IU basketball

[Cocktooth]

Congrats Mike Davis...i know you got to the championship game in your first year...WHAT DOES THAT MEAN NOW????

Im watching the game as we speak...and im having problems holding down my pizza king pizza.... (Pep. with BBQ Sauce)

I have never seen an IU team get so manhandled....I dont understand how wake forest can out play us in every aspect of the game....its going to be a long year for hoosier fans....I WANT KNIGHT BACK

Frankly im just venting frustration on how bad they played tonight...feel free to make fun of me for my post that has little substance..thanks for your time

[Pliedes]

I agree, I watched the game tonight, and they sucked. Wake Forest is a good team though, and they're pretty seasoned at that. But when our boys get their act together, get some more games under their belt, and add next year's recruiting class; Final Four here we come!

[Cocktooth]

see i have heard that for 2 years now...oh this recruiting class will do it...where is our big guy?? Sean Kline...yeah that is the same guy i toke 3 charges on my junior year...and the same guy that scored like 8 points against us....we needed sean may..i never thought i would say it...he was overrated in HS...but he has become really good

[Ugly Bastard]

Originally posted by Pliedes:
Final Four here we come!

I'm all about school spirit and shit...but pliedes...honestly.

IU doesn't make the Final Four for at least five more years.

-Ugly Bastard

[Cocktooth]

see now i disagree...they get a big guy who can not only swat shots but rebound and play a little O.....that is a missing link...oh yeah...and recruit some guys that know how to pass the damn ball

[Pliedes]

Look at our recruiting class for next year, the only problem with it is that we might lose a couple guys to the NBA.

[Cocktooth]

wow i just saw a clip of andre patterson killin duke in the pre season NIT about 7 years ago....those were the days.

[Pliedes]

Originally posted by Shaw:
see i have heard that for 2 years now...oh this recruiting class will do it...

This year our recruiting class is overwhelming ranked as the best though.

[Cocktooth]

If they dont have a big center that can play it wont matter....they are stacked with guards and small forwards...they need the 6'10" guy....or maybe just me...hell i could just go in and pull 8 boards...

[buckeye]

I hate to break it to you Hoosier fans but recruiting classes are only a small element of putting together a championship team. Hell i would know better than all of you being an OSU fan, our football team put together a 5 year period in the 90's where our recruiting class were within the top 5. While we probably fielded, in my opinion, some of the best college football teams ever put together, we have no national chamiponships to testify to the superiority of our classes. Why? well talk to any Buckeye fan about John Cooper and see how highly they talk of him.

I think you have a better chance of winning national championships with good team chemistry, and superior coaching than you do with landing superior recruiting classes year after year.

[Pliedes]

I'd agree with you, if we were talking about football, but basketball is very different. Look at the difference players like Carmelo Anthony made for Syracuse last year. Much of the time top players could basically skip college alltogether and go right to the pros, you can't do that in football, you need the experience and competition of the college level.

[Mister Bater]

Carmelo v. Patrick Ewing Jr.= big difference.

[Cocktooth]

very nice Piledes....very good post!!! I agree 100%

[BigDongedHoe]

Originally posted by Mister Bater:
Carmelo v. Patrick Ewing Jr.= big difference.

First of all get a fucking clue what your talking about. The guy Pliedes is referring to is Josh Smith who is drawing comparisons to Tracy McGrady. He was the #3 recruit in the country but is basically the #2. Dwight Howard the #1 recruit in the country is jumping straight to the NBA. Smith is a projected lottery pick so the decision between IU and the NBA will be a very tough one. Inside sources at Indiana say that he will be at IU for one year and one year only. His dad is also strongly urging him to go to IU which is another beneficial factor for the Hoosiers.

As Pliedes mentioned above with IU bringing in the #1 recruiting class in the nation it will be a HUGE boost for the Hoosiers. It's much different from football, in college basketball look at the key players on all of the major teams. Most are Freshman and/or Sophomores such as: Sean May, Rashaad McCants, & Raymond Felton (Carolina), Luol Deng, Shavlik Randolph, & J.J. Reddick (Duke), Paul Davis (Michigan State), Anthony Roberson & Matt Walsh (Florida), Mustafa Shakur (Arizona), Nick Caner-Medley & John Gilchrist (Maryland), Dee Brown & Deron Williams (Illinois) even Minnesota has a freshman leading there team in scoring and rebounding (McD's all-america Kris Humphries). College basketball is no longer a senior dominated game but more like a developmental league for the NBA with all the talent that is out there. Smith is that type of player that will come in and average 16 pts. a game 7 rebs. his first year of college, yes he is that good.

Not to mention IU has the #12 recruit in the country coming along as well in D.J. White this guy is a fucking hoss just look at him he even looks mean. He's a 6'7 230 pound bruiser. He does all the small things (reb and blk) and is a force inside. He's the big banging prescense IU has lacked since Jarrod Odle left a couple of years ago.

Another one of the "Fab Five (possibly 6 in the spring)" is 6'5 do everything SF Robert Vaden. Some of you may think that name is familiar and it is because he led last years state champion and #2 team in the nation (according to the USA Today high school poll) Pike to a 28-0 record while leading them in scoring and 3 pts. He was the pre-season favorite this year to win Mr. Basketball however he had to transfer to Bridgton Academy in New Jersey in order to qualify himself academically. Word is he's doing just that while leading Bridgton Academy averaging 25 pts. a game. Most people felt he was the best player in the state LAST YEAR as a JUNIOR.

