This is what I don't get. Everyone was bashing Perea since he's been at IU. Now he's gone and all of a sudden it's some sort of major loss. He would have been a bench player who could come in and replace Bryant if he got into foul trouble or whatnot. I get it. And why would you be amazed if he's a dramatic improvement over Perea? What exactly did Perea show that made him such a valuable piece of our team? He averaged like 6 and 4 last year. That's not really setting the court on fire and Bryant is a McDonald's All American. Typically, those type of players can come in and are ready to make an impact immediately. I do think Bryant is a solid defensive player from what I've seen. I've seen him play in all star games and at HP, so I would say I've got a better grip on what he can do more so than you do unless you've seen him in person as well. Fortunately for my job I get to travel frequently and caught several of his games. So don't give me this BS about what he can/will do next year unless you've seen him. I would say he's gonna be a big improvement from Perea without question.
Bryant Impact...
- Thread starter smooth as butter
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are you serious? "not that bad" to you i guess but our avg. adjDef ranking over the last 5 years is 110. toss out last year and it's 75. it's for realz not that bad? and all this with plenty of games against the Chicago States of the world.
#143 2011
#84 2012
#28 2013
#47 2014
#248 2015
Hey of course you are going to think you will take the game. It's your team. Just as I think we will because Purdue is my team. Nobody really wants to say this far ahead their team is going to lose. I just don't see 4 teams that will be better than Purdue next year. Fifth would be the absolute lowest and personally a big disappointment. Maryland and maybe MSU will be better, other than that who? IU maybe, but I don't see it. No way Michigan. We played them before all of their injuries last year and stomped them. Iowa loses too much, Wisconsin could contend but still think they lose too much. Ohio St loses too much. Who else?
Okay. Show me where IU has went from in the 200 range in defensive efficiency to top 75 by adding only one big man. Just in case you can't do the math, that's at least 125 spots. It's actually 139 spots because IU was at 214 last year.
You say I'm stupid yet you are the one who just said that a jump like that has happened before by adding a big, that the 5 for 16 performance by IU against Purdue was a pretty good shooting performance, that IU had no bigs last year in the same sentence that you say you felt Holt really performed well. I could go on an on but I won't. Everyone sees you and your delusions as wrong. IU fans are pointing out where you are wrong and still you act like you have some sort of magical eye that sees what nobody else sees.
No IU under Crean has never made a 139 spot jump on defense eff. Even when they added two lottery pick bigs and Bryant isn't going a lottery pick and won't make that big of a difference either. That's you hoping, not me.
No IU didn't shoot well at IU in the Purdue game. You may have remembered it that way because the game was close. But just like many of your posts, it's not accurate.
As for running over to the main board to chat, I'll pass. I have no clue where it is or why I would want to go? I do t feel the need to have others agree with me. I do my own research and know before I post if I am right or wrong. You may want to do the same here and on GBI. You are often embarrassed by making a stupid statement and the having 10 people point out your mistake. Then you call names, spout off about how so and so had written it so it's true, then you invite the people who prove you wrong to some mystical world of the main board where everyone agrees with you. Well I'll pass and I'm really not sure why you ever leave that place and go to places where you know people have more knowledge then you.
I'll take your bet that IU will place ahead of Purdue this year. If you win, I will never reply to another one of your posts on GBI and I will never post here again. If I win, you can just stay off of GBI and continue to reply to me if I come here. This means no alias usernames as well. It won't be hard to pick yours out as they are always parroting what someone else said and 90% of the time are easily refutable with actual facts.
So do you still wanna bet? I sure do.
No you and org only like discussions where everyone is drinking the kool aid..,.some people like to have a healthy debate. It's hard to have that with people who throw a tantrum every time something negative is said about their team....hmmm maybe it's the people they are holding on to their team so tight they can't handle the negativity that needs to get a life
Ok, no more flaming here. Let's have a real conversation.
