Transfer Portal w/IU Interest

[Pryght]

12 hours ago, BA47591 said:

I wonder why DD didn't try to play Alexis and Bailey together last year? 

Probably because Tucker was too fat to guard the opponent's 3.

[str8baller]

9 hours ago, Pryght said:

It reminds me of comments Todd Golden made recently (discussing the value of shooting fewer 3s and more at the rim 2s):

“That was kind of the wave for a couple of years, teams that sold themselves as playing a ‘pro-style’ offense and spread out, but when you play that way, you allow a lot of volatility to enter the equation.

Todd’s a smart guy. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was reading this board as I made that point about a dozen times during the Woodson-era as everyone pined for a small ball, 3pt launching, uptempo squad. :{ The pros have an 82 game season and 7 game playoff series to smooth out the variance in a way college teams cannot. 

 

With that said there’s a lot of real estate between what we did last year and the Mike Woodson/Matt Painter “play two bigs and play everything through the paint” style. One of the more popular and successful styles has been essentially one athletic big with some athletic wings and guards who can shoot. But Villanova definitely rode some stone-cold small ball lineups to tons of success.  
 

Devries has to do what he thinks is prudent even if that’s loading up on beef in the paint at the expense of 3’s. Michigan is the undisputed top dog on the block and they definitely play big, so it’s not a surprise to see teams adjust to them. 

[Pagoda]

10 hours ago, ronzo4IU said:

It starts with prioritizing the right players and adding the right amount of depth behind them to be on the Duke/Michigan level and it seems we are comparable in funds.
We have started out on the right foot this off season and then just fell off a cliff it seems.  

Like has been stated… this particular year needs to be the cornerstone of what we build off of for the future and it has to be done all the way imo.  

If no quality depth is added at least in the post then we will be dragging a$$ yet again down the stretch.  

I just see no reason to spend 20 mil on this roster and not pull in the finishing touches, which will pay big dividends down the road in so many ways.

Hope there is a surprise or two waiting in the wings.

FWIW, and it's just my useless opinion, I think Duke is on another level.  They're the highest funding in CBB, with deep recruiting ties including with Nike, a sterling brand with big exposure, and a track record of being really good every year.  UM we're closer to, but they outspent us pretty good last year and this year we're closer, but still short.  After a natty they'll get whatever they ask for.

I think CDD made a huge mistake with the lack of multi-year guys in season one.  We had all these one year dudes and the multi-year guys were not developed/retained (Trent a little).  So we had another total rebuild, which personally I found very disappointing.  Okay, our W/L in season one was not great, but at least develop some pieces for season two!  C'mon, think long term here.

I don't think it's possible to build a conf title winner/F4 team entirely scratch in one portal.  Even if we had $25M.  With no roster continuity, it's so hard to get 10 new guys to gel such that they can win really big.  Just my opinion.

I agree with pretty much all the concerns people voice on this board.  We need more front court depth.  We have question mark players CDD/Carr/staff better be right on... though this pretty normal every year.

Best case I can see is we hit on almost all the new guys, they improve as the year goes on, and we get like a 5 seed or better and make the S16.  Then return most of the roster, which is possible with all our multi-year guys (nice work!), and go into a portal needing only a few players.  We'd be selling an attractive situation -- a S16 team on the rise.  IUBB is back baby!  Bring in a few high end portal players and then season three of CDD we're thinking conference title and F4.

Is this likely?  It's IUBB.  Be optimistic at your own peril.  I could type out a downside scenario, but we all know what that would look like...

I've got to say I'm surprised we spent so much money.  The thinking was $13-14M, now it's closer to $20M.  This rachets up the expectations this season... which is good.  Big pressure on CDD this year.  This season is now much more interesting than I thought it was going to be.  I'm looking forward to games in Peru now.

[HoosierHoopster]

Just my useless op, think our 3-pt shooting will be better than expected and not as much of a drop off as some are expecting, with the spacing and inside - out opportunities that come with Sherrell and Yigi and Burton driving.
 

Lindsay’s a career 38% deep shooter, 36% at Vill, Harris is something of an unknown due to limited floor time at Duke but the dude was a highly coveted HS recruit due to his demonstrated shooting (Bossi was really high on him as a “great shooter”) and his stroke is pure and at 6’6 he shoots well over the D, and Burton’s not too bad at 33% career outside shooting (shot 37% in 2024-25). DeVries likely will green light outside shots from those who show good shooting going into the season.
 

The strength of the inside game also comes from having spacing created by outside shooting. The clogged lanes and complete lack of spacing from the moronic Woodson all front court game is gone. What we should have a lot more of now is balance with an inside game that benefits from the threat of outside shooting as well as the size and athleticism our forwards now bring, and outside shooting that benefits from those same forwards/center. 

[ronzo4IU]

3 hours ago, Pagoda said:

FWIW, and it's just my useless opinion, I think Duke is on another level.  They're the highest funding in CBB, with deep recruiting ties including with Nike, a sterling brand with big exposure, and a track record of being really good every year.  UM we're closer to, but they outspent us pretty good last year and this year we're closer, but still short.  After a natty they'll get whatever they ask for.

I think CDD made a huge mistake with the lack of multi-year guys in season one.  We had all these one year dudes and the multi-year guys were not developed/retained (Trent a little).  So we had another total rebuild, which personally I found very disappointing.  Okay, our W/L in season one was not great, but at least develop some pieces for season two!  C'mon, think long term here.

I don't think it's possible to build a conf title winner/F4 team entirely scratch in one portal.  Even if we had $25M.  With no roster continuity, it's so hard to get 10 new guys to gel such that they can win really big.  Just my opinion.

I agree with pretty much all the concerns people voice on this board.  We need more front court depth.  We have question mark players CDD/Carr/staff better be right on... though this pretty normal every year.

Best case I can see is we hit on almost all the new guys, they improve as the year goes on, and we get like a 5 seed or better and make the S16.  Then return most of the roster, which is possible with all our multi-year guys (nice work!), and go into a portal needing only a few players.  We'd be selling an attractive situation -- a S16 team on the rise.  IUBB is back baby!  Bring in a few high end portal players and then season three of CDD we're thinking conference title and F4.

Is this likely?  It's IUBB.  Be optimistic at your own peril.  I could type out a downside scenario, but we all know what that would look like...

I've got to say I'm surprised we spent so much money.  The thinking was $13-14M, now it's closer to $20M.  This rachets up the expectations this season... which is good.  Big pressure on CDD this year.  This season is now much more interesting than I thought it was going to be.  I'm looking forward to games in Peru now.

Many good points here and I would say that I too give DD a pass for last season just because of all the things we know that hampered things once he got here and I think he did a good job with the roster that he had.
Now with the added GM and all the assistants in place and the money and everything else that is the reason why this is a top 10 coaching job is proof in that he was able to land the players that he did, which I’ve said he’s done a really good job which shows what a good coach can do here at Indiana and I do believe that we are just a few solid backups away from being right on par with those top tier teams. I don’t believe many other teams could get that close in one off-season.