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POTB 546: IU basketball's stellar 3-0 start with Ryan Corazza · Podcast on the Brink

0:18
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another episode of podcast on the Brink.
0:22
Speaker 1: It's Friday, November fourteenth, Indiana basketball three and oh on
0:27
Speaker 1: this young season. Nice to see some upward movement movement
0:31
Speaker 1: and all the metrics of nice steady rise here to
0:34
Speaker 1: begin the season. And Ken Palm a lot of excitement
0:37
Speaker 1: about this Indiana basketball team. Joining us on this week's
0:40
Speaker 1: episode of Podcasts on the Brank. Ryan Kraza inside the Hall.
0:44
Speaker 1: Before we get to Ryan on this week's episode, wanted
0:47
Speaker 1: to take a quick second ask if you have a moment,
0:51
Speaker 1: leave us the rating and review over on Apple Podcasts
0:54
Speaker 1: or over on Spotify. And our YouTube channel is inching
0:58
Speaker 1: closer to nine thousand subscribers. If you like the video podcast,
1:04
Speaker 1: please like the video subscriber to the channel. We've kind
1:08
Speaker 1: of mentioned that we're hoping to get to ten thousand
1:10
Speaker 1: subscribers sooner rather than later. So thank you for your
1:12
Speaker 1: continued support. There, Ryan, welcome back to the show. Exciting
1:18
Speaker 1: start to the season for IU basketball. Exciting start of
1:22
Speaker 1: the season for the new version of Film Session. The
1:28
Speaker 1: reaction to that's been really strong. I've as someone that
1:31
Speaker 1: has consumed and edited and read Film Session for a
1:33
Speaker 1: long time enjoying the new version, the new setup. So
1:38
Speaker 1: thanks for all the updates there. What's kind of been
1:41
Speaker 1: your thoughts on the reaction to that and just how
1:43
Speaker 1: it's been received. It seems like everyone's really enjoying the
1:46
Speaker 1: updates you've been in the off season.
1:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, honestly, it was a selfish move this
1:53
Speaker 2: offseason because I was really kind of racking my brain
1:55
Speaker 2: to try to figure out how to get a little
1:57
Speaker 2: bit more efficient with it. Have it taken a little
1:59
Speaker 2: bit less time, because sometimes they can be pretty time
2:02
Speaker 2: consuming for me. So kind of started that way, but
2:05
Speaker 2: as it evolved, you know, I think it's had a
2:07
Speaker 2: dual purpose of both being a little bit less time
2:09
Speaker 2: consuming on my hat, my myself, a little bit less
2:12
Speaker 2: cognitive load on me, but also a little bit more engaging,
2:15
Speaker 2: a little bit more entertaining, a little bit more conversational.
2:18
Speaker 2: I think, just a better product to be putting out
2:20
Speaker 2: there for the readers, last watchers of the world out there.
2:24
Speaker 3: So yeah, it's it's been good and excited to keep
2:26
Speaker 3: it going.
2:28
Speaker 1: So Indiana three wins so far, Alabama, Alabama A and
2:31
Speaker 1: M Marquette, and then Milwaukee most recently. None none of
2:35
Speaker 1: the three games had been close. I think most of
2:37
Speaker 1: us expected that Marquette would be a stiff test, and
2:39
Speaker 1: it was there for you know, a good portion of
2:42
Speaker 1: the first half before Indiana kind of put some distance
2:44
Speaker 1: between themselves and the Golden Eagles late in the first
2:47
Speaker 1: half and then kept the I think the lead double
2:50
Speaker 1: figures the entire second half, so wasn't really a close game.
2:53
Speaker 1: I'm just curious, you know, obviously don't want to talk
2:58
Speaker 1: about the past of Indiana basketball. This is a new chapter.
3:01
Speaker 1: But I'm just curious for you know, we've been doing
3:04
Speaker 1: this now since two thousand and seven, You've been watching
3:07
Speaker 1: How You Basketball since what two thousand and two or
3:10
Speaker 1: three at least. What's been kind of your reaction just
3:16
Speaker 1: to the new style of play that Indiana's had so
3:19
Speaker 1: far this season. I'm sure someone that's breaking down this
3:22
Speaker 1: content right in the minute. After doing these film sessions.
3:26
Speaker 1: It's been a, I guess, a refreshing way to kind
3:31
Speaker 1: of look at this team now just from the standpoint
3:35
Speaker 1: of how they're playing, how the ball moves, the three
3:37
Speaker 1: point shot, just the offense. I've found myself, you know,
3:41
Speaker 1: as someone who tries to stay as impartial as possible,
3:44
Speaker 1: but it's just been a lot more fun to watch.
3:47
Speaker 1: I feel like I feel like that's been the reaction
3:49
Speaker 1: from a lot of the fan base. Do you feel
3:50
Speaker 1: the same way and kind of what are your early
3:52
Speaker 1: reactions here in that we have three games in the
3:55
Speaker 1: books and have this have some data to look at
3:57
Speaker 1: from this team.
4:00
Speaker 2: Well, I'd say this, I think it's pretty apparent that
4:03
Speaker 2: there's I don't know, I guess I could call them
4:05
Speaker 2: surface level observations that are very apparent right in front
4:09
Speaker 2: of your face because of the star contrast from the
4:12
Speaker 2: last eight years of this program before Darren Devize took over,
4:18
Speaker 2: in terms of, as you said, the three point shooting,
4:20
Speaker 2: the ball movement, the spacing, the unpredictability of what they're
4:25
Speaker 2: going to do from possession to possession. Even within certain actions,
4:29
Speaker 2: they can do a number of things off of them.
