College Basketball 2013-2014

[Guest]

Even worse than my extremely low expectations thus far.

 

Dan Guerrero is just an awful AD.

 

That much is becoming quite clear. I mean it's UCLA, why all the settling for mediocrity? The more time passes since the school was elite, the less weight the name will carry with potential recruits.

While I agree, in the last 8 years they produced 8 Final Fours and produced 2 of the top 10 players in the NBA. They aren't what they were, but I don't think anyone can be that now.

 

Well no, obviously no one is going to be the Wooden era Bruins, but UCLA is a program that should be on the Duke/UK/Kansas level far more often than not. It just seems like it's been hit and mostly miss lately. And like the elites, they should be poaching the top coaches/coaching prospects in the sport, not hiring guys like Steve mf'ing Alford.

 

Nobody wants to play out west. Late games, no audience, less fanfare, less hype, less interest.

 

Yes, even West coast players don't want to play out West. It's just too late for them.

[sneakypower]

yet somehow UCLA managed a top-2 recruiting class last year (just ahead of Arizona [which i also understand to be out west])

[illiniguy]

I do think it hurts them some with the Midwest kids.

[illiniguy]

On three of my friends Facebook feeds today I've read how this KU team might be the deepest team in college basketball history. '96 UK had 11 NBA players.

[Bruno7481]

I didn't even know about Lawson. Jay Simpson should be able to jump into his spot, but it sucks to see Lawson out. I liked Hale too.

 

I've always been a big fan of Painter's, but at what point to you start to question what's going on. I would rather not believe that Painter is forcing players out, but that is a lot of players transfering.

 

No way he's forcing kids out with 2 open scholarships this year and 3 for 14' / 15'. Marcius moved on because he wants to start somewhere to try to prove himself for a playing career in Europe. Hale never added the weight and wasn't physical enough to be a B1G player. Lawson was a freak athlete but fouled everything that moved and had no polish on the offensive end. Anthony Johnson, I don't know what happened there, he was getting minutes but never developed accuracy on his outside shooting. He had mental lapses and would just drive to the hoop and throw up tear drop shots. He was probably tired of Painter screaming at him for not making adjustments. AJ claims he moved to be closer to his sick grandma.

 

2009 - 2011 were abysmal recruiting years with the exceptions of DJ Byrd who was a really good role player and Terone Johnson who is a senior captain this year. All that being said, Painter (depending on the recruiting service) brought in 4 4-star players in 2012 and 3 more this year. He's got more 4 star players on the roster this year than ever before. He's also got a solid class of guys that fit his system in 2014. He's obviously trying to land a 5 star player but if he can continue to land 4 stars regularly they'll be fine. Purdue has never been a 5 star player school.

 

He just has to avoid terrible stretches like 2009-2011.

 

I thought Hale was a reach to begin with for any BCS conference school. Saw him all the time in high school, not surprised to see him moving on.

 

How dare anyone suggest these guys were forced out. That only happens in Bloomington, everybody knows that.

[SouthSideRyan]

I didn't even know about Lawson. Jay Simpson should be able to jump into his spot, but it sucks to see Lawson out. I liked Hale too.

 

I've always been a big fan of Painter's, but at what point to you start to question what's going on. I would rather not believe that Painter is forcing players out, but that is a lot of players transfering.

 

No way he's forcing kids out with 2 open scholarships this year and 3 for 14' / 15'. Marcius moved on because he wants to start somewhere to try to prove himself for a playing career in Europe. Hale never added the weight and wasn't physical enough to be a B1G player. Lawson was a freak athlete but fouled everything that moved and had no polish on the offensive end. Anthony Johnson, I don't know what happened there, he was getting minutes but never developed accuracy on his outside shooting. He had mental lapses and would just drive to the hoop and throw up tear drop shots. He was probably tired of Painter screaming at him for not making adjustments. AJ claims he moved to be closer to his sick grandma.

 

2009 - 2011 were abysmal recruiting years with the exceptions of DJ Byrd who was a really good role player and Terone Johnson who is a senior captain this year. All that being said, Painter (depending on the recruiting service) brought in 4 4-star players in 2012 and 3 more this year. He's got more 4 star players on the roster this year than ever before. He's also got a solid class of guys that fit his system in 2014. He's obviously trying to land a 5 star player but if he can continue to land 4 stars regularly they'll be fine. Purdue has never been a 5 star player school.

