay attention to what he’s been able to do with those guys 

[Trish 11,417]

29 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

Actually Big Woods is his favorite. He gets the wings, street tacos and a burger. I usually get the Malik Reneau burger 

I love Big Woods as well. I’ll be in Bloomington a month from now. May is the best time of year in Bloomington. 

[HoosierX 1,454]

5 minutes ago, steubenhoosier said:

Not sure about that. When TJD and Ware both credit Woodson for getting them prepared for the league, and with the way TJD has played, there is a story that can be told. 
A big who has NBA aspirations has to pay attention to what he’s been able to do with those guys 

I don't disagree with that, there are likely some that may come in large part due to Woodson.

I just think it will be hard to say Woodson is "landing guys" when we are the highest bidder.

[cleeter 2,049]

We all knew we could get players. You don’t have 6 million in NIL and get no one 

Doesn’t matter if you have all the best and fresh ingredients there is, if you don’t know what in the hell to do with them, it’s going to be a crap show.

Aka, doesn’t matter if woody has the best players, if he doesn’t coach them, then we still end up with crap on the court.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chris007 42,381]

7 minutes ago, Trish said:

I love Big Woods as well. I’ll be in Bloomington a month from now. May is the best time of year in Bloomington. 

My favorite time of the year too. If you want to celebrate my birthday in May downtown let me know:-).

[Chris007 42,381]

3 minutes ago, HoosierX said:

I don't disagree with that, there are likely some that may come in large part due to Woodson.

I just think it will be hard to say Woodson is "landing guys" when we are the highest bidder.

Exactly we can pay more so guy’s want to come play here when they’re getting the biggest check. Also we don’t want to become the place that gets you to the NBA but doesn’t make the sweet 16.

[Schreckbagger 533]

Do you bring anything to the thread?  Who do you think Woodson gets next?

A little passive aggressive here this evening, huh? I'll check with my source on who's next.

Sent from my SM-S906U using BtownBanners mobile app

[rcbowla 6,785]

1 hour ago, str8baller said:

Reminds me of Romeo Langford with how he gets to the rim. Not an Uber athlete but kind of knifes through traffic. 

Knifes through Stanford. Stanford was worse than IU defensively last year. If he comes to IU I'll watch more games of his but to take all stock in 1 game against Stanford is not a wise choice.

[Artie86 1,674]

10 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

My favorite time of the year too. If you want to celebrate my birthday in May downtown let me know:-).

Hey,…..mine’s May 5th! Lol

[Trish 11,417]

12 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

My favorite time of the year too. If you want to celebrate my birthday in May downtown let me know:-).

Sounds like a plan! 

[Chris007 42,381]

2 minutes ago, Artie86 said:

Hey,…..mine’s May 5th! Lol

So is my mom’s. Mine is May 19. I expect IU to be done with the portal by then.

[Artie86 1,674]

11 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

So is my mom’s. Mine is May 19. I expect IU to be done with the portal by then.

Sooo cool! My 1st cousin’s is the 5th as well she alway said I stole her birthday! lol

[Shooter 255]

4 hours ago, Hardwood83 said:

If IU signs Rice as expected, I sure hope they pair him with a good shooter in the back-court. We can hope/expect/project a big Soph leap in shooting all we want,  but a Rice/Carlyle backcourt with Trey off the bench, sure doesn't say 'huge improvement' to me, certainly in shooting anyway. We'd need a huge defensive improvement, since as I already said earlier in this thread, Rice/Carlyle/Mbako/Reneau/Any center on the list currently = a 4 in 1 out offense. Probably 52ppg for the team :( 

I think Rice will be a fine shooter. But I agree, if we are going to play two bigs together again, both wings need to be knockdown shooters. Mgbako is one. Of the guys we're rumored to be in on, I want Conwell or Hickman for that other spot.

Gallo will still get heavy minutes as sixth man. But I think Gallo lineups work best with a shooter like Mgbako at the 4.

[Shooter 255]

1 hour ago, RaceToTheTop said:

Ballo's three visits set up are IU, Louisville, and Kansas State -- all pretty much back to back with the first being at IU.  Louisville has money but players all bailing the program and had to go to like choice #5 for their coach.  Kansas State has a good coach who has used the portal well, but in terms of history of using players like Ballo, it's pretty non-existent.  From an individual standpoint, I would have to think that Ballo would view IU as the best situation.

In terms of offense, I certainly get the spacing issues at IU.  But something that does deserve some consideration is that Ballo hasn't been a guy who demands a ton of touches on offense.  He's a dominant rebounder and good interior defnder, but he's a guy that only takes 8 shots per game since he's been a starter at Arizona and a decent number of those are on put backs as he's an exceptional offensive rebounder.  He's not likely to be a guy who IU feeds the ball to constantly like we did with TJD -- he's not likely to get the touches Ware did as well.  But he is a big who was used to setting picks on Arizona to get shots for other guys, something we didn't really ask as much of from TJD or Ware.

The dude is ranked as the top or second best guy in the portal right now.  There is a reason for that.

Agree. If Woodson is married to Reneau being a 4, I think Ballo is pretty much the best case scenario as the 5. He's an absolutely elite rebounder, which fills a big need for us.

[RaceToTheTop 23,944]

Who starts is completely irrelevant, IMO.  It's all about minutes.  Right now we know Galloway, MM, MR, and Tucker are going to get minutes.  If Rice comes in he's getting a ton.  There will be a big coming in getting big minutes and I suspect another guard and a backup 4/5.  That's seven guys.  Cupps and Leal at 8 and 9 in some order.  Newton will probably have to work his way back.

There are going to games where guys are out with injury/illiness.  There are going to be some minutes when guys have to sit due to foul problems.  I know that in the tournament rotations shorten but during the regular season I expect you'll see a rotation of at least 9 in most games.

[RaceToTheTop 23,944]

Another Ant Wright tweet

 

[ib4iu 350]

Instead of hoping Mike Woodson would only play one big let’s shift the hope to MR continuing to develop his athleticism and shooting to play more outside. I’d much rather put hope in MR than MW. 

[HoosierTrav 7,619]

7 hours ago, Adillac said:

We are handing out hundreds of thousands of dollars to players and I'd just hope we would try for someone who shoots better than 27% from 3pt, seeing as how we were essentially the worst 3pt shooting team in the country last year. But then again, Woody is our coach so it shouldn't be surprising. 

He shot poorly on guarded 3’s but actually shot over 40% on unguarded 3’s. He has the potential to shoot it from deep. Can get better. Really good lead guard. Pair him with Conwell and we're cooking. Still think Mgbako playing the 3 is a mistake. Karaban from UConn basically the same player and UConn plays him at the 4.