@mushroomgod I'd like to see a big who can shoot a bit, just to add a different dynamic. I actually think this is the kind of roster where Bailey (or someone with a similar skillset) would've been a real asset. That's the kind of add I'd like to see us make.
They had better hope there are no injuries. Not ever any foul trouble. And no teams with 3 bigs in the floor at once. No slumps by any of our starters. And that all 3 freshmen can contribute from day 1. I can see them aiming for lower on the totem pole but these last two additions are head scratchers to say the least
@openwheel Maybe it is true that CDD had some sort of hard NIL cap, and he's up to it. But even if that is true, it certainly feels like he's repeating very bad history with not having much of any post depth with this roster. He even referenced needing it in some recent pressers. I've defended CDD, and will continue to do so when I think its warranted. But on this... sorry... just go make it happen. If there's some sort of hard cap... figure out how to compel, if not demand, that the cap be raised. I can't fathom that he couldn't sell the stakeholders on stretching the end finishing number on the budget up a little bit, to bring in a 1 million ish, solid backup big. They are out there. We're seeing them sign with various other programs. And not all of them are going places that are offering starter level roles.
Pulling stuff out my arse here... but I suspect CDD, Carr, Dolson, the key NIL stakeholders... they established a budget, both his first 2 years. This year's is higher than last years by a bit, which reflects in the overall talent level this time around. And then CDD is the type of person that sticks with those sorts of things. Fiscally responsible, traditional guy, that feels it necessary to stick to intended budgets. Because of this, once he got up to that budget, both years, he basically stopped going after impactful players, and switched to guys he could get for relatively free.
He also knows that he's going to have to keep some of these key guys from this years team for next years team, get more portal guys, and probably need to up the NIL package for Branham to keep him. So its possible he overpaid, or made multi year commitments with many of the core 7-8 guys, that all have eligibility left.
All guesses... but no matter how it went down... its looking like post depth will have been a huge glaring hole, and a "miss" with both of first two rosters. Getting more than a little tired of our coaches not knowing how to, or not having the ability, to put together full, well balanced rosters. I defended the mistake quite a lot this past season, using Harris's injury as an excuse worth considering. But if not having another impactful big causes us to lose appreciable amounts of games again this year... it'll be impossible to defend.
Got to believe the IU staff realizes the need for a big on the final roster spot that can play 12 to 15 minutes per game if need be. If the budget is shot then go to work Scott Dolson and get a a few more bucks from those donors and finish the job.
From thread wish list, I cant recall any of our great teams that were so loaded.
We usually had a couple good bigs and a backup, a couple decent small forwards and a backup, and a couple point guards. That's 8 guys. Sometimes one more who could play a little. Usually one of the big forwards could spell the center or the other forward. One of the small forwards could fill in as a guard or for one of the other forwards.
The thread wish list sound like four bigs, three or smaller forwards (or four with one athletic defender type), and several guards, or 10 solid guys, and up.
Yeah, in an ideal world we are bulletproof at every spot. And maybe in the NIL world top teams get that loaded. I wasn't expecting that this year. We have three bigs, and Sisley to spell one of them or play shooting gaurd. We have a point, and several others that should be able to spell him or one of the shooting spots.
Maybe not ideal, but who has the bulletproof team? Our top 7-8 need to make hay, and a few others contribute. That's not bad.
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@openwheel Who are the 3 bigs? Sherrell, Yiggy, and who else?
The 4 and 5 positions are going to be asking for 80 minutes of very high caliber play, every B10 and high level game we play. The math never changes on that. There are less and less, really good teams, playing what has become a traditional 4 guard, or 4 around 1 lineup. Most really good teams we play will have 2 good bigs in, most of the game.
Sherrell averaged 24 minutes a game this year, Yiggy 29... I think its probably a stretch to say both will average 30 minutes per game, for us. But lets say they do. That leaves 20 minutes of play to fill.
Sisley comes to mind as a candidate to fill in some of those minutes. But we're just banking on him making a sophomore jump? Because the 2nd half of the season, despite needing post depth help desperately, he rarely saw the floor. And then if he does get a chunk of those minutes, against any team with 2 decent, physical bigs, we're exposed defensively and on the boards. And the only other guy on the roster we have that remotely qualifies as a big, is Sokolov. After watching more of his film, he's coming in as a glorified walk on. He's big, and young, so maybe he develops a lot by November and can contribute. But I suspect he'll be another Amicovic.
If both Sherrell and Yiggy do play 30 mpg, and stay healthy all year... then it likely won't be a huge issue. And this team might look like some of the other solid teams in our past that played only a couple bigs. To your point, its not the end of the world. We should be in a lot better spot than we were last year. Its just very, very frustrating to see the trends in college bball the last couple years towards playing much more size, and for our coach to not be effectively reacting to that.
@iunorth We have to mix in perimeter ball, maybe uptempo, like the intent last year, for more minutes then. We can do that with one big on the floor at a time. Although we have to do it without Wilkerson. But weve got some shooters.
And Coach did sing the praises of Sisley working hard this off-season. Said we saw flashes early last year. Made it sound like he does expect a solid jump.
Certainly in step with your thoughts. If the big guy needs to set the 4 slides into the post and Trent mans the forward position. Don't understand this needing 4 aces and 2 up the sleeve before you can bet.
I can see needing another PF guy who can board. Not saying I wouldnt like it. Our freshman class is skill but not at all physical. Hopefully Sokolov, he doesnt look like a stiff to me.