Look at Crean's adjusted defensive rankings. Last year was an outlier, even for Crean. It's my opinion that the big issue started with the lack of a legit big man. I believe adding a McDonald's All American will have a significant impact. I base that on the impact the prior two McDonald's All American centers we recently had at IU. You are going off of nothing other than your own beliefs back by nothing. When we've had a good big man, we have typically had a pretty solid defensive team. How good can/will they be? Not sure, but I am of the opinion that it will be much better. You can disagree, that's fine, but I honestly think I have more backing to think the way I do than you do. Will it be a Top 100 type of defense? Not sure, but I would bet my pension it's going to be closer to 100 than it will be to 200.
Hammons and Haas are good, but they're not All Americans. I do think Hammons will be on one of the All B10 teams. Swanigan has a great shot at being on the Freshman All B10 team as does Bryant. I don't think Hammons is going to be the B10 POY or anything. Point is, he's very good, but he's not Okafor or Kaminsky or Towns. Your whole thought process is based on Bryant getting into foul trouble when if you look back at the last two good bigs we've had doesn't seem to be the norm. Now every player is different and every class is different. I'm simply going off of what's happened at IU in the past. I don't think Bryant is going to be in significant foul trouble right off the bat. I would assume that Hammons gets the best of him, which is fine, but I take from your posts that you think it's going to be a replica of last year which I couldn't disagree with more. Again, you haven't seen anything from Bryant outside of YouTube which doesn't really give you an accurate picture of what he's capable of or likely to be. I don't have the best perspective either, but at least I've seen him live several times.
As for our game next year, it's at IU. Any road game in the B10 is tough to win. With that said, Purdue was a horrible matchup for us last year given our lack of a good big. No excuses, because that's not the only reason we got beat each time. This year's game is different in that we addressed that issues which you seem to discount as if we're bringing in an unranked kid that has never faced a good big man before. You don't get ranked that high as a big strictly playing 6.5" guys and smaller. Bryant has played against plenty of very good bigs and held his own. Next, you don't have anyone who will be able to slow Yogi down. Just like you have your advantage inside, we have ours at the guard spots. I also think that it comes back to having to guard Bryant. Hammons won't be able to drift off of Bryant as much as he could with Perea. Now, you could put Swanigan on Bryant and leave Hammons on Williams. That would make things a little different and I would try and go at Swanigan every possession. One thing I'm interested to see is what happens with Edwards and Davis? I don't think Davis is good enough offensively to play the off guard and I really like Edwards. Edwards at the three is an interesting option. I think it takes a little away from the mismatches he created last year because the guys he'll be going against aren't as big and should be quicker. Either way, I'm interested to see who plays the three for you guys against IU. That will be an interesting matchup.
With all that said, I do think the game is going to be a very good, close game like last year. I just think IU is going to pull it out. I know you think Purdue will pull it out, which is fine, but just because they won last year doesn't mean a damn thing for this upcoming game at Bloomington. I do think both teams will be very tough finishing in the top five of the B10 and will make the tourney.
Hopefully you can respond in a similar fashion. No more trolling/flaming.
I am not always drinking the cool aid because if you read some of my post after games you would know that and read my post after the year wanting a coaching change. I just never get why opposing fans go to other teams sites especially to just go over there and troll.
Well okay. Number one, Bryant. I don't dismiss the difference he will make. He will make a difference, but I don't see nearly the difference you see. The two teams you sure as good defensively, weren't better then this team because they had a legit big. You had better defenders to begin with in those teams. I have seen nobody on your roster play defense as well as Olidopo or Watford or Shehey. You site Yogi and Williams as on a good defensive team so you assume they were better defenders then. That's not true. Williams and Yogi were the weakest defenders on that team and Vonleigh did all the heavy lifting. Once again, Bryant isn't Vonleigh and all you have to do is look at their ratings coming out of high school and their strengths to see that. Your assumption makes it seem like he is that good and he isn't, at least according to the experts you like to quote.
