Race is returning
- Thread starter Hoosierfan1901
- Start date
No matter which way you look at it, IU got stomped by St Mary's in the second round after barely sneaking into the tournament. Kansas was a 1 seed and won the national title. Our offensive efficiency wasn't even close to Kansas and on paper it was our biggest weakness.
All in all bringing back the same players and running the same offense isn't going to be good enough. There needs to be major improvement in that catagory if we want to even be top 25.
Completely agree. I’m just stating how close we are in point production. Efficiency can be calculated in many ways. A lot of our problem is missed shots. Pretty close ones. We hit/make those damn bunnies and our offense jumps pretty significantly. Damn those missed close shots piss me off.
Race may have been "horrible" at the end of the season but there was a stretch of games before that when I thought he was our best player.
I also hope that his announcement isn't followed by JG entering the portal! I really think he could become VERY good in the next couple of years.
Maybe TJD pulls out of the Draft and goes into the Portal. I'm hearing that there might be a school he's interested in other than IU.
Good for him but I hope he dedicates this summer to working on mid range and 3 point shooting as well as blocking out. He really needs to be offensive rebounding force. I hope to see a consistent improvement in Geronimo,Bates,Galloway and X [if he's still here] over the summer and carrying over to the s eason.
Worked late yesterday and just reading this news this morning. This is fantastic news. Race may be the hardest working player on the team. I think his struggles in the final games were a result of giving 110% in the games leading up to that . . . he was gassed. I look for Race to be IU's Daryl Thomas type leader on the floor. Race makes IU a better TEAM. "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." MJ
Our two starting off-ball guards literally not being able to do anything but catch and shoot?? I'd start there.
With Race back and assuming X is back we are probably a middle of the pack big ten team which is certainly better than it could of been. IF TJD comes back we are likely a top three big ten team but we do need a shooter.
Race could petition for a 7th season due to that concussion injury. Race played in only 9 games and 63 minutes his RS freshman year, due to injury. NCAA has granted these types of medical redshirt waivers before. For example, JBohannon played 10 games and 249 minutes, in 2019-20 season, and was granted a medical redshirt year.
Last edited:
If TJD, Race, and Kopp are still our starting frontcourt next year no way we're top 3 in the BIG10.
Then where is the shooting going to come from next year? I like JHS but he's known for his slashing ability more so than his shooting.
They guy people love to hate!
Dan Dakich
@dandakich
Race Thompson coming back is huge for #iubb .. Jackson-Davis ain’t going nowhere.. IU will be my Preseason Big 10 Favorite
Dan Dakich
@dandakich
Race Thompson coming back is huge for #iubb .. Jackson-Davis ain’t going nowhere.. IU will be my Preseason Big 10 Favorite
Yep, Arkansas has made back to back elite 8s while shooting 33.9% ('21) and 30.7% ('22) from 3. Houston shot 34.1% this year, made the elite, and had the #10 kenpom offense. IU shot 33.9% this year
Three point shooting helps, but is not a prerequisite.
Also, while IU is losing its best shooter in Stewart, its also losing one of its worst shooters in Phin and close to a net neutral effect on the team average. If IU can get X and Kopp to take more shots and maintain near their averages and modest increases in productivity from Race and Bates, IU's 3 point shooting could hold steady with about what it shot this year. If any of those 4 guys makes a big jump, IU could even be pushing 35%, which is about average for an elite 8 team this year.
Though I just heard Alex Lasley on Indiana Sports Beat. He is the ultimate negative nancy. He is 100% convinced TJD is not coming back and seems to think IU will not get that good next year. Wow he was depressing.
Even if they could penetrate they can’t. Two bigs who can’t stretch the floor clog the lane. This is exact reason why Purdue didn’t play Williams and Edey together
Last edited:
And…playing two bigs together that can’t shoot doesn’t help that issue
Last edited:
They play very well together. The outside shooting needs to come from elsewhere
Our biggest offense weakness last year had nothing to do with Race and Trayce and everything to do with Stewart and Kopp not being able to manufacture points. It's as simple as that.
Another poster above illustrated Arkansas having a very efficient and potent offense despite shooting extremely poor for the perimeter. You need guard(s) who can create their own shot and manufacture points whether it be from the perimeter or at the rim.
Ehh maybe. I would much rather play a 4 that can stretch the defense.
So this is a coaching issue. Why did Woody continue to play Stewart and kopp ovet Bates, Leal, JG?
This is equivalent to getting a 5 star Big recruit for one year. This really is big for the program!
I assume you mean Trey. I get it. But too small for a SF? And you really want to keep him on the floor.
I thought Woodson bailed on Bates a little too early in the season but Tamar certainly didn't perform during the conference season. I expect him to improve a ton this offseason.
Geronimo can't play on the perimeter because he can't handle the ball and struggles guarding other perimeter players and Leal is a catch and shoot guy who couldn't shoot. Kopp and Stewart unfortunately had to play because they were the best available and Galloway had an unfortunate injury that set him back just as he was starting to get going.
I think Woodson realizes his guard deficiency and is addressing it in his recruiting efforts. Guards like Newton and Gunn aren't ever going to be 40+% 3 point shooters, but they have respectable outside shots that you absolutely have to honor and can get to the basket. Give me a three level scorer over a one dimensional high 30/low 40% one dimensional shooter like Kopp or Stewart any day of the week.
This, I just don't understand why this is so hard for people to grasp.
If we're going to play Race and TJD together then Race's role needs to change to more of a faceup 4 on offense. If not we're going to have the same spacing problems we had last year.
It's not just about the ability to shoot the basketball, it becomes really hard to get good shots from the perimeter when your opponent doesn't have to worry about the drive and can easily double team down low from the weak side while their perimeter defenders play up on our shooters.
Right now we're one of the easiest offenses to prepare for In the BIG10 and bringing back Race doesn't fix that problem.
They didn’t play together because it would have made their bad defense even worse. Edey was a defensive liability as it was, and putting Williams at the 4 would negate a lot of his defensive ability - when not throwing his body around in the post Williams is just an average defender
Agree, but I don't think he needs to take lots of 3s. He needs to take more 10-15 foot jump shots. He's always passed those up. That would also give him more spacing to get it to TJD.
You do realize IU finished in the top 5 nationally in generating open looks from the perimeter correct? Don't buy your argument at all that it's hard to generate open looks playing two bigs. It is hard to score though when your two off ball guards can't generate looks for themselves. That has nothing to do with Race and Trayce.
I thought IU ran a ton of good high/low sets with Race and Trayce last year.
