We would have the same team as last year.
You still haven’t said who you would like to get rid of in the event we get both Dennis and Reneau. That’s what the staff is hoping for.
Dexter Dennis
- Thread starter Gamaliel.
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You still haven’t said who you would like to get rid of in the event we get both Dennis and Reneau. That’s what the staff is hoping for.
Zeisloft also shot 45% from 3 the year before. Laughable that you think Stewart is an upgrade of any kind over Zeisloft.
Even if let's say Zeisloft could have maintained that 45%, his defense was such a liability, that any bump in offensive production over Stewart is effectively wiped out, and he didn't maintain that 45%
I put A LOT more emphasis on how Woodson runs his offense next year, with how it'll relate to outside shooting, than I do whether Dennis is actually a better shooter than Kopp. Dennis shot 40% on over 100 attempts his freshman year, playing for Marshall...was that year a fluke? His FT percentages seem to indicate he can shoot the ball. But last year he didn't, for whatever reason. I'm not familiar enough with Wichita State's program and offense to know if this past season is a better comparison to what he'll play in, than what his freshman season was under Marshall?
To me its simple...he makes us better overall. Does he solve one of our biggest problems, outside shooting, I'd say the odds are probably not. Unless he's due for a season like he had his freshman season?
But he upgrades is in a lot of other areas at the positions I'd say were the primary cause for us being mediocre this past year, which is the 2-3 positions. We were really, really good at the 1, 4, and 5...just from a player talent and productivity stand point. Stewart, Kopp, Phinisee, and Galloway all have pretty narrow skill sets. They're all different in what they're good at, which seems like itd work well, but put them in a game setting, and all of them had things that others had to cover for. The only weakness Dennis has, that I can see, is his 3 point shooting. And he's shown in 2 out of his 3 seasons, that he's capable of being solid in that regard too.
A "core" lineup of X, Dennis, and TJD or Race (I still don't think both will be back, but one will) is an incredibly athletic, versatile, and elite defensive core. That enables you to play guys like Tamar, JHS, and Jordan more minutes because you know those 3 guys can help cover their shortcomings defensively.
Obviously I'd love a knock down shooter. And yes, I hope we get one via the portal. And depending on what Race/TJD do, we may end up needing another big too. But as of right now, we aren't certain that X is coming back, we don't know that Miller is coming back, we don't know if either Race or TJD are coming back, let alone both...getting a guy like Dennis in the fold now, that is as versatile as he is, puts us in a much, much better position.
To me he's a wing version of Xavier Johnson. No matter what, he elevates our wing roster. We weren't THAT far off being a really, really, damn good basketball team last year. What happens if we have a guy that could have slowed down Johnny Davis in our two games against them? Not stopped him, obviously. But even a missed shot or two coming down the stretch would have potentially allowed us to sweep them. What about Dennis guarding Branham? Do we blow that lead against OSU? Does Buddy Boeheim go off on us? Is Dennis able to slow down the Murray twins more than we did? What happens if the answer to just half those games was yes?
Stewart was an awful defender. He was no better than Zeisloft defensively.
You probably made similar excuses when Archie failed to improve the team shooting even though everyone could see it was the biggest issue.
Lol. You missed the part about guys that can create and shoot. Not one or the other. Stop arguing for just arguing sake. We both know what we need and it’s not guys like Kopp. Dennis isn’t Kopp. He does more.
Dennis can’t create or shoot lol. He’s 35% from the field, and it’s not like he creates for others with that miserable assist rate.
Dennis sucks. Kopp sucks. IU will suck with either one starting.
Except for when he did shoot...for his first 2 college seasons (40 and 36 percent respectively)...and was a very good FT shooter all 3 years...
I'm even advocating for him assuming he shoots similarly to last year though. He'd still help us. And if he happens to revert to some form of his first 2 years, he could be a MASSIVE upgrade.
As of today, our biggest need via roster development is to improve our wing production. Shooting is absolutely one way to do that. But it isn't the only way. We can get better and more versatile defensively. And we can get better, and more versatile rebounding and taking the ball to the basket. Dennis answers the defense, rebounding, and taking the ball to the basket. He may not shooting.
Now, if one of TJD or Race doesn't come back. Then I think adding versatile, long, wing defenders similar to Dennis becomes critical, along with getting another big for depth.
In either scenario, I think Dennis helps us, potentially a lot. I'd take him immediately, before the rest of the roster shakes out. If we end up losing one or more of our potential starters (X, TJD, Race)...then having a versatile wing guy like Dennis will be invaluable.
What's wishful thinking? There are only 3-4 can't miss transfers, if that. Everyone else there are question marks. If there weren't, they'd be staying at their school, or they'd be playing in the NBA.
And the American isn't some podunk Horizon Confrence, level conference. I'm not sure I'd even categorize it as "mid major"...they have Houston, Memphis, Cincy, etc... Dennis winning defensive player of the year, in that conference, implies he's a better defender than Kopp and Stewart.
His offensive numbers definitely open him up to scrutiny. But its not like he's replacing Caleb Love or Jordan Ivey. And its not like we have a prayer of signing anyone that will be THAT level of good offensively.
