2025-2026 IUBB Season Expectations

[Stuhoo 89,774]

6 minutes ago, Demo said:

I'm not even sure "modern" fully covers it. I've been trying to figure out, aside from just money, how hes's been able to pretty easily get literally 2 deep 1-3 when all 6 of those kids probably entered the portal with starting expectations. Dorn was the capper. I just thought there was no way there because he'd be able to find 25 mins somewhere, but not here. The only thing that makes sense is he's selling these kids on playing hyper-fast. Not even Illinois-level fast, Bama-level fast. I know he talked about 12 sec possessions but, hell, Tony Bennett talked about early clock offense. Yet it sure as $hit looks like he's building a roster to actually do that, which is pretty wild given that he's never done it before. If that's the case and this team's pushing 80 possession games next year, IUBB will be unrecognizable and no team in the B1G would be doing anything like that. Crean at his wild and craziest was nowhere close to that pace of play.

Dorn kinda stunned me too. Him and Miles seem like carbon copies of each other and Dorn had other big boy schools (= $$) wanting him.

The track record for Devries and ‘offensive coordinator’ Coach Bergen is most definitely not a Nate Oats compare for pace of play.

[str8baller 7,596]

8 minutes ago, Demo said:

The only thing that makes sense is he's selling these kids on playing hyper-fast. Not even Illinois-level fast, Bama-level fast. I know he talked about 12 sec possessions but, hell, Tony Bennett talked about early clock offense. Yet it sure as $hit looks like he's building a roster to actually do that, which is pretty wild given that he's never done it before.

I’m intrigued by what’s going on. Honest to God, I don’t know what I would do with myself if we had a coach that could coach multiple styles and switched up depending on his personnel.  
 

Its been so long since we’ve had anything like that in the sidelines, I would probably just sit back in amazement the first full year or two.   
 

(ok, that’s as much as I can let myself dream…back to reality)

[Demo 23,766]

14 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

The track record for Devries and ‘offensive coordinator’ Coach Bergen is most definitely not a Nate Oats compare for pace of play.

Not at all, and yet it kind of feels like that’s where this might be going. Make it tough for team’s to get their defense set and  just trying to grind them down with your depth and pace. 

[lillurk 5,151]

41 minutes ago, Demo said:

Not at all, and yet it kind of feels like that’s where this might be going. Make it tough for team’s to get their defense set and  just trying to grind them down with your depth and pace. 

There’s a sort of logic to playing faster when you’ve got more budget (and thus in theory talent) versus being on par in those areas with your peers at Drake or below average for your conference at WVU. 

Pace or not, going all in on Randy Foye-era Nova four guard/Oats-style 3>2 is going to be a fun experiment.

[Ghost of Rick Majerus 2,015]

2 hours ago, Demo said:

I'm not even sure "modern" fully covers it. I've been trying to figure out, aside from just money, how hes's been able to pretty easily get literally 2 deep 1-3 when all 6 of those kids probably entered the portal with starting expectations. Dorn was the capper. I just thought there was no way there because he'd be able to find 25 mins somewhere, but not here. The only thing that makes sense is he's selling these kids on playing hyper-fast. Not even Illinois-level fast, Bama-level fast. I know he talked about 12 sec possessions but, hell, Tony Bennett talked about early clock offense. Yet it sure as $hit looks like he's building a roster to actually do that, which is pretty wild given that he's never done it before. If that's the case and this team's pushing 80 possession games next year, IUBB will be unrecognizable and no team in the B1G would be doing anything like that. Crean at his wild and craziest was nowhere close to that pace of play.

I agree with you 100%! I cannot wait to see the actual product on the floor 

[HoosierHoopster 8,416]

2 hours ago, Demo said:

Not at all, and yet it kind of feels like that’s where this might be going. Make it tough for team’s to get their defense set and  just trying to grind them down with your depth and pace. 

