People keep praising IU basketball freshman Kaleb Banks: 'He has game.'
Kaleb Banks has been a fascinating player since he committed to Indiana in a recruitment that barely lasted two months.
www.indystar.com
Indy Star - People Keep Praising IU Freshman Kaleb Banks: "He has game."
- Thread starter rikki-tikka-tava
- Start date
Hope he goes after that starting 3 spot. Competition with Kopp is a good thing and if there is a competition it means we're bringing in a solid backup off the bench, which can help wake up a team. I remember Vinnie Johnson, aka "The Microwave" and how he'd jumpstart Detroit at times. Sounds like between Banks, Reanu, Gunn, Galloway, et al, we should have a better bench.People keep praising IU basketball freshman Kaleb Banks: 'He has game.'
Kaleb Banks has been a fascinating player since he committed to Indiana in a recruitment that barely lasted two months.www.indystar.com
I am intrigued to see him play, but mindful of the offseason hype train that is IUbball
Oh, it definitely rolls on, but it is interesting that it keeps landing on Banks so often, and from different players and sources. Curious if you can answer this, but what is the environment around our practices? I assume most every practice is closed and so just players, coaches and any invited guests are present? Do writers ever get to watch practice, or is that a more common occurence than it was with RMK? Didn't you get press credentials last year; and are you again this year?
I remember when I was 15 my Mom took a buddy and I to campus while she visited my sister. Naturally, all we wanted to do was to get in AH and see our heroes. We got inside and were walking down the rampway and we could see the players warming up, (this would have been around 80 or 81... so not a bad team!) we just kept walking and a trainer was bringing a player back to the locker room and started to let us pass, but then he asked if we were supposed to be there, and told us practice was closed and we should leave. We milled around looking at things and decided to go to the upper seats and watch from there. We crept out and were watching for about 20 minutes and lost track of where we were and were talking normally I guess, but it was loud enough to be heard on the court apparently when RMK yelled out and told us to get the hell out. Yes, Bob Knight, recognized and spoke to me in HS. I'm sure it broke his heart when I decided not to play there.
If Banks is better than anticipated, obviously that'll be a big help. Possibly a bigger help for future seasons, than this next one, but really any contributions we can get from this list, will be huge:
Bates, Geronimo, the 4 Freshmen
We will be solid without them as main rotation guys. Our 5 other returning guys, that have played significant minutes, could lead us to a lot of wins this year. Obviously they couldn't all play 40 minutes, every game...they'll need subs. But if those 5 guys all averaged 30+ minutes, and got support minutes from the new group above, we'd win more than we did last year, possibly significantly more.
But that group showed a couple fatal weaknesses last year. They had long scoring droughts, because they were inconsistent offensively. And they struggled mightily to guard and stop really good perimeter/wing players. So while that group would be good, they'd lose some games they shouldn't, and they'd eventually get caught with a bad matchup in the postseason. So their realistic ceiling wouldn't be as high.
If any combination of the 6 "new" guys above can solve those 2 weaknesses, we could have a really special season. Kaleb is a guy that could solve both if he is, in fact, as surprisingly good as growing whispers are saying. JHS is another one that could help solve both. Bates, Geronimo, and Gunn...seem like they'd help offensively, but maybe wouldn't be able to help stop elite perimeter players defensively. Reneau, no clue...I'd have to assume because of his rankings that he'd help in some fashion. But if he doesn't move the needle on those 2 things, his impact might not be as big.
Bates, Geronimo, the 4 Freshmen
We will be solid without them as main rotation guys. Our 5 other returning guys, that have played significant minutes, could lead us to a lot of wins this year. Obviously they couldn't all play 40 minutes, every game...they'll need subs. But if those 5 guys all averaged 30+ minutes, and got support minutes from the new group above, we'd win more than we did last year, possibly significantly more.
But that group showed a couple fatal weaknesses last year. They had long scoring droughts, because they were inconsistent offensively. And they struggled mightily to guard and stop really good perimeter/wing players. So while that group would be good, they'd lose some games they shouldn't, and they'd eventually get caught with a bad matchup in the postseason. So their realistic ceiling wouldn't be as high.
If any combination of the 6 "new" guys above can solve those 2 weaknesses, we could have a really special season. Kaleb is a guy that could solve both if he is, in fact, as surprisingly good as growing whispers are saying. JHS is another one that could help solve both. Bates, Geronimo, and Gunn...seem like they'd help offensively, but maybe wouldn't be able to help stop elite perimeter players defensively. Reneau, no clue...I'd have to assume because of his rankings that he'd help in some fashion. But if he doesn't move the needle on those 2 things, his impact might not be as big.
TBH I have had very few conversations with any player, parent, or staff the entire off season. Work has been very busy, but I am doing tremendous in my career right now. I know you care a ton about that, probably more so than practice info.
