Smith's transfer and room for the future
- Thread starter snowling
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The article certainly focuses on the bright side.
I think the key is our new 3. Hunter develops? Geronimo makes an early impact? Do we play 3 guards?
I think the key is our new 3. Hunter develops? Geronimo makes an early impact? Do we play 3 guards?
Smiths departure changes the dynamic of the team pretty dramatically. It could end up being for the better? It could end up hurting really badly? As of right now, on the damaging side we lost our best overall defender. Everything else he brought, not sure it’ll be too difficult to replace and/or improve upon. It’ll just depend on who fills his minutes. Shooting/scoring we’ll get more out of his minutes from guys like Hunter, and maybe Franklin if we go smaller with more minutes. Rebounding would be better if Thompson got a bunch of his minutes...not as good if guards and/or Hunter do. Ball handling/decision making I think will get better no matter what.
In the end though...it’s not possible to know how it will all shake out. I’m worried we’ll take a step back defensively. And our offense won’t be good enough yet to overcome that. Justin was/is an underrated defender.
I agree underrated defender.
He also ate minutes.
Hopefully all of the guys realize this opportunity and are working hard.
He also ate minutes.
Hopefully all of the guys realize this opportunity and are working hard.
I'm a "glass is half-full...rose colored glasses-kinda guy"...losing Smith does nothing but create a challenge for this team.
Having said that...man...if Hunter can come on and Geronimo can flourish and Thompson can come into his own...we could do something great...
Still wish JS were a Hoosier.
Because that stuff can happen with him on the roster.
I don't see it hurting really badly. I think Hunter and Thompson both showed they can play effectively, and I think Hunter especially with a year to normalize and having the rust off will play better at both ends. I think Smith had great physical tools, but either didn't really like bball (reminded me of that big kid from Carmel at PU a couple years ago: AJ Hammons?), or wasn't a good teammate. He always looked disinterested, and despite all the accolades about his D, he got lost out there a lot. But, there were too many stories not for something to be wrong. Claiming he told teammates he wouldn't be back regardless. And then I listened to that Coyle and Leary broadcast and they were talking about how he reacted to TJD telling him to dunk it in the game. Still not sure exactly what he said, but it sounded like it included an F bomb. Fresh start for him and more opportunites for a couple guys that I think have showed they can perform. We'll be fine.
To me, Hunter, Franklin, and maybe one of the wing freshman, are likely the key between IU marginally improving, or even staying the same...to making a big jump to top 4 ish in the league.
Had Smith stayed, I think we’d have been one of the best defensive teams in the conference. And we’d have incrementally improved our offense enough that we would have won a handful more games in the conference. 13-7 ish would likely push for top 5. I think that would have happened.
With him gone, I could see a slight step back defensively. The key will be how much more effective his minutes will be used offensively.
If Hunter can be top 50, inside outside threat, reliable scoring Hunter, and stays healthy...I could see the offensive improvement more than making up for the loss defensively.
If Franklin were to make a big jump and force big minutes, that’d have a similar effect on the lineup as well. Mainly solidifying the scoring from Outside.
Still worried about losing his defense and athleticism. But coming around to the idea it could end up turning out well.
I think race and hunter will get significant minutes at the 4. Hunter can hit that jumper Smith couldn’t. You can also leave him in and slide him to the 3 spot. He’s our most versatile player too. I hope Hunter more than anyone else is the key to this working. IMHO
I would say overrated, not underrated, as a defender.
Every time CAM talked about him he said he had the potential to be a lock-down defender.....same for many IU telecasts. Thing is, he never developed into a lock-down defender because they consistently work their tails off at the defensive end. Smith rarely did that. So it was always more talk than reality. After 3 years of talk about what a fine defender JS was, he didn't make the ABT defensive team, nor HM ABT on either the coaches or media teams. So.....if JS was in any way underrated, there were a lot of coaches and media who are also at fault.
That's not to say Jerome and Race will be good defensively. Jerome appeared to be hesitant to really mix it up inside that year. offensive or defensively. Hopefully, he'll feel more comfortable this year. But.....he never really appeared to be enamored with playing D either. Certainly he wasn't very good at it, but it appeared to be as much attitude as aptitude. He was a guy who really loves shooting the 3. Most fans were so happy to see someone, anyone, who could hit a 3 that they didn't much examine the rest of his game.
As for Race....he was certainly willing to mix it up and was very effective defensively against the bigger, slower offensive threats. However, he really struggled against quicker guys who could put the ball on the floor. He certainly can't shut down someone like Wieskamp, as Smith was able to do this year.
I'm interested in seeing how Geronimo does defensively against those 6'5"-6'6" shooter/drivers. He billed himself as a defender first. He's physical and quick. He may have a role to play against scoring threats who are too quick for Race to cover.
