Transfer Portal w/IU Interest

[Home Jersey]

2 hours ago, HoosierHoopster said:

That we landed a better roster than last season minimally is obvious but you guys just keep nitpicking because you want to criticize. That’s all good have at it, but the only real problem I see is the inability to bring in a good backup big and another on ball guard. 

I have not seen anybody not acknowledge that this team is significantly better than last year, which is good, and we had to have it.

Do some guys just want to nitpick and criticize? Maybe. Are some reflexively defensive? Maybe. Most likely we all are just posting opinions in good faith and differ on how we view some things. As you acknowledge, it's not like the roster is ironclad perfect, so of course there will be offseason message board fodder about personnel, budget, etc. 

[ronzo4IU]

4 hours ago, Pryght said:

 

It seems that Alabama’s Preston Murphy and Texas Tech’s Achoki Moikobu, both of whom had previously worked with DeVries, may have taken a long time to decide they weren’t interested in joining his staff. That hesitation hurt us last year. However, pivoting to Kenny Johnson may ultimately prove to be a blessing in disguise.

 

Good point…that may have cost us the first year more than we know.

Edited May 17 by ronzo4IU

[ronzo4IU]

3 hours ago, HoosierHoopster said:

but the only real problem I see is the inability to bring in a good backup big and another on ball guard. 

I think we are all basically saying the same thing ;)

Maybe..just maybe the silence on the last player is going to be a good surprise!

[str8baller]

8 hours ago, HoosierHoopster said:

 

You don’t know what we actually had to spend on the portal, and from what what we do know multiple teams spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $10M plus. You say it would be impossible not to be in the top 5 but that’s just opinion without actual evidence. That we landed a better roster than last season minimally is obvious but you guys just keep nitpicking because you want to criticize. That’s all good have at it, but the only real problem I see is the inability to bring in a good backup big and another on ball guard. 

I believe you’re wrong. Other teams, besides IU, spending where we are at  are using lots of that money on returning players or freshmen. They’re not counted in the portal ratings because…. freshman and returning players are not in the portal. 
 

Also you can go up and down this thread and find comments from me saying I like the portal haul. I just don’t think “top 5 portal haul” means much because I don’t think it’s a proxy for overall roster construction, which you clearly do.

[AH1971]

Two things can be true:

1. The overall talent level has been significantly upgraded

2. It’s still a horribly constructed roster.

The core of this years roster is pretty darn good and if it stays healthy, we should win a fair amount of games. But the bench is a disaster. Zero playable big men and zero primary ball handlers. Our 6th and 7th man are massive question marks as neither have proven a thing and players 8-10 are all true freshman and complete unknowns. While the overall talent level is significantly better, we’re an injury away from potentially being worse than last year.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

5 minutes ago, AH1971 said:

Two things can be true:

1. The overall talent level has been significantly upgraded

2. It’s still a horribly constructed roster.

The core of this years roster is pretty darn good and if it stays healthy, we should win a fair amount of games. But the bench is a disaster. Zero playable big men and zero primary ball handlers. Our 6th and 7th man are massive question marks as neither have proven a things and players 8-10 are all true freshman and complete unknowns. While the overall talent level is significantly better, we’re an injury away from potentially being worse than last year.

Exactly how I’ve seen it.   Needed a playable 4/5 and another combo guard that can play.  Move Karvala, Manhertz, Sokolov to 11,12,13.  

[Pryght]

 

I’m excited to see Trevor Manhertz get on the floor. He shot 42% from three (on 3.8 attempts per game), is 6'8" with a 7-foot wingspan, and can put the ball on the floor. If he adds some strength and bulks up, he has a chance to be a really intriguing player. Watching his film, it’s easy to see why programs like Louisville and Duke were so high on him.

 

Edited Monday at 09:50 AM by Pryght

[HoosierHoopster]

2 hours ago, str8baller said:

I believe you’re wrong. Other teams, besides IU, spending where we are at  are using lots of that money on returning players or freshmen. They’re not counted in the portal ratings because…. freshman and returning players are not in the portal. 
 

Also you can go up and down this thread and find comments from me saying I like the portal haul. I just don’t think “top 5 portal haul” means much because I don’t think it’s a proxy for overall roster construction, which you clearly do.