4:31
Speaker 3: And I think that's all warranted.
4:32
Speaker 2: And true, and you know, I pretty much agree with
4:36
Speaker 2: it all it is.
4:37
Speaker 3: It is quite different.
4:39
Speaker 2: But I think for me, I'm also almost more curious
4:45
Speaker 2: about why that's happened, right, And I think this doesn't
4:48
Speaker 2: does didn't just happen?
4:49
Speaker 3: This isn't this wasn't luck.
4:51
Speaker 2: I think Indiana hired a good basketball coach that can
4:56
Speaker 2: run a system from top to bottom, a program and
4:59
Speaker 2: a culture from top to bottom. Rather and he knew
5:02
Speaker 2: exactly what type of player he wanted, and as they
5:05
Speaker 2: kept kind of coming in, you could see, okay, this
5:07
Speaker 2: some super high assists rates from guys that he brought
5:10
Speaker 2: in the from last season, some great shooting, and a
5:14
Speaker 2: lot of experience, and so this didn't just happen by accident.
5:18
Speaker 3: I think there's a coach that had a plan.
5:21
Speaker 2: He even seems a little I mean, he's, as he
5:23
Speaker 2: said a couple of times, a little bit surprised about
5:25
Speaker 2: how quickly this offense came together.
5:28
Speaker 3: But he definitely had a plan for this.
5:30
Speaker 2: And I think he's also coached that, unlike the last
5:33
Speaker 2: two coaches, understands the assignment of being the coach here
5:37
Speaker 2: in this time and in this era where sort of
5:40
Speaker 2: the fan base is at, where the kind of university
5:43
Speaker 2: is at, with everything with the basketball program, and what
5:45
Speaker 2: he needs to do to sort of work the public
5:48
Speaker 2: relations angle a little bit, work the uh, work the
5:51
Speaker 2: crowd a little bit, as it were, but also is
5:54
Speaker 2: running the type of program and the type of offense,
5:57
Speaker 2: and has the type of background and experience to actually
6:02
Speaker 2: have Indiana make a name for itself again and get
6:05
Speaker 2: back into the mix. And how high up this team
6:07
Speaker 2: goes this year or during his tenure, I don't know,
6:09
Speaker 2: but I just feel like there's a reason for this,
6:12
Speaker 2: and there's a good foundation and these are sort of
6:15
Speaker 2: the fruits of all that coming to bor here in
6:19
Speaker 2: the first couple couple games.
6:23
Speaker 1: So throughout the offseason as this roster was as symboled,
6:27
Speaker 1: and I know we talked back in the spring just
6:28
Speaker 1: kind of about that and some of the pieces, But
6:32
Speaker 1: what were your general expectations entering this season, because we
6:36
Speaker 1: obviously had the sample of games from the Puerto Rico trip.
6:40
Speaker 1: Obviously neither of us were there, so we couldn't actually
6:43
Speaker 1: we saw bits and pieces. We saw some highlights. We
6:45
Speaker 1: saw the Marian Exhibition, which you can't really take too
6:50
Speaker 1: much out of that playing what was a severely overmatched opponent.
6:54
Speaker 1: And you had the Baylor Exhibition where they had kind
6:57
Speaker 1: of the quirky rules where guys weren't fouling out out
7:00
Speaker 1: and you didn't necessarily know how each team was approaching
7:03
Speaker 1: it because it was a game that didn't count. And
7:06
Speaker 1: so I kind of found myself entering the season thinking,
7:10
Speaker 1: you know, this is a team that has obviously a
7:13
Speaker 1: lot of talent. Offensively, there's the pieces if everything comes
7:17
Speaker 1: together correctly. And again, there's been three games, so I'm
7:20
Speaker 1: not trying to make any grand proclamation that this is
7:22
Speaker 1: a you know, a four or five seed in the tournament.
7:25
Speaker 1: I'm not signed to say anything like that, but I
7:29
Speaker 1: kind of felt like, if this team was able to
7:32
Speaker 1: get into the NCAA Tournament, that's a strong first season
7:36
Speaker 1: based on kind of where things were the last two years.
7:38
Speaker 1: I'm just kind of curious for your thoughts on what
7:40
Speaker 1: you expected when the first game started in terms of
7:45
Speaker 1: what this team would look like, and if you feel
7:48
Speaker 1: any differently in terms of those expectations now that three
7:51
Speaker 1: games have been played.
7:55
Speaker 2: I don't know, man, I'm like, I feel like, especially
7:58
Speaker 2: in this era, and as you know from doing the
8:01
Speaker 2: the Top What forty list now with Dylan before the season,
8:05
Speaker 2: it's so hard, especially with how much player movement that
8:08
Speaker 2: is there is, and so I I don't know if
8:11
Speaker 2: I really had a a here's what I think this
8:16
Speaker 2: team's gonna do but before the season, and if that's
8:19
Speaker 2: shifted at all, because I really didn't know and I
8:22
Speaker 2: guess that's just my honest answer. I will say that
8:26
Speaker 2: I just think for this program in general, the bar
8:33
Speaker 2: it's got to be getting in a tournament. I just
8:35
Speaker 2: think that that it has to be. And I think
8:38
Speaker 2: with what was assembled before the season, I thought that that.
