As a 2 year grad transfer Joey Brunk is immediately contributing.
I wish he would have played 4 years at IU.
I wish he would have played 4 years at IU.
Joey Brunk was a major pick-up
- Thread starter ufo33
- Start date
Yet several on this board said he has been basically garbage so far, rated 9 or 10 out of 11 in the rotation.
Brunk will pay huge dividends during the B1G season. 8pg/ 6 reb
Looks like we'll have 2 players who can get points on anyone and then it will be between 5players to be the 3rd/4th scoring option that game depending on game flow
That always cracks me up. Have you ever tried to dunk on a short goal during a game? I'm 6'3" and could dunk on a 10' goal, but it's HARD to dunk in traffic in a game, even on an 8' goal. He doesn't need to "learn" to dunk, trust me, he can do that just fine, but sometimes those other 5 guys have something to do with it, and a layup counts just as much as a dunk if made, and just as little if missed. Dunk it, lay it off the glass, or bounce it off the floor if that works best, just get us 2 pts whenever you can. Dunking is not always the answer and it can get players hurt if they try in the wrong situation.
He is the 11th best player on scholarship. Last night was his best game and he still should have had 7 TOs. 2 were saved by team mates and another went right off his hands out of bounds and did not count. He missed multiple lay ups and was playing against well below average level talent.
I thought it was funny some people were acting like 34 was a quality big. Yet he is far less talented then nearly all of the competition in the B1G. Brunk would be the 2nd best big on almost every big ten team, and on 4 or 5 teams he would be the 3rd option. He is the slowest player to wear cream and crimson since 2000 (counting guys that log over 2 mins a game).
The thing Brunk has going for him is he knows where he is suppose to be and being so big that has an impact on both offense and defense. He can wall off defenders in the paint opening lanes for slashing guards, and on defense he can spread his arms and block lanes. One on one in the post he is the worst defender I have seen in a long time. If you tracked shots attempted on him i would guess it would be upper 50s to low 60% range of getting scored on. Everyone has scored on him in these early games, and the talent is nowhere near the big ten.
OK, you answered my question by not answering: NO, you've never done it or tried. If you think about the ratios, me at 6'3" am actually "taller" on an 8-8.5' goal than a 6'10" guy is on a 10' goal. I've played many, many games of 2 on 2 or 3 on 3 on 8-8.5" goals, including one memorable night of about 3 hours of 3 on 3 as a bachelor party with some pretty good players, and all anyone wanted to do was to get a dunk during a game and several of us tried, but no one got one down. It's a lot harder than you think, and as I said, it's not always the best play, as when someone tried last night (Race?) but was a little too far out and lost the ball creating a turnover when a good bank shot or layup likely would have gotten us a deuce.
One huge difference is their hand size and ability to control a ball well palming it with one hand. We had an 8' goal in college that was bigger than a nerf, but not full size. It had a foam ball the size of a volleyball and we often used a volleyball too and when we could easily palm a ball with 1 hand, dunking in traffic was much easier, and it was more like it is for these guys. I'm not saying don't dunk it, but most players would rather dunk it anyway, I'm just saying they can't dunk at will and it's not the easy fix it seems to the uninitiated.
Dude, you are nuts with these comparisons of yourself trying to dunk in the alley on an 8 foot goal. Just saying.
He is quicker than Davis. I agree he is just solid and for us we need a solid 5 man because Davis is always hurt and slow as hell.
He's mediocre. He's a fan favorite because he hustles. The fact that he we need him and he has a big role on this team says more about the team than his abilities.
As far as having him for 4 years.......why would you have wanted that? Butler did the dirty work of getting him to where he is now, so it worked out well.
Brunk daily...
Davis hasn't been daily for two year's. Say's it all.
What's the story now..Tweaked back ?
Geez ~
Davis hasn't been daily for two year's. Say's it all.
What's the story now..Tweaked back ?
Geez ~
He will have games last night where he is will score if the other team decides to double TJD. The best thing about this team is we can matchup against size or quickness.
He sometimes has issues with his hands, and can miss layups at the basket, but he usually cleans it up and scores on the second attempt.
