DISQUS

pacino · 1 year ago

I was very impressed with Pritchard. For a guy that is a freshman playing in his first game in Assembly Hall he didn't do too shabby. A double double is pretty dang impressive. Is he D.J. , NO but he can become a solid Big Ten player.

Hoosier_Hound · 1 year ago

I was really pleased with Pritchard too. He has that instinct to position and rotate himself where the ball can be passed to him and where he can rebound. He was much better in the first game of his college career than Taber is now in his senior season, so I think it's a poor comparison right there. If he keeps getting better, and he surely will, he'll be a solid post player.

Dumes and Moore and my new favorite players though. I have to admit its partially because they were the two who most looked like they had played basketball before last night.

Remember though, for nearly everyone out there it was there FIRST EVER college game and we still know next to nothing about them.

Hoosier_Hound · 1 year ago

Oh and there's Jobe, who is doubly pitiful because he is already a junior this year. It will take a Helen Keller miracle from him and Crean to make a Big Ten basketball player out of him.

southsidehitmen · 1 year ago

I'm with you on Verdell Jones, I like his game but have one small concern. That concern is that he throws very soft passes. He's gotten away with it in the exhibitions and against Northwestern State, but against Big Ten teams he'll have far more turnovers if he doesn't get sharper when he dishes the rock.

Pritchard is much more talented than Taber, I don't agree with that comparison at all. He's a true freshman and IU can't afford to keep him off the court because he's their only viable big man. If he put him with some other bigs in the next couple of years he has the potential to be an all-conference player.

BornRed · 1 year ago

Pritchard is more talented, but is not much more effective at this point. He is more of a threat to score, but he is not athletic or strong enough to really be counted on at this point in his career. Big Ten postmen will eat him up. He would be much more effective as a sidekick than the man down low. There just is not much of a presence in the post this year.

cooper · 1 year ago

I thought they did exactly what they should have, it was a good win. I think Dumes will be able to score consistently. Funny, I had the opposite feeling on Jones, until looking at his line I didn't realize he played that well. He needs to work on dribble for sure. You are exactly right about Taber and Pritchard they act related. Pretty much stiffs, and Jobe, I hope he plays just for the hilarity of it. I was expecting him to be very skinny for some reason, moves like he is made of stone. Nick Williams reminds me of Ron Artest. Will score more hopefully. I agree with the Moore/Suhr comparison too, Moore is much better. Overall they will have to rebound much better and dribble better but a good first performance

BTOWN40 · 1 year ago

I am going to have to change my user-name until Jobe graduates.(he wears of all the numbers he could choose from nbr 40, I doubt he can live up to that number)..good effort from the kid, but the bball skills are very very raw.
Daniel Moore impressed me the most, he struck me as very solid dribbler with a high basketball IQ.
Verdell Jones looked ok, but needs to work on his passing, dribbling, and decesion making, hopefully that will come with maturity.
Devan Dumes..SOLID
Nick Williams didn't seem to be as athletic as I thought he would, especially for an Alabama state player of the year in high school.
Overall I was pleased with the effort from the team, coach, and fans...GO IU
now to search for a new name

outanames · 1 year ago

I don't think one can make too many predictions about how good someone is or isn't going to be this year. To put it mildly, we will be outmanned at least 90% of the time this year and that will wear on us eventually. I think this year is all about getting ready for next year and I can see us making some big leaps forward when we have a bigger and better talented group of players. I think Rivers will play alot next year as will Watford and Creek. Add Dumes and give Jones a year of college experience and one can easily see IU being a player in the Big-10 with the bigs we have coming in next year. Rebounding will not be a weakness next year. This year, we can only hope for the best. Win the games we should and steal a few we shouldn't.

Kelin Blab · 1 year ago

There was a certain person on this blog who trumpted the praises of one daniel moore...I know it is only one game but the kid played well. I really like pritchard too, he is more built up than I thought. Dumes is a steal........

BornRed · 1 year ago

As a student, I'm commenting after seeing the team on the court 3 times now. Pritchard is weak. He lacks the strength to effectively finish inside and consistently rebound the ball and has way too many shots blocked by smaller guys. In a typical year, he would contribute a solid 10 - 12 minutes off the bench as a freshman.

Daniel Moore has the best basketball IQ on the team. He plays smart and is solid. My biggest fear with him is that he will not be able to drive to the basket against decent competition.

Story and Williams have shown some promise, but look like they are trying to do too much at this point. I think they will look better once they are more comfortable in the offense.

Finkelmeier scares me. He is uncomfortable with the ball and will be so ineffective offensely that we are in trouble if he ends up playing significant minutes.

Overall, our guard play should inprove as the year goes on, but we will be in bad shape underneath all year. Jobe is nothing more than a warm body at this point, and Taber and Pritch aren't much of a scoring threat. Interior defense is atrocious and will be the biggest obstacle to overcome this year.

outanames · 1 year ago

As the competition gets tougher, I think you'll see more of an eight-man rotation with the seven scholarship players and Moore getting the majority of the playing time. If matchups allow, Finkelmeier may see time as well. Jobe will be only a spot player in the forseeable future. The others will be rewarded with pt if and when possible. You're pretty much spot on with your current assessments. I do think Pritchard will blossom into a pretty good 4 in the not too distant future. Taking the ball to the basket will not be a strong point for this team when playing the better teams. Maybe we'll be a little like a Butler team this year, however it will be difficult with the lack of experience..

dale11 · 1 year ago

Not to knit pick...but "Tom Pritchard is like Kyle Taber, except left-handed." Taber is also left handed.

Eamonn · 1 year ago

Haha, a very good point. Still shaking off the rust this early in the season.

In general, I don't mean to be so tough on Pritchard. He's clearly more talented than Taber. I guess that against a small team, I was hoping for a lot more from a guy who is going to be playing a lot against the Big Ten's best big men.

student · 1 year ago

After seeing us feebly attempt to rebound against NWSU, I realized that we're really going to struggle against teams with pure athletes like Michigan. Initially I thought we were going to be good enough fundamentally to challenge athletic teams, but now..... Not so much.

I keep telling myself that Tijan Jobe is a scholarship athlete at IU, and I still can't believe it.

Oh and how awesome are our walk-on Carmel guards with matching facemasks?

JerryCT · 1 year ago

Looks like IUPUI is about as young as we are and get their points from wing players. Its going to be a great test for Story, WIlliams, Taber, Pritchard , jones to see if we can defend while out working them to a W.

Matt_J · 1 year ago

I'm also not ashamed to say that I had no idea who was who on the floor. I could pick out Jobe, but after that, I had no idea.

I think the BTN should have had tags floating over the players heads, kind of like FOX and ESPN do when they're covering NASCAR races. Would have helped me figuring things out.

Good write-up, though. I had a lot of the same thoughts, myself. Even though the team looks...passable...at best, I still love it because basketball season is finally here!