Hammons may not be a world beater as you say, but he is projected to be the best big in a tough conference. He will give Bryant all he can handle and when you add in the fact that we have Haas and Swanigan to bang on him as well, he will have his hands plenty full and will likely not be able to protect the rim like you hope. If you look at Hammons perfeomance at a younger age and without the drive he showed in conference last year, he put up some pretty decent numbers against your two lottery picks and did force both to foul enough to get extra bench time.
Yogi is your strength and I have no issue with that. But to say Purdue has nobody who can stop him is silly. Just look at what the guards did to him last year. Bryant in the middle won't change that. Hammons may get pulled out of the paint at times, but I would assume if Swanigan is on Williams, then he would slide over and let Williams float on the perimeter. So we will still have a rim protector either way. I don't see a change there. IU drives to dish to the open shooter 80% of the time. Knowing this Purdue avoided collapsing on the lane and instead played the passing lanes on the perimeter and forced the driver to the rim protector. I don't see IU switching it's offense much as even Zeller and Vonliegh didn't get many post passes. So I would think the defense will remain the same and deny the open threes and force IU to get two pointers and preferably from your two weak shooters, Williams and Bryant. That's the beauty of playing a team that lives by the three. You only need to stop one thing and you usually win if you are able to slow it down.
You can believe that your defense will skyrocket this year if you like. But there really is no basis for that as the two teams you site were better because you had good defenders on that team, not because you had a legit big. I expect an improvement. But not into the top 100 and whenever Bryant has to sit, I expect to see exactly what IU had last season defensively. I expect Bryant to sit quite a bit on your scenario. If he has to protect the rim because your guys are letting their man drive past them, then once again he will have two choices. Foul the driver or let AJ, Swanigan or the driver score. He may get a couple of blocks. But the odds are as a frosh, he will be called for a good percentage of each block attempt for fouling.
I really don't get how you think he will make that big of a difference. He won't be able to just stand at the rim and try to block shots anyway. He will be forced to switch, hedge away from the basket or to avoid screens as Purdue runs their motion. I assure you he will be isolated and forced to make decisions rapidly and as a frosh, his experience will hurt him here and his athleticism won't be able to save him every time. I fully expect him to have two fouls within the first ten minutes of each half which leaves you right where you were last season.
The fact that you don't have a backup and that you are relying on him to fix the numerous problems with your defense so much leads me to believe you are wrong. It's really that simple.
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Not sure where to begin. Did you happen to see how many players were collapsing on NV? How did he compare in the B10 in rebounding? How well was he fed in the post? And he was what. . .a freshman. . .a young one at that? Feigned injury? And. . .you know this is a fact. . .how?
With all of this said, what makes you believe Bryant won't be able to play defense without fouling? You expect him to sit quite a bit? Why? What games have you seen cause you to think that way? I site two previous McDonald's All American centers at IU being able to play defense without fouling (for the most part) within the last five years. You can't show me where another one has had issues with that at IU. You are going off of your experiences with big men at Purdue. It took AJ three years to really show up and I would guess that had more to do with Haas than AJ, not to mention other big men that you've had. The rational you're using isn't always the case, and isn't the typical case with McDonald's All Americans. It's just not. They come in and are ready to contribute right away. They don't always need time to develop like some other players do. Now, you could be right and I could be wrong, but like I said, I'm going off of two recent examples. I'd like to remind you as well of this SAME type of talk when both Zeller AND Vonleh were incoming as freshman. We heard the same thing from Purdue fans. Anything can happen in any given game, but you're writing it off like it's a certainty, and it's really far, far from that.
I've also seen him play, in person, multiple times. Have you? How can you possibly feel good about him not being able to play defense without fouling without any type of logic to back it up?
I'd gladly bet that Bryant won't have two fouls within the first ten minutes of each half. Care to step up to the plate? Put your money where your mouth is. Same idea for bet earlier? You lose, you don't post here and vice versa for me. Deal?