8:44
Speaker 3: Could be achieved. I didn't. I didn't think it was
8:47
Speaker 3: like a stamp and guarantee.
8:49
Speaker 2: But it looked like, you know, if you can finish
8:51
Speaker 2: in the top half of the league etcaed get one
8:54
Speaker 2: or two, you know, Marquee wins in the non conference, you.
8:57
Speaker 3: Give yourself a good shot at that.
8:58
Speaker 2: I thought that this mixed player could do it, and honestly,
9:02
Speaker 2: I would probably still keep.
9:04
Speaker 3: Right there that I think. I don't know.
9:08
Speaker 2: The weird thing is, too, is it's like your personal
9:10
Speaker 2: expectations versus like the narrative that's been put out there.
9:13
Speaker 2: And I think the narrative is this team is overperforming
9:17
Speaker 2: from what they've been prognosticated against. And I think they're
9:20
Speaker 2: also getting a little bit of a buffer because the
9:22
Speaker 2: football team's so good that the expectations. So I feel
9:25
Speaker 2: like going in the season, the expectations were like, it's
9:28
Speaker 2: okay if they don't make the tournament because this is
9:30
Speaker 2: a new team and it's a new coach and we're
9:32
Speaker 2: just kind of getting this foundation set this year. But
9:35
Speaker 2: I think now in these first three, you know, if
9:38
Speaker 2: we can only narrow in these first three games, I
9:41
Speaker 2: would say that they are exceeding maybe a national or
9:47
Speaker 2: media narrative or just what people were setting the bar
9:52
Speaker 2: for them at I think that has been exceeded so far.
9:54
Speaker 2: But as you said, it's only a couple of games.
9:56
Speaker 2: But I don't know, I mean some of this stuff,
9:59
Speaker 2: I don't think we'll percrees are both going to be
10:01
Speaker 2: shooting over fifty percent from three for the rest of
10:03
Speaker 2: the year. But I think that the way that this
10:05
Speaker 2: offense is constructed and this team is constructed, it can
10:09
Speaker 2: carry them on some nights when their weaknesses are being
10:13
Speaker 2: exposed a bit.
10:14
Speaker 3: And I think we've seen that in a couple of
10:16
Speaker 3: these games, right, Like you can.
10:17
Speaker 2: See they're not going to be the best rim protecting team,
10:20
Speaker 2: which is something that was said in the offseason, right,
10:23
Speaker 2: And you can see that this is not the most
10:24
Speaker 2: athletic team, but the style they play in the great
10:28
Speaker 2: shooting that they have and then getting really easy looks
10:31
Speaker 2: at the rim off of back doors and all the
10:34
Speaker 2: other stuff that they're doing to get easy shots at
10:36
Speaker 2: the rim and have high percent of three point shooters
10:39
Speaker 2: take three pointers. It can mask some of your deficiencies
10:43
Speaker 2: because you're so elite at that, at least in these
10:45
Speaker 2: first couple of games. And I think we've seen that
10:47
Speaker 2: that over the course of forty minutes. It's like it's
10:49
Speaker 2: just a methodical if a freight trank can be methodical,
10:53
Speaker 2: it's just like they just kind of keep coming and coming,
10:56
Speaker 2: and over the course of a game, you're cooked.
10:59
Speaker 3: You know.
11:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, death by thousand cuts maybe is a good way
11:04
Speaker 1: to put it. In terms of the approach offensively, what
11:07
Speaker 1: is I guess I'm curious to kind of pick your
11:14
Speaker 1: brain a little bit on this because you break down
11:16
Speaker 1: like you come up with a theme pretty much out
11:19
Speaker 1: of every game that you try to hone in on
11:20
Speaker 1: for film session. When you're looking at, you know, at
11:23
Speaker 1: a specific thing one game, it might be Tritt Sisley,
11:25
Speaker 1: you did one on that, you did Taton connorway from
11:27
Speaker 1: the most recent game you've You've done, a Derees game,
11:30
Speaker 1: you've done Wilkerson. I'm curious just for when you look
11:35
Speaker 1: at this offense and when you kind of see the
11:37
Speaker 1: little wrinkles, you do you feel like, is it how
11:43
Speaker 1: much of this is just concepts versus sets when you
11:47
Speaker 1: watch this? Are they doing things differently now that the
11:51
Speaker 1: regular season started versus the the preseason, because when Derees
11:56
Speaker 1: talked about the exhibition games, he was basically like, I'm
11:59
Speaker 1: not going to open up the full lightbook. And now
12:01
Speaker 1: every game I feel like I'm seeing like a little
12:03
Speaker 1: different wrinkle, whether it be a backdoor cut or kind
12:06
Speaker 1: of how they're setting, And it seems like we'll have
12:09
Speaker 1: two or three plays a game where they're getting like
12:10
Speaker 1: an easy basket at the rim. So I'm curious schematically
12:13
Speaker 1: kind of what you're seeing out of what they're doing
12:15
Speaker 1: offensively and how much of it you feel like is
12:18
Speaker 1: actual sets versus just feel and just letting them play.