Makes you feel better to make sh#t up? I clearly do?? What kind of stupidity is that? It’s a top 3 portal haul that’s what it is. I said the good thing is we now have multiple players with 2 years of eligibility, you know so we can then build with existing players from recruiting and portal - that’s actually what I said. I also commented that we’re back at a full rebuild because of the way this past season’s team was constructed which is, obviously, not what we want to keep doing. Maybe have a beer or something so you can post without making sh%.t up

[ronzo4IU]

11 hours ago, HoosierHoopster said:

Makes you feel better to make sh#t up? I clearly do?? What kind of stupidity is that? It’s a top 3 portal haul that’s what it is. I said the good thing is we now have multiple players with 2 years of eligibility, you know so we can then build with existing players from recruiting and portal - that’s actually what I said. I also commented that we’re back at a full rebuild because of the way this past season’s team was constructed which is, obviously, not what we want to keep doing. Maybe have a beer or something so you can post without making sh%.t up

I think we are all in agreement that this was a good portal haul but we lack depth. 

This is the year we needed to spend bigger than any other year to get us moving in the right direction and recover from last year imo.

Adding a GM raised expectations that we could cover all our bases and be confident about next season, but we still have holes to fill.  The Big being the grind that it is requires adequate depth and usually not relying on freshmen. 

I thought we would at least get a descent backup 4 and settle for Lindsay sliding over to cover Burton when needed but we really needed a backup pg also.  That being addressed would of covered most concerns for this season. 

We still have a chance I guess to get another backup but pickings are slim.

[IUHoosierJoe]

2 hours ago, ronzo4IU said:

 

This is the year we needed to spend bigger than any other year to get us moving in the right direction and recover from last year imo.

I’ve seen this said a lot (in addition to many other things said a lot), and it kind of confuses me. We didn’t spend enough? Aren’t we spending everything we have? I’d assume that we are, absent any evidence otherwise. So that being the case, shouldn’t people who believe we didn’t spend enough start writing checks?

[Hoosier987]

16 hours ago, AH1971 said:

Two things can be true:

1. The overall talent level has been significantly upgraded

2. It’s still a horribly constructed roster.

The core of this years roster is pretty darn good and if it stays healthy, we should win a fair amount of games. But the bench is a disaster. Zero playable big men and zero primary ball handlers. Our 6th and 7th man are massive question marks as neither have proven a thing and players 8-10 are all true freshman and complete unknowns. While the overall talent level is significantly better, we’re an injury away from potentially being worse than last year.

Mustaf should be an excellent sixth man, and if Sisley adds some weight and makes the expected sophomore jump, he should be a solid seventh man. By all accounts, the freshmen are high-major caliber players — all four-stars ranked in the top 100 — so they likely fit into the 8–10 spots in the rotation. Injuries could definitely create issues, as they would for any team, but I don’t think the bench is a disaster.

[AH1971]

3 minutes ago, Hoosier987 said:

From all accounts, our freshman are high major players. All are 4 stars ranked in the top 100. Seems like they would be in the 8-10 range regarding bench depth.  

The landscape of college basketball has drastically changed since NIL and the emergence of the portal. There were only 71 early entrants into the NBA draft this year (the lowest since 2003) with some still expected to withdraw by the June 13th deadline date. Add in the wave of former European pros, college basketball is now played by 22, 23, and 24 grown men. I'm not saying any of our guys aren't high major talents, but from a physicality standpoint, it's a tall ask to think you're going to get any kind of real production from a bunch of 18 year olds. Obviously there are exceptions every year...Dybansta, Boozer, Peterson, etc but none of our incoming guys possess the combination of talent/physicality to truly be relied upon. I'd much rather Moody, Manhertz, Kavala earn their spot in the rotation, that's a good thing. They are going to be in the rotation out of necessity though. 

[ziggyiu]

53 minutes ago, Hoosier987 said:

Mustaf should be an excellent sixth man, and if Sisley adds some weight and makes the expected sophomore jump, he should be a solid seventh man. By all accounts, the freshmen are high-major caliber players — all four-stars ranked in the top 100 — so they likely fit into the 8–10 spots in the rotation. Injuries could definitely create issues, as they would for any team, but I don’t think the bench is a disaster.

Everyone has to earn their spot, but I don't think Mustaf was recruited with the idea he'd be coming off the bench. I also, don't think he'd transfer here if it wasn't laid out that the IU staff believe in his ability to contribute as a starter. 