As to your point on Swanigan on Williams, that will be an interesting matchup. I don't think it's nearly as easy as Swanigan sagging off him. That matchup doesn't really scare me too much. I think that I'd go with Williams as a junior over a freshman Swanigan. I do think it'll be a fun matchup to watch though as they're so different in styles. I'll believe Swanigan is the force at the rim defensively like AJ when I see it, in fact I doubt it. I can play your same thought process. Let Swanigan sag off and try to protect the rim. He'll be in foul trouble early with Williams driving or Yogi or James or whoever. He'll have two choices, let them score or foul them. In fact, I expect Swanigan to be in foul trouble early if he sags off Williams and Hammons stays on Bryant. See how silly that sounds? There isn't any real backing to say something like that. I haven't seen Swanigan play to say yes that's likely to happen or no it won't. Same goes for you with Bryant. You have ZERO reason to believe that other than hope.
I didn't say the defense would sky rocket. I'm basing off of last year being the worst year for Crean and a large cause of that being the lack of a big man. You can think differently but if you look at the numbers last year was the worst year, by far. The numbers suggest that it likely won't be that bad again and then if you look at when we add in a good big, suggest that there is potential for a big improvement. Again, I think a lot of the defensive issues started with the worry in the paint and thus over helping/over compensating which caused everything to turn to shit. So, fix that problem and things can get better.
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Zeller and Vonleh were both has fouls issues when going against AJ as a frosh and sophomore. You should check the boxscores. To think a player in Bryant who isn't ranked as high as either of the two coming out of high school, can do any better is hoping. It just is. That's where I come up with the fact that he will foul, better players against a weaker AJ did so I see no change with Bryant.
Bryant is known more for his ability to shoot and move about the perimeter then blocking shots. Vonleh was a shot blocker and rebounder who could have went pro straight out of high school. Zeller could have as well. Bryant is neither one of these two guys no matter how badly you want him to be. You also had much better defenders on those two teams, that were part of the difference that you won't have this year along with a big who isnt as good. So no, I don't see IU making the huge jump from 214 to top 70 as you absolutely did state.
I could care less about Swanigan and Williams. Once again, every time IU scores a two pointer, that is one point that IU wanted and wasn't able to get. It keeps the score lower and takes away the one thing that will allow you to win against good teams. So I expect Williams to be guarded but allowed to score at times instead of fouling him. The more he does, the more he wants to do. Until he can improve his decision making and ball handling, I'm sure most teams will prefer he have the ball in his hands. He would have to score a ton of points to offset what he gives up by heading to the offensive end after every shot hoping for a run out highlight. His defense is horrible and I for one hope he plays 40 minutes against us.
I'll take the bet that IU won't finish ahead of Purdue. You say they will over and over and even use the tougher schedule for Purdue as a reason this will happen. I will happily take that. I still think Bryant has two fouls in the first ten minutes of each half. But the game is at IU where they have been known to get calls from time to time and that makes that bet riskier on unknown factors compared to both team playing 18 games against similar competition.
Just let me know.
To me, when a fan of another school comes here to say his team is better than IU, it would be like me going into your house, sitting at your dinner table, and bragging about how much nicer your house is than mine while I'm eating your food.
Going to the board of another school to brag about IU is just something I have not done and I feel I am unlikely to do in the future.
GO HOOSIERS!
The box score for the IU/PU when AJ was a freshman doesn't paint the picture. That game was out of hand quickly and AJ didn't get a majority of those points until the second half IIRC, again when things were out of hand. It's not like Zeller was just over-matched. AJ had 30 points, yes, but it's not because he outplayed Zeller. AJ only had six points in the second game. He didn't have a ton of rebounds in either game, IIRC correctly either. So your whole thought process on this is false. Below is a quick write up on the game. It doesn't mention anything about AJ outplaying Zeller, quit the opposite in fact. Like I also said, the second game against Zeller was a domination as AJ had six points. So again, your whole thought process is false.