On the whole, he improves our team.
Kansas shot 35.5% from 3 with about 17 attempts per game. IU shot 34% with about 17 attempts per game. Kansas made up for less than impressive 3 point shooting through athletic/versatile players like Dennis. Not saying that Dennis would have gotten much playing time on Kansas, but few portal guys would.
IU needs to improve its shooting, but probably stands a better chance improving shooting by getting more productivity out of guys currently on the roster, especially Bates/Johnson/Kopp rather than most guys in the portal. Also, improvement need maybe not as much as you'd think - the average 3 point percentage of sweet 16 teams was 34.9% and take away the 2 best 3 point shooting teams (Gonzaga/Pur who both failed to make the elite 8) and it falls to 34.3%. It was also 35.0% for elite 8 teams. 3 teams with percentages of 32.1% or lower made the sweet 16. Musselman, who many wanted instead of Woodson, took Arkansas teams that shot 33.9% and 30.7% to back to back elite 8s.
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I assume everyone but TJD is here to stay, so we would not get both guys. You say "That's what the staff is hoping for". How do you know what the staff knows or doesn't know, or what they are hoping for?
This. The shot is more important if you have multiple threats. It opens things up for higher percentage shots and let’s the bigs operate/get rebounds. 33% from 3 is a win. IUs problem was shooters just not the way people think. It’s not the amount or volume. It’s the efficiency and effect on the offense.
Because that’s what’s being reported by multiple IU recruiting sites. They hope to get Dennis. They hope to get Reneau. They hope to get everyone in limbo back. They will figure out who is leaving once all decisions are made if it comes to that.
He might. He does take 3’s. Trey doesnt. Kopp does but doesn’t drive much. Dennis can and played defense. He’s quicker too. Look. We are going around and round about this. I still think he’s an upgrade. By how much? Not sure. I just know he’s quicker than kopp and trey. We will see. Probably.
I'd say that if he stays at the 29.7 from 3 like he did this year, he's probably net neutral in terms of offensive efficiency considering his athleticism. If he can get it back up to 33.6 like he was the previous 2 seasons, he'll be a net positive to the offense.
Dennis drives, but not efficiently. He shot 35% from the field. He was only 42% inside the arc (ONLY 31.5% INSIDE THE ARC DURING CONFERENCE). He just isn't very good.
Regardless, if Woodson adds Dennis and no other shooting, then you guys can't make up excuses for Woodson next year. Going into the offseason that was by far our biggest weakness, and he's chosen not to address it. So when we struggle next year and shooting is once again the main culprit, it falls squarely on Woodson's shoulders.
That’s the argument and question. If this team can collectively shoot 17-20 threes at a 34-35% clip with great rebounding and a top 20 defense they will be really hard to beat.
Enough already.
As presented from the above LINK
The difference between a basketball mind breaking down the value of Dennis and what you have presented. Checkmate.
Looking at stats is helpful, but it isn't the whole story.
Woodson has a basketball mind, no idea if he will actually bring Dennis in, but I can see where he would be an upgrade over Miller Kopp, Leal and even Trey at that position.
Woodson brought in Durr too. Coaches bring in players all the time that fail. Dennis doesn’t help with shooting, and that’s our biggest issue (and has been since Crean left).
He had roughly 6 good games. He did the job woody asked.
That’s one F’ing game. Who the fvck cares? He was terrible in 29 other games.
You going to be happy with Dennis if he plays well 1 time in 30 games next year?
Do we get into the tournament without beating Purdue?
There are plenty of games Durr played terribly that we lost too.
I don’t really care about sneaking into the play in game of the tournament. That seems to be where you and I are different. We should be getting players that allow us to compete for the Big Ten championship, get a low seed in the tournament, and at the very least make the second weekend.
Durr was not very good, and rightfully asked to move on.
I would honestly like to think what you thought Durr's role was going to be coming in.
We had TJD, Race and JG all coming back. The way that Woody was saying he wanted to play, how many minutes did you honestly think he was going to play? He's not as good as Race and TJD, so minutes were gonna be hard to find.
Be honest.
You can go back and find my posts from when Durr committed. I was against it from the start. He shot poorly against poor competition at USF. That didn’t project to translate well, and I was proven correct.
This is you correct.
If so, you said yourself, he wouldn't be getting major minutes, so again, he wasn't expected to contribute more then backup minutes, which he did.
He came up big against Purdue. We don't win that game without him. You dismissing it shows you just trying to be right.
There is a two way street with the portal. One, a team has to want a player. The second, the player had to want to come to the team. This isn't a video game where we can get any player we want.
What player out there would you want instead of Dennis that you think would be a difference maker?
Lol! That’s why a team like Arkansas is recruiting him so hard.
You must have seen Dennis play many times over the years to be so sure about how you know he will perform for us. I know I didn’t see him play. But I do know teams like Arkansas and West Virginia, both with outstanding coaches, are interested in him. I think I’ll go with their thinking rather than yours.
He was very underwhelming. I called that from the beginning. We need difference makers.
I would take McNeil and Pack for sure over Dennis.
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