So core guys staying 3+ years.... like TJD? Purdue would be in the same boat if Edey had left; we lost our Edey-type AA guy and they didn't so they started at a higher spot. Oh, and then in what everyone thought was a shock, JHS progressed to the point of being a one and done, so that was totally unexpected that we needed another guard after his first year. Smith and Loyer are 2nd year players, and yes, from what I know, I'd prefer Cupps and Newton to them. Their "best" trait is that they happened to come in to a program that had Edey. No one would know who Braden Smith is, if they'd not had Edey last year. Also, Painter has been there for, what, like 17 years? His recruiting and strategy have evolved a lot and he's adapted, because he found he couldn't get the 5 star types. CMW is 3 games into his 3rd season, without the orderly transfer there was from Keady to Painter. CMW believes he can recruit with the elites, and I agree. My guess is ultimately our path, if he's successful, will look more like a Nova/UConn with a few elite recruits mixed in with longer term development guys like Cupps and Newton (and Gunn and Banks if they progress). But, yes, it's not hard to figure out what CMW is trying to build, it's just still early so you don't know if he will succeed on the path he's pursuing.
Step away from the ledge...
- Thread starter Indiana_1993
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I agree to an extent. I still don’t see what type player he wants as far as skill sets. Does he value going big or going small? What is his offensive and defensive system? Is he relying on the portal to fill next years class with Liam? I hope I’m wrong and he wins at a high level but how he is building rosters seems off to me. If we win this year and have a great year, I will gladly eat crow on Woody.
watch this team grow and the program as well... what else is there to watch... just stay focused and enjoy your meal.
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The only guy that's relevant out of that group is Edey. You take him away, imo, the rest of them don't amount to much, although taking guys like that and actually building a winner is what Painter excels at, so if anyone could, it would be him. But, again, imo, you take the rest of those guys and they are very average without Edey. My guess is that it will happen this year, that Edey will have to take some time for an injury, or maybe the refs will actually call a few fouls on him and we'll see how they do without him. I like Smith a lot, but I think he will float back to being very average when he doesn't have Edey to toss it to.
Isn’t that how you build a continuous roster though? Have those glue guys and program guys in place and have your super star? He has done that quite well recently.we never have the pieces in place for when we add superstar.
How did you expect Woody to do that, in his third year? Everyone lauded him for keeping the guys he did, when he arrived. He had to re-recruit TJD, and did and that was our superstar. JHS well might have been another to build around, but he bolted after a good freshman year. Now it looks like he's building around the best piece he had returning in Reanu. It's a catch 22 when you come in that to be better out of the gate, you have to keep the former players, but then those aren't the guys you picked to play how you want. The biggest criticism I have of CMW is that he's not brought in better perimeter guys, but he did go after a bunch in last years class and as transfers, and whiffed. Starting to think that's part of the problem: perimeter guys don't see a role for themselves. The only real "shooter" perimeter guy we've had was Kopp and we didn't do much to help him get looks. I see pieces he could build around in guys like Reanu, Gunn, Newton, Cupps, and Banks, but one is injured and 2 have got to step up and be more consistent.
And, if you're PU, my contention is how they've built this roster is just Edey. Their "pieces" aren't on the level of what we saw yesterday. I don't wish an injury on Edey, but I would love to see how they'd fare for a few games without him. Maybe he could get the flu for me!
Woody recruiting is interesting. What are we going to put around Liam in that class? We need a pg and another big. We also need development on those guys you mention. Gunn, Banks, MM. all have the skill but haven’t translated into quality play. Our team seems to have a low bball IQ. Also I have no idea what our offensive system is. It’s painful to watch.
it is painful, but I also think it's pretty clear that he wants to isolate on matchups and let guys try and take their defender. He's talked about playing faster, which we can do, and being more perimeter focused, (which I question) but I don't think he believes we have the pieces to do it, and from what I've seen, I largely agree. I've told everyone clamoring for a high volume of 3's, the first question to answer is do we have shooters? So far, I think the answer is no. Gotta take open looks, but I don't think this team will be regularly putting up 20+ 3s, nor should it, I believe.
I agree on our shooting but if we are a lost offense we need to create more for those guys. We don’t have Hakeem or Kevin Mchale post up moves down there.
At this point, the roster is what it is. I don't see how anyone doesn't recognize already that Reanu and Ware are going to be our best scoring options, especially in the half court. I'm still hopeful MM develops and he still has the best looking shot of anyone on the team, but this will not be a prolific 3 pt shooting team, and MM is lost right now. Best chance is to get out in transition, push the pace and look for good shots whether from 3 or not with PnR, transition and early opportunities.
Well who knows he will have to sign another four to five guys this spring. There is no way MM gets drafted next year. I suppose he can enter the draft but zero chance anyone takes him after what i have seen.
I believe that great '81 IU team had some guys get in trouble (weed I think) during that tournament and were bounced from the team by BK. That team's collective maturity came later. That's besides the point though. I'm just pointing you can be really bad as team early in the season and then bounce back. It happens. Not saying it will with this team because we have some really big holes, but looking forward to B1G season to see if they can improve.
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