http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=330302509
Oh and I also say that the tougher schedule works against you guys and is a reason I don't see you all finishing in the top two or three in the B10. I didn't say that's a reason IU would finish ahead of you. Also, I said I wouldn't be shocked if IU's defense was ranked around the 75 range. That doesn't mean I expect it to end ranked that way. I do think it's safe to assume we'll be a good amount better, though. As for Bryant, he's known to be a big physical guy who can rebound in traffic, runs the floor well, can score with his back to the basket and can also knock down the three. I've not read anything about him moving around the perimeter. He played on the perimeter earlier in high school, but that's not where he ended. Everything I've read (and seen) speaks more toward his length and ability to protect the rim. So, I don't know where you're getting your info.
Here's a little piece about Bryant going up against Diamond Stone, you know, the other 5* big man going to Maryland who is a beast.
"Bryant was matched up with Diamond Stone, a blue-chip center destined for Maryland (and a rematch with Bryant next winter). Stone hit two quick 3-pointers, pushing his team ahead.
But then Bryant cracked down. He posted Stone up at one end of the floor, and threw his body into him at the other. All-star games aren't often marked by committed defense, but Bryant wanted to make Stone work.
Stone shot just 2-of-8 the rest of the evening.
"(Bryant) is a great competitor and he's refreshing, because he brings an old school passion and competitiveness to the court," said Jerry Meyer, director of basketball scouting for 247Sports. "He's a grinder."
As Stone faded, Bryant sharpened. By the end of the night, he Bryant had 19 points, six boards, a team MVP award and a win."
Doesn't really sound like anything you're describing. Stone is pretty big, 6'10 250lbs. Doesn't really matchup with what you're saying, huh? My whole point to this is I don't think that Bryant is going to get the best of AJH and Haas, but I don't think it's going to be like last year, either. In fact, I expect Bryant to be able to hold his own against those guys. I get that you believe Bryant won't be a factor at all in the game against Purdue.
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You need to look at the fouls in the games me mentioned. They both sat because of fouls. I never said AJ outplayed them. The fouled is all I was saying, therefore to expect Bryant not to is silly.
If you want to judge Bryant on one game against another high school player, go ahead. He averaged less then two blocks per game against high school players in four years. I don't see that changing against bigger and better players. So your idea that his presence is going to shore up the defense is also silly. Your judging that off the fact that AJ is a rim protector and makes Purdues defense better. AJ had more blocks himself then many B1G teams had as a whole. Bryant is not going to be what a junior Hammons was for IU. He could be, but it's unlikely. Even if he were to perform at that level, your other starters and bench players will also have to step up their defense quite a bit to make the leap your assuming by using two teams that had better defenders AND a legit big not just a legit big. That's the only simarity you will have between those teams, a "legit big". You don't have the leader that was Hulls, nobody that comes close to Olidopo, no Watford who could shoot or post up, no Shehey coming off the bench, and Bryant is rated behind both Zeller and Vonleh as well as not seen as a one and done like both of those players came in as. You are counting on having an outlier season much like you claim last season was defensively by forecasting every single player on your team getting much better. You have two players who are terrible at defense, two who are decent at times, and an unknown factor in Bryant that you assume the best outcome for. You probably play the lottery a lot as well because you see things they way you hope they will be and throw reason to the side.
If you don't want to take the bet fine. I understand. I wouldn't if I were you as all of the known factors lean heavily against IU.
Again, nothing you stated here shows you have ever seen Bryant play and that you can't be objective about anything as it relates to IU and Purdue. I just pulled that one quote because it proved all of your statements wrong. I've seen the kid play numerous times. I don't understand how else I can make that clear to you. And based on you never seeing the kid play and your inability to think anything other than he's going to be in constant foul trouble, and that IU is destine for another terrible season, lets just agree to disagree (pretty much everyone else everywhere disagrees with you in regards to Bryant and IU as well).