12:25
Speaker 2: Right now, I still don't feel like they're scripting a ton,
12:28
Speaker 2: and I think it's more concepts out of specific areas
12:34
Speaker 2: of the court. Right, So for instance, I think the
12:37
Speaker 2: technical chure and for this the technical basketball access in
12:40
Speaker 2: an O term is sort of that get split action
12:42
Speaker 2: that they're running right, which is either it's often read
12:45
Speaker 2: Bailey that's coming up to kind of the slot area
12:50
Speaker 2: kind of right next to the top of the key
12:52
Speaker 2: and getting the ball and from there, there's just a
12:55
Speaker 2: lot of things that can happen, right, And it's all
12:58
Speaker 2: dependent on what the defense is doing, and that's what
13:01
Speaker 2: makes it tough.
13:01
Speaker 3: Right, Like if tuckerve Reese is on that strong.
13:04
Speaker 2: Side with Bailey and he's getting face guarded because he
13:09
Speaker 2: can hit a three very quickly, he's got a quick release,
13:11
Speaker 2: he's got great balance. Then he'll just cut back door
13:15
Speaker 2: and because Indiana has all that spacing, he can get
13:17
Speaker 2: an easy layup off that and re Bailey's a great passer, right,
13:21
Speaker 2: But that same exact positioning could happen and the defender
13:26
Speaker 2: could be off him a little bit and that pass
13:31
Speaker 2: just comes and he makes it three, or it goes
13:34
Speaker 2: into a dribble handoff from re Bailey to him and
13:37
Speaker 2: re Bailey sets a ball screen for then him to
13:38
Speaker 2: get up the quick three. Or sometimes Lamar Wilkerson's also
13:41
Speaker 2: on that strong side and they're one setting a flare
13:44
Speaker 2: screen for the other. And again, depending on what the
13:45
Speaker 2: defense does, sometimes they feel like they can the guy
13:48
Speaker 2: setting that flare can can slip to the basket for
13:50
Speaker 2: another back door or the three happens. So to me,
13:52
Speaker 2: it's sort of a more I don't know read and
13:55
Speaker 2: reacts the right term, but it's based on what's happening
13:58
Speaker 2: in the moment, and it's a little bit more feel
14:00
Speaker 2: and I think because these guys have a lot of
14:03
Speaker 2: experience just playing basketball and are unselfish, it's just about
14:07
Speaker 2: what's being given in any minute, at any moment that
14:11
Speaker 2: I think is what makes this what it is right now.
14:15
Speaker 2: And so yeah, I wouldn't see where as you know,
14:17
Speaker 2: I know you said at the top of the pod.
14:20
Speaker 2: I've heard other observers at the program say this too,
14:22
Speaker 2: Like for me, I don't I don't care about uh
14:25
Speaker 2: comparing it to past arrows because I also feel like
14:28
Speaker 2: that's how it makes sense of what's happening now.
14:30
Speaker 3: And I think the difference is.
14:32
Speaker 2: When Indiana ran stuff under Mike Woodson, like I honestly
14:35
Speaker 2: think like their best offense was often Trey Galloway in
14:39
Speaker 2: a ball screen and either where a couple of seasons
14:42
Speaker 2: ago or Ballow setting that screen and then it could
14:44
Speaker 2: either be a lob for one of those the two
14:46
Speaker 2: big men, or Trey Galloway was pretty you know, depending
14:49
Speaker 2: on the opponent.
14:50
Speaker 3: Depending on how.
14:51
Speaker 2: Good the defense was, he could hit a lot of
14:53
Speaker 2: those runners in the lane.
14:54
Speaker 3: But that was it.
14:55
Speaker 2: It was like they had two Each player ran the
14:58
Speaker 2: same path on the core. It's like they're bowling right,
15:01
Speaker 2: and you got your lane in the in the in
15:03
Speaker 2: this the slick there right, you're just thrown it in
15:05
Speaker 2: the same spot, right, And that's what that was. And
15:09
Speaker 2: it was very predictable, but it could still work and
15:11
Speaker 2: they could still win games out of it. Here, I
15:14
Speaker 2: think there's all of these different angles and all of
15:16
Speaker 2: these different there's so much more variance out of the
15:19
Speaker 2: same action, and that's what makes it so hard to guard.
15:23
Speaker 3: And it's really that it's like a C cell where it's.
15:27
Speaker 2: Like, all right, you're gonna lean this way, we're gonna
15:30
Speaker 2: take it back the other way, we're gonna we're gonna
15:32
Speaker 2: cut to the basket or otherwise.
15:33
Speaker 3: You know, we're gonna shoot the three pointers.
15:35
Speaker 2: So there's that, But I also feel like, you know,
15:38
Speaker 2: as I did for today's film session with Connorway, I
15:40
Speaker 2: don't and you know, he's one for six on threes
15:42
Speaker 2: this year. I know he'll probably keep shooting it, but
15:44
Speaker 2: you know, he didn't have a great percentage I think
15:46
Speaker 2: throughout his entire career and you know, last year at Troy.
15:49
Speaker 2: But he also offers sort of a counter to that,
15:53
Speaker 2: and the way that he can actually drive to the basket,
15:56
Speaker 2: not based off of uh somebody face guarding regarding him
16:00
Speaker 2: be hind the three, because he is I mean, wil
16:03
Speaker 2: Clerson can do it too.
16:04
Speaker 3: I actually think he can drive the whole pretty well.
16:05
Speaker 2: Devrees maybe not quite as much as those guys, but
16:09
Speaker 2: Conray also, as I said in today's film session, has
16:12
Speaker 2: his own sort of unpredictability because of the way that
16:14
Speaker 2: he plays.
