BobSaccamanno

I’ve followed him a bit since there were rumors about our interest last year. From what I’ve read, he is a bit of a head case. He was solid in ‘23 and then fell off in ‘24. Left the team at one point. Can’t meet his commitments for NIL either. I don’t know enough but you’d have to do big time due diligence before bringing him into your lockerroom. He’s got a diva reputation that would make an NFL receiver blush. edited to add a quick link https://www.swtimes.com/story/sports/college/sec/2024/01/27/arkansas-basketballs-davonte-davis-steps-away-from-the-program/72382677007/#

Exactly. Terrible defender. We can do better. Yes, we need a shooter with size but we can’t compromise on D. As bad as the complaints about shooting have been, we were just as bad defensively. We need good perimeter defenders.

Can’t wait to see him play! Excited to see that motor and defense. Pulling for him on his health. I think he’s got an edge to his game that everyone will love.

One scenario is he lands a good ‘25 recruiting class and gets us back in the tourney and then he walks away on his own, thinking he put us in a good position for a handoff to the next coach. He will be going on 68 and just may not want to put the work in plus he can say that he did what he set out to do, which is get us on the right track. That’s what could be his thought process.

I wonder how the Christ centered program ties in with threatening a recruit with deportation if he wouldn’t go to Baylor?

Good point on Cupps. In 716 minutes, he had 41 assists, 82 points, and 8 free throws. I would redshirt him and not throw him to the wolves again. If you bring in another pg and he gets hurt like XJ did, you can’t put yourself in a position to rely on Cupps for heavy minutes. I like his potential but it would not be realistic for him to go from that many empty minutes to suddenly becoming a high level pg. We saw with guys like Gunn what happens when you rely on the unproven. I would focus on developing him and weaning him into a role.

I think this is right. I might emphasize one rim protector and one stretch four and then agree with you on wings and guards. Frankie Fidler is really impressive. Leffew with Fidler would be even better. Need a high end point guard. Ryan Nemhardt from Gonzaga would be amazing but he may not go portaling. Maybe Gillespie from Belmont as a PG. I also like Ryan Conwell from ISU if he declares. Good all around player, including rebounding from the guard position. Fidler, Leffew, Conwell and Gillespie would be a heck of an improvement. But who knows if we can get traction with them. I would not step off the gas. Get as many as we can get. Look at what Cignetti did. We somehow have 7 rb and a ton of receivers and it didn’t scare anyone away.

lol wasn’t that Will Ferrell in his ABA movie?

Agree. I remember when everyone was done with Crean I pointed out his ability to identify lower-rated talent and project it to this level. Guys like Anunoby. My point was the same as yours, that things are not so black and white. But I got shot down by others who just didn’t want to hear it because people lost confidence in him. You see that now with Woody and things like player development. Some don’t want to give him any credit for TJD (even when TJD himself does) or Galloway as an initiator etc. But, I would say that this is hardly anything particular to IU fans and it is part of human nature. In the “real world” I have seen the same concept repeatedly. Once an employer loses confidence in an employee, it’s like they can’t do anything right or need severe micromanagement. While I agree that once someone is struggling, that doesn’t mean every single thing is terrible. But human nature is that once people lose confidence in you, and especially after you alienate a huge chunk of the constituents, as happened here, it’s a huge upset to regain trust and confidence. It’s not an IU thing, it’s human.

If we are trying to spend big on talent, you would have thought he was the perfect match for us.

DT Philip Blidi randomly went into the portal. I wonder if a school tampered him with an offer he couldn’t refuse. I thought we were thin at DT as it was. I hope we get a couple of veteran DT’s in the spring portal. D line might be our biggest impediment next year IMO

The portal should be a plus for IU. You can prune the roster as you see fit and fill as many needs as you feel like it. Priller wouldn’t be able to absorb a scholly for four years today. With the amount of money involved at IU, with a good coach and proper infrastructure this can be a major benefit. It’s a pity we blew it last year but hopefully as a program we will reap rewards in the future.

https://www.si.com/college/indiana/basketball/indiana-basketball-in-contact-with-belmont-transfer-jakobi-gillespie

I saw that. I thought they got hosed. Money talks and that’s not ok. It’s sport. If you don’t have fairness, you have nothing. The NCAA has zero integrity.

Hopefully it’s to fine tune and confirm heavy scouting where the heavy lifting has been done. There’s no reason why you couldn’t have dossiers on high school kids and then follow through on them year after year when you’re in a portal era. You could easily have a full time admin guy (“gm”) with a staff of grad assistants who are dirt cheap but want to pay their dues to become a scout. You would be scouring every conference in the country for the few bubbling up who are worthy of discussion. Make your broad lists and whittle it down. If you’re identifying guys now off their basketball reference page it’s way too late. The competition would have mash ups ready on how the player would be used. This isn’t 1985 where the school owns the player.

You missed teaching big men to go up straight instead of reaching with their hands and committing fouls.

I agree that I’m not in favor of NET relative to head to head. Having said that, as a program it’s your obligation to play the rules as they are set up. Get your efficiencies way up. Learn your lesson.

I’d have to look at their stats but alot of those guys really know how to play and we have not had enough of those guys. IMO

No doubt. IU doesn’t run a well schooled system where you can take savvy guys who can come together like Hoiberg or Chris Collins or even Underwood does. That’s the opposite of IU. Throw it into the post and never see it again, no ball or player movement, etc etc. The hope is just fielding a team that’s respectable in terms of Ws and Ls even if the metrics are bad. My main hope, barring a miracle, would be for the program to build up enough talent that it’s easier for the next staff. It would be nice if we landed a core for the ‘25 class.

Yeah the first thing I’m looking at is 3 PT and FT shooting and then you have to make sure they can defend. Some of these guys who can rebound from the wing would be nice.

As teams drop out of the tourney, more winning players will become available.

He’d kick XJ’s ass 9 out of 10 times.

Not just that, unless they are a lifetime fan having it ingrained into them, you’d have to question the priorities of anyone choosing IU. These are the types of guys we’d roll in the past and now that’s us.

I agree at certain positions but it will be heavily dependent on scouting. You don’t want Parker Stewart but you do want the right guys but the staff has to dig deep. Personally I would not compromise on defense. Presumably we already have very detailed analysis on anybody who was a possibility for the portal so that we wouldn’t need to scramble. With an excellent process we are set right now to be decisive on who we pursue hard and in the right order. We need everything but high end point guard is mandatory. No shot without that.