You think I'm expecting to have an outlier season when in actuality, I just think it was one thing we were missing which was a root of many of our problems, which is a legit big man. Say what you want about our defense, but the fact remains that last year was much more of an outlier than what I am predicting. If we have a defense that ranks in the Top 100 really ISN'T an outlier for Crean so again, you're wrong. Go look at his numbers, they don't lie. You're just choosing to ignore them, which is ignorant (real shocker).
What I'm banking on is our offense being as effective as it was last year (as it should be) and our defense improving. You're acting like that's some sort of outlandish claim. You thinking AJH and Haas are Shaq and Hakeem is what's hilarious. If they were so good, why are they still at Purdue? Could it be that they just aren't as good as you think? I would say so. If nobody on IU can get better on defense given what we're bringing in and two of our starters being freshman, then nobody on Purdue will get better on offense either. You have zero shooters. Not one over 40%. Your best shooter is a bench player who shot 38% from deep. You have zero point guards. How are you going to score when you're one dimensional (I can flame it up as well, just following your lead).
Bottom line, let's agree to disagree on this as it's clear you can't see outside your gold and urine glasses.
And why is Hammons projected as a late second round pick next year? A dominant center like you're making him out to be shouldn't be projected at the end of the second round.
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Why isn't Yogi projected to be drafted at all in a lot of drafts? It's almost as if players can be really good in college and it doesn't translate well to the pro's. *GASP*
For a college, its much better to have an outstanding 4 year player who may turn out not be NBA quality, than it is to have a "so-so" college player who later becomes a "player" in the NBA.
Once again you missed my point as you only see the points that reinforce your ideas. Let me make this painfully simple to you. I've seen Cody Zeller from the time he was in Jr High. Bryant is no Cody Zeller.
Valid question. Why is it that one of the greatest point guards in IU history isn't getting a draft board sniff and a player that was much lower rated coming into college and a bigger project in Hammons is getting continually ripped by SNU for not going pro yet. Oh, I forgot, we're talking the world according to SNU which has it's own special rules.
How much have you seen Bryant play? Did you see him as much as you saw Cody? If you haven't then, your comparison is flawed.
And I agree . . . Bryant is no Cody Zeller and Cody Zeller is no Thomas Bryant. We now know how Cody played and developed while at Indiana. We have yet to see how Bryant will develop. He may even develop faster than Cody did. Projections on player development is not an exact science. Wisconsin's "Frank the Tank" is an example of this.
So you've seen them both play live? I'm not saying Bryant will be Zeller. I do think his impact will be significant, though.
Last year when we weren't getting rebounds our shooting was off. Hopefully we'll always get our share of rebounds this year and our shooting will be on. In that case we should beat a lot of teams, including Purdue at IU.
I'm not ripping him. I just am not agreeing to him being some unreal player that Bryant is instantly going to piss himself and get two fouls within the first few minutes of the game. Pete on the other hand thinks AJH is the next Shaq and all we're throwing out against him is Screetch.
My favorite part of all this is that all of you are so obviously completely biased and none of you will admit it..though you all have agreed to accuse the other...lol
PU fans... you added a real strength(CS) to your existing strength and lost a good player(Octeus) from an area of weakness(pg) and replaced him with a huge question mark. You're shooting will be improved but the pg question is huge
SNU...IU filled a huge hole and didn't create any new ones, but Frosh bigs do get in foul trouble, Cody and NV both had issues(around 4/40mins) and our defense needs to be better than top 75. If it's 75 that was roughly tenth in the big ten last year...in a down year for the conference. And no our players won't get better while everyone else's stay the same
Saying all that, IU has the more highly ranked roster..we'll see how that plays out on the court.
