Jerome Hunter/Damezi Anderson

[IUFLA]

I'm of the opinion that for IU to fully reach their potential this year, either Jerome Hunter or Damezi Anderson (it'd be nice if both did, but not counting on it) have to emerge as a reliable bench scorer and outside shooting threat.

As others have come back from injuries, both have seen their minutes diminished. After the first 3 games, Damezi averaged about 18 minutes per (didn't play against Portland St) and Jerome through the 1st 4 averaged about 16 minutes a game. Last 2...9.5 per.

Now I understand they both have flaws on the defensive end, but I think more floor time during the games would help both, particularly Hunter. He looked really good vs North Alabama, but hasn't looked confident since.

I know it's tough with 11 scholarship players jockeying for time, and I know we want to get Devonte and eventually Rob back up to speed, but I think we need to put Hunter and Anderson out there for longer stretches before conference play starts.

Am I wrong here?

[Hoosierhoopster]

I posted this earlier in the post game thread. I don't think you're wrong. This is certainly a matter of opinion -- and I think is rooted in the ready now - play now vs. develop - get ready for season viewpoints. I'm in the develop camp for the season:

Dead on - and to be honest this is an area where I disagree with CAM’s approach. 

Hunter has tremendous talent but it’s going to take him time — not a few early games with limited minutes, but time, including specifically playing time, to get up to the speed of the game and his confidence and timing going.

CAM’s approach, which goes with the get old mantra, is you’re either ready now or you don’t play. TJD is ready now - flat out outstanding. That works, but it limits what Hunter can add to this team this year, if you don’t see the potential in his game you’re not watching him, you’re just looking for mistakes.

I’m more a development focused guy, with more game time Hunter would contribute a lot sooner, and we still need that shooting to spread the floor, and wing play to spread the floor, for B1G play.. The play big strategy won’t work in conf play. We will get exploited. But instead of developing Hunter - and playing Anderson more, CAM is already shortening the bench and time, in the ready now or limit time approach. These are weak teams, this is the time to get guys ready. I like a number of things about CSM, this is not one of them. Of course we can beat these teams,

i’d Rather see us in unnecessarily close games against weaker teams developing the guys we will need later than playing them in limited minutes now, which, frankly, is itself unnecessary. The Brunk Smith TJD lineup isn’t going to carry the day in conf play 

btw while I don’t like izzo much as a person this is one area he excels in — why do his teams often struggle early? Because he’s developing the players and lineups for when it matters 

Edited 1 hour ago by Hoosierhoopster

[Zlinedavid]

Keep in mind, from an in-game perspective, Hunter is a true freshman.  And not every highly ranked freshman sets the world on fire right out of the gate.  The potential is there. 

[BADGERVOL]

I’m not opposed but who do you suggest the minutes come from? There’s other guys developing also. Thoughts?

[3Ballin]

Damezi is starting to look more confident on offense and if his D can catch up I think he will get more minutes.

Hunter, i watch him play and I can see all the things people have said about him being an absolute stud just sittting there below the surface ready to break out.  I cant point to anything specifically and im not sure how to explain it but i think one game its all just going to click for him and he'll be off to the races.  Im not sure if it will be this year or not tho? 🤷‍♂️

[5fouls]

I think we should have filled the last two scholarships so we would have 2 more guys we can't find enough minutes for.  

[13th&Jackson]

3 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

I think we should have filled the last two scholarships so we would have 2 more guys we can't find enough minutes for.  

[3Ballin]

4 minutes ago, BADGERVOL said:

I’m not opposed but who do you suggest the minutes come from? There’s other guys developing also. Thoughts?

Smith.....he's not a 3. 

[IUFLA]

9 minutes ago, BADGERVOL said:

I’m not opposed but who do you suggest the minutes come from? There’s other guys developing also. Thoughts?

I thought part of Al's problem late in the 1st and into the 2nd was, he looked a little gassed. He plays hard, and that takes a toll. Right now, he's at 29 minutes per, so that could come down to 22-23.

I also thought Devonte looked a little tired. Maybe too many minutes this early in the comeback? 

Or maybe we have just enough minutes for 1 of them. Tell them, "hey, you 2 are such similar players, you're going to be competing against each other for playing time every practice."

And may the best man win.

 

[FW_Hoosier]

4 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

I thought part of Al's problem late in the 1st and into the 2nd was, he looked a little gassed. He plays hard, and that takes a toll. Right now, he's at 29 minutes per, so that could come down to 22-23.

I also thought Devonte looked a little tired. Maybe too many minutes this early in the comeback? 

Or maybe we have just enough minutes for 1 of them. Tell them, "hey, you 2 are such similar players, you're going to be competing against each other for playing time every practice."

And may the best man win.

 

Why would we reduce the minutes of one of our top 4-5 players to give them to the 9th/10th players in the rotation...?

[IUFLA]

5 minutes ago, FW_Hoosier said:

Why would we reduce the minutes of one of our top 4-5 players to give them to the 9th/10th players in the rotation...?

As I said, I thought Al looked gassed in the 2nd half. And I think a lot of the mistakes he was making were a result of that. Not the first time I've thought fatigue has been a factor in his play.

[FW_Hoosier]

11 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

As I said, I thought Al looked gassed in the 2nd half. And I think a lot of the mistakes he was making were a result of that. Not the first time I've thought fatigue has been a factor in his play.

He’s currently averaging less than 1 mpg more than he did last year, and he’s right under 30 mpg.  One sloppy half (during which the entire team played that way) after he dominated in the first half doesn’t mean he needs his minutes reduced.

[JugRox]

A 100% healthy Rob P will help a ton....he is a 20 min per game guy.

