The Crimson Quarry: FanPosts

Exum names IU as favorite

2013-06-11T05:07:28Z

"Australian SG Dante Exum, a rising star, tells me Indiana U in the recruiting lead to sign him for 2014-15. His only visit so far," Howard-Cooper tweeted today.

Exum, who could be eligible for the 2014 NBA Draft, also told Cooper that he’s planning to attend college. "My gut tells me right now I’m going to college," Exum told Howard-Cooper.

Many draft experts had suggested in recent months that Exum, who plays at the Australian Institue of Sport in Canberra, could forego college altogether and enter the draft. His performance at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland in April fueled that speculation when he scored 16 points (6-of-8 FG, 3-of-5 FT) to go along with three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in a 112-98 win for the World Team over Team USA.

After his visit to Bloomington, Exum told Inside the Hall that he was very impressed by the IU program. "The facilities are great and Assembly Hall on Saturday was on another level," Exum said. "I have never seen anything like it before and enjoyed it very much."

Class of 2014 guard Dante Exum, who took an official visit to Indiana in early January for the Minnesota game, told Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com at the adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy that the Hoosiers are the favorite to sign him. "Australian SG Dante Exum, a rising star, tells me Indiana U in the recruiting lead to sign him for 2014-15. His only visit so far," Howard-Cooper tweeted today. Exum, who could be eligible for the 2014 NBA Draft, also told Cooper that he’s planning to attend college. "My gut tells me right now I’m going to college," Exum told Howard-Cooper. Many draft experts had suggested in recent months that Exum, who plays at the Australian Institue of Sport in Canberra, could forego college altogether and enter the draft. His performance at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland in April fueled that speculation when he scored 16 points (6-of-8 FG, 3-of-5 FT) to go along with three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in a 112-98 win for the World Team over Team USA. After his visit to Bloomington, Exum told Inside the Hall that he was very impressed by the IU program. "The facilities are great and Assembly Hall on Saturday was on another level," Exum said. "I have never seen anything like it before and enjoyed it very much."

Indiana week at Maize n Brew

2013-06-04T15:21:53Z

Hey guys, this is Zach from Maize n Brew -- SB Nation's Michigan Wolverines site. We are doing a weekly preview of each Big Ten team, and this week is Indiana. We have a few pieces up including one looking at the state of the program now, the schedule for 2013, and a defensive breakdown. There is a lot more coming the rest of the week, too.

Stop by and check things out. Be sure to let us know what you think of the job we're doing.

First 2014 football recruit (about time)

2013-06-03T04:33:26Z

**Promoted from the fan posts for relevance.

Michael Barwick from Cincinnati (OH) Summit Country Day H.S. announced today that he has committed to Indiana. The 6-foot, 291-pound defensive tackle is the first commit in the 2014 recruiting class for Kevin Wilson and his coaching staff. He is a 3-star and is ranked 38 for his position so this seems like a great way to start out the class. My only concern is, isn't this a little late to get your first commitment. Seems like in years past we got a few commitments as early as March. Now I have a lot of faith in Kevin Wilson and his staff, so I'm not really too worried. Just wondered if this was unusually late, or if our previous staff just signed guys earlier than normal.

**Promoted from the fan posts for relevance.

Bob Knight: I Made a Mistake in Early Recruiting [At Indiana]

2013-05-20T17:54:42Z

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Former college basketball coach Bobby Knight on his book "The Power of Negative Thinking: An Unconventional Approach to Achieving Positive Results." TONIGHT on Charlie Rose @ 8p & 10p ET.

It's a really good interview. The short excerpt is the discussion about Recruiting at Indiana but he gives a lot more in the full interview.

