College Bball Thread

[Stuhoo 75,397]

27 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

Senior Yogi may have been better but I am not sure if I would say that.  To me Cody his second year was unstoppable by any player or opposing coach. Crean was the only person that could and did slow him down 

Junior Yogi was pretty special too.

[Brass Cannon 24,062]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

Junior Yogi was pretty special too.

True. Sometimes hard to remember because the team wasn’t so great 

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich 8,152]

2 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

Senior Yogi may have been better but I am not sure if I would say that.  To me Cody his second year was unstoppable by any player or opposing coach. Crean was the only person that could and did slow him down 

Zeller has really became super underrated for some reason. I guess people feel he should have been way better. I don't know. I don't know. I think if Crean would have done some things differently he could have dominated more. But the narrative around him is just weird to me. 

[HoosierHoopster 5,985]

4 hours ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Zeller has really became super underrated for some reason. I guess people feel he should have been way better. I don't know. I don't know. I think if Crean would have done some things differently he could have dominated more. But the narrative around him is just weird to me. 

Cody was so dominant, and agree he could've done even more. One of the best former IU players imo. At the same time, Vic was unstoppable as a junior, a monster defender who could dominate anyone, and Yogi was genuinely special all around. I can't rank those guys against each other, just can't, different positions, each became an incredible player at IU (and that's remembering how people used to bash Yogi for running into traffic and leaving his feet with nowhere to go as a frosh -- funny looking back at that now).

[Demo 17,277]

Hell of a hire. Dude knows everybody and he gets great effort out of kids.

[BGleas 7,880]

22 hours ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Zeller has really became super underrated for some reason. I guess people feel he should have been way better. I don't know. I don't know. I think if Crean would have done some things differently he could have dominated more. But the narrative around him is just weird to me. 

Completely agree. Zeller was dominant from the second he stepped foot on campus. Not sure why people tend to minimize it or forget it?

I think maybe part of it is just that he only stayed 2 years, where a guy like Yogi and even TJD now stayed 4 years. I also think what plays into that is we wanted Zeller to be our sort of Tyler Hansbrough or someone similar. Someone that stayed even when he could have left. 

I really think that is part of it. But regardless, I still think Zeller is the most important, best, whatever you want to call it, player/recruit since the Crean era started. 

[Brass Cannon 24,062]

2 hours ago, BGleas said:

Completely agree. Zeller was dominant from the second he stepped foot on campus. Not sure why people tend to minimize it or forget it?

I think maybe part of it is just that he only stayed 2 years, where a guy like Yogi and even TJD now stayed 4 years. I also think what plays into that is we wanted Zeller to be our sort of Tyler Hansbrough or someone similar. Someone that stayed even when he could have left. 

I really think that is part of it. But regardless, I still think Zeller is the most important, best, whatever you want to call it, player/recruit since the Crean era started. 

I would agree.  Zeller showed the world we can be good without Bob Knight.  These recruits were at least alive during those years.  

[BGleas 7,880]

26 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

I would agree.  Zeller showed the world we can be good without Bob Knight.  These recruits were at least alive during those years.  

He's also probably the one guy, at least postbthe NC State game in the BIG/ACC Challenge his freshmen year that if he was playing i thought we had a chance against anyone in the country. 

[mbredenk101 524]

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/that-was-big-the-respectful-gesture-john-calipari-made-that-secured-derrick-rose-to-memphis

I did not know that Rose was so close to coming to IU....

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using BtownBanners mobile app

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich 8,152]

The Field of 68 has Trey Burke sitting at #7. He was a special player, but I'm still taking Zeller and Oladipo over him. Always. 

It does bring me to another point, 2012-2013 was a special year. Not just because Indiana was really good, but because college basketball seen a lot of great college talent. They may not have turned into amazing pros and HOFs or anything, but as college players and college teams, there were several great ones. I still consider that the best Big Ten we've seen the past decade. 

[go iu bb 4,768]

2 hours ago, mbredenk101 said:

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/that-was-big-the-respectful-gesture-john-calipari-made-that-secured-derrick-rose-to-memphis

I did not know that Rose was so close to coming to IU....