I predict IU/PU will battle with OSU and UW for third with UM and Illini nipping at our heels. I think IU/PUs chances of finishing fifth are greater than finishing first
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I agree with this. Well, I agree with your whole post. We're (meaning me and the PU fans) are biased. I get it. I would like to think that I'm being as biased as pete strictly from the point that I don't just assume that Bryant is going to go into the game with two fouls and not make an impact at all. Yes he'll have his work cut out for him but I'm optimistic in that he'll have a better shot to hold his own than Perea would have. There isn't a doubt in my mind on that. It's the Purdue fans that want to act like Perea was some stud that we're going to sorely miss. Now, we'll miss him but not as much as they're making it out to be. I think the IU/PU game is going to be very good and very close all the way down to the end in which I think IU will pull it out. The Purdue fanboys here act like JUST because they won last year guarantees they'll win again this year and there isn't a doubt in their minds. They'll be a solid team, but no better than five or six other B10 teams.
There is no doubt Bryant will have an impact. What IU fans especially SNU fail to consider is that against Purdue it will not be just Bryant against Hammons. When Hammons sits Haas will be an even bigger load to defend against in size and strength. Swanigan adds another talented big body to battle inside. Nobody has seen Taylor in game condition so he is an unknown at this point. IU really has no depth in the paint now that Perea is gone. Perea was an unpolished athlete that showed glimpses on occasion of what could be but never really was. His size will be missed. Just saying that's a lot of bigs to play one man against for a whole game. Attrition will have an effect.
Now see, I can agree with this. I don't necessarily think Swanigan will be nearly the issue that AJH and Haas will be. I'm thinking we'll be able to handle him just fine. It's the other two that worry me. I'm not saying Bryant won't get into foul trouble. I just don't think it's a foregone conclusion that he will. And my whole point is that we have a better shot this year with Bryant than we did last year and the game at Bloomington was only four points and I think Bryant will have a great impact than Perea or anyone else we threw at AJH and Haas did.
We are also no better than 5 or 6 other teams but reading from your posts I was ready to play in the NBA
This time last year people were saying similar things about him that you are about TB. HP had finally started working hard, he now has a sense of urgency etc
You put so many words into my position that I never said. I never completed AJ to Shaq. I actually said he wasn't a wild beater but is projected to be the best in the B1G this year and as a younger player he was able to get Zeller an Vonleh into foul trouble. Everything else is you trying to spin my position to fit your argument. Ask your experts an get back with me on what they think AJ will do to other centers this year.
I also never said nobody on IU will get better defensively. They can all improve on their own and Bryant may make it even better. My disagreement is with the huge difference you expect to happen just because you add Bryant. It's not gonna happen. You find me one team that improved that much in one year by adding one player, and I will consider it. But it has never happened under Crean and I would guess probably never happened at IU at all and Purdue for that matter. If it has, it's unusual and would make Bryant the best center to ever play at IU. Once again, not likely.
But I get it. You want to act like your opinion is fact and anyone who disagrees is being a homer. It doesn't bother me. I didn't think you actually believed it enough to wager something as valuable as your pride.
IU should be very good. If they hit a high percentage of shots, they can probably beat a lot of good teams. But if they don't, there really is no second strategy and that makes all of those talented players look like underachievers because if they worked as hard at stopping teams as they do outsourcing teams, they could be very dangerous. But as it stands the strategy is just that. Get out on breaks, drive and collapse the defense and pass to one of three shooters at predetermined spots, and crash the glass on these shots to try and get rebounds and put backs.
It's really not that hard to plan against. Force the dribbler to give the ball up, play the passing lanes, don't collapse and force the driver to make a decision with AJ guarding the rim if you get beat on a ball screen. Watch last years games again. When teams collapsed on the driver, you won. When they didn't and made the driver choose to shoot or pass to a guy that maybe guarded, you lost. It's no coincidence most of your losses came after the first loss at Purdue.
Carry on. Seems my work here is done.
I completely agree. After Maryland and MSU, I think there are a handful of teams that could finish in any order (IU/PU/UM/Wisky).
Pretty fair analysis but so much of it depends on injuries, what officiating crew is assigned to the game and who they each will play immediately before this game; home court is usually a pretty big deal in the Big Ten, also.
If we lose Swanigan, we still have other options at his position. IU and Bryant, not so much.
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