(An excerpt of the Interview)
Bob Knight: I Made a Mistake in Early Recruiting

(The full interview)
Bob Knight | The Power of Negative Thinking: an Unconventional Approach to Producing Positive Results

I think 'No' is the most important word in the English language - Bob Knight

Not sure if you guys have seen this yet, but in an interview with Charlie Rose, Bob Knight said that if he had it to do all over again, he would have expanded beyond his Indiana + Ohio + Illinois recruiting pipeline and take a more national perspective. Sure, Coach Knight was plugging a book, but I thought it was an interesting interview nonetheless.

...he also goes into discussion about Larry Bird with Charlie:

The great Larry Bird came to Indiana and then left. How come you let him go? - Charlie Rose

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Former college basketball coach Bobby Knight on his book "The Power of Negative Thinking: An Unconventional Approach to Achieving Positive Results." TONIGHT on Charlie Rose @ 8p & 10p ET.

It's a really good interview. The short excerpt is the discussion about Recruiting at Indiana but he gives a lot more in the full interview.

(An excerpt of the Interview)
Bob Knight: I Made a Mistake in Early Recruiting

(The full interview)
Bob Knight | The Power of Negative Thinking: an Unconventional Approach to Producing Positive Results

I think 'No' is the most important word in the English language - Bob Knight

...he also goes into discussion about Larry Bird with Charlie:

The great Larry Bird came to Indiana and then left. How come you let him go? - Charlie Rose

IU Players at the Draft Combine

2013-05-18T16:26:17Z

Saw positive reactions regarding both Victor and Cody in terms of athleticism.

Victor had a 42 inch vertical and Cody tested as the best over 6'9" standing vertical (ever tested).

I have not seen any comments about CWat yet.

I am hoping his shooting and versatility get him into teh 2nd round.

I am biased but I would take him over several players showing up in mock drafts.

To pick on just a couple I have no use for either Golden Gopher.

R. WIlliams would be a small forward that cannot shoot (20% on 3's) and if he is so physically gifted why didn't it make him more dominant in college? and MBakwe is 30 years old and prone to injury. Last time I looked NBA plays 3 times as many games as college and he couldn't get through college seasons in one piece.

I'll draft CWat and see if he can fill that stretch 4 off the bench.

Saw positive reactions regarding both Victor and Cody in terms of athleticism.

Victor had a 42 inch vertical and Cody tested as the best over 6'9" standing vertical (ever tested).

I have not seen any comments about CWat yet.

I am hoping his shooting and versatility get him into teh 2nd round.

I am biased but I would take him over several players showing up in mock drafts.

To pick on just a couple I have no use for either Golden Gopher.

I'll draft CWat and see if he can fill that stretch 4 off the bench.

Recruiting Check-In: Theo Pinson, Dante Exum, Goodluck Okonoboh, JaQuan Lyle

2013-05-16T18:10:03Z

Theo Pinson

(caveats)

1)Not to count chickens before they hatch

2)I don't know what their opinions are really worth by way of predictive power

3) this by no means should be taken as authoritative, but there is a piece of interesting information within it:

"247" Analysts/Contributors are already anticipating that Theo Pinson will be coming to Indiana, and 4 of the contributors have made that prediction this week (did something noteworthy happen that I didn't hear about?) The interesting one to me is Adam Rowe. He is a "Duke Insider" and he made the IU prediction on 5/9. He wrote an article back in April entitled "Are things cooling off between Theo Pinson and Duke?"

I may have been oversimplifying, but the opinion I've gathered from following Pinson's recruitment is that Duke is the only school that has a serious chance of keeping him in North Carolina and Indiana was the only school that has a serious chance of taking him out of North Carolina; perhaps that wasn't oversimplifying after all, and if "Duke Insiders" are getting the feeling that Pinson and Duke are not a good match for one another, Indiana's position just became that much stronger.

Kenny Johnson, Tim Buckley, and Tom Crean have moved beyond the "Come to Indiana; we'll make you famous" stage and have been approaching him with active suggestions for tweaking and improving his game and demonstrating *how* he will be coached by the staff if he chooses Indiana. I don't think the coaching staff would be going that far out on a limb for him if he was not being heavily factored into future plans for the Hoosiers.