 

He just has to avoid terrible stretches like 2009-2011.

 

I thought Hale was a reach to begin with for any BCS conference school. Saw him all the time in high school, not surprised to see him moving on.

 

How dare anyone suggest these guys were forced out. That only happens in Bloomington, everybody knows that.

 

I think he went a little overboard forcing out Goodluck before he even committed though.

[Bruno7481]

Curious to what some of the other IU fans think, but my hopes aren't very high for this season. For the past two seasons they have been a tremendously efficient offensive team, that won't be the case this year. Outside shooting is at best questionable, at worst, bad. I think Vonleh is going to be a good player, Ferrell will be solid but will have to pick up the offensive game.

 

Sheehey is great as your 5th/6th man, but I am hesitant to picture what he is going to be as one of the main options.

 

The non-con schedule is pretty soft, at least at home. Play Washington and maybe Uconn in preseason tourney, go to Syracuse, ND in Indianapolis.

 

I'll say 5th place Big 10. 5-7 NCAA seed.

[brinoch]

Sounds about right. I think it would take some unexpected development to do much better. Always hard to predict without having seen any of the players play.

[rawaction]

My thoughts exactly. Even though the halfcourt offense wasn't very good last year, not having Zeller and Watford makes it non-existant. Yogi is going to have to consistently keep the tempo up and get the athletes in the open floor. But short of Yogi miraculously becoming Trey Burke, they'll be 2nd tier in the B1G and a team hovering around the top 20-35 all year.

[Sosa21MVP]

I'll say 5th place Big 10. 5-7 NCAA seed.

 

I'd take that in a heartbeat, no question.

[Guest]

Is there anything worse than having to endure discussions about Purdue basketball?

[Sosa21MVP]

Is there anything worse than having to endure discussions about Purdue basketball?

 

Stop it. You are going to make Robbie Hummel cry and when Robbie Hummel cries, Da Bum eats more chili and from that point you are just asking for trouble from a butterfly effect of bad gas.

[Splendid Splinter]

Is there anything worse than having to endure discussions about Purdue basketball?

 

Stop it. You are going to make Robbie Hummel cry and when Robbie Hummel cries, Da Bum eats more chili and from that point you are just asking for trouble from a butterfly effect of bad gas.

 

Speaking of Robbie Hummel, I partied at the same tailgate he was at all day before the Purdue-ND game a couple weeks ago. Dude likes to party.

[pitchcs]

 

Nobody wants to play out west. Late games, no audience, less fanfare, less hype, less interest.

 

Yes, even West coast players don't want to play out West. It's just too late for them.

 

I didn't mean it quite like that, but guys who are 1 and done's want exposure. And it isn't football, the east coast dominates the basketball recruiting scene.

[Guest]

 

Nobody wants to play out west. Late games, no audience, less fanfare, less hype, less interest.

 

Yes, even West coast players don't want to play out West. It's just too late for them.

 

I didn't mean it quite like that, but guys who are 1 and done's want exposure. And it isn't football, the east coast dominates the basketball recruiting scene.

 

Recent one-and-dones from the Pac-12: Kevin Love, OJ Mayo, Jerryd Bayless, Demar Derozan, Jrue Holiday and Shabazz Muhammad (also Brandon Jennings committed to Arizona but ended up going to Europe for his one year instead and James Harden could have easily been a one-and-done lotto pick too if he wanted to leave after his freshman year).

 

West coast teams don't need to recruit back east because they have so much talent in LA, the Bay area, Seattle and Vegas and there are only a few elite teams to fight for those players. Of course Arizona still does very well back East and even UCLA did well in Ben Howland's last year:

 

2012 UCLA recruiting class (#1 or #2 recruiting class in the country that year, depending on the recruiting service):

 

C Tony Parker (Miller Grove HS) Lithonia, GA *****

SF Shabazz Muhammad (Bishop Gorman HS) Las Vegas, NV *****

SF Kyle Anderson (St. Anthony HS) Jersey City, NJ *****

SF Jordan Adams (Oak Hill Academy) Mouth Of Wilson, VA ****

 

2012 Arizona recruiting class (#1 or #2 recruiting class in the country that year, depending on the recruiting service):

 

C Kaleb Tarczewski (St. Mark's School) Southborough, MA *****

PF Brandon Ashley (Findlay Prep) Henderson, NV *****

C Grant Jerrett (Lutheran HS) La Verne, CA *****

SG Gabe York (Lutheran HS - Orange County) Orange, CA ****

[Exile on Waveland]

I'll say 5th place Big 10. 5-7 NCAA seed.