I think that’s the objective— he’s recruiting to avoid the B1G style half court slug fest. I love it. I’ve been saying we don’t necessarily need a traditional rim protector— this is why. Definitely interested to see how his recruiting shakes out

[Stuhoo 89,774]

6 hours ago, Demo said:

Not at all, and yet it kind of feels like that’s where this might be going. Make it tough for team’s to get their defense set and  just trying to grind them down with your depth and pace. 

So what your saying is that we’re gonna truly pay homage to school history by pre-dating the Knight era all the way back to:

[bigrod 3,200]

IU coming in at 23 on this early top 25. Unfortunately, PUke is no. 1.

[Juwan Moye 1,313]

Grok providing what I think is a reasonable projection for the upcoming year. Aligns with what the predictive metrics are suggesting as well although obviously none of this is perfect.

[HoosierHoopster 8,416]

28 minutes ago, Juwan Moye said:

Grok providing what I think is a reasonable projection for the upcoming year. Aligns with what the predictive metrics are suggesting as well although obviously none of this is perfect.

Seems pretty conservative to me, which is fine. I think we’ll do a little better than 18, but it’s all conjecture and all subject to health etc. 

What I’m 100% sure of is that we’ll watch a well-coached team, and thus much more enjoyable basketball. That alone has me a happy camper 

[Stuhoo 89,774]

44 minutes ago, Juwan Moye said:

Grok providing what I think is a reasonable projection for the upcoming year. Aligns with what the predictive metrics are suggesting as well although obviously none of this is perfect.

First problem with that projection is that we are guaranteed to play more than 31 games.

[Hoosierfan2017 25,030]

1 hour ago, Juwan Moye said:

Grok providing what I think is a reasonable projection for the upcoming year. Aligns with what the predictive metrics are suggesting as well although obviously none of this is perfect.

Yuck

[Home Jersey 16,287]

I can’t think of any less insightful way to talk about our season than to ask Grok AI, no offense. Lol 

[Home Jersey 16,287]

With the roster just about finished, we can talk a bit more substantively about next year’s team. My level of pessimism / optimism oscillates quite a bit. I think you can objectively rate the roster anywhere from C+ to B/B+ as it stands today. But of course it could prove better or worse as the season plays out. Think we can have pretty strong confidence in TDV and Wilkerson being “guys” for us. Also think a lot depends on how Conerway and Bailey translate to their roles in the B10.

TBD who the fifth starter will be but we need our starting PG and 5 to be real players at this level. Would think Dorn and Miles will compete to start at the 3, and Goode may too. Think we’ll need defense and rebounding in this unit so I tend toward Miles but maybe practice paints a different picture. Dorn could be an X factor / dark horse that elevates the team. Great catch and shooter, smart with the ball… can he pull his own weight on the boards and be a positive on D? 

Probably will depend on match ups / shake out as the season goes, but right now I’d see the starting lineup being:

Conerway/Wilkerson/Miles/TDV/Bailey

Very curious how much Alexis and Harris play and are used. Lots of interesting lineup combinations. Not sure how much we’re going to be able to run and score in 12 seconds or less since it seems like we’re going to do a lot of gang rebounding.

Plenty of shooting, which makes me hopeful. 

[Ctf9 492]

6 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

With the roster just about finished, we can talk a bit more substantively about next year’s team. My level of pessimism / optimism oscillates quite a bit.

I'm the same as you, with one wrinkle -- I think this year will be a uniquely excellent test of DeVries as a coach because what this team needs to succeed is toughness, culture, and effort. They have the shooting, passing, etc., but a good coach could theoretically get them to rebound and defend as more than the sum of their parts. We haven't had a coach who can do that in a long time. So if this team is good, it won't just mean it's a fun season -- it will mean DeVries is the coach we want him to be. 

(I think DeVries understands all this better than us -- in fact, him getting guys like Bailey over traditional defenders is him betting on himself and his culture.)

