Stromboli

I'm no scout, but I'll copy/paste here what I wrote elsewhere. These are my impressions watching one game at EYBL: ======================================== First the bad. The only thing I came away with was that he's in that tweener size like Justin Smith. He's a 6'7" "Power Forward" that doesn't really play from the perimeter or play back-to-the-basket. He cannot play 5 and shouldn't play 3, but doesn't have the length for a B1G 4. Afterwards I saw--as WayneFleek pointed out--his efficiency is pretty awful. Not a great look to take that many shots, with that many misses, and have a losing team. Otherwise, he was easily the best player on the floor. He plays heads-up ball, so he's affecting the game on every possession on both ends of the floor. Willingly fights in the lane. Definitely athletic; more of a smooth athleticism than plain explosive, but he moves like a basketball player. So in my view, the reason he was getting so many shots (and points) is because he was working for them. Every possession down, he'd fight his man and give the PG an easy pass to get it to him, and then he'd try to make a shot. The others 3 weren't moving much. It really seemed that he was trying to help his PG make a safe pass. Now, should he have tried to distribute more? I don't know, maybe. Or maybe the coach wanted him shooting. Anyway, he was the best player on the floor. =========================

I saw him play. He was the best player on the floor. The efficiency numbers aren't great, but in this case they don't scare me. The kid can play.

Only when they commit somewhere else! I really don't see us ever having an issue with being over-5 starred. We all want to pepper in a 5* with some experience, so this would seem to be in line with that.

Whoa. Just watched. That guy is going to the NBA, no doubt in my mind. He's a good example of the difference between a kid that is tall, and a kid that is a basketball player. And he's really not that skinny. Good build/strength for a young'un. I love that we're on this kid, and love that we have some Minnesota connections. It wouldn't surprise me if his recruitment reaches the highest levels. Seems like the kind that ends up somewhere in near Raleigh.

Yeah, him throwing up those impossible shots for an Iowa OT win. He hit 3 in OT, sealing the 12th loss in that terrible streak. Low point for all of us. I hope the kid recovers, and that we beat him next time we play.

Yeah, not looking to revise history or put down your thread... I doubt when you made the thread you knew it would become the official thread for Luke Brown. I'm just suggesting maybe we could present his recruitment thread (is it even a recruitment?) in the same format as lowly recruits like Romeo Langford, Trayce Jackson-Davis, or even unknowns like Robert Phinisee.

Luke Brown isn't even listed as a top 7 player in Indiana for 2021. And we're comparing him to maybe the biggest Indiana recruit ever. I say again, the title here is silly. I like the kid. He seems to really be special. But celebrate his accomplishments and consider his recruitment in a more reasonable frame. It's fair to Luke, Damon, and the other recruits.

I'm a little down on our program, too. But I'm not about to concede that we can't look down on LSU. So they bought themselves a team last year. So what. We're still Indiana.

Not putting down the kid... but can we change the title of this thread? Romeo Langford didn't even reach Damon's level. And Luke Brown isn't as good as Romeo Langford. For right now, the comparison is just a little silly. Let's evaluate Luke Brown against other current players. If he comes close to Damon's accomplishments, then we can restart the comparison.

Yeah, but the drive to Baton Rouge will be in a much nicer car.

Pretty sweet to see the kid break down talking about Christian. For all the bravado and selfies and on-court heroics, he's still a little brother. Anyway, good luck to Trendon. Indiana is not playing the same recruiting game as these other schools.

What was the word that Romeo's pastor tried to get the crowd to spell? Anyway, based on hats I'd say LSU. The others look cheap. That one has the flat bill, and it's black. Ummm, LSU school colors aren't black. It's just the hat he wanted to wear.

At this point I'm hoping he goes to Alabama just to save face. This is from Reddit: So let me get this straight: • James Wiseman 5* (#1) • Precious Achiuwa 5* (#14) • Boogie Ellis 4* (#37) • DJ Jeffries 4* (#48) • Lester Quinones 4* (#56) • Malcolm Dandridge 4* (#98) • Damion Baugh 4* (#108) • Rayjon Tucker (One of the top grad transfers) ======================================= Pretty amazing. Penny didn't do a bad job coaching Memphis last year, either. If another program will be seeing success, I have no problem with it being Memphis over Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, or UNC. Give a town a thing to cheer for, instead of arrogant kids at Duke in their Vineyard Vines pastel clothes, or belligerent KU or KU fans. I know it's all being obtained through cheating at this point, so at least give some of the fun to a town/program that will enjoy it more. I don't know that I can stomach seeing Duke/KU/Kansas celebrate anymore. I read plenty of threads at the Memphis forums this year, and the Vanderbilt forums last year. Vanderbilt fans were miserable. The guys at the Memphis board were mostly just happy/excited, and didn't talk down other programs in the process. Fine, I can be happy for them. In the mean time, let's keep on hoping that Archie is our guy, and we'll get to the Villanova/Virginia level. It's not uncharted territory for Archie, he had a lot of success at Dayton. We need 7-8 good players.

They've got 2020 D'Andre Davis from LC also. I saw him at EYBL, he looks the part of a B1G player.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling REALLY good about this one.