Athleticism

[Jeff]

Haven’t posted in a really long time. I’ll start by saying that I like Woodson, and I think he’s taking us in the right direction. 
However, unless IU can start getting some truly long and athletic players, we will continue to struggle. The B10 will continue to struggle. TJD is the only player on IU that can match Miami’s athleticism and really Miami is not overly athletic. Of course, we could use some shooters too. 

[NotIThatLives]

My God, get some guys that can attack, attack, attack at every position.  I hate the B1G.  Pretty sure i said the same thing about this time last year.

[5fouls]

1 minute ago, NotIThatLives said:

My God, get some guys that can attack, attack, attack at every position.  I hate the B1G.  Pretty sure i said the same thing about this time last year.

Tha would have been Xavier Johnson.  But, even with him, we had too many flaws.

[Jeff]

Serious question… can we get out the B10?  Either that, or just start recruiting non B10 type of players and start playing non B10 style of basketball. It’s a losing brand for the last 20 years.   

[DC2345]

16 minutes ago, Jeff said:

Serious question… can we get out the B10?  Either that, or just start recruiting non B10 type of players and start playing non B10 style of basketball. It’s a losing brand for the last 20 years.   

IU has been recruiting non B1G types under Woodson. You have to have bigs in every conference. They just have to have some athleticism and or be able to shoot. 

[BGleas]

Agree. Miami's athleticism and length overwhelmed us. I'll also say their skill. They had multiple shot-makers, not necessarily meaning shooters, but multiple guys that could create offense and go get a bucket.

We only had 2 guys that could do that and one was a freshmen. 

Woodson needs to hit the portal hard for length, athleticism and shot-makers. 

[Jeff]

I grew up with the Hoosiers of the 80’s( was too young to remember the 76 team) and I love some good fundamentally sound basketball, and there’s still definitely a place for that, but that’s not what’s winning championships these days.  Gotta have some super athletic dawgs these days!  I really think other than TJD and JHS, we just didn’t have the dudes to get in done this year (much like last year, replace XJ with JHS

[MoyeCowbell]

Having a Troy Williams or VO would be amazing…

When Galloway had his steak/breakaway, I was thrown off, as it’s been such a long time since we’ve had someone who consistently makes those types of plays. 

[MoyeCowbell]

XJ is quick and has the ability to initiate the offense, but he’s not going to be the savior that everyone is lauding him to be. I’m absolutely not a hater, and think he can have a positive impact, but we’ve been retroactively placing a tone of production at his feet when we can only (at best) speculate how it would actually play out.

We will need more athleticism across the board. Galloway should be our floor, and that’s a compliment to him. 

[Jeff]

@MoyeCowbell, I agree but the really good teams these days have a lineup full of TW’s and VO’s. It’s really the reason the SEC is doing so well in March. 

[IU Scott]

1 hour ago, Jeff said:

Haven’t posted in a really long time. I’ll start by saying that I like Woodson, and I think he’s taking us in the right direction. 
However, unless IU can start getting some truly long and athletic players, we will continue to struggle. The B10 will continue to struggle. TJD is the only player on IU that can match Miami’s athleticism and really Miami is not overly athletic. Of course, we could use some shooters too. 

I agree with you but the problem is that with the big ten reputation those type of players don't want to play in the big ten.

Edited March 20, 2023 by IU Scott

[MoyeCowbell]

11 minutes ago, Jeff said:

@MoyeCowbell, I agree but the really good teams these days have a lineup full of TW’s and VO’s. It’s really the reason the SEC is doing so well in March. 

@IU Scott Just answered this, but yes, a lot of the players that want to get out and run are opting to play elsewhere. 

I will say that CMW is vastly upgrading our talent from the past MAC-level regime, and I believe it will only get exponentially better. 

[5fouls]

46 minutes ago, MoyeCowbell said:

XJ is quick and has the ability to initiate the offense, but he’s not going to be the savior that everyone is lauding him to be. I’m absolutely not a hater, and think he can have a positive impact, but we’ve been retroactively placing a tone of production at his feet when we can only (at best) speculate how it would actually play out.

We will need more athleticism across the board. Galloway should be our floor, and that’s a compliment to him. 

I don't think anyone expects him to be a savior.  the team around him won't be good enough.  I think mostly his absence cost us dearly THIS year.  His impact next year may be the difference between 12-8 and 9-11 in conference.  This year it was more like the difference between 12-8 and 16-4.  

Edited March 20, 2023 by 5fouls

[Jeff]

I just posted this in the other similar thread, but if I’m Woodson, I’m doing everything I can to get the best darn athletes I can.  Who cares what the rest of the BIG is recruiting, or the style of play they want. It’s not working!  Be different and sell something different to these dawgs!  If anyone can be a different brand in the BIG, then I hope and think it could be IU!

[94hoosier]

Guys like Gunn, Banks and Newton for the more athletic/long player that we need. Just have to get some confidence and keep building the talent level and the program. I expect to see Woodson change his soon play based on the type of players. Even with MR I would expect a more guard heavy offensive and 3 or shooting and driving the ball next season. 