If you pay attention to my comments, I think that Pinson would be the most important, most influential recruiting grab on Tom Crean's career, even while taking into consideration Cody Zeller's importance to the program. That is not to say Theo will be the "best Indiana player ever"...he will have to put in a lot of work to earn that distinction...and Pinson's recruitment is definitely standing on the shoulders of the coaching staff's work with Oladipo, Sheehey, and Yogi (specifically his Strength and Conditioning regimen) but North Carolina high school basketball is pretty top heavy. They produce a low volume of very high quality recruits and then drop off precipitously. Whereas Indiana produces high school talent that could fill a dozen D1 starting lineups (3 or 4 of them with high major programs), leading to an expected exodus from players that just can't find spots on the top in-state roster, programs outside of North Carolina just don't pull top talent away from UNC, Duke, and NC State. Pinson would be a total recruiting coup for IU.

Theo has indicated that he will pick his college before his senior year starts, so expect to know sooner rather than later in the recruiting process whether Indiana will be an early title contender in the 2014-15 season.

Update: Theo Pinson will announce his college decision on Wednesday at 12:15PM.

Dante Exum is, as expected, quickly rising up everybody's boards with the exposure he gained by his performance at the Nike Hoop Summit. Dante recently picked up his fifth star, he has entered Rivals' "Top 20" (ESPN has not updated since February) and casual fan bases everywhere seem to have finally learned his name. All indications are that he is still "very impressed" with Indiana but with all the extra attention that's going to be coming his way over the course of his senior season, I think it's going to be important for the coaching staff to not assume that the recruiting work is completed.

I believe that Exum and Pinson together would create a formidable scoring tandem that would immediately spark legitimate talk for #6.

Update to Add: Exum's primary weaknesses have been scoring without bringing the ball up the court and shooting from outside. For the Nike Hoop Summit, the World Team moved him to the 2 to put Dennis Schroder at the point. Dante played well off the ball (although his highlights came in transition rather than in half-court sets) and see below for how he has improved his outside shooting.

nbsp;

Dante Exum 3-point shootaround before 2013 Nike Hoop Summit

Goodluck Okonoboh was extended an official offer by the Hoosiers back in April. He is regarded by most as the best shot blocker in the next class of recruits and possesses the defensive skills that everyone wishes Jurkin and Perea will eventually develop. It has been widely known that Vonleh and Okonoboh are very good friends and played AAU ball together. If we had 3 open spots in the upcoming recruiting class, pulling in Goodluck would be a no brainer. He is exceptionally good. I seriously hope that Perea and Jurkin both blow up for their sophomore seasons and the need for Okonoboh is somewhat diminished, but with Jurkin's injury history and exceptionally rough game he is looking more towards being a total bust than a contributor. The pair of our Project Bigs are quite the conundrum. Jurkin's game always seemed much too rough to me for CTC to take the leap that he did with him unless he truly had a scholarship to take on that big of a project...or if he and Perea were a package deal and Crean wanted Hanner just that badly. Perea was highly recruited by high major programs across the country for his shear athleticism, but it was always understood that as far as basketball goes, he is purely a project. I say we should definitely take a "wait and see" approach to how Perea and Jurkin progress through their sophomore seasons and see whether they really belong on Indiana hardwood. (Note: Goodluck Okonoboh played high school basketball with Nerlens Noel)

