2014/2015 Outlook

[TheStillman 991]

PG: Yogi SG: JBJ SF: Troy PF: Devin C: Hanner Stan first off bench getting starter minutes RJ next From there we have a lot to shake out with recruiting but assume we will get a big or 2 and just out necessity they will have to immediately be on court. Would put that rotation at PG, SG and SF against anyone in B1G. A bleak outlook down low no doubt will rely on improvement from Hanner which is a tough proposition. This just highlights how important the Lee recruitment is. If not him Crean needs to find a competent big who can at least play 10-15 mins a game Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners

[Hovadipo 61,148]

[quote name="TheStillman" post="54902" timestamp="1396013201"]PG: YogiSG: JBJSF: TroyPF: DevinC: HannerStan first off bench getting starter minutesRJ next From there we have a lot to shake out with recruiting but assume we will get a big or 2 and just out necessity they will have to immediately be on court. Would put that rotation at PG, SG and SF against anyone in B1G. A bleak outlook down low no doubt will rely on improvement from Hanner which is a tough proposition. This just highlights how important the Lee recruitment is. If not him Crean needs to find a competent big who can at least play 10-15 mins a gameSent from my iPad using BtownBanners[/quote]

If you add Lee and/or Cunningham/Maten, that's a solid 8-9 man rotation. It will still be a young one, (I said it, we'll still be young) it could be a potent one. Not expecting Hoetzel to produce just yet.


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[Bryan Medema 1,488]

PG: Yogi SG: JBJ SF: Troy PF: Devin C: Hanner Stan first off bench getting starter minutes RJ next From there we have a lot to shake out with recruiting but assume we will get a big or 2 and just out necessity they will have to immediately be on court. Would put that rotation at PG, SG and SF against anyone in B1G. A bleak outlook down low no doubt will rely on improvement from Hanner which is a tough proposition. This just highlights how important the Lee recruitment is. If not him Crean needs to find a competent big who can at least play 10-15 mins a game Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners

Not bad at all, plus it fits the criteria of a relatively short rotation. The more Yogi/JB2/Troy we see, the better.

[Baltimore Hoosier 986]

With the loss of Vonleh and the other players IU is facing another really sub par year. I think they will most likely have a losing record. That would give TC 3 losing seasons out of 5. I think Glass will have to seriously consider his future toward the end of next season. Great coaches don't have this kind of track record. I know he came into the worst situation possible, but these are all his players now. IU should be a top 20 program every year, not a bottom dweller which is what we see. I had reservations about TC when he was hired and I guess I was right. There isn't a light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Completely disagree with this analysis... Who exactly did IU lose? If you've been paying attention all season, you knew Vonleh was out. But other than that I don't think that much was really lost.

 

Look at what Crean has done with the 2014 recruiting class.. Two of the best shooters in the country coming out of high school. And I don't think he's done yet. If IU adds Anthony Lee or one of the other big men still available in 2014, this could be a really solid team.

 

Think about it, the starting back court will probably look like this:

Yogi - Might be the best PG in the country

Blackmon - Could instantly become one of the best shooters in college bball

T. Williams - Baby Vic

 

The frontcourt is still a question mark, but I think guys like Devin Davis and a potential transfer/2014 big man who can rebound would be all this team needs to compliment the guard/wing play.

[djsalway 4,161]

If you add Lee and/or Cunningham/Maten, that's a solid 8-9 man rotation. It will still be a young one, (I said it, we'll still be young) it could be a potent one. Not expecting Hoetzel to produce just yet.


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Not disagreeing with you, but do you think Crean will only play 8-9 players in a game? That's rare and highly unlikely. I agree that we will have a solid top 8 or 9, but we all know that won't be where the playing time ends.

[Hovadipo 61,148]

[quote name="djsalway" post="54959" timestamp="1396019014"]Not disagreeing with you, but do you think Crean will only play 8-9 players in a game? That's rare and highly unlikely. I agree that we will have a solid top 8 or 9, but we all know that won't be where the playing time ends.[/quote]

Depending on who he picks up, he might only have 8-9 quality guys to choose from.


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[djsalway 4,161]

Depending on who he picks up, he might only have 8-9 quality guys to choose from.