I have never thought about asking to go watch practice, tho that would be awesome. They did give me press credentials and have told me I have them again this year.
My NIL deals this year I want to focus on getting me inside info lol. Screw doing video interviews to try to entertain this board and twitter, waste of my time.
well, the most glaring weakness for the last several years has been shooting. Seeing as how we lost statistically our best (and most prolific?) 3 pt shooter in Stewart, that seems like a pretty obvious need to focus on. And, while I'd generally not look to the less heralded freshmen to fill it, if I were Gunn or Banks, I"d be getting in extra shooting any time I could and also work to show I'm not a defensive liability. If someone can show they can knock down open 3s, I'd think that player would have an easier time earning minutes and helping this year's team.
I'll be honest in saying that while I might not care as much as about IU bball, I'm always glad to hear someone is doing well professionally or personally. Congrats and keep at it!TBH I have had very few conversations with any player, parent, or staff the entire off season. Work has been very busy, but I am doing tremendous in my career right now. I know you care a ton about that, probably more so than practice info.
I have never thought about asking to go watch practice, tho that would be awesome. They did give me press credentials and have told me I have them again this year.
My NIL deals this year I want to focus on getting me inside info lol. Screw doing video interviews to try to entertain this board and twitter, waste of my time.
More money for me to blow on NIL, in turn giving you the best info money can buy!!!
Banks will be lottery pic, I’ll bet 1 gazillion dollars
Jk Cav
Lol. But I will for sure die on the Tamar is gonna get drafted after this season or next hill. I am getting season tickets this year with his dad.
Agreed on our need to shoot it better. That can be accomplished via new guys that are just better shooters than the returning guys...or improved offensive scheme and execution (my hope)...or a good combination of both (actually this is my hope).
I've stayed away from that being our most glaring weakness though. Mainly because I think its so difficult to diagnose, and ultimately solve. Though its obviously ONE OF our biggest weaknesses. I just choose to wrap it up into being more efficient overall offensively. Here's why I have this view...
We won 20 games last year, shooting historically bad from the perimeter. Our losses, however, outside a couple of them, were all very, very winnable games, many that we held sizable leads well into the 2nd half, despite the horrible shooting. And it wasn't solely the outside shooting that doomed us in those games. In MANY of those losses, a singular stud perimeter player dominated us offensively. Buddy Boeheim, Johnny Davis twice, Jaden Ivey, Keegan Murray twice, Malakhi Branham... Now, 4 out of those 5 guys were NBA first rounders, so them having big games on us isn't shameful. It was how easily they got it, especially late in those games, that was. And that's an area that if "solved", would have led to 5+ more wins last year. How different does the year go if we beat Syracuse, if we sweep Wisky and Purdue...And we very easily could have done that and not shot the ball any better.
Also...we could have been A LOT more efficient at the rim than we were. TJD and X, especially, as good as they were, could have been a lot better in the paint. Race was more efficient, but even he missed bunnies at key times. So again, make a handful more point blank shots in our losses, and we win some very big games despite not shooting it from the outside.
Knocking down more threes will feel good, and it will be a huge positive impact. If nothing else, being able to hit an average amount of threes increases your margin for error. Which will be huge if it happens for us. But there are other ways we can, and need, to get better. And if the "new" guys I mentioned can help in those areas, but still don't light it up from the perimeter, we can still be really, really good.
Solar going in all around me. Funny the power companies hate residential solar. 😉 I guess when I go to Vegas(AZ game) you can leave me a cigar at the ft. Desk. I’ll leave you my autograph. 😬TBH I have had very few conversations with any player, parent, or staff the entire off season. Work has been very busy, but I am doing tremendous in my career right now. I know you care a ton about that, probably more so than practice info.
I have never thought about asking to go watch practice, tho that would be awesome. They did give me press credentials and have told me I have them again this year.
My NIL deals this year I want to focus on getting me inside info lol. Screw doing video interviews to try to entertain this board and twitter, waste of my time.
Utilities detest all decentralized power generation. As they've special animosity towards any one or thing they don't own that contributes power to the grid, residential solar is particularly loathed.
well, arguing whether it's our biggest, or 2nd biggest need is largely semantics. Besides, I said most glaring, because I think it's obvious and has been mentioned so often, it's something people are going to monitor. I also think better 3 pt shooting helps with our 2 pt efficiency by spreading the defense and opening up the interior more for TJD and RT to score. Just watching how NBA teams play now, getting good shooters who can move the ball almost has to help inside as well, so it should directly help with 2 of the 3 points you mentioned. Hopefully a year under our belt with returning players and JHS (and graduation of some really great perimeter opponents!) will help with stopping perimeter scorers.
That’s the wink. Indiana is just blatantly attacking residential solar. It’s gotten ridiculously cheap. If you install it yourself.
