Mgbako can shoot, but he is toxic and a telephone pole on defense.
Malik is fine, but he's not great in a modern offense. Plus he's got serious Woody contamination.
Good riddance.
@cavanagh Not a very high bar to clear: HM all-conference? Yeah, I could see that. First or 2nd team for both: don't see that.
@cavanagh Mackenzie Mgbako underwent surgery for a Jones fracture in his foot...he's expected to return sometime in November but recovery from those can be tricky. For what it's worth, I don't expect him to be particularly great for Bucky McMillan. That system requires really high-energy players and I never really saw that from him at IU. I have nothing against him at all and hope he has a great season but coming back from that injury won't make it easy. I could certainly see Malik having a great season at Miami...the league has a handful of good teams and then a whole lot of mediocrity (or worse) and he can put up big numbers, no doubt about that.
@cavanagh i'm sorry, but you know nothing about college basketball if you think being a good shooter is a reason to keep a recruiting coordinator around.
@iureactionary I know nothing about college basketball because I think keeping the best shooter and one that teaches shooting as his main job on staff for 100k a year? He would outwork Drew Adams fat ass. I’ll tell ya that!
@ge-off what qualified Drew Adams? His ability to talk to Indiana elite guys and act like we have a chance at them, to then watch them go elsewhere?
i was very encouraged by what i saw.
baylor is 17th in kenpom to start the year but, like iu, they're an entirely new roster. one thing i do know is that they're also probably the most athletic team iu is going to face outside of kentucky.
iu got beaten soundly on the glass. as one of the four factors, that's a big deal.
but what is also a big deal is that they turned baylor over 16 times to just 9 of their own. i liked what i saw from the defense and they held baylor to just 31% FG in the 2nd half.
they also made their free throws (20/21 - 95%) and, while they didn't shoot the 3 well, they still shot 44% FG.
so, to recap, in 3 of the 4 factors, iu outplayed the kenpom preseason #17 team and won a game on a neutral court with multiple rotation pieces out.
they gutted out a win and devries said they weren't calling plays or timeouts at the end fo the game and wanted the guys to just figure it out on their own...and they did.
@iureactionary I know nothing about college basketball because I think keeping the best shooter and one that teaches shooting as his main job on staff for 100k a year? He would outwork Drew Adams fat ass. I’ll tell ya that!
do you have some strange vendetta against drew adams? completely unhinged statement.
and i like hulls and think his future is bright but iu needed a fresh start and hulls would have gotten another coaching job at a high major instantly if he was what you're describing.
@iureactionary Drew Adams is a known POS from Bloomington. He had no friends in HS and was an outcast. I am the same age and he is a slimy turd that his father and him already got IU sanctions for. No idea who you are but you obviously have no idea about the past history with the Adams and IU. To bring him back on staff was one of the dumbest moves CDD could make.
@iureactionary Kenpom preseason is garbage. He admits it, to use it as an indicator of how good a team will be is not smart. Where is @tmp when I need him.
Not sure I could have said it that way but certainly how I thought about what I saw. Tenacity, effort and resolve is going to be exciting to watch for a change this season.
@iureactionary I think what can start to be taken from the Bahamas games, and then this Baylor game... is that we're going to be vulnerable to getting "outsized", and out "athletic'd" at times this year. That will lead to giving up runs, and probably will lead to some losses. That's a negative trend that has come from those games.
On the positive side, I think we're going to be pretty explosive offensively, at times... its pretty obvious that CDD is a very good in game coach with adjustments, and mentality adjustments and such, and the guys certainly appear to be very gritty and resilient. All foundational things that are hugely important for CDD to embed in to his IU culture. Because when he does add some length, and a bit more athleticism, then IU becomes what it hasn't been consistently in many, many years.
Another disclaimer that I think needs mentioned. Without Harris and Dorn, we aren't "long" at positions 1-4, like I think CDD very likely intended we'd be. If and when those guys get healthy, we'll see them on the court quite a lot, and their length will be huge in covering gaps, helping on the boards, etc...
I honestly don't put a ton of stock in us winning these games. Woody's IU team last year beat Tennessee, in a VERY gutsy/gritty exhibition performance. I think the most encouraging thing, for me, is just the overall style we're playing, and how much fun it looks like they're all having together.
Thanks @cavanagh for trying to inject some life into this forum. I have no idea when IU basketball begins, or who we may be playing early one. But, you ( otoh ) are always entertaining.