16:15
Speaker 3: He's shifty once he gets into the lane, and the.
16:17
Speaker 2: Way that he was attacking, and they really thought it
16:21
Speaker 2: sounds like after the game they really thought against Milwaukee
16:24
Speaker 2: that they could take advantage one on one with him.
16:26
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, he had like nine pretty
16:28
Speaker 2: much eighteen of his points came at the basket, either
16:31
Speaker 2: via makes or three of three throws after he got fouled.
16:34
Speaker 2: So yeah, I don't know, I need to wrap this
16:37
Speaker 2: point up here, but more or less, I think right
16:39
Speaker 2: now it is more out of concepts, and as the
16:42
Speaker 2: season goes along, they might be scripting stuff a little
16:46
Speaker 2: bit more In situations that they need to to win
16:49
Speaker 2: games and pull that stuff out of their bag in
16:51
Speaker 2: a way that right now, I just think against these teams,
16:55
Speaker 2: the concepts are enough to be getting them through.
16:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, to kind of put a bow on that, I mean,
17:01
Speaker 1: I was thinking as you talked to it kind of
17:04
Speaker 1: re reinforces the fact that you know, you mentioned earlier,
17:10
Speaker 1: Derez had a plan for what he wanted to do
17:12
Speaker 1: to get a specific type of guy and to be
17:15
Speaker 1: able to execute like what they're doing, they had to
17:19
Speaker 1: make sure that they found the right pieces. So to me,
17:21
Speaker 1: that tells me that they had a plan and that
17:23
Speaker 1: they were looking for a specific type of player rather
17:26
Speaker 1: than again trying to just throw as much talent out
17:29
Speaker 1: there as possible and hope the pieces fit together. Maybe
17:32
Speaker 1: you go after, you know, a little bit less talented piece.
17:35
Speaker 1: Connor and writes an example of this, He people wondered
17:39
Speaker 1: kind of early in the season, like what's going to
17:41
Speaker 1: be his role? He doesn't shoot, he did, but you
17:43
Speaker 1: watch him during the game. He always knows where he's
17:46
Speaker 1: supposed to be. He's a willing passer, he plays hard
17:49
Speaker 1: on both ends of the court, and you know, he
17:51
Speaker 1: stepped up and made a couple shots. The last one
17:54
Speaker 1: game was a half court shot, but last game he
17:56
Speaker 1: was wide up and made a three pointer. So I
18:00
Speaker 1: like the idea of recruiting to the system and finding
18:04
Speaker 1: the pieces that you have to have in order for
18:07
Speaker 1: your plan to work, rather than just trying to get
18:10
Speaker 1: guys and hope that you figure it out later. So
18:13
Speaker 1: that that's been really impressive to me. I'm curious for
18:17
Speaker 1: your thoughts on just through these first three games, anything
18:20
Speaker 1: that is a concern just in terms of when the
18:24
Speaker 1: schedule toughens up. You know, it's been We've talked a
18:29
Speaker 1: lot about the brim protection and rebounding. I'm curious. I'm
18:34
Speaker 1: sure those are will come to mind. Is there anything
18:35
Speaker 1: else that you look at and say, this is something
18:39
Speaker 1: that needs to get better or something that gives you
18:43
Speaker 1: pause in terms of when they get into the big
18:45
Speaker 1: ten play that it could give them problems.
18:49
Speaker 3: Depth.
18:50
Speaker 2: Maybe they've been able to split out the minutes pretty well.
18:54
Speaker 2: If you look after games, it's not like guys are
18:56
Speaker 2: playing thirty eight thirty nine minutes. But right now I think,
19:01
Speaker 2: and look, he's not gonna be playing ten guys. I
19:05
Speaker 2: think once I don't think that's what Darren Deveeze is
19:08
Speaker 2: gonna do. But and I'm wondering, so, yeah, I would
19:12
Speaker 2: say depth right now, because if Reed Bailey gets in
19:15
Speaker 2: the fall trouble, I mean, Sam Alexis, I think in
19:17
Speaker 2: some games is going to be probably a better matchup.
19:19
Speaker 2: But that sort of front court role somewhat for we
19:25
Speaker 2: say rim protection. But I just think in general, there
19:27
Speaker 2: are going to be matchups where Reed Bailey's going to
19:30
Speaker 2: be matched up on somebody and it's going to be
19:33
Speaker 2: a pretty big mismatch, right, And we've seen that a
19:36
Speaker 2: little bit already, especially with him as the starter. I
19:38
Speaker 2: just don't think he has I mean, he's he's got
19:42
Speaker 2: a lot of great astributes and he fits the system
19:45
Speaker 2: and this is why he's on the team and this
19:46
Speaker 2: is why he's starting. But he doesn't have much physicality, right,
19:50
Speaker 2: and I think Alexis is a guy that does. And
19:52
Speaker 2: and so I'm interested to see if the season goes
19:55
Speaker 2: along sort of where the minutes are dispersed when they
19:58
Speaker 2: might need somebody that's a little bit more physical. That said,
20:02
Speaker 2: as this is an old Tom kreenism, but it's like,
20:05
Speaker 2: well they got to match up with us, too, right,
20:07
Speaker 2: So if you've got to be garden rebail out on
20:08
Speaker 2: the perimeter and all those sorts of things that can
20:11
Speaker 2: maybe counteracted a little bit for yourself.