Shooting was bad even in the midrange. Might even argue it was worse. They bring the efficiency up in FT and 2 point percentage they win a ton of games. Let’s hope they shoot 5 more 3s and hit 2 of them. That would certainly help. 1-4 needs to hit some quality longer range shots…and for gods sake hit your stinking free throws. This team should be near the top(if not the top)of the B1G in attempts and makes.
Need someone to step up that can create their own midrange shot, and defend their mirror image.
Lander I tried to get into the conductors seat of the train, but had never seen him play. I will no longer take the Fatjohns of the world word for it. That was on me.
I saw Tamar play in the Bahamas and I was sold. Still am. He will be great.
I think a lot of this hype is rooted in the frustration for the number of misses we have had at the wing position. We have not had an effective wing since Anunoby six years ago. We hoped Juwan Morgan would develop into a wing, but settled for Hartman then McRoberts due to roster holes. Justin Smith never developed the decision making or ball skills to play on the perimeter. Demezi Anderson and Jerome Hunter were misses. Kopp is a good decision maker, but he’s limited off the dribble and on the boards. Banks has a great body and he might become the guy, but we don’t know anything about him at this point.
Last edited:
My point is, the 2 aren't unrelated. Last year I actually thought teams did a solid job of closing out on Stewart and Kopp, but it was clear the profile was known: you don't have to guard anyone else, so teams sagged and helped on TJD and RT. Now I think both of them can convert even better than they have (I've often felt TJD doesn't seek to make the shot when he knows contact is coming and was happy just getting to the line) but it will certainly help if teams have to guard us at the 3 pt line.
The free throw shooting I have no answer for other than to say it's mental. I think once this team sees a teammate start missing FTs, they all have tightened up. LIkewise, I think once they start making them, it will also be contagious. This should be at least a better than average FT shooting team I believe and we should be taking a lot of them.
Part of the reason is because our worst FT shooters shoot the most FT.
If you compare us to teams that have no offensive post play, bigs don't shoot as well generally, where their wings and guards are the ones who shoot FT.... of course they have a better percentage.
Kopp shot 86, Tamar 83, Xavier 78. Only X got to the line effectively though. Get them to the line more the team percentage goes up.
The "team" does not have an issue with FT, Race and Trayce do. They combined to shoot almost half the FT last year. Both at 65%.
Last edited:
Excellent point, but just overall, do you feel confident when any of our players are going to the FT line in a crucial situation? The only guy I felt really good about last year was Kopp and as you said, he doesn't take many. But yes, the best way to get our FT shooting up is to get Trayce to make more, which seems reasonable. His shot has always looked better than his FT %.
Yes, I’ll give you that. He was effective there. It wasn’t satisfying since he was a two playing out of position due to Archie’s roster issues.
Rob left, that should help as well. lol dont look up his numbers, trust me. Granted, he only took like one a game.
I still don't understand how someone can regress so much at FT shooting as he did.
Trust me, we all want him to be the next Kobe. No circle-jerk gotcha posts on here will ever trump that. (except for the Purdue trolls like abraxis)
I hope he averages 30 and is the number one pick
That’s probably why woody will play 3 driving type players. To generate more from them.
The problem here is this isn't remotely accurate. Teams rarely sagged, shaded, or doubled Race or TJD. They had A LOT of 1 on 1 opportunities with room to work. And when other teams did double, it was often off the other big. This was evidenced by our very, very low 3 point shot attempt numbers. Parker and Miller are gunners, they're going to shoot the ball if even remotely open. And they would have been more open if teams had sagged off of them.
Other coaches figured out relatively early that while TJD and Race were the strength of our team, they aren't efficient enough themselves to be dominant. Especially against other good defensive bigs. It was difficult to argue that when we needed a bucket, going through the post was our best option...because it was. But the overall strategy gummed up the lane, didn't promote spacing and movement, and as we saw, didn't produce enough good outside looks to loosen the whole thing up. Compounding this issue, when our perimeter guys like X, Trey, Rob, and Tamar took the ball to the basket...which should have been a strength of ours...having both Race and TJD's defenders in the paint because that's where Race and TJD spent most of their time...it made scoring opportunities much more difficult for our perimeter drivers.
Agree on FT shooting. Almost always mental. These are high major college players, and most of them are pretty skilled and decent shooters. FT shooting should have been better.
Yea, I didn't include the guys that left. Rob was horrendous, Stew not much better but neither were prolific.
Even Galloway was horrendous. All those 20 attempts add up. Hopefully we see a lot more 15–20 from the guys taking few this year.
Kopp bricked the most important FT he took last year. TJD when it counted generally hit his. Ish happens ..
Dave Portnoy tweeted it out. Said miller choked in the biggest moment of his life, he wasn’t lying. It was long and left I believe. No chance of going in.
Similar threads