He won't be All Conference but with 4 other scorers on the floor, he will be important rebounding and occupying the other team's big. That is good for TJD and Smith. With Davis being limited for various reasons, he will play an important role in the B1G.
No kidding.......DeRon seems like a good guy. I hope he's thought out life after basketball.
Iu will still have possibilities in grad trans.,JC route or an unknown talent. The question is whether CAM wants to use the schollie or keep it back for 21'. I hope4 he doesn't put his eggs in one basket for Furst though. It would have been nice if he could have gotten Kofi Cockburn who went to Illini.If Race and Brunk can puyt in the bunnies consistently IU will be fine.
I think stylistically, this game really fit his skill-set. Brunk is going to be important in the IU's half-court offense and defense, which will be critical in conference games, especially Purdue, Wisconsin, OSU, and Michigan.
It's really not. Dunking in a game is totally different than "dunking", and people who say "he needs to dunk it more" are generally the nutty ones. Its like saying in response to world hunger, "they need to eat more!" and thinking you've solved the issue.
It's pretty amazing how these guys get so many dunks down, and you also realize a dunk isn't always the best shot to take, even from a foot or 2 out. If they can dunk it, they generally will. Everyone likes to dunk.
Yep, the ones who bash Brunk, will be the same one's bashing CAM if we get in foul trouble and have Race, or smaller, guarding Haarms et al. Brunk is limited, but he's going to be quite valuable come B10 and beyond.
Yep, Brunk isn't going to typically excel against smaller/quicker post players or in an uptempo game, but he has a clear role. He just isn't strong enough to exert his style of play against all opponents, but when opponents' style fits his, he will more than hold his own when those situations arise.
What teams in the Big Ten do you see him holding his own? Lets list them:
PSU-Watkins
ILL-Georgie and Cockburn
PU-Haarms and Williams
OSU-Wesson
Maryland_Mitchell and Jalen
MSU-Tillman and Bingham
Minny-Oturu
MI-Teske
Wisconsin-Reeeeeeeevers
Rutgers Myles Johnson
Iowa-Garza
NW-dont care
Nebraska-they are worse then NW
I would take every guy I listed as being pretty clearly better than Brunk, and will work him on both ends. You could argue a handful more young bigs that wont see much playing time as well.
No juco players. Juco players are there for a reason (quote from my cousin that both played and coached in juco). That is especially true for bigs. Juco bigs that can play at a high level in D1 power 5 programs are rare. I know one at Seton Hall that is a shot blocker and rebounder with no offensive skills. He is finally contributing that after a red shirt year and last year with low production on both ends.
My thought on grad transfers is that they can provide depth and play a specific role, but very good or elite players leave early for the NBA and not another school. Brunk was a good find because he is a solid Indiana kid that we already knew a lot about.
Brunk has a 5inch vertical and needs a running start with no1 around him to dunk, that is why he doesn't dunk more often. Athletic bigs that can jump 30 inches + it is very easy to dunk.... Comparing yourself is irrelevant.
Brunk can dunk it easily. Unfortunately, I've witnessed it up close and personal. What kkott was pointing out is that even at 6'10 it is usually not possible to dunk from even two feet away if the defender is bodied-up on you. You have to go through the defender to do that and it's going to be an offensive foul.
There's a reason every coach in the game (or at least every decent coach) teaches players to body-up and wall-up between a post player and the rim when the ball is caught in the low post.
Brunk with the rebound put back, stepping into an open in range jumper, getting position on the block and going up strong are a plus.
Brunk late in the shot clock going left with the fade away is a negative. As long as he stays in his wheelhouse he helps the team.
It's no different than when JS or DG play within the offense vs trying to do something beyond what is necessary early in the shot clock that makes you shake your head.
Brunk late in the shot clock going left with the fade away is a negative. As long as he stays in his wheelhouse he helps the team.
It's no different than when JS or DG play within the offense vs trying to do something beyond what is necessary early in the shot clock that makes you shake your head.