To read about the rest of IU's class you can go here. They have 5 of the top 75 recruits in the country which hasn't been done since Duke did it two years ago and before that it had never been done in the history of college basketball.

IU is also interested in a 7'2 center from California who is down to the Hoosiers and Arizona however Arizona is expecting a committment from another player which would put them out of schollies. This guy isn't expected to make an impact right away as he is viewed as a big project with tremendous amounts of upside. He's very comparable to starting 7'2 center for Illinois Nick Smith.

These numbers may not mean much to any of you but I'll try and give you a better idea of how good these guys really are. Out of high school Jarred Jeffries was the #5 prospect, Smith is the #3 in what is being a called a much more talented class then the year Jeffries came out. Bracey Wright was the #9 recruit out of high school while White is the #12.

It is very possible to see a starting lineup next year of:
1-6'2 PG Marshall Strickland
2-6'3 SG Bracey Wright
3-6'9 SF Josh Smith (he's a 6'9 player with SF skills, just amazing game with everything he does)
4-6'7 PF Pat Ewing Jr.
5-6'7 C D.J. White

IU will have a top 10 team next year if Smith comes and make a run at the National Title, mark my words. Even if Smith doesn't come they'll have a competitive team and make a run for the top 2 years from now. This is all assuming Wright stays in B-Town after this year which I think he will, he's to small to play SG in the NBA and needs to develop his PG skills a little more.

[ December 03, 2003, 05:49 PM: Message edited by: BigDongedHoe ]

[BigDongedHoe]

Originally posted by Shaw:
wow i just saw a clip of andre patterson killin duke in the pre season NIT about 7 years ago....those were the days.

I remember back in the day when I was a little Wee Hoosier and Patterson went off for 39 pts. against Duke. He dominated that game start to finish. He followed it up by Beating Evansville in the championship game on a last second turn around buzzer beater. It was about the only star of Patterson's career. He always had the potential but never pulled through. If you actually want to go back to "the day" you'll have to go to the year when we had Cheaney, Henderson, Graham, and Bailey. We were undefeated going into the tournament when Henderson tore his ACL. Had that not happen there would of been a 6th championship banner hanging in Assembly Hall.

[Pliedes]

Fashizzle. BDH just covered everything I've been saying, only 10 times more thoroughly. Like we've been saying, IU to the Final Four in 2005.

BDH, you really need to make it down here before next year. You'll want tickets to these games.

[BigDongedHoe]

Yeah I was at the IU/UNCG game and was on-campus all week-end I was trying to get ahold of you but didn't know how. I attended the IU/PU football game, it was a gay old time at that. Seeing the Nubblies.net sign in person was something that will be embedded in my head forever, it's a masterpiece.

Things have been going a little better up here lately, I don't really need to make a decision if I'm going to transfer or not until Feb. or Mar. anyways.

[Pliedes]

Wow, I didn't know you were in town. That makes me smile that you finally got to see the nubblies mecca (the overpass).

About transfering, thats fair, but still...
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...this is a very compelling reason.


[ December 03, 2003, 06:48 PM: Message edited by: Pliedes ]

[Mister Bater]

BDH, I chose the first guy that came into my head. Don't get your panties in a twist, as I really didn't think it was necessary to name every person Davis has recruited both now and in future classes. Needless to say, do any of them compare to Carmelo? There are a lot of highly ranked high school players that skip college and don't get picked. I believe Lenny Cook was one from a few years ago. Carmelo was exceptional enough to be drafted out of high school, but chose to go to college to increase his value.

[Cocktooth]

Vaden is tight...i saw him play when he was a soph and he dominated AAU games with seniors in it....but to say college basketball is nothing but a developmental league is bull shit....yeah cuse had mello last year but they still had a great crop of upperclassmen....you wont see a very succesful team in college basketball without a senior leader.....IU could get the best 5 HS basketball players available next year and it wont matter....you have to have senior leadership....in a couple of years they will be tight...but this year and next i believe they will have their problems....

[BigDongedHoe]

Josh Smith is very comparable to Carmelo Anthony Bater, he's that good. He's a lottery pick out of high school possibly top 3 in the draft.

It is a stretch to say it's strictly a "developmental league" however Syracuse had no senior leadership last year when they won the National title. The year before Maryland had oodles of it. I will agree with you a team with a senior prescense on the floor is key to winning a national title but Syracuse obviously proved last year that it's not a necessity. Smith is good enough to carry IU on his shoulders, coupled a veteran Bracey Wright and Marshall Strickland, IU would be an EXTRMELY tough team to beat. Will they struggle this year? Yes. Will they struggle next year if everyone shows up? No.

[Cocktooth]

will bracey be able to give the ball up though????? I dont think he will be able too

[BigDongedHoe]

Easily, he's not this year because it's pretty obvious nobody else on the team can create their own shot. Bracey has been nothing but a shining star for IU this year in every aspect of the game. Put Bracey with the top high school recruit int he country and you've got yourself a helluva team. I think that with Smith at IU Bracey would still lead the team in scoring, but Smith would be the other player that can create his own offense that Bracey has to have. It'll be comparable to Jeffries/Haston. Haston still led the team in scoring but Jeffries was the freshman that came in and made the difference and took the load off of Haston's shoulders a bit.

[Cocktooth]

yeah but with those 2 egos....can they gel together...i hope they can....you going to be in town during march madness?

[Amret]

[ December 04, 2003, 11:47 AM: Message edited by: Amret ]