20:12
Speaker 3: So yeah, i'd say depth.
20:14
Speaker 2: And really how Nick Dorn fits into two things as
20:19
Speaker 2: well right now, because I think he did get those
20:21
Speaker 2: couple of minutes against Milwaukee, but.
20:25
Speaker 1: Uh, it's it's.
20:26
Speaker 2: Always like this is going so well and he seems
20:29
Speaker 2: to be, you know, from all accounts, has been shooting
20:32
Speaker 2: the ball really well in practice, and it can fit
20:34
Speaker 2: into the system as well, but it's like where where
20:37
Speaker 2: does he actually slot in and how does that maybe
20:39
Speaker 2: affect things, because it does seem like he's going to
20:41
Speaker 2: be a rotation piece and you know, it could be
20:44
Speaker 2: sort of the first guy off the bench and that
20:46
Speaker 2: might move sicily back a little bit. So maybe just
20:49
Speaker 2: trying to figure out the depth and where some of
20:51
Speaker 2: these pieces beyond you know, Devreason Wilkerson are sort of
20:58
Speaker 2: fitting within the system, and also how that also sort
21:03
Speaker 2: of rolls up to the larger picture of a Big
21:05
Speaker 2: ten season where sometimes matchup dependent, it's going to be
21:09
Speaker 2: a pretty pretty different stylistic clash between the types of
21:14
Speaker 2: players that they have in the court versus what they
21:15
Speaker 2: might have to match up with.
21:17
Speaker 1: You mentioned Cissly, he's been one of the bigger, I
21:21
Speaker 1: want to say, surprises. We saw a little bit from
21:23
Speaker 1: his stats down in Puerto Rico that he was going
21:25
Speaker 1: to be a guy that came in and made an impact,
21:27
Speaker 1: but didn't play great in the Baylor game, but really
21:30
Speaker 1: played excellent against Marquette. When watching the film on him,
21:36
Speaker 1: I think you made a comment on this on maybe
21:39
Speaker 1: on the film session that you did that featured him.
21:41
Speaker 1: He's not a guy that really needs the ball to
21:44
Speaker 1: be effective because he knows kind of what his role
21:47
Speaker 1: is and how to move away from the ball. He's
21:50
Speaker 1: a capable three point shooter. To me, he's a guy that,
21:55
Speaker 1: you know, if Indiana, you know, can build a program
21:59
Speaker 1: where they're bringing in freshmen developing over time. By the
22:02
Speaker 1: time he's a junior senior, could be a really special player,
22:05
Speaker 1: but already capable right now of making an impact. What
22:08
Speaker 1: have been your impressions of Sicily so far through the
22:11
Speaker 1: first three games and what kind of role do you
22:14
Speaker 1: think he can have on this team this season. You
22:16
Speaker 1: mentioned maybe going maybe for less minutes in certain games
22:20
Speaker 1: when they may need guys like Dorn and Miles off
22:23
Speaker 1: the bench. But to me, he's he's valuable from the
22:26
Speaker 1: standpoint of he gives you a little bit more size
22:29
Speaker 1: than those guys and maybe a little bit better rebounder.
22:33
Speaker 1: And to me, he's a guy that should be for
22:35
Speaker 1: the duration of the season playing that fifteen to twenty
22:37
Speaker 1: minute range pretty consistently.
22:41
Speaker 2: Wow, what a different world he walked into than maybe
22:44
Speaker 2: him and his family were expecting, you know, this time
22:47
Speaker 2: last year. I think he committed sometime in the fall
22:50
Speaker 2: last year, right, yeah.
22:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, September of September.
22:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, I think he's he's really in a great
22:57
Speaker 2: spot for a freshman, which, as you said, in which
23:00
Speaker 2: I've previously alluded to, that he doesn't have to do
23:03
Speaker 2: anything other than play off of Indiana's main players in
23:09
Speaker 2: this offense. And it's a great spot for him to
23:11
Speaker 2: be in because I think, you know, there's been mistakes
23:14
Speaker 2: on the court here and there, don't get me wrong,
23:16
Speaker 2: But he's in the right place at the right time.
23:19
Speaker 2: He knows where he's supposed to fit off of. If
23:21
Speaker 2: the defense is keying on a Wilkers center derees, he's cutting,
23:26
Speaker 2: he's getting baskets at the rim. He's shown it ability
23:28
Speaker 2: hit the three pointer. I think defensively he's held up
23:32
Speaker 2: pretty decently too. And I also think just learning from
23:38
Speaker 2: you know, Chucker Derees this year as they're you know,
23:41
Speaker 2: I don't know if they're there's kind of similar players,
23:44
Speaker 2: just shooters with some size and what have you. So
23:48
Speaker 2: I think being in this system, on this team with
23:51
Speaker 2: these seniors is going to be invaluable for him this year,
23:55
Speaker 2: and he's showing that he he already belongs. I also like, yeah,
24:01
Speaker 2: as this goes along, he's the type of player too
24:04
Speaker 2: that I think in the Woodson era was missing in
24:11
Speaker 2: terms of the sweet spot for recruiting those not top
24:16
Speaker 2: top five star tier guys, but somewhere in that whatever
24:19
Speaker 2: forty to one hundred range where these are guys that
24:22
Speaker 2: can grow with you if you know, in this age,
24:25
Speaker 2: if they stick around, if they don't transfer out, and
24:28
Speaker 2: they can.