So, would be ideal yeah, to get someone. Not as worried as some, but just Sisley is a bit thin, even if we are going smaller I guess. A couple guys were are getting rebound a bit for their size, so maybe by committee.
IU doesn’t need Yigi to put up numbers- just be able to give 5 fouls while defending other bigs- I would hope the dude could do this for 8-10 minutes a game? Then Sisley fills in for Sherrell when he has to give us minutes at the 5 or rest or whatever.
would love to have another big, but those guys go quick in portal and cost if they are any good at all.
The big Turk has had 4 or 5 fouls 29 times in 66 career games.
That basically means his minutes are limited all season. And wait til he gets in the B1G where physicality in the paint is common.
Yes, there is no guessing here. And I am repeating myself but they had better get a defensive PF who can guard and play regular minutes in the conference. Having 2 rotational guys over 6'7" is not enough.
That new 7' guy is a multi-year project, not someone who can come in and guard Zach Edey, Aday Mara, Kofi Cockburn....list goes on and on.
Last year a number of players made late decisions to withdraw from the NBA draft. Lendeborg transferred to Michigan and Boogie Fland to Florida. Alex Condon decided to stay with Florida just prior to the deadline and Labaron Philon went back to Alabama. There were also a number of other significant players that pulled out of the NBA draft just days prior to the deadline.
As the deadline for withdrawal from the 2026 NBA draft will be coming up on May 27 at 11:59 pm, what players will remove their application for the NBA draft? Player withdrawals could have a significant impact on the fortunes of a number of teams for the 2026-27 season.
From thread wish list, I cant recall any of our great teams that were so loaded.
We usually had a couple good bigs and a backup, a couple decent small forwards and a backup, and a couple point guards. That's 8 guys. Sometimes one more who could play a little. Usually one of the big forwards could spell the center or the other forward. One of the small forwards could fill in as a guard or for one of the other forwards.
The thread wish list sound like four bigs, three or smaller forwards (or four with one athletic defender type), and several guards, or 10 solid guys, and up.
Yeah, in an ideal world we are bulletproof at every spot. And maybe in the NIL world top teams get that loaded. I wasn't expecting that this year. We have three bigs, and Sisley to spell one of them or play shooting gaurd. We have a point, and several others that should be able to spell him or one of the shooting spots.
Maybe not ideal, but who has the bulletproof team? Our top 7-8 need to make hay, and a few others contribute. That's not bad.
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without looking at it in most years meaning 9/10 we had 13 scholarship players... legit Big Ten scholarship players. Yes there are exceptions like Tim Priller and Pat Knoght. And Patrick was a lot better than Priller.. adding these last 2 with 3 other Freshmen is a big gamble. And we don't have the equity to gamble much. So yeah maybe we need the 4 aces in the hand to do so at this point. So go find the money and get the 3 players you need. My gut is telling me he was told a budget and isn't pushing real hard to exceed it or find it.
@openwheel Who are the 3 bigs? Sherrell, Yiggy, and who else?
The 4 and 5 positions are going to be asking for 80 minutes of very high caliber play, every B10 and high level game we play. The math never changes on that. There are less and less, really good teams, playing what has become a traditional 4 guard, or 4 around 1 lineup. Most really good teams we play will have 2 good bigs in, most of the game.
Sherrell averaged 24 minutes a game this year, Yiggy 29... I think its probably a stretch to say both will average 30 minutes per game, for us. But lets say they do. That leaves 20 minutes of play to fill.
Sisley comes to mind as a candidate to fill in some of those minutes. But we're just banking on him making a sophomore jump? Because the 2nd half of the season, despite needing post depth help desperately, he rarely saw the floor. And then if he does get a chunk of those minutes, against any team with 2 decent, physical bigs, we're exposed defensively and on the boards. And the only other guy on the roster we have that remotely qualifies as a big, is Sokolov. After watching more of his film, he's coming in as a glorified walk on. He's big, and young, so maybe he develops a lot by November and can contribute. But I suspect he'll be another Amicovic.
If both Sherrell and Yiggy do play 30 mpg, and stay healthy all year... then it likely won't be a huge issue. And this team might look like some of the other solid teams in our past that played only a couple bigs. To your point, its not the end of the world. We should be in a lot better spot than we were last year. Its just very, very frustrating to see the trends in college bball the last couple years towards playing much more size, and for our coach to not be effectively reacting to that.
dead on balls ass accurate depiction of reality
@openwheel They're going to have to... yes. And I certainly hope it works out well for them. But there's a very noticeable trend happening with many of the elite teams in the B10, and across the country, with playing much more length and size. And before you type it, I know IU isn't elite yet, and to have expectations that they should be a FF type team... maybe a tad unrealistic. But they're going to have a third of their schedule comprised of "elite" level teams.
I think CDD did a great job getting two really good bigs in this portal cycle, much higher level than last years bigs were. I just don't, and won't, understand not pushing harder and landing 1 or 2 more B10 capable bigs. Like Woodson not valuing shooting more... I think this is a fundamental "miss" on CDD and the staff's part. And now it'll likely happen two years running.
If he fills the last spot with another player like the last 2 signees... frustrating... more red flags... but I'll move on, and be excited about following the Peru trip. And I'll shift gears, and start thinking about how dynamic guys like Burton, Lindsay, Mustaf, and Sherrell can be playing together.