[lillurk 5,151]

One thing I’ll be watching: how often does IU trot out a lineup without at least one of Conerway, Alexis, or (if waiver granted) Leal? Those are the only surefire plus defenders I see at this point.

Most others have experience, high bb iq, or athleticism to help on that end, and maybe it won’t be a problem…but there are some pretty likely lineup combos* that could be a serious concern on that end.

*e.g. Enright, Wilkerson, DeVries, then 2 of Goode/Harris/Bailey…reasonably likely lineups based just on a back-of-the envelope depth chart.

[lillurk 5,151]

Just now, lillurk said:

One thing I’ll be watching: how often does IU trot out a lineup without at least one of Conerway, Alexis, or (if waiver granted) Leal? Those are the only surefire plus defenders I see at this point.

Most others have experience, high bb iq, or athleticism to help on that end, and maybe it won’t be a problem…but there are some pretty likely lineup combos* that could be a serious concern on that end.

*e.g. Enright, Wilkerson, DeVries, then 2 of Goode/Harris/Bailey…reasonably likely lineups based just on a back-of-the envelope depth chart.

Now the inverse of the concern is the possibility of something like Conerway, Leal, then any 3 of Dorn, Miles, Harris, and Alexis as a pretty nasty unit defensively that still has some shooting and ball movement, if — big if — one or more of the younger guys really gets after it on that end

[mike vannice 442]

Why do we always have to have a roster with a fatal flaw? 

23-24--not enough guards-X goes down and we have to play Cupps and we suck

24-25-horrible roster construction/guys chasing a bag

25-26- was really excited early, getting guys that fit together, shooters , solid point guards, guys with something to prove. But then we stop recruiting any size and talk about bringing back Goode and Leal instead. Opposing coaches with any kind of post presence have got to be salivating at the thought of abusing Bailey in the post. Then you have the chance for foul trouble and injury and we are really screwed. Do not understand the plan and have gone from optimism and high hopes to confusion and pessimism. one more decent big and we are good to go.

[Stuhoo 89,774]

2 hours ago, mike vannice said:

Why do we always have to have a roster with a fatal flaw? 

23-24--not enough guards-X goes down and we have to play Cupps and we suck

24-25-horrible roster construction/guys chasing a bag

25-26- was really excited early, getting guys that fit together, shooters , solid point guards, guys with something to prove. But then we stop recruiting any size and talk about bringing back Goode and Leal instead. Opposing coaches with any kind of post presence have got to be salivating at the thought of abusing Bailey in the post. Then you have the chance for foul trouble and injury and we are really screwed. Do not understand the plan and have gone from optimism and high hopes to confusion and pessimism. one more decent big and we are good to go.

Why? Because we don't have a "fatal flaw." Some are judging the roster as if there needs to be certain pieces of certain sizes and profiles that fill certain criteria for the roster to be effective. If we have a dominant defensive post? That's just another tool in the kit, but every time we insert one type of player we remove the skill set of a guy like Bailey from the lineup.

Winning happens when a staff instills:

• a culture,
• work ethic, 
• a coherent scheme, and
• then recruits effectively to that culture, work ethic, and scheme.

Will Darian Devries do the actual things that affect winning? Hell if I know - but he did so in a major way at Drake and to a solid extent in his year at WVU.

If we instill a culture, work ethic, and effective scheme, opposing coaches will most certainly not be salivating at the thought of playing against our posts. In Edey's second year, St. Peters ended Purdump's season with a couple of 6'8" guys guarding Edey. In his junior (national player of the year) year, Farleigh Dickinson had a 6'7" post guarding him. Both of those teams adjusted on the defensive end and Edey couldn't effectively guard their posts on the spread out offensive end.

Toughness, proper defensive principles, defensive scheme, making us hard to guard. That's what will win if we don't have a dominant defensive post.

[Hoosierfanyuh 7,031]

Make the tournament, don’t make my eyes bleed when I watch, effort