JaQuan Lyle is a Top 15 recruit from Bosse that everyone is likely very familiar with by now. He is comparable to Dante Exum from a talent standpoint with demonstrably better ball handling skills. I think the greatest concern that people have with JaQuan centers around his academics at the collegiate level. (Bosse is not known as a very good educational center, to put it nicely) He is not stupid by any means, and JaQuan is scheduled to take his SAT in June, which will give him a chance to prove that he deserves a degree from Indiana University. He recently trimmed his list to 6 teams (Indiana, Ohio State, Illinois, Louisville, Florida, and Tennessee) Noticeably absent from that list is Kentucky. JaQuan pays attention to his internet buzz and apparently Kentucky fans were rubbing him the wrong way with statements about "Lyle begging for a Kentucky offer...[but] UK knows he can't play point guard" and "He's too slow to play PG at the high D1 level" and "[Since he's not good enough to play PG for Kentucky], there are better options at wing" and "Prep school is [JaQuan's] only option to play D1 basketball." But, that's just Kentucky being Kentucky. I'm not really sure how high Lyle was on the Wildcats to begin with, but he finally saw UK for what they really are and decided to stay away from all that negativity and divisiveness.

Given the ability to take on a 4 player class, Lyle would easily have one of the spots. I think that Lyle is a better ballhandler than Exum and he is just as good at getting to the rim. I think the thing that separates the two is that Exum's jumper looks a bit more polished and his pull-up jumper is already a legitimate offensive weapon. I think that the Hoosiers can't really go wrong with either Exum or Lyle, but as of right now I think I want Crean to focus efforts on pulling Exum. His approach to the recruiting process seems to be a little bit more professional to me and Lyle seems to be loving getting all the attention he is getting. Pitino has stated in recent comments that Louisville is focusing on "one guard" and belief is that guard is JaQuan. If he would commit to Indiana tomorrow (and be serious about it) I think fans should welcome it, but my belief is that there is a greater chance of losing Lyle in the recruiting process than Exum.

So, you have seen my hopes for a "4 player recruiting class" (already considering Blackmon a Hoosier) for the 2014-15 season. We will likely not be able to take on 4 players, but as we have all been very keenly aware of lately, transfers happen. The priorities from top to bottom should be (and I think they are) Pinson, Exum, Okonoboh, Lyle. I don't think the coaching staff should really be spending any time with 2014 recruits outside of those four players.

Theo Pinson

(caveats)

1)Not to count chickens before they hatch

2)I don't know what their opinions are really worth by way of predictive power

3) this by no means should be taken as authoritative, but there is a piece of interesting information within it:

Update: Theo Pinson will announce his college decision on Wednesday at 12:15PM.

I believe that Exum and Pinson together would create a formidable scoring tandem that would immediately spark legitimate talk for #6.

nbsp;

Dante Exum 3-point shootaround before 2013 Nike Hoop Summit

[Duplicate] Can someone delete this post for me?

2013-05-16T17:09:50Z

Can a site admin delete this Post for me?

The server gave me an error when I submitted and did not display the post when I refreshed the list, so I reposted it a few hours later.

THEN, both showed up in the list of FanPosts.

Does anyone know what was happening with SBNation servers last week? I was getting HTTP 500 errors out the ying-yang and was having all kinds of trouble doing anything at all.

Can a site admin delete this Post for me?

The server gave me an error when I submitted and did not display the post when I refreshed the list, so I reposted it a few hours later.

THEN, both showed up in the list of FanPosts.

Does anyone know what was happening with SBNation servers last week? I was getting HTTP 500 errors out the ying-yang and was having all kinds of trouble doing anything at all.

2013-14 Conference basketball schedule/BIG complaint open thread

2013-05-14T20:35:10Z

Information about the conference schedule next year is leaking out on Twitter. Of primary importance, here are IU's single-plays:

Vs. Iowa
Vs. Ohio State
At Minnesota (not confirmed yet)
At Purdue.

What the hell. From a strategic standpoint, this is probably a push. Iowa and Ohio State are likely upper-level teams next year. Minnesota likely is not. Purdue remains to be seen.

But strategy aside, how in the hell can the conference not provide a protected home-and-home with IU and Purdue? Gah. The people running this conference are making me stare longingly at the MAC.

Vent away.

