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Justin Smith transfer

Jan 4, 2020
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Torn about it. On 1 hand you hate to lose a senior that has played as much as he has and been productive. Plus seems to be a very intelligent kid On the other there were times where he looked disengaged and kind of aloof. Anyone here know how he was regarded by his teammates?
 
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I have no idea how Justin was regarded by his teammates. But I do think it's a significant loss for us. He got 30 minutes a game this past year. He's played 3 years in Miller's system. And I'm not sure that what we'll have to replace him and his production will be quite as effective. Time will tell.

That said, Justin could really be a frustrating player. When he was playing at his best -- playing within himself, using his strengths, avoiding his weaknesses -- there was seemingly no limit to what he could do. But, sadly, that was the exception and not the rule. Too often, he just didn't play to his potential.

I wish him the very best, though. Seems like a fine young man. Kudos to him for graduating in 3 years -- and from Kelley, no less.
 
Torn about it. On 1 hand you hate to lose a senior that has played as much as he has and been productive. Plus seems to be a very intelligent kid On the other there were times where he looked disengaged and kind of aloof. Anyone here know how he was regarded by his teammates?
Some people should be happy. All i ever heard were crean players were a cancer on the team . Wait until the crean players are gone. But this is where getting garcia sure would of helped now there is a big hole to fill and all the good grad transfers are signed.
 
Torn about it. On 1 hand you hate to lose a senior that has played as much as he has and been productive. Plus seems to be a very intelligent kid On the other there were times where he looked disengaged and kind of aloof. Anyone here know how he was regarded by his teammates?
He's got his degree and to my eye looks like he's maxxed out his potential on the court. I got the impression he wasn't having much fun out there. I hope he finds a place he can excel and have fun before going on to the next stage in his life, whatever that might be.
 
Torn about it. On 1 hand you hate to lose a senior that has played as much as he has and been productive. Plus seems to be a very intelligent kid On the other there were times where he looked disengaged and kind of aloof. Anyone here know how he was regarded by his teammates?
I did not see this coming. Yes, he seems like a good kid. I've never heard of any kind of controversy except when he took a jump shot. If the kid had a shot he would be playing on the next level because his athleticism is off the charts.
 
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Torn about it. On 1 hand you hate to lose a senior that has played as much as he has and been productive. Plus seems to be a very intelligent kid On the other there were times where he looked disengaged and kind of aloof. Anyone here know how he was regarded by his teammates?
Averaged 10 points per game (team 3rd) and 5 rebounds per game (team 2nd) while logging 30 minutes per game, team 1st. I think he could have been more productive with that amount of playing time, but at least he never hurt us while he was on the court. I think we can find someone who'll do better.

Wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Hope CAM uses the scholarship wisely.
 
From everything I’ve always heard he’s a great kid, great student, teammates loved him, worked hard. Just some clowns on here wanted to blame him for Archie’s shortcomings.
lol . . . Archie caused him to be out of position on D, huh?

YDS
 
Hurts us this season. On a team returning all of its starters he was likely going to be in the top 2-3 players in MPG. We should still be easily a top 25 team, but it hurts.

this should help us the following season, when IU will lose Durham, TJD and Brunk (3 other starters). There’s now over 30 MPG available for this season, and those minutes are going to players that could use them to develop. This should be good news for the new players not named Lander that may now see the court some.
 
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Kind of surprised he's transferring, I thought that since he'd gotten input from pro scouts when he put his name in the draft that he'd sign with a G League team and go from there.
 
Well apparently we don’t want kids who leave early for the NBA. We just want the kids who leave early to transfer. Makes perfect sense.

I think you are forgetting Romeo. And, it’s likely that TJD and Lander both go early.

Fitzner was recruited as a one year player. Brunk as a two year player.

It will be interesting to see if we can get old again after this season. Miller’s teams seemed to have been built to get old from 2019-2021, but not to stay old.
 
Hurts us this season. On a team returning all of its starters he was likely going to be in the top 2-3 players in MPG. We should still be easily a top 25 team, but it hurts.

this should help us the following season, when IU will lose Durham, TJD and Brunk (3 other starters). There’s now over 30 MPG available for this season, and those minutes are going to players that could use them to develop. This should be good news for the new players not named Lander that may now see the court some.

I agree. It also hurts with depth at the 4 and 5. Brunk, TJD, and Thompson all need to stay healthy. If one gets hurt Hunter will be our first big guy off the bench. Are we after any grad transfers?
 
I think you are forgetting Romeo. And, it’s likely that TJD and Lander both go early.

Fitzner was recruited as a one year player. Brunk as a two year player.

