Sports Illustrated Ranks Nation's Best Guards

[Hovadipo 57,187]

@insidethehall: Blackmon, Ferrell listed. #iubb RT @BrianHamiltonSI Who's are the top 20 guards in college basketball http://t.co/7YTiDx49HY


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[IUsafety 2,775]

In college basketball, great guards translate into wins really well.


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[HoosierSadaseci 2,258]

Good to hear.  Thanks for sharing.

[WayneFleekHoosier 48,862]

We do have great guards.  I think Rob and Stan are going to be very good too.  And if Zman can knock down the open 3, that will be a great set of guards. 

 

When I think about our guard talent, I think we are vastly UNDERRATED.......then I think about the BIGS...............

 

Can't wait to see how it plays out.

[Hovadipo 57,187]

For you lazy folk:


JAMES BLACKMON JR.
Indiana
Height: 6-4
Weight: 180


Indiana needs shooting. Badly. Blackmon addresses scoring from the perimeter instantly as one of the best marksman among the incoming freshmen, and he’s building strength to endure the workload. Hoosiers coach Tom Crean said in July that Blackmon was up to nine or 10 reps of the 185-pound bench press when he “wasn’t doing 185 one time a year ago.” “He’s learning about the explosiveness he can play with and building that athleticism into his game,” Crean said.


YOGI FERRELL
Indiana
Height: 6-0
Weight: 178
Class: Junior

Indiana rode Ferrell so much last season that it’s a wonder he hasn’t lost an inch or two, slouched permanently by the load he shouldered. He played 87 percent of available minutes in 2013-14. He took 409 shots; no one else on the Hoosiers hoisted even 300. He took 220 three-pointers, which accounted for 43 percent of the team's total. But there’s a bit of irony in this: For Indiana to turn a dismaying 17-15 season into ancient history, it has to rely less on a player who averaged 17.3 points and earned second-team All-Big Ten honors. Ferrell’s assist-to-turnover ratio was a middling 1.5-to-1. A Hoosiers team that will rely heavily on perimeter production – there’s no strong post presence after Noah Vonleh left for the NBA, and the top newcomer is prized shooting guard recruit James Blackmon – can’t afford for its most experienced cog to be careless with the ball. Ideally, Blackmon’s proficiency and some improvement from wing Troy Williams can remove the do-everything pressure from Ferrell, and he can settle into playmaking mode. He’s the first Indiana player to record 120 or more assists in his first two seasons since Isiah Thomas.




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[yogisballin 2,379]

For you lazy folk:


JAMES BLACKMON JR.
Indiana
Height: 6-4
Weight: 180


Indiana needs shooting. Badly. Blackmon addresses scoring from the perimeter instantly as one of the best marksman among the incoming freshmen, and he’s building strength to endure the workload. Hoosiers coach Tom Crean said in July that Blackmon was up to nine or 10 reps of the 185-pound bench press when he “wasn’t doing 185 one time a year ago.” “He’s learning about the explosiveness he can play with and building that athleticism into his game,” Crean said.


YOGI FERRELL
Indiana
Height: 6-0
Weight: 178
Class: Junior

Indiana rode Ferrell so much last season that it’s a wonder he hasn’t lost an inch or two, slouched permanently by the load he shouldered. He played 87 percent of available minutes in 2013-14. He took 409 shots; no one else on the Hoosiers hoisted even 300. He took 220 three-pointers, which accounted for 43 percent of the team's total. But there’s a bit of irony in this: For Indiana to turn a dismaying 17-15 season into ancient history, it has to rely less on a player who averaged 17.3 points and earned second-team All-Big Ten honors. Ferrell’s assist-to-turnover ratio was a middling 1.5-to-1. A Hoosiers team that will rely heavily on perimeter production – there’s no strong post presence after Noah Vonleh left for the NBA, and the top newcomer is prized shooting guard recruit James Blackmon – can’t afford for its most experienced cog to be careless with the ball. Ideally, Blackmon’s proficiency and some improvement from wing Troy Williams can remove the do-everything pressure from Ferrell, and he can settle into playmaking mode. He’s the first Indiana player to record 120 or more assists in his first two seasons since Isiah Thomas.




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Being mentioned with the company of Isaiah. Pretty damn good IMO


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[CampHoosier 3,697]

If Perea and DD can step up with this back court, we could really surprise people. That's a huge if though. 

[rebelhoosier848891 9,588]

Agree--Camp Crean---if the middle is just solid---no way are we 10th in the Big like some predict.

 

Ceiling is high thanks to good guards for up to 3rd in Big and top 20 in country!

 

Please let the middle be SOLID!

[bleedhoosier 3,627]

did not know that about Yogi's assists stats. GREAT JOB. Now it's time for a killer A:T ratio! 