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using BtownBanners mobile app
 

Yeah, IU had a very good chance of landing him. The article was incorrect about him and EJ being HS teammates but they were good friends. Maybe they played AAU together, I don't remember. 

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich 8,152]

53 minutes ago, go iu bb said:

Yeah, IU had a very good chance of landing him. The article was incorrect about him and EJ being HS teammates but they were good friends. Maybe they played AAU together, I don't remember. 

Well considering how the season ended up... Might as well have won a title and fired everyone first. 

[HoosierTrav 7,610]

1 hour ago, go iu bb said:

Yeah, IU had a very good chance of landing him. The article was incorrect about him and EJ being HS teammates but they were good friends. Maybe they played AAU together, I don't remember. 

Yes they were teammates on EYBL Meanstreets. Best AAU backcourt ever. 

[HoosierHoops1 5,024]

22 hours ago, go iu bb said:

Yeah, IU had a very good chance of landing him. The article was incorrect about him and EJ being HS teammates but they were good friends. Maybe they played AAU together, I don't remember. 

They played aau together for Mean Streets

[HoosierHoops1 5,024]

20 hours ago, HoosierTrav said:

Yes they were teammates on EYBL Meanstreets. Best AAU backcourt ever. 

DR top ranked PG, EG top ranked SG.

[str8baller 4,720]

On 7/28/2022 at 7:44 PM, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

They may not have turned into amazing pros and HOFs or anything, but as college players and college teams, there were several great ones. I still consider that the best Big Ten we've seen the past decade. 

Zeller is frustrating because I think he could’ve been better. Not a ton of desire to improve, but he was so talented and smart that he’s still the best we’ve had this century. Phenomenal player.

 

Oladipo’s peak in the NBA was pretty high. For one season he was a borderline top 10 player. Just as he was hitting his stride he got some serious injuries. He’s the most improved player I can remember at IU…maybe ever. He could barely dribble his freshman year. That kind of improvement is almost unheard of. 

[Honkyman 1,670]

10 hours ago, str8baller said:

He’s the most improved player I can remember at IU…maybe ever. He could barely dribble his freshman year. That kind of improvement is almost unheard of. 

I saw Victor Oladipo in high school when played on a a great DeMatha team that included Quinn Cook and Jerami Grant. He was a defensive specialist. Most of his points came from layups and dunks. But to say Oladipo could barely dribble his freshman year of college is wildly inaccurate. 

[Southside 1,914]

1 hour ago, Honkyman said:

I saw Victor Oladipo in high school when played on a a great DeMatha team that included Quinn Cook and Jerami Grant. He was a defensive specialist. Most of his points came from layups and dunks. But to say Oladipo could barely dribble his freshman year of college is wildly inaccurate. 

Barely is probably a bad word to use, but his early dribbling was pretty rough at times. His body always wanted to go faster lol, and it just took some time for things to come together. 

[HoosierHoopster 5,985]

1 hour ago, Honkyman said:

I saw Victor Oladipo in high school when played on a a great DeMatha team that included Quinn Cook and Jerami Grant. He was a defensive specialist. Most of his points came from layups and dunks. But to say Oladipo could barely dribble his freshman year of college is wildly inaccurate. 

Yeah he averaged a double double including boards as a guard on that DeMatha team, already an excellent defender and Cook got the offensive load and Coach K ran in and grabbed him overlooking Vic. Who got the better end of that deal? Lol 

[str8baller 4,720]

2 hours ago, Honkyman said:

But to say Oladipo could barely dribble his freshman year of college is wildly inaccurate.

I’m not going to argue semantics on the word “barely.” But for perspective, as a freshman he averaged 18min a game and was rarely, if ever, the primary ball handler when on the floor. He averaged more turnovers than assists. And that was on a bad 12 win team desperate for a lead guard.  He played a role very similar to the one he did in HS.
 

To go from that to all-pro in the NBA as a playoff team’s lead ball handler* is one helluva an improvement that rarely happens. It’s quite the transformation.  
 

*technically him and Collision split ball handling duties, but it was VO’s ball in crunch time out when they needed a score so I’m designating him as de facto lead guard.