FW_Hoosier

Starting to think Kenya Hunter was almost as big of a pickup as Mike Woodson. Early returns in recruiting have been pretty damn impressive... Hunter has to love going into a meeting with a recruit with Woodson’s NBA cred backing him up.

What was “his crap”?

Garbage? Nah, I don’t think so — I would expect them to still be in the top half of the league. And I think MSU bounces back. But the Big Ten looks to be down next year after a brutal stretch over the last few years. There doesn’t appear to be any clearly elite team, but Michigan and Purdue should be very tough. I think IU as currently restructured should be able to compete for a top 5 finish.

Yep, very favorable schedule. Double plays against Minnesota, Nebraska, and Penn State, only playing Michigan and Illinois once at home, and only playing MSU and Iowa once on the road is nice.

Not too upset about this one... Mike Woodson recruited over him with Kopp. It’s a shame he could never live up to the hype with his leg condition. An athletic, shot blocking big is a more pressing need for this roster anyway. Let’s see who Mike Woodson brings in.

I hope so. The last few years, I’ve been jealous watching other teams that can switch between man and zone and do both effectively. We went from Crean and... whatever he was trying to do on defense, to Archie, who refused to ever make any adjustments no matter how badly we were getting killed hedging ball screens or losing three point shooters. Would be nice to finally have a coach with an effective defensive philosophy.

I’m not sure... In this highlight video, it doesn’t seem like he was playing at the 4 much for Northwestern last year. Also looks a fair bit smaller than the 6’7 he’s listed at. Looks like more of a wing/3 to me. Ironically given our discussion here, Kopp makes Hunter look silly at the 1:55 mark of the video.

Kopp and Hunter’s per 40 numbers were pretty similar last season — seems like we’re hoping that Kopp can regain his form from his sophomore year. I think they’re basically the same player, but it can’t hurt to add another shooter.

Interesting pickup... Seems kind of redundant with Hunter, so maybe that’s who the rumored transfer will be. Hopefully Kopp’s sophomore year wasn’t just a fluke, because his three point shooting numbers were pretty bad as a freshman and junior. But at least he’s always been lights out at the line. I figured Mike Woodson was going to go for a more athletic forward, but can’t complain about picking up a 10 ppg Big Ten player who should be able to be a catch and shoot threat at the very least.

A little bit taller and lankier than Vic. Kind of looked like Aaron Henry to me.

Alright, just finished watching the highlight tapes... Are we really comparing Phinisee to this kid? Phinisee is not on Bates’ level, “tough on defense” upperclassman or not. He just doesn’t have that kind of frame, athleticism, or shooting ability. We’ve seen what Phinisee is... He’s just not Big Ten starter material. But the nice thing is that there should be no preconceived notions or misplaced allegiance to the upperclassmen with the new staff. Whoever wins the starting spot in practice will get it. My money’s on X and Bates.

Ha, I was never too down on the Mike Woodson hire from the beginning, right? “I can see clearly now, the Arch is gone...”

Land an athletic shot blocking big in the transfer portal and let’s roll. Even as it is, this should be a really tough and well-balanced roster. A starting lineup of X, Bates, Stewart, Thompson, and TJD gives you a dynamic play-making PG flanked by two shooters with a solid defender/hustle guy at the 4 and a dominant All-American at the 5. Then you have a hopefully much improved Lander backing up X, Hunter and Leal providing more shooting off the bench, Phinisee and Galloway being plus defenders that Mike Woodson can play with shooters around them, and two young forwards with a lot of talent in Geronimo and Duncomb coming off the bench as well. With the addition of Bates, I don’t see many holes in this roster.

Wowwww, this is HUGE. Landing top 50 guard talent like this consistently is the key to maintaining a successful program, and this kid immediately fills our biggest need at the guard spot. Our group of guards should go from a huge weakness last season to a strength next season. Can’t wait to see them play in the new offense. And we landed Bates out of nowhere with no smoke beforehand? This coaching staff is obviously connecting with recruits in a major way — getting those Juwan Howard vibes now. Exciting stuff.

Hilarious that they kept literally the entire staff except Archie and Ostrom. Start dropping those bag$$$ Mike Wood$on!!

Curious lack of any mention of Geronimo in the forward discussion here (not singling out you specifically)... He should be the ideal 4 off the bench next year, with starter potential down the road.

Dane Fife, in regard to last year’s team: “That was an NCAA tournament team. We can look at the players and look at the coaches, but I think this is a culture issue not just with the program itself, but with the fans, the media, the whole state. I’m sorry to hold you accountable and say that you’re responsible Alex [Bozich], but you’re part of it.” I took that as blaming the fans and the media for what happened last year just as much as the players and coaches, which I don’t buy. I also don’t really get the point about the media being too harsh — with the exception of a few idiots like Dakich, the IU basketball beat is overwhelmingly made up of people carrying water for the program to maintain access. But to be clear, I don’t have a problem with anything Fife is saying. He’s clearly taking the tact of sticking up for the players in the media, which I actually think will be a great thing for the program. I just think some of these slights are imagined or exaggerated, which happens all the time in high level athletics. Whatever it takes to get the team motivated, I’m for it.

Of course, but I don’t buy the argument that last year’s team was a tournament team if only the fans weren’t so mean to them.

The power of the #iubb fanbase is truly unrivaled. Last season, we altered the trajectory of every free throw and destroyed Phinisee’s jump shot through internet posts alone... Scientists need to start studying this phenomenon, it could have huge military and national security implications.

Interesting quotes from Fife in this thread (click the link to see them all). He’s definitely not afraid to speak his mind.

I’ll get started for you... “Corrupt,” “evil,” “eternally damned.” No joke, I also saw a Holocaust comparison in the Yasir Rosemond thread on another site, lol.

Can we just skip this debate and have the “no cheaters” crowd get to the part where they start rationalizing how Rosemond actually isn’t dirty like they did for Kenny Johnson, Chuck Martin, Tom Ostrom, etc.? C’mon guys, you’ve done it before and you can do it again.

There is no risk if IU just circles the wagons around the program like they’re supposed to in the unlikely event this guy gets “caught” “breaking the rules.” See, e.g., literally every other blue blood.

You’ll be back when they start bringing in studs and kicking ass on the court — winning cures all.

I don’t think they’re actually related — the kid just calls him “uncle,” apparently. And the holier than thou crowd is up in arms because the FBI got Rosemond on tape telling Christian Dawkins he’d do whatever it took to get recruits. But apparently, Dawkins and his crew didn’t give Rosemond any cash because he didn’t have any connections worth paying for at the time.