All-in-all, I agree with the poster (don't recall who) who said something to the effect that there's something wrong with CAM if he can't adequately replace a JS after 4 years on the job...........I only wish CAM would have encouraged DA and JS to leave earlier, if that was their plan, so that we could have been active in the grad market. We could have had a better roster after their departure with the right grad transfer.
My guess is the APR had a lot to do with them being retained.
Just enjoying the thoughtful and worthwhile discussion here on the topic; lots of good points made. I will try not to be too redundant. GBR!
My take:
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4277943/justin-smith
JS contributed the most minutes this season; only player over 30m/g. His 2 biggest game and the only over 20pt outings all year came early, against Western IL and Troy (next biggest games were aginst SDSt and NU); 7 0f the last 9 games were single digit production. Glad to see JS completed his degree.
Yet, I believe that Hunter, Race and Geronimo can replace those stats in that 30m time-frame. I expect some further development from Hunter and Race in the 3 an 4 positions. Race might even provide some D as well. Hunter's recovery and Geronimo's play may prove to be real good factors. TOs may be less and Hunter shoots a bit better from 3pt range.
I also think CAM may employ a 3 guard offense since we are deeper there with Lander, Galloway and Leal to complement what we already have. I like this prospect as well as the development of the front-line players. Three guard offense should stem more O production and better ball handling (less TOs).
I wish we had know about the defections earlier, so we could have better recruited in the transfer market. Water under the bridge now. I like the team we have to put on the floor (4 starters back and a deep bench) and expect a better finish than this year.
Go Hoosiers!
My take:
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/4277943/justin-smith
JS contributed the most minutes this season; only player over 30m/g. His 2 biggest game and the only over 20pt outings all year came early, against Western IL and Troy (next biggest games were aginst SDSt and NU); 7 0f the last 9 games were single digit production. Glad to see JS completed his degree.
Yet, I believe that Hunter, Race and Geronimo can replace those stats in that 30m time-frame. I expect some further development from Hunter and Race in the 3 an 4 positions. Race might even provide some D as well. Hunter's recovery and Geronimo's play may prove to be real good factors. TOs may be less and Hunter shoots a bit better from 3pt range.
I also think CAM may employ a 3 guard offense since we are deeper there with Lander, Galloway and Leal to complement what we already have. I like this prospect as well as the development of the front-line players. Three guard offense should stem more O production and better ball handling (less TOs).
I wish we had know about the defections earlier, so we could have better recruited in the transfer market. Water under the bridge now. I like the team we have to put on the floor (4 starters back and a deep bench) and expect a better finish than this year.
Go Hoosiers!
The biggest thing we lose with Smith leaving is consistency.
He was a guaranteed double digit scorer and five rebound guy who was our best pack line defender.
We have guys who could potentially give us more but they haven't yet.
So losing Smith just widens our range of outcomes this season.
Nothing wrong with that as most teams have this issue every year. We were one of the few who were returning all five starters but...not now.
We'll need to make up for around what, 22 points a game with the losses of Green and Smith.
It's not an overwhelming task but again, we need to see it from whoever is going to do it with the chance that no one does (although unlikely).
He was a guaranteed double digit scorer and five rebound guy who was our best pack line defender.
We have guys who could potentially give us more but they haven't yet.
So losing Smith just widens our range of outcomes this season.
Nothing wrong with that as most teams have this issue every year. We were one of the few who were returning all five starters but...not now.
We'll need to make up for around what, 22 points a game with the losses of Green and Smith.
It's not an overwhelming task but again, we need to see it from whoever is going to do it with the chance that no one does (although unlikely).
To me, it’s just interesting to say the least. Mainly because everyone (here) seems to have a completely different opinion of JS as to what I presume Miller must have. The last 2 seasons saw smith as being in the top 2-3 minutes on the team. Coming into last season there was much speculation (Here) that he was going to pushed off the court by a number of other players. It never happened.
There is nothing that leads me to believe that he wasn’t in line for 32 or so mpg. Miller has to have felt he was extremely important to the team, otherwise why play him?
Now miller is forced to replace those minutes. I have no idea how that will work out for this season, but it seems that it would be a huge benefit for the following 2 seasons. Losing 4 starters (Brunk, Durham, smith and TJD) after this season would be difficult enough. Now some of our younger players will gain some much needed experience.
People talk about getting old and staying old, but with 4 starters in their final season, Phin and possibly Lander only having this year and next, well we were looking at being old now and getting and staying young for a while. Losing those 32 MPG helps us balance things out from an experience perspective.
Part of me is sorry to see him go. You’re right though, hopefully the others will take advantage of the new opportunities.
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