 

Blackmon gets quite a bit of love on the national scene. I dig it! Polar opposite to Noah Vonleh who literally flew under the radar the entire season. Hardly anyone I talked to about basketball knew who Vonleh was or what his style of play was. He is one of those dudes that quite honestly, will be forgotten about quickly. No disrespect to NV but he wasn't a capture your heart kind of player that we IU fans enjoy. 

[CampHoosier 3,697]

did not know that about Yogi's assists stats. GREAT JOB. Now it's time for a killer A:T ratio! 

 

Blackmon gets quite a bit of love on the national scene. I dig it! Polar opposite to Noah Vonleh who literally flew under the radar the entire season. Hardly anyone I talked to about basketball knew who Vonleh was or what his style of play was. He is one of those dudes that quite honestly, will be forgotten about quickly. No disrespect to NV but he wasn't a capture your heart kind of player that we IU fans enjoy. 

 

Vonleh still remains a mystery to me. He showed flashes of Zeller in being basically unstoppable in the paint. Then other games he would get 4 or 5 touches down low. Some of the blame goes to the coaching staff. We have always struggled to play through our bigs. Part of the blame goes to his stupid fouls that landed him on the bench three minutes in to a game. Honestly, he was a great player but I feel as if in five years people will struggle to even remember a single highlight from his IU career. I mostly blame our lousy game plans for that. 

[Hovadipo 57,187]

Vonleh still remains a mystery to me. He showed flashes of Zeller in being basically unstoppable in the paint. Then other games he would get 4 or 5 touches down low. Some of the blame goes to the coaching staff. We have always struggled to play through our bigs. Part of the blame goes to his stupid fouls that landed him on the bench three minutes in to a game. Honestly, he was a great player but I feel as if in five years people will struggle to even remember a single highlight from his IU career. I mostly blame our lousy game plans for that.

Something was really weird about his year here. Idk if it was our down year or what, but like you said it won't be memorable. The thing is, he was an EXTREMELY good player. I'm not sure if a lot of people appreciate how good he was. I wish we could've had him for one more year so everyone would be able to grasp his talent.


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[JuwantGrimeShakes? 533]

Something was really weird about his year here. Idk if it was our down year or what, but like you said it won't be memorable. The thing is, he was an EXTREMELY good player. I'm not sure if a lot of people appreciate how good he was. I wish we could've had him for one more year so everyone would be able to grasp his talent.


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He was also physically ridiculous. A full summer with JJ? Forget about it. I don't know if everyone got the opportunity to see him in person but he looked almost inhuman, like someone had popped the arms off a 9 foot tall guy and stuck them on Vonleh, Mr. Potatohead style. Truly incredible. We would be first on everyone's list this year if he'd stayed. Now that we know where he was drafted I can confidently say he would have gotten a better pick too.

[WayneFleekHoosier 48,862]

Yeah we would have been top 10 nationally and #2 in BIG with Noah. May have been better than Wisconsin too.


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[WayneFleekHoosier 48,862]

Yeah we would have been top 10 nationally and #2 in BIG with Noah. May have been better than Wisconsin too.


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or the chemistry would have stunk and we would of underperformed! Hard to say.


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[Josh 12,736]

did not know that about Yogi's assists stats. GREAT JOB. Now it's time for a killer A:T ratio! 

 

 

After last season I calculated it at 1.4:1, Espn must have rounded up.  Imo Yogi is a great 2 guard, but until he fixes his a:to problem, he's not a good point guard.

[BubbleKnuts 569]

Yogi
JBJ
Troy
DD
Vonleh

Ugh. That'd be the sickest line up.


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[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

Yogi
JBJ
Troy
DD
Vonleh

Ugh. That'd be the sickest line up.


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The best part is, that we have that lineup minus Vonleh. Who knows, maybe this will be HMP's year.


Sent from my place of advanced, analytical thinking: the toilet.

[rebelhoosier848891 9,588]

Agree Vonleh did not leave much of a mark but--- I do think bigs generally don't impact teams as much as freshmen as they tend to take longer to develop.  Vonleh is a rare talent---he just did not get to shine because frankly our guard play was poor. It would have been different this year!

 

Good news is guards--like Blackmon--often do shine as freshman.  He knows defense is his biggest area that needs improvement and his offense will be fine!

[MikeRoberts 7,266]

I think JBJ is going to get a run for his money for minutes and recognition from Robert Johnson


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[Kepner 1,261]

The knock on Vonleh coming in was that he did not talk much out on the court. Crean said before Vonleh even got here was that the thing he needed to work on the most was demanding the ball, then he said it throughout all of last year. Part of the blame can be put on the coaching staff, but if you look back at most of the games last year, Vonleh was being double teamed every time he got the ball because we had no shooting. Vonleh had lots of potential to be great. I personally think another year of school would've done him well but it was writing on the wall that he was going to leave. Even the NBA scouts thought he'd probably come into the NBA and ride the bench and learn this year. Charlotte has already predicted that he will use this year to "learn". He just kind of a left a bad impression on me personally because it came out that he sat out the last few games last year to protect his draft stock.