Information about the conference schedule next year is leaking out on Twitter. Of primary importance, here are IU's single-plays: Vs. Iowa Vs. Ohio State At Minnesota (not confirmed yet) At Purdue. What the hell. From a strategic standpoint, this is probably a push. Iowa and Ohio State are likely upper-level teams next year. Minnesota likely is not. Purdue remains to be seen. But strategy aside, how in the hell can the conference not provide a protected home-and-home with IU and Purdue? Gah. The people running this conference are making me stare longingly at the MAC. Vent away.

All IU NBA Team

2013-05-02T19:50:15Z

Coaching Staff: Slick, Woodson & Witman

Honorable Mention:
Bobby Wilkerson, R. Witman, R. Tolbert, Jim Thomas, Tom Abernathy, J. McGlocklin, Archie Dees, Butch Carter

Where do you expect Zeller and Oladipo to end up on this list?

Position 1ST Team 2ND Team 3RD Team C Walt Bellamy Kent Benson Dean Garrett PF Big Mac Alan Henderson Jared Jeffries SF D Van Arsdale Mike Woodson Scott May SG T Van Arsdale Eric Gordon Calbert Cheaney PG Isiah Quinn Slick Leonard Coaching Staff: Slick, Woodson & Witman Honorable Mention: Bobby Wilkerson, R. Witman, R. Tolbert, Jim Thomas, Tom Abernathy, J. McGlocklin, Archie Dees, Butch Carter Where do you expect Zeller and Oladipo to end up on this list?

Fare thee well, Maurice Creek

2013-04-24T20:26:15Z

Twitter reporting that Creek is leaving the program. He will have an undergraduate degree and be able to transfer in such a way that he can play right away for his final season of eligibility. While I am sad to see Creek go, the press release indicates that he's leaving to get more playing time, which is completely understandable.

Also, we now have a scholarship available. There's a lot of handwringing (here) and finger pointing (there) about oversigning. Bottom line: it's modern roster management.

Query: does anyone know if there is any chance of a 2014 recruit reclassifying to 13, and coming in right now (i.e., Exum)?

In any event, godspeed, Mo. We loved you, and always will. May the road rise up to meet you.

Also, we now have a scholarship available. There's a lot of handwringing (here) and finger pointing (there) about oversigning. Bottom line: it's modern roster management.

Query: does anyone know if there is any chance of a 2014 recruit reclassifying to 13, and coming in right now (i.e., Exum)?

In any event, godspeed, Mo. We loved you, and always will. May the road rise up to meet you.

App to track Hoosiers in the NBA & NFL

2013-04-22T00:05:26Z

Hey all,

A buddy of mine recently created an app called "Draftpedia" that tracks NBA and NFL draft data, rosters, and statistics from the last 40+ years. It lets you sort the data in a lot of different ways - one way is by college so you can see and track every pro that attended Indiana in a single list (which then allows you to see year-by-year stats for every player). It should be a great reference tool for sports history and random trivia.

If you're interested, here's the download link for iPhones/iPads (it's free):
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/draftpedia/id562159411?mt=8

----------------------------------------------------------

Here's a press release from the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130417-908281.html?mod=googlenews_wsj):

Draftpedia's iPhone App Launches for All NBA & NFL Draft Fans

SANTA MONICA, CA--(Marketwired - April 17, 2013) - Draftpedia, the only iPhone app with NFL & NBA draft history, is now available free in the App Store. Built exclusively for mobile, Draftpedia has 30+ years of draft history, past team rosters, draft info for every player's alma mater and statistics for every current player.

Roommates David Rabie and Joe Sarafian hatched the idea for Draftpedia on the couch during a Clipper game. Discussing Kenyon Martin's historically poor draft class, Joe asked why consumers had to rely on searching Wikipedia for the answer. "As Gen Y sports enthusiasts, what has driven us this entire time is to build an app that makes our lives easier," said David Rabie, Co-Founder.

