Thanks for being a sensible voice on here, I watched CTC give away multiple games last year & I’d bet he’ll do it again this year

Coach Crean stresses guard and wing team rebounding. This new group is ideal for that approach, with all of these athletes in those positions.

I disagree. Hollowell is not really athletic, no explosive jump off of the floor, no ability to “kill” the dunk over “Bigs”, to soar on a block and change the game (all of which Devin Davis does have). So he was as good as his shot making. At under 40%, he was not a prospect for the league.

None. And I agree that IL should be there as well. The B1G race is WI at #1 and a real dog fight for every other position. I am not sold on MSU, MI and Oh St being great this year. They each lost their “team” from last season. So they slip to the second tier with NE, IU, IL, IA, Maryland and MN. This season will be full of opportunity and heartbreak for these teams in the second tier!

I can’t thumb it up, but I agree. The thought of what their team can do already has me sick to my stomach.

It’s likely about depth and physicality. Imagine that HMP and/or DD get in foul trouble or injured. Who do we have inside? Priller, April and Hoetzel don’t have much muscle yet, and will get abused down low. To me it makes perfect sense. CTC sees that those 3 guys just aren’t ready for the B10 yet and that we desperately need rebounding and interior D.

The big story of the upcoming B10 season will be Wisconsin. I think they might go undefeated. Really. They’re head and shoulders above every other 10 team. Wouldn’t be so if only NV had stayed …. sigh. Heck, Kaminsky is mre NBA ready than NV.

I was not offended by anything you said or label you put on me. The simple fact that you seem inclined to consider any counterpoint to your comments as “negativity” says a lot about your mindset regarding this team and CTC. Fair enough. I just don’t happen to believe that he is capable of taking this team or any other IU group to an elite level. You look at my comments as negativity; I think of them as being closely linked to reality. Keep you Pom Poms handy and enjoy the upcoming season as best you can!

I’d prefer 3rd Tier. Low expectations seem to motivate CTC teams.

Hate to be Nellie Negative but if Glenn Robinson III could go pro after last year, all it’s going to take is a few good games from Williams this season for scouts to be all over him. He’s got all the NBA tools, fortunately or unfortunately.

Thanks for sharing. I never really thought about it that way.

For the sake of discussion, because it’s the off season, who would you move out of the second tier?

Meh, you can take a guy based on potential, but at some point they will either improve, hit their ceiling or just not be as good as advertised. The physical and mental limitations of a player should not be reflected back on the recruiter or coaching staff.

To your point, I have to agree that there is definitely a debate to be had on player development. With Jeremy’s mentality and Etherington’s lack of confidence and physical shortcomings, I think it is safe to put their lack of development on them; however, Hanner is a perfect case as to why the debate is acceptable. He has the size and athleticism to achieve great things, but is still shaky in his general basketball IQ (positioning/timing/fouling). Big men do take a lot longer to develop than guards, so his lack of in-game experience makes it hard to gauge his progress, but we do know there is more there.

I think the best case to be made is that Crean and IU have the expertise and tools to develop any player to their highest potential; the question is whether or not the player wants to put the amount of time and work in necessary to allow themselves to take a big jump.

Sorry, it’s actually Daren, not Darren. I hadn’t heard of him either.

I’ve never heard of Next Up Recruits or of Darren Scarberry but it’s nice to know that someone who has presumably seen quite a bit of Holt thinks he excels at the two things we’ll need most from him (or any other frontcourt player)…rebounding and rim-protection. If he decides to come to IU, I’ll be happy to have him and I’ll hope he can bolster the frontcourt in the areas you mentioned.

I’ll apologize if I offended you but make no mistake, there was no need to label you. You did that already with the negativity in your posts. Also, I did not mention anything about CTC or his “player development, recruiting acumen” or anything else about CTC for that matter. Again, I wasn’t trying to label you, I was just addressing what I was reading in your posts.

The cupboard isn’t exactly bare in Champaign, either.

Rick Pitino was the 1st coach I remember using the term deflection to gauge a player’s defensive activity/inactivity. The term has no universally accepted definition, but here is what the term means to CTC: Crean was asked about deflections by a fan on his radio show on Monday night a couple years ago. Crean said that if a player gets even a finger tip on the basketball on defense, that’s a deflection. It doesn’t matter if the offense keeps the ball or not. Even if a pass is tipped and ends up in the opponent’s hands, it’s still a deflection. It’s also a deflection, of course, if the ball is knocked out of bounds and stays with the opponent.
While CTC may stress defensive intensity in pre/post-game talks, many times it was the lack of intensity rather than its presence that sealed IU’s chance for success in games. I believe the mere fact that this year’s team seems to like being with each other on and off the court is HUGE. Hopefully it will translate into a strong desire to talk on the court and do all those other little things which constitute good “D”…it’s a mindset that very few of today’s players have or want to acquire. Having 6 players who’ve never faced B1G-level talent before, there will be occasional lapses, but if the overall focus and effort are expended, this could be a very interesting season for us! I hope so!!

I lived in Lexington from 1985-2010…the worst 25 years of my life. I grew to despise the Big Blue Nation and most of its obnoxious fan base. Had a neighbor who used to literally get sick when UK lost a game. (I hope Trey Lyles finds a really comfortable spot on the bench because I don’t see him getting starter’s minutes this year.) Anyhow, Coach Cal has been able to assemble a team which on paper may be as good–if not better–than the 1990-91 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels…and they were one of the great teams in NCAA history right up to the game against Duke in the Finals.