[AxnJxn]

If and buts and all that, but would have been interesting to see this group with Armaan Franklin still in the mix. To be fair, if XJ doesn't get hurt, JHS is playing more of that wing role that can create and put pressure on the D that we were sorely missing this year.

[tdhoosier]

I go back and forth on the B1G. Since our last championship (MSU), the conference has had the 2nd most Final Four appearances. As a conference, 2021 and 2022 were clearly not good showings. This year the conference was down, which was evident by that 2nd place - 9th place log jam. 

So, is this ‘post COVID funk’ an outlier or a trend?

One thing that I do think is that coaches like Shrewsberry are good for the conference. PSU doesn’t only need to hold on to him for their interests, but also the conference’s interests.  

 

[AxnJxn]

3 minutes ago, tdhoosier said:

I go back and forth on the B1G. Since our last championship (MSU), the conference has had the 2nd most Final Four appearances. As a conference, 2021 and 2022 were clearly not good showings. This year the conference was down, which was evident by that 2nd place - 9th place log jam. 

So, is this ‘post COVID funk’ an outlier or a trend?

One thing that I do think is that coaches like Shrewsberry are good for the conference. PSU doesn’t only need to hold on to him for their interests, but also the conference’s interests.  

 

I don't know where to find hard numbers on this, but it seems the B1G does what it is seeded to do for the most part. This year is a good example - Purdue underperformed, MSU overperformed, and the rest pretty much did what they were seeded to do - a 4 losing to a 5 or an 8 losing to a 9 isn't exactly a major upset. 

[tdhoosier]

10 minutes ago, AxnJxn said:

I don't know where to find hard numbers on this, but it seems the B1G does what it is seeded to do for the most part. This year is a good example - Purdue underperformed, MSU overperformed, and the rest pretty much did what they were seeded to do - a 4 losing to a 5 or an 8 losing to a 9 isn't exactly a major upset. 

Enter Dennis Green meme: They are who we thought we were. (Except Purdue of course, but that’s nothing new) Haha. 

[Indykev]

All xm radio could talk about was how the Big Ten is broken and the style of play can't beat the rest of the country. Beat up on each other for 20 games then try and go against teams that run and spread you out on the D end isn't working anymore. They said adding USC and UCLA next year might wake up some of the old guard to change.

[BobSaccamanno]

Agree.   There’s no point in being in denial.  Teams like Penn State handled us.  They did. I wouldn’t make an excuse about it; I’d try to correct the issue.  

I like Woody a lot.  He’s a very smart guy and an incredible leader.  A guy like Dakich who tries to criticize him is nowhere near his peer. It’s like Homer Simpson criticizing Einstein.

Last night, the media asked him how he wants to scheme next year.  He said he doesn’t know until he sees his roster.  Ding, ding, ding that’s the correct answer.  Having said that, I think he will try to recruit shooting, length, quickness and basketball toughness and IQ.   He said over and over again that he doesn’t want to hear whining and you can see from his approach he likes length and experience.  I think we are getting upperclassmen.  

[BobSaccamanno]

3 minutes ago, Indykev said:

All xm radio could talk about was how the Big Ten is broken and the style of play can't beat the rest of the country. Beat up on each other for 20 games then try and go against teams that run and spread you out on the D end isn't working anymore. They said adding USC and UCLA next year might wake up some of the old guard to change.

The officiating in the conference is a big issue and seemingly never gets addressed.  

[Indykev]

2 minutes ago, BobSaccamanno said:

Agree.   There’s no point in being in denial.  Teams like Penn State handled us.  They did. I wouldn’t make an excuse about it; I’d try to correct the issue.  

I like Woody a lot.  He’s a very smart guy and an incredible leader.  A guy like Dakich who tries to criticize him is nowhere near his peer. It’s like Homer Simpson criticizing Einstein.

Last night, the media asked him how he wants to scheme next year.  He said he doesn’t know until he sees his roster.  Ding, ding, ding that’s the correct answer.  Having said that, I think he will try to recruit shooting, length, quickness and basketball toughness and IQ.   He said over and over again that he doesn’t want to hear whining and you can see from his approach he likes length and experience.  I think we are getting upperclassmen.  

Count the portal guys on Penn St.

[Indykev]

3 minutes ago, BobSaccamanno said:

The officiating in the conference is a big issue and seemingly never gets addressed.  

We will need a whole new thread to run down that rabbit hole. lol.

[Indykev]

5 minutes ago, BobSaccamanno said:

Agree.   There’s no point in being in denial.  Teams like Penn State handled us.  They did. I wouldn’t make an excuse about it; I’d try to correct the issue.  

I like Woody a lot.  He’s a very smart guy and an incredible leader.  A guy like Dakich who tries to criticize him is nowhere near his peer. It’s like Homer Simpson criticizing Einstein.

Last night, the media asked him how he wants to scheme next year.  He said he doesn’t know until he sees his roster.  Ding, ding, ding that’s the correct answer.  Having said that, I think he will try to recruit shooting, length, quickness and basketball toughness and IQ.   He said over and over again that he doesn’t want to hear whining and you can see from his approach he likes length and experience.  I think we are getting upperclassmen.  

Also, that coach wont be there long. He will be snatched up quickly by a power house.