[Pryght]

4 hours ago, ronzo4IU said:

I think we are all in agreement that this was a good portal haul but we lack depth. 

I think we have depth, it’s just unproven depth. DeVries and his staff either genuinely believe in the freshmen, or they believe those guys need significant opportunities to develop, regardless of early results.

You could argue that this approach prioritizes/maximizes 2027–28 and beyond more than prioritizing/maximizing 2026–27, which greatly frustrates many on this board.

[Pryght]

17 minutes ago, ziggyiu said:

Everyone has to earn their spot, but I don't think Mustaf was recruited with the idea he'd be coming off the bench. I also, don't think he'd transfer here if it wasn't laid out that the IU staff believe in his ability to contribute as a starter. 

I've heard many say the same about Harris and Lindsey too.  Good problem to have.

Based on things I've read, Mustaf appears to be the ultimate team player, so I would guess that, assuming his talent-level is comparable with Harris, he will start the season as the 6th man.

[ronzo4IU]

2 hours ago, IUHoosierJoe said:

I’ve seen this said a lot (in addition to many other things said a lot), and it kind of confuses me. We didn’t spend enough? Aren’t we spending everything we have? I’d assume that we are, absent any evidence otherwise. So that being the case, shouldn’t people who believe we didn’t spend enough start writing checks?

Yes....those who are in charge are hopefully looking to get a 4/5 descent combo player.  I don't know all the avenues, but if I had a bunch of money to throw around, I would pitch in extra for depth. 

Maybe the plan is to see how well DD can coach up this group before adding more to the pot.  Who knows, but if I was spending several million dollars, I would want the best team possible.

[AH1971]

2 minutes ago, Pryght said:

I think we have depth, it’s just unproven depth. DeVries and his staff either genuinely believe in the freshmen, or they believe those guys need significant opportunities to develop, regardless of early results.

You could argue that this approach prioritizes/maximizes 2027–28 and beyond more than prioritizing/maximizing 2026–27, which greatly frustrates many on this board.

On the bench you have a bunch of wings and a few tweener 3/4's. It's terrible depth. There's literally not a playable big on the roster outside of Samet and Sherrell and only one true PG on the roster in Burton who has missed significant time the last two years because of injury. 

[str8baller]

Top of the B1G last year:

UM - McKinney was 5th in min

ILL - Wagler and Mirkovic were their two leading scorers

 MSU - Scott and Ward were big parts of their 8 man rotation off the bench. 
 

Purdue - Mayer was their backup PG playing 15 mpg  

 

I’m not sure where people are getting this idea that you can’t count on freshman. All 3 of our guys are ranked in the range of the players above. People seem to be getting all nervous at the idea of relying on At least one of those guys to be a good rotation player when its the norm, even among good teams. 

[AH1971]

16 minutes ago, str8baller said:

Top of the B1G last year:

UM - McKinney was 5th in min

ILL - Wagler and Mirkovic were their two leading scorers

 MSU - Scott and Ward were big parts of their 8 man rotation off the bench. 
 

Purdue - Mayer was their backup PG playing 15 mpg  

 

I’m not sure where people are getting this idea that you can’t count on freshman. All 3 of our guys are ranked in the range of the players above. People seem to be getting all nervous at the idea of relying on At least one of those guys to be a good rotation player when its the norm, even among good teams. 

Those guys all earned their roles throughout the course of the season. Manhertz, Karvala, and Moody are going to be key rotation pieces regardless if they are ready or not. That's where my problem lies. Sisley was a top 75 recruit who couldn't get on the court to end the year for a bad team. 

[Pryght]

3 minutes ago, AH1971 said:

On the bench you have a bunch of wings and a few tweener 3/4's. It's terrible depth. There's literally not a playable big on the roster outside of Samet and Sherrell and only one true PG on the roster in Burton who has missed significant time the last two years because of injury. 

We have 4 guys who can play the 1 (to varying levels of success).

We have a boatload of guys who can play the 2 and 3 (to varying levels of success).

We have 3 guys who can play the 4 (to varying levels of success), with most likely another 4/5 who most likely has yet to be named.

We have 3 guys who can play the 5 (to varying levels of success).

It's too early to tell if "it's terrible depth."