You are correct, we did not in Brunk, get the best or even an all-conference post player. But, we did get a valuable back up who will help defend, rebound, spread fouls, not sacrifice easy baskets and gives us someone other than Race to occupy the paint and the other team's bigs if we need him. By all accounts he's also a great teammate and locker room presence and has been mentoring TJD, and there's a lot of value in all these things.
I agree he is a valuable back up. If he is playing starter minutes we are going to be at a significant disadvantage down low. Need Deron to play more against those teams. If he can’t we will struggle.
He looked really good last night. I just want to see us vs some legit competition soon.
Yes, backup. If this team is playing it's best that will likely be his role. I live in Charlotte and Kyle Allen has started every game we've won this year, but not many believe for a minute he's the long-term solution as a starter for the Panthers. Brunk's being a great teammate and is a valuable addition, which includes starting when called on. A healthy and in shape Deron would start ahead of him and I think we'll also experiment with a quicker/smaller lineup with TJD and Race or maybe even Smith and/or Hunter. Brunk will get minutes no doubt, regardless of who starts.
When I played in high school people would sometimes ask why I didn't dunk more. Some think it's so easy and I should dunk every time I was close to the basket. It's not as easy as it looks and it's not always the best way to make the shot. The defender is in the equation also.
I can still dunk and I still don't do it all the time.
This is crazy talk. Archie has talked about winning players, smart players. It took 3 years for Devonte to learn how to play smart basketball.
You are comparing a QB to a role player in basketball. Deron will never start at all. He hasn't been healthy or in shape since his freshmen year.
You are comparing a QB to a role player in basketball. Deron will never start at all. He hasn't been healthy or in shape since his freshmen year.
If he is a backup you better bet IU is going to win it all. Devonte and Brunk could be building a good chemistry. They were both plus 29. Just because someone has athletic ability and can DUNK doesn't mean they are a good player. ANDRE HARRIS could dunk. Hunter and Damezi better learn how to play defense or they won't play. Freddie McSwain was an All-American because he could DUNK?
DeRon is now a back up to Race Thompson. He will barely play this year. Spot minutes at best.
Archie year 1 - worst senior class ever. No post players except Morgan after Davis was hurt
Archie year 2 - Great freshman class (including redshirt freshman). Too bad they were either injured for long stretches or played with injuries. We added post help when Davis could play a bigger role and wasn't hobbled.
Archie year 3 - All injured players available for game 5. 3 newcomers have been productive. Injured freshmen from year 2 are starting to contribute. 3rd year players are having good years. Phinisee playing with some abdominal issue and Davis not up to speed.
What this means is Archie started with a crappy roster and had to play with it for a year. In his second year of recruiting, he has depth in the front court and a solid back court.
I like where the program is at the beginning of year 3. Adding a good big in 2020 or two in 2021 will continue the improvement.
Morgan just signed an NBA contract. He was playing out of position because we didn't recruit a center. We are better this year because of Brunk and TJD. Our defense will translate to the BIG. We won't give up all the dunks like last year on screen roll. The game at PU was a joke.
Pretty much spot on. Brunk is a lunchpail, space eater who seems like a decent board guy, good for 5 fouls on opposing bigs, but he's never going to be a key piece to the puzzle.
Maybe the center was injured and coming back from an ACL and the other was too young, refused to redshirt and was transitioning from being a guard after having a late growth spurt? Hmmmmmmmmmm...
While your cousin is mostly right... "No juco players" is wrong. IIRC, IU benefitted directly from a couple of JUCOs before.
See anybody below you or your cousin might like?
Jimmy Butler (Tyler JC)
Carl Landry (Vincennes)
Jae Crowder (Howard College)
Josh Harrellson (Southwestern IL CC)
Cleanthony Early (Sullivan CC)
Darius Johnson-Odom (Hutchinson CC)
Trevor Mbakwe (Miami Dade CC)
Pierre Jackson (College of South Idaho)
Mookie Blaylock (Midland College)
Sam Cassell (San Jacinto)
Cedric Ceballos (Ventura College)
Steve Francis (Allegany CC)
Larry Johnson (Odessa JC)
Nick Van Exel (Trinity Valley CC)
Ben Wallace (Cuyahoga CC)
There is more, but I think I made the point.
Last edited:
Similar threads