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Jeff Howard played this year. I think Max will end up seeing more time than we'd like, given that I don't think he'll be ready for those minutes next year. Still think he can be a solid player down the road.

[Hovadipo 61,148]

[quote name="djsalway" post="54963" timestamp="1396019225"]Jeff Howard played this year. I think Max will end up seeing more time than we'd like, given that I don't think he'll be ready for those minutes next year. Still think he can be a solid player down the road.[/quote]

I do too. I see kind of a Will type of career path for him.


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[HoosierReb01 7,591]

Completely disagree with this analysis... Who exactly did IU lose? If you've been paying attention all season, you knew Vonleh was out. But other than that I don't think that much was really lost.

 

Look at what Crean has done with the 2014 recruiting class.. Two of the best shooters in the country coming out of high school. And I don't think he's done yet. If IU adds Anthony Lee or one of the other big men still available in 2014, this could be a really solid team.

 

Think about it, the starting back court will probably look like this:

Yogi - Might be the best PG in the country

Blackmon - Could instantly become one of the best shooters in college bball

T. Williams - Baby Vic

 

The frontcourt is still a question mark, but I think guys like Devin Davis and a potential transfer/2014 big man who can rebound would be all this team needs to compliment the guard/wing play.

Looking at what JH and AE contributed this year as a indicator of the help they could potentially bring next year is a flawed concept. Many players never contribute on a very significant level until their junior or senior years. Would JH have figured it out? I don't know. Would AE have started shooting (and hitting)? I don't know that either. What I think we will miss is the leadership they could have brought as upperclassmen. This might have showed up more in practice than in games, but it could have been very important. I think JH had a long way to go to be a leader, but stranger things have happened.

 

Your analysis of the incoming class is a possibility. But the truth is I see this about every year. Great expectations for incoming freshmen, tempered by reality when we start playing, too often resulting in disappointment when we hit the B1G. There are exceptions, but most freshmen take quite a while to adapt to the college game, and I am not inclined to place any great hopes on next years team. That said, you state "this could be a really solid team" which is not a extremely high expectation. However, a solid team tends to be one that is smart and plays fundamentally sound, and I'm not sure that describes what we have left. We will see if what we add to it is enough to gain that level.

[KingPG21 6,587]

Looking at what JH and AE contributed this year as a indicator of the help they could potentially bring next year is a flawed concept. Many players never contribute on a very significant level until their junior or senior years. Would JH have figured it out? I don't know. Would AE have started shooting (and hitting)? I don't know that either. What I think we will miss is the leadership they could have brought as upperclassmen. This might have showed up more in practice than in games, but it could have been very important. I think JH had a long way to go to be a leader, but stranger things have happened.

 

Your analysis of the incoming class is a possibility. But the truth is I see this about every year. Great expectations for incoming freshmen, tempered by reality when we start playing, too often resulting in disappointment when we hit the B1G. There are exceptions, but most freshmen take quite a while to adapt to the college game, and I am not inclined to place any great hopes on next years team. That said, you state "this could be a really solid team" which is not a extremely high expectation. However, a solid team tends to be one that is smart and plays fundamentally sound, and I'm not sure that describes what we have left. We will see if what we add to it is enough to gain that level.

With the JH and AE stuff I'd add in a defensive argument. We saw flashes of JH being good on the defensive end of the court, and able to hold his own. Though a lot of the time he was asked to defend guys that were significantly bigger than him,   there were times he was asked to defend the other team's center, despite his natural position is small forward. And a lot of the time he was defending 4s, he rarely defended 3s or smaller. AE was solid in his own right out there, he didn't really have the physical gifts to make a lot of plays, but he had a good understanding of his role in the defensive scheme and on positioning.

 

With the incoming class we have JBJ, who is a bit undersized at shooing guard, 6'3" and 175. Though his wingspan will help him out quite a bit, 6'8", he is still undersized for the position. Rojo is the same as JBJ in that he is also listed at 6'3", and just under 200. He will be at even more of a disadvantage in that his wingspan is only 6'6". I honestly don't know what to expect from Max defensively. And of course there is the whole thing of basketball IQ on the defensive end of the court, positioning was an issue at times last year for our freshmen, Troy specifically struggled with this a lot. I'm not going to get my hopes up for our incoming freshmen to outperform JH and AE on the defensive end of the court right now