@kkott For sure... it was purely for the "2 deep" and some extras layout. But that does give a good alternate way to see where we might be a little thin. I'm sure between Lindsay, Mustaf, and Moody... we've got support ball handling/lead guard minutes behind Burton covered fairly well. But none of those guys are really true lead guards. So if Burton were to go down with an injury, we'd become very thin in that crucial role real quick.
The biggest hole, in my opinion, remains another big capable of playing important minutes in the B10. I know finding a starter level big, at this point, is a pipe dream. But we need someone that can come in and play 8-10 minutes on a normal night, and not get totally exposed. And/or that could fill in and play more minutes if Sherrell or Yiggy get hurt, or get in foul trouble. Not having that guy is very risky, and a gaping hole... as we saw last season.
The big needs to be a defender. Doesn't need to be as big as Yiggi and Sherrell. Can be a large small forward if athletic or strong. There will be a need to spell Yiggi and Sherrill though. If a defender, they help keep the game from getting away from us when the main guys need a breather or guarding against foul issues. Not as worried about guard play. Maybe one of the frosh will surprise. Although another defender/distributor there never hurts.
@openwheel We could definitely use another PG, with Burton's injury history. Ideally it would be someone who has another year of eligibility, but the skillset is more important than eligibility. With Burton's size, someone who's taller and a good defender would be great, but this late in the cycle, you might not find the exact prototype you're looking for. Going in to the season saying "maybe one of the frosh will surprise" is not a good plan, and we only have 1 frosh who could even hope to be a PG I believe: Moody.
agree on the skillset vs eligibility comment. Eligibility doesn’t mean nearly as much as it used to with no transfer rules.
@iunorth I see it this way.
PG: Burton Moody
SG: Lindsey Harris Karvala
SF: Sisley Mustaf
PF: Sherrell - None (Maybe Manhertz?)
C: Yigi - None Maybe Sokolov
As an IU bball eternal optimist, we are beyond overdue for a frosh to far exceed their recruiting ranking freshman season expectation.
Maybe one of the least talked about parts of the Knight years was the ability of fans to expect and see great things regularly with emerging freshman stars to fuel their fandom.
@middawg And with all the recent trends and talks shifting more towards older, portal guys... Freshmen are still playing a huge role for many of the elite level teams. You can't be predominately freshmen, and win it all... but you also can't ignore them, as guys like Pitino are hinting at doing. Like everything else in life, having a good balance is key. Hopefully we get one or two that play above their rankings and hype... that would be enormous for this team.
@openwheel We could definitely use another PG, with Burton's injury history. Ideally it would be someone who has another year of eligibility, but the skillset is more important than eligibility. With Burton's size, someone who's taller and a good defender would be great, but this late in the cycle, you might not find the exact prototype you're looking for. Going in to the season saying "maybe one of the frosh will surprise" is not a good plan, and we only have 1 frosh who could even hope to be a PG I believe: Moody.
I keep hearing all this talk of multiple years of eligibility but you still have to get them to come back the next year. With the portal there is no guarantee anyone comes back you have to sell them all over again each spring.
@middawg And with all the recent trends and talks shifting more towards older, portal guys... Freshmen are still playing a huge role for many of the elite level teams. You can't be predominately freshmen, and win it all... but you also can't ignore them, as guys like Pitino are hinting at doing. Like everything else in life, having a good balance is key. Hopefully we get one or two that play above their rankings and hype... that would be enormous for this team.
we just haven't had one in the roster since JHS that could be up for that challenge
@arioznahoosier4554 That's true, but it's generally easier to keep a player for the following year if they had a good year and experience. Look no further than Purdue bball keeping Smith, Loyer and Kaufman Renn for multiple years or our football team holding on to guys who could've likely commanded greater $$ offers on the market (Smith, Becker, etc...).
If they're out of eligibility you have a 0% chance of retaining them. If they have eligibility, you have a >0% chance of retaining them. It's not a complicated thing.@openwheel We could definitely use another PG, with Burton's injury history. Ideally it would be someone who has another year of eligibility, but the skillset is more important than eligibility. With Burton's size, someone who's taller and a good defender would be great, but this late in the cycle, you might not find the exact prototype you're looking for. Going in to the season saying "maybe one of the frosh will surprise" is not a good plan, and we only have 1 frosh who could even hope to be a PG I believe: Moody.
I keep hearing all this talk of multiple years of eligibility but you still have to get them to come back the next year. With the portal there is no guarantee anyone comes back you have to sell them all over again each spring.
@openwheel We could definitely use another PG, with Burton's injury history. Ideally it would be someone who has another year of eligibility, but the skillset is more important than eligibility. With Burton's size, someone who's taller and a good defender would be great, but this late in the cycle, you might not find the exact prototype you're looking for. Going in to the season saying "maybe one of the frosh will surprise" is not a good plan, and we only have 1 frosh who could even hope to be a PG I believe: Moody.
I keep hearing all this talk of multiple years of eligibility but you still have to get them to come back the next year. With the portal there is no guarantee anyone comes back you have to sell them all over again each spring.
I believe that some are starting to sign multi-year NIL deals.
Who is this guy? Not very good numbers for a lower level player.
https://twitter.com/KayserHoops/status/2054271761722589335?s=20
IU is rounding out the remaining couple of spots on the roster with practice players...Justin Monden of MD Eastern Shore fits that bill for an extra guard.
@middawg We certainly had our share of guys perform as freshman, but I always thought RMK was great at developing guys and overall, preferred to play experienced guys. I just thought he believed in playing your best players and if some of those were freshman, he had no problem doing that. But, I feel like for every freshman you could name who surprised, I could give you 3-4 who didn't play much at all their freshman year who became cornerstones of later teams.