But yeah......would be nice if Hunter or Anderson stepped up. Right now.....Anderson seems to be in front of Hunter. Will that change later on? 

[5fouls]

It's fair to say that fatigue could have played a part in Al's poor second half last night.  The pace of the first half was frantic.

It's also fair to say that, despite that, Al still deserves 25-30 minutes per game, Not every game will have the pace last night's did at the start.  

[IU Scott]

1 hour ago, IUFLA said:

I thought part of Al's problem late in the 1st and into the 2nd was, he looked a little gassed. He plays hard, and that takes a toll. Right now, he's at 29 minutes per, so that could come down to 22-23.

I also thought Devonte looked a little tired. Maybe too many minutes this early in the comeback? 

Or maybe we have just enough minutes for 1 of them. Tell them, "hey, you 2 are such similar players, you're going to be competing against each other for playing time every practice."

And may the best man win.

 

I am sorry but no player should be gassed after playing 28 minutes in a game.  If these kids are supposed to be great athletes then they should be ok averaging 28 minutes per game.

[Reacher]

As 5 fouls mentioned, pace has to be figured in. 35 minutes playing for WI is probably similar to 25 minutes for a fast paced team. 

[hoosiermd]

2 hours ago, Hoosierhoopster said:

i’d Rather see us in unnecessarily close games against weaker teams developing the guys we will need later than playing them in limited minutes now, which, frankly, is itself unnecessary. The Brunk Smith TJD lineup isn’t going to carry the day in conf play 

btw while I don’t like izzo much as a person this is one area he excels in — why do his teams often struggle early? Because he’s developing the players and lineups for when it matters 

Edited 1 hour ago by Hoosierhoopster

I don't disagree with your premise, but I wonder how much of this is driven by the need to win and win a certain way? If Archie is beating Troy by 7 and Portland St. by 3 because of "player development" then he's taking massive heat. Maybe not from you or me, but from Joe Average IU fan, they are wondering what in the world is going on with IU basketball. Izzo has averaged 25+ wins a year for 24 years. That gives him quite a bit of cushion without even mentioning the national title and the 8 Final-4 appearances. Izzo got a Sweet-16 in Year 3, a Final-4 in Year 4 and won his only title in Year-5. That gives him a lot of leeway. CAM could very well be on the same track, but that internal pressure to win has to be there at this particular point in time.

By the way, Izzo was 33-28 (.541) in his first two seasons in East Lansing. Miller is 35-31 (.530). Both guys missed the tournament in their first two seasons. Could Archie get to the Sweet-16 in Year 3? I think so!

[IUFLA]

33 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

I am sorry but no player should be gassed after playing 28 minutes in a game.  If these kids are supposed to be great athletes then they should be ok averaging 28 minutes per game.

Scott, you and I neither one know what it's like to play high level D1 basketball. You're asked to go 100% every moment you're on the floor. The church leagues you and I played in don't demand that.

And all players aren't created physically equal. I remember reading an article on Andrae Patterson and how his lung capacity was small for his physical stature. Said the lack of stamina might have had something to do with not fulfilling his potential.

[5fouls]

12 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

Scott, you and I neither one know what it's like to play high level D1 basketball. You're asked to go 100% every moment you're on the floor. The church leagues you and I played in don't demand that.

And all players aren't created physically equal. I remember reading an article on Andrae Patterson and how his lung capacity was small for his physical stature. Said the lack of stamina might have had something to do with not fulfilling his potential.

I, for one, was cut from my church league team.  

[BGleas]

I agree with the premise that IU would be much better off if at least one of these guys separates themselves and develops into a reliable perimeter/wing scorer off the bench. They're both in a difficult spot though, they're basically sharing minutes to see who can do it first. They're also both struggling defensively, which as we know is going to impact playing time. 

It would be one thing if they weren't hitting offensively but were playing great defense, I'm sure Archie would let them play through that, but with both are also struggling defensively (Anderson more so than Hunter) it's tough to give them a lot of minutes. 

I felt a little bad for Anderson last night. In his first stint I thought he played pretty well, but then he got a quick hook. When Archie went back to him, he had a turnover, two bad defensively plays and then took that quick 3 that was not a great shot. Archie yanked him right after that and I don't think he got back in. But, he looked really good in that first run he had. 

 

[BDB]

14 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

I, for one, was cut from my church league team.  

cut or banned?

[5fouls]

3 minutes ago, BDB said:

cut or banned?

Inappropriate attention given to the minister's wife.

[DC2345]

1 hour ago, IU Scott said:

I am sorry but no player should be gassed after playing 28 minutes in a game.  If these kids are supposed to be great athletes then they should be ok averaging 28 minutes per game.

Sorry but you are very wrong on this. Louisiana Tech played guards that were very physical and stronger than Al. They played hard and out of control which is something IU hasn't seen from any other team this year. That will tire you out quicker if you aren't used to playing that way. 

[IU Scott]

1 hour ago, IUFLA said:

Scott, you and I neither one know what it's like to play high level D1 basketball. You're asked to go 100% every moment you're on the floor. The church leagues you and I played in don't demand that.

And all players aren't created physically equal. I remember reading an article on Andrae Patterson and how his lung capacity was small for his physical stature. Said the lack of stamina might have had something to do with not fulfilling his potential.

I did not mean myself but players back in the 80's and 90's starters played more than what starters do today.  If those guys who were less athletic LOL! and slower and weaker can do then why not these great athletes we have today.

[IU Scott]

1 hour ago, 5fouls said:

I, for one, was cut from my church league team.  

I scored 37 points in a church league game