"Given the competition, we knew that our edge would come with speed, efficiency and design. We built a database of information that is stored within the app -- eliminating any loading time between screens and allowing the app to function offline," said Co-Founder Joe Sarafian. The information is presented in clear, easy-to-use tables and is all linkable, offering multiple ways for users to navigate within the app.

Launching just in time for the 2013 NFL Draft, Draftpedia is the ultimate reference guide for any sports fan looking for historical data including:

-- 40+ Years of Past Drafts

-- 30 Years of Team Rosters

-- Every Division 1 College's NFL/NBA Alumni

-- Breakdown by Nationality (NBA) and Pick (NFL)

-- Statistics for Every Current Player

"Next time you're debating a player's alma mater or comparing draft classes, Draftpedia is your best solution," said Rabie.

About Draftpedia

Draftpedia consolidates information about past NFL & NBA drafts in a convenient and fast iPhone app. It has every draft year of the modern era, lists of professional players from every D1 College, past rosters for every team and statistics for every current player. Founded in 2012, Draftpedia is based in Santa Monica, CA. For more information, visit www.draftpedia.com.

Hey all,

If you're interested, here's the download link for iPhones/iPads (it's free):
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/draftpedia/id562159411?mt=8

----------------------------------------------------------

Here's a press release from the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130417-908281.html?mod=googlenews_wsj):

Draftpedia's iPhone App Launches for All NBA & NFL Draft Fans

SANTA MONICA, CA--(Marketwired - April 17, 2013) - Draftpedia, the only iPhone app with NFL & NBA draft history, is now available free in the App Store. Built exclusively for mobile, Draftpedia has 30+ years of draft history, past team rosters, draft info for every player's alma mater and statistics for every current player.

Roommates David Rabie and Joe Sarafian hatched the idea for Draftpedia on the couch during a Clipper game. Discussing Kenyon Martin's historically poor draft class, Joe asked why consumers had to rely on searching Wikipedia for the answer. "As Gen Y sports enthusiasts, what has driven us this entire time is to build an app that makes our lives easier," said David Rabie, Co-Founder.

"Given the competition, we knew that our edge would come with speed, efficiency and design. We built a database of information that is stored within the app -- eliminating any loading time between screens and allowing the app to function offline," said Co-Founder Joe Sarafian. The information is presented in clear, easy-to-use tables and is all linkable, offering multiple ways for users to navigate within the app.

Launching just in time for the 2013 NFL Draft, Draftpedia is the ultimate reference guide for any sports fan looking for historical data including:

-- 40+ Years of Past Drafts

-- 30 Years of Team Rosters

-- Every Division 1 College's NFL/NBA Alumni

-- Breakdown by Nationality (NBA) and Pick (NFL)

-- Statistics for Every Current Player

"Next time you're debating a player's alma mater or comparing draft classes, Draftpedia is your best solution," said Rabie.

About Draftpedia

Draftpedia consolidates information about past NFL & NBA drafts in a convenient and fast iPhone app. It has every draft year of the modern era, lists of professional players from every D1 College, past rosters for every team and statistics for every current player. Founded in 2012, Draftpedia is based in Santa Monica, CA. For more information, visit www.draftpedia.com.

Derby classic anyone?

2013-04-20T17:55:33Z

Anyone make it to Louisville for the Derby classic? I had planned on it unfortunately though I couldn't make it..

Inside the hall has some Troy Williams highlights from the game and boy is he going to be good... Vic 2.0, all the athleticism but a more refined game... Stanford Robinson and Colin Hartman didn't do a whole lot.. It will be interesting to see of Robinson can play the point next year... Hartman has to stay hitting more threes..I think he was 0-4. Devin Davis had a respectable game as well as big fishy... Excited for next year..

Anyone make it to Louisville for the Derby classic? I had planned on it unfortunately though I couldn't make it..

Watch IU recruits Friday and Sat - Kentucky Derby Classic and Nike Hoops

2013-04-19T21:43:22Z

All of IU's incoming freshmen except Noah Vonleh will play Friday 7PM in Kentucky Derby Classic televised by WDRB and potentially online. Troy, Luke, Stanford, Devin and Collin playing on the same team. How many get on the court together?