It will be interesting to see if we can get old again after this season. Miller’s teams seemed to have been built to get old from 2019-2021, but not to stay old.
A lot of people on here want 3 star recruits who transfer after a couple years rather than 5 stars who make immediate impacts.
 
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This hurts.

is there a potential silver lining? Obviously there is. Jerome Hunter is more gifted offensively than Justin. He can shoot outside which will open things up more for TJD when he plays than Justin did.

But Justin was a major reason our defensive efficiency numbers were as good as they were. He was active on the boards. He was good in transition. And his athleticism was a matchup problem for other teams. And he played over Jerome most of the time for a reason.

For this to not be a big loss, guys like Jerome and Race are going to have to step up on both ends of the floor. That may happen. But it stinks losing someone as solid as Justin.
 
Miller has to replace him with a true power forward or center immediately. 6'9"" or bigger. And 230+. IU will be brutally under-sized again this coming season otherwise. And the following season they will be downright anemic in the post.

They could have used Luke Fisher in this class.
 
He was a frustrating player to watch more often than not on offense. One of those, No, No, No....nice shot type of guys.

Still remember a game from mid Season I think, TJD was coming up to Justin on the way to the bench for a timeout to talk to him and Justin appeared to cuss him out and totally ignore him. You could tell TJD was a bit shocked. Think it came just after where Justin made a bone head play, so could have just lost his temper, but didn't look good for a team leader to treat your best player like that.
 
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This is a blow. Archie liked him, he played a ton of minutes. He did not score, but I think his defense altered other teams offense.
I bet he learned from the NBA folks what he needed to do, and feels he can do that better somewhere else.
 
not going to miss his weak floaters - cannot count how many of those types of shots he missed. For someone who was this "gifted athlete" he sure didn't take advantage of it on the offensive side.
 
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Kind of surprised he's transferring, I thought that since he'd gotten input from pro scouts when he put his name in the draft that he'd sign with a G League team and go from there.

You think Justin is at a place where he could make it in the G-League? It’s not like those roster spots are infinite.

It’ll be interesting to see if a new coach and system will help him elevate his game to the higher level he seems so capable of reaching. That’s not a dig at Archie — sometimes a player and a coach just aren’t the best fit.

But, as things stand, I have my doubts he’d make it in the G-League. He’d probably end up overseas.
 
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Smith is delusional about his abilities at this point if he thinks transferring is going to drastically improve his marginal potential to have an NBA career. I think you know I won’t miss him, but it leaves a big hole and hurts the team tremendously. Archie should have planned for this. The kid has been disgruntled since day one...
 
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not going to miss his weak floaters - cannot count how many of those types of shots he missed. For someone who was this "gifted athlete" he sure didn't take advantage of it on the offensive side.

I agree with this. For his athleticism, he was very weak with the ball and nonchalant about understanding the value of possession. But he was strong and could rebound and score some. He must be replaced with a big guy.
 
If we want to compete at a high level, Smith would need to be a role player, not someone to really count on as a leader. Not saying I want him to transfer. But this will not be the determining factor as to whether we are good this year.
 
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Chemistry cancers gone.
Let the healing begin!
Horrible decision makers and bad shooters gone!
Addition by subtraction.
Other than durham all so called crean players are gone so archie now has his team.
 
Miller has to replace him with a true power forward or center immediately. 6'9"" or bigger. And 230+. IU will be brutally under-sized again this coming season otherwise. And the following season they will be downright anemic in the post.

They could have used Luke Fisher in this class.
The problem now is the grad transfer market is all picked over unless somebody else still decides to leave. The front court now cannot survive any injuries. It is a blow depth wise.
 
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I am going to just state one example of why I think we will be a better team without Justin and his attitude. Justin was going to the bucket and his shot got blocked and TJD said to him ‘Dunk it’ and Justin then replied to TJD ‘F you”. To me this is a kid who has all the gifts in the world but is not a true team player. I believe the team will be more cohesive from this. I will also say many times Justin would force things and make really boneheaded plays. As far as depth this transfer hurts as far as the team chemistry this helps tremendously. It always is a little hard when a senior to be leaves but in this case it may help more than hurt. I only see depth as the issue here.
 
In the first 2 years of Archie-ball, Archie caused lots of players to be out of position on D...did you see the games and the 3 point barrages?
Last year improved slightly.
"Archie caused" them to be out of position the first 2 years - or maybe, just maybe, kids were still learning and adjusting to a defense most have never played before? Couldn't be that , could it? :rolleyes:
 
A lot of people on here want 3 star recruits who transfer after a couple years rather than 5 stars who make immediate impacts.
Not me. Give me the 5* all day over the 3* with no basketball skills whose parents think they are still NBA.
 
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