 

I'd take that in a heartbeat, no question.

 

Same. The high-end of that range would be my goal for this season.

 

The roster is long, athletic, and talented. However, it's inexperienced and raw. Interior play is basically one big question mark. Perhaps most concerning, to me, is that I'm unsure how well the pieces fit together. There are only three scholarship guards on the roster--one being a freshman (Stanford Robinson) and one being a senior transfer (Evan Gordon) in his one (and only) year in the program. Two of the (mostly likely) best players on the team (Noah Vonleh, Jeremy Hollowell) are likely positionally redundant in Crean's system and may not always be able to play together. The starting/most common lineup figures to either be a bit awkward or not include the best five players.

[rawaction]

I'll say 5th place Big 10. 5-7 NCAA seed.

 

I'd take that in a heartbeat, no question.

 

Same. The high-end of that range would be my goal for this season.

 

The roster is long, athletic, and talented. However, it's inexperienced and raw. Interior play is basically one big question mark. Perhaps most concerning, to me, is that I'm unsure how well the pieces fit together. There are only three scholarship guards on the roster--one being a freshman (Stanford Robinson) and one being a senior transfer (Evan Gordon) in his one (and only) year in the program. Two of the (mostly likely) best players on the team (Noah Vonleh, Jeremy Hollowell) are likely positionally redundant in Crean's system and may not always be able to play together. The starting/most common lineup figures to either be a bit awkward or not include the best five players.

 

Yeah definitely not going to have the best 5 starting. Going to have a host of good 6-7 to 6-9 players. The lack of guards is concerning but Sheehey, Williams and Etherington (sounds like he could have a role) can all play the 2.

[snoodmonger]

KU snagged Kelly Oubre over UK and others today. Awesome pickup.

[SouthSideRyan]

KU snagged Kelly Oubre over UK and others today. Awesome pickup.

 

http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/recruiting/ncb/players/full/141425.png&w=350&h=254

[snoodmonger]

KU snagged Kelly Oubre over UK and others today. Awesome pickup.

 

http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/recruiting/ncb/players/full/141425.png&w=350&h=254

 

i'd hit it

[scarey]

Is there anything worse than having to endure discussions about Purdue basketball?

 

Stop it. You are going to make Robbie Hummel cry and when Robbie Hummel cries, Da Bum eats more chili and from that point you are just asking for trouble from a butterfly effect of bad gas.

 

Can we stop having DaBum as the representative Purdue fan? Nobody liked him, including other Purdue fans, and he's been gone for what... 3 years now?

 

You have a plethora of other Purdue fans that currently post here to pick from.

[Smack]

Is there anything worse than having to endure discussions about Purdue basketball?

 

Stop it. You are going to make Robbie Hummel cry and when Robbie Hummel cries, Da Bum eats more chili and from that point you are just asking for trouble from a butterfly effect of bad gas.

 

Can we stop having DaBum as the representative Purdue fan? Nobody liked him, including other Purdue fans, and he's been gone for what... 3 years now?

 

You have a plethora of other Purdue fans that currently post here to pick from.

 

It's just an easy way for them to troll us. Most of the IU fans aren't bad around here anyway. Plus Sulley is just being himself... a closet IU fan and thus he naturally hates Purdue.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Can we stop having DaBum as the representative Purdue fan?

no

[SouthSideRyan]

Is there anything worse than having to endure discussions about Purdue basketball?

 

Stop it. You are going to make Robbie Hummel cry and when Robbie Hummel cries, Da Bum eats more chili and from that point you are just asking for trouble from a butterfly effect of bad gas.

 

Can we stop having DaBum as the representative Purdue fan? Nobody liked him, including other Purdue fans, and he's been gone for what... 3 years now?

 

You have a plethora of other Purdue fans that currently post here to pick from.

 

Smack hasn't exactly draped himself in glory the past couple seasons

[Smack]

http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/dj-byrd-arrested.jpg