Noah Vonleh will be on the US squad playing vs World team in the NIKE HOOPS SUMMIT I think on ESPN2 sometime in the afternoon. Very select company playing in that invitational.

Look for them. If I find out more I will post later.

Noah Vonleh will be on the US squad playing vs World team in the NIKE HOOPS SUMMIT I think on ESPN2 sometime in the afternoon. Very select company playing in that invitational.

Look for them. If I find out more I will post later.

Looking Ahead -- expectations for 2013-14

2013-04-08T15:17:18Z

So, this is out there:

2013-14 statistical projections

I don't know who Dan Hanner is, but whatever. He has a statistical model predicting the top-20 for next year. Obviously, this is based upon a lot of assumptions: who is returning? Who is not? How do top-100 recruits shake out? This one is true but is unstated in the article: how do players from this year improve and progress with their games?

Spoiler alert: he does not project Indiana in the top 20. He does project (in this order) MSU (Harris returns), Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and tOSU. Anyway, this gets me to wondering what my expectation should be for this team next year.

Subjectively: I expect to see Yogi and Hollowell make the kinds of strides that Oladipo and Sheehey made from year 1 to 2; I expect to see Hanner look game-ready; I expect them to improve their turnover percentage; I expect them to play elite-level defense; I expect them to be a near-impossible out at home; I want to see them building up a head of steam heading into march.
Objectively: 22+ wins, 11+ wins in conference, top 4 finish in conference, playing on the weekend of the Big Ten Tourney, and Sweet 16 appearance, top-20 by end of year.

/heckle from peanut gallery: "go out on a limb, jackass". Fair criticism. Anyway, what's your expectation? Should I be expecting more or less?

So, this is out there:

2013-14 statistical projections

Subjectively: I expect to see Yogi and Hollowell make the kinds of strides that Oladipo and Sheehey made from year 1 to 2; I expect to see Hanner look game-ready; I expect them to improve their turnover percentage; I expect them to play elite-level defense; I expect them to be a near-impossible out at home; I want to see them building up a head of steam heading into march.
Objectively: 22+ wins, 11+ wins in conference, top 4 finish in conference, playing on the weekend of the Big Ten Tourney, and Sweet 16 appearance, top-20 by end of year.

/heckle from peanut gallery: "go out on a limb, jackass". Fair criticism. Anyway, what's your expectation? Should I be expecting more or less?

Looking ahead -- lineups for 2013-14

2013-04-03T15:18:54Z

The comments to some of the other articles have started to look ahead to next year. Which is appropriate. As 87 noted, next year's team will be the tallest and most athletic we have seen in awhile. Probably since 2002. Anyway, I need some help sorting out who does what, as I start to think through lineups in my head. For this exercise, let's assume that Oladipo, Zeller and Creek are gone.

1: Yogi, Remy

2: Robinson, Etherington

3: Sheehey, Hollowell, Williams, Davis, Hartman

4: Vonleh, Fischer, Perea, Jurkin, Howard

First, am I missing anyone? Second, do I have everyone properly categorized? I have the sense that both Vonleh and Fischer are 4s, rather than 5s. The only real 5 we have on the roster is Jurkin, who might just be better served playing that position somewhere else.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, how many of these guys are "combo" players? One of the reasons that I love Sheehey is that I can see him playing at the 2, with Hollowell at the 3. That's two guys who can shoot or drive (per skill set; both need work) at 6-7 or above. Can Williams, Davis and/or Hartman do the same thing?

I am curious to see how Etherington looks after rehab. I don't know about any of the new guys, but he's likely to be the guy most capable of replacing the range of Watford and Hulls.

Anyway, with all of those assumptions, here's what I'd tag as the likely starting lineup on day 1: Yogi, Sheehey, Hollowell, Vonleh, Fischer.