FW_Hoosier

23 minutes ago, Indykev said:

From what i'm being told. Hunter started his crap with Woodson that he did with Archie and was shown the door. "Woodson's not hear to play locker room games, things will be dealt with quickly", quote.

What was “his crap”?

1 hour ago, HoosierDom said:

I don't know. My guess is that Illinois and Iowa will be garbage and MSU not a real conference contender.

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.

9 hours ago, IU_Realist said:

Difference is usage and where he plays. I don’t think Kopp is going to be running around doing what he did at NW. Watch some videos.  Don’t think he will be running around shooting to shoot.  He is more a four than a two or three no matter what people are saying.  

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. 

7 minutes ago, Officer Obie said:

He reminds me of Vic.

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.

52 minutes ago, bluegrassIU said:

Whoa, you being optimistic? Things are looking up.   😁

Ha, I was never too down on the Mike Woodson hire from the beginning, right?

“I can see clearly now, the Arch is gone...”

5 minutes ago, ephul said:

I'm impressed how quickly we got a need filled. This team needed a shooter for four years.... And we never really got one. I would've taken a Matt Roth type kid if we had to. Woodson just landed an extremely athletic, top 50 shooter. Really excited to see how we decides to spend that last scholarship.

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!!

1 hour ago, btownqb said:

I think going into a year.. if you have Hunter, Race, RP, and ?? off your bench... I think you like where you're at. 

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.

11 minutes ago, bluegrassIU said:

Who ever said that?

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.

1 hour ago, btownqb said:

But you admit it is senseless and lame the way some act on Twitter? Correct? 

Those aren't real fans. 

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.

24 minutes ago, hoosier_exotics said:

The negativity coming from fan's.  He spoke on that subject directly 

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.  

26 minutes ago, Muddy River said:

So far we have established that the segment of our fan base that wants to do things above board and with integrity is "Perfect", "Holier than thou" and "Naive".  So what words are we allowed to use for the segment of our fanbase who want to outright cheat to win?  Can I start the list, or will that rile up the moderators? 

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.

1 minute ago, Muddy River said:

I was never a fan of the Ellenberger hire, but Coach Knight had more cache than Mike Woodson.  I simply don't see the need for the risk at this point.  As you said a 3rd assistant won't bring a tremendous amount to the table, but he can certainly take a program down.  #Notworththerisk.

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.

14 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

Can someone connect all the dots for me? So Yasmir is Jabari Smith's Dad?

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.