24:29
Speaker 3: Grow with you.
24:30
Speaker 2: And those are guys that as they become juniors and seniors,
24:32
Speaker 2: are great players and they really know what they're doing,
24:36
Speaker 2: they know the system, they have the experience, they've been there,
24:38
Speaker 2: they're battle tested, and I think when you combine a
24:43
Speaker 2: guy like Trent Sistly with maybe some lighter use, you know,
24:47
Speaker 2: they're still going to be using the portal, but maybe
24:49
Speaker 2: a little bit lighter use of the portal, and DeVries
24:51
Speaker 2: has said he kind of wants a little bit more
24:53
Speaker 2: of a balance obviously this year with the what's available
24:56
Speaker 2: in the portal. It's it's the best way to build
24:59
Speaker 2: a competitive team immediately. Sometimes it doesn't always work. So yeah,
25:04
Speaker 2: I think it's a great situation for him to be in,
25:07
Speaker 2: and uh, it's a world's away from what he might
25:10
Speaker 2: have been walking into otherwise this year.
25:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, you interesting thought they're just about the portal in general.
25:17
Speaker 1: But I was thinking about this the other day myself.
25:20
Speaker 1: You look at some of the guys Anytive brought in specifically,
25:23
Speaker 1: let's focus on somebody like Lamar Wilkerson. He has been
25:27
Speaker 1: so impactful for Indiana really on both ends of the court,
25:30
Speaker 1: specifically though offensively, just with his ability to get to
25:33
Speaker 1: the line and also, you know, make the three point shot,
25:36
Speaker 1: really can score from anywhere. But compare him to maybe
25:39
Speaker 1: some of the other freshmen around the country that were
25:41
Speaker 1: McDonald's All Americans five star type kids. You know, I'd
25:46
Speaker 1: much rather have a Lamar, a twenty three year old
25:49
Speaker 1: Lamar Wilkerson than I would a eighteen year old freshman.
25:52
Speaker 1: What I mean, maybe there's more upside as the season
25:55
Speaker 1: goes along for that freshman to grow into a special player.
25:57
Speaker 1: But from what I'm seeing out of Wilkerson right now now,
26:00
Speaker 1: he's pretty darn good in his role. And to me,
26:06
Speaker 1: you know a lot of it's interesting to me, Like
26:09
Speaker 1: Indiana played Marquette, and you know, in doing research for
26:12
Speaker 1: that game, I came upon the stat that's Shaka. I
26:16
Speaker 1: think this is like his fourth or fifth year at Marquette.
26:18
Speaker 1: He's taken two transfers. And to me, in this era
26:22
Speaker 1: of basketball, as much as the Reez talks about wanting
26:25
Speaker 1: to build through the high school ranks, you know he's
26:28
Speaker 1: gonna sign two players this fall. But I think in
26:31
Speaker 1: order to kind of stay at top of the sport,
26:33
Speaker 1: and you know in the long term, you're gonna have
26:36
Speaker 1: to continue to get guys like Lamar Wilkerson. You know,
26:38
Speaker 1: Tucker to Reeze obviously was kind of a tap in
26:40
Speaker 1: Putt because he's the coach's son. He was gonna come.
26:42
Speaker 1: But guys like Wilkerson, Reed Bailey, Tayt, and Connorway. I
26:47
Speaker 1: think the best programs on a year in year basis again,
26:51
Speaker 1: unless you're gonna recruit all five star kids and get them,
26:54
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to get three or four of these
26:55
Speaker 1: guys on a yearly basis to have the best team.
26:57
Speaker 1: And that may just be how it is, so that
27:00
Speaker 1: that kind of that kind of way of program building
27:04
Speaker 1: I think is here to say.
27:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, and who it's also like also end games for
27:10
Speaker 2: some of these guys, right give you think traditionally in
27:12
Speaker 2: college of basketball, recruiting a five star McDonald's All American,
27:16
Speaker 2: you might only have him for one year, right, and
27:19
Speaker 2: it's it's a fresh and he's a freshman, and that
27:22
Speaker 2: might be it. Now that's conversely, that could be the
27:24
Speaker 2: same if you go out and get a senior in
27:26
Speaker 2: the portal. Right, but all that experience, all that college
27:29
Speaker 2: basketball experience that a senior has or a super senior
27:32
Speaker 2: has versus a McDonald's All American that might be still
27:35
Speaker 2: finding his way a little bit and then maybe breaks
27:38
Speaker 2: out during the conference season, Who would you rather have?
27:41
Speaker 3: And I think it's it's.
27:44
Speaker 2: Been shown that, yeah, getting very tendered, experienced players has
27:48
Speaker 2: been very helpful for programs, and so so yeah, I
27:51
Speaker 2: just it's just another change in this era where I
27:54
Speaker 2: think these guys that have sort of been more college
27:58
Speaker 2: basketball lifers and through the ringer with it as opposed
28:01
Speaker 2: to like a eighteen year old star. The balance there
28:07
Speaker 2: is different in a way that I think pre portal
28:10
Speaker 2: era you'd say, oh, you know, we want to stack
28:11
Speaker 2: as many five stars as we can because that's kind.
28:14
Speaker 3: Of the only way to maybe get upper talent.
28:16
Speaker 2: But a longer tenure guy could still still kind of
28:20
Speaker 2: net out to be better for your team over the
28:22
Speaker 2: course of the season.
28:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, and some of these guys, quite frankly, are just
28:26
Speaker 1: more hungry that have come from these programs at the
28:30
Speaker 1: mid mid to lower major level. I mean, look at
28:31
Speaker 1: Tayton Cotterway's journey. He played at two junior colleges, then
28:34
Speaker 1: he went to Troy, was six man of the year
28:36
Speaker 1: there his first year, kind of waited his turn. Last
28:38
Speaker 1: year was Sun Belt Player of the Year. Now he's
28:40
Speaker 1: at Indiana. He's probably had people telling him for five
28:42
Speaker 1: or six years, you're never going to be, you know,
28:44
Speaker 1: a high major player. You know, you're better off playing
28:47
Speaker 1: juco small college. Now he's getting a chance to play Indiana.
28:50
Speaker 1: He's This is not to take anything away from some
28:53
Speaker 1: of these five star kids. But it's just a different
28:55
Speaker 1: mentality than what some of these kids are recruited. From
28:57
Speaker 1: the time they are fourteen or fifteen, they're already on
28:59
Speaker 1: draft boards for what twenty twenty nine and beyond. They
29:03
Speaker 1: have people telling them, Hey, you're going to go to college,
29:05
Speaker 1: You're going to be there for six months, then you're
29:07
Speaker 1: gonna get paid. Whereas again a lot of these guys
29:11
Speaker 1: labar Wilkerson and taking Connorway or two guys I'm thinking
29:14
Speaker 1: of specifically, just not that way. Even Connor in right,
29:16
Speaker 1: I mean, he was recruited by Drake out of high school.
29:21
Speaker 1: Probably never thought he was going to play. I mean,
29:22
Speaker 1: his brother went to IU. He told me before that
29:25
Speaker 1: he kind of grew up watching IU games, always fans.
29:28
Speaker 1: He probably never thought he was going to get a
29:29
Speaker 1: chance to play there. So these guys get to this
29:31
Speaker 1: opportunity and they're they're more hungry to, you know, show
29:37
Speaker 1: what they can do and show that they belong. So
29:40
Speaker 1: and I've sense that too. Just from this is just
29:43
Speaker 1: kind of like my observations. Having a chance to talk
29:47
Speaker 1: face to face with these guys once before they went
29:50
Speaker 1: to the Puerto Rico and then once at media day,
29:53
Speaker 1: you can just tell the way that they talk about
29:55
Speaker 1: the opportunity to play at IU, that they're genuinely excited
29:58
Speaker 1: to be there and be on the stage. I mean
30:01
Speaker 1: that goes for most of them that I had a
30:02
Speaker 1: chance to talk to, Whereas in the past there's been
30:06
Speaker 1: transfers where these are guys are just clearly there only
30:10
Speaker 1: for the Nion. I'm not saying it has to do
30:12
Speaker 1: with all These guys clearly are coming to IU in
30:16
Speaker 1: part because of Nil, but I also think the mentality
30:19
Speaker 1: is a little bit different from these guys that have
30:21
Speaker 1: played at a lower level and are hungry to show
30:23
Speaker 1: that they can belong on this stage. So last thing
30:27
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you about, just in general, with
30:31
Speaker 1: this team, who, maybe from an individual standpoint, when you've
30:35
Speaker 1: kind of broken down the film, who's been the most
30:38
Speaker 1: fun to watch in your eyes, just in terms of
30:40
Speaker 1: how they operate on the court, and some of them
30:44
Speaker 1: maybe the little wrinkles that they've shown their game. For me,
30:46
Speaker 1: it's been targetive Reeze because he's not a superb athlete,
30:51
Speaker 1: but I watched him warm up at the Baylor exhibition
30:54
Speaker 1: game in Indy. I think at one point he was
30:56
Speaker 1: like in the corner, like ripped off twenty he's in
31:00
Speaker 1: a row And I was sitting next to Scott Agnes,
31:02
Speaker 1: who's covered the pacers for a long time, and I
31:04
Speaker 1: said to him, I was like, how's this guy? I mean,
31:07
Speaker 1: at six seven and two twenty five, how's this guy
31:09
Speaker 1: not on the NBA. He said, he's gonna be, you know,
31:11
Speaker 1: he's he's gonna I look at the NBA now, and
31:13
Speaker 1: I look at guys like a Duncan Robinson at Michigan
31:16
Speaker 1: that has made a ton of money in the NBA,
31:18
Speaker 1: like he's an elite shooter, and I look at the
31:20
Speaker 1: rerees just the way he He's not the most athletic guy,
31:25
Speaker 1: but he plays at his own pace and he doesn't
31:29
Speaker 1: get sped up by anybody else. Like when he catches
31:31
Speaker 1: the ball, he knows like what he wants to do,
31:33
Speaker 1: whether it's pass or if he's got someone smaller on him,
31:36
Speaker 1: he can size them up and he's never in a rush.
31:40
Speaker 1: To me, it's just it's just a lot of fun
31:42
Speaker 1: to watch because you can tell from a basketball perspective,
31:47
Speaker 1: and the way he thinks about the game he's a
31:48
Speaker 1: coach's son, and the way he just kind of dissects
31:51
Speaker 1: people on the offensive end is just a different level
31:55
Speaker 1: than what we've seen in recent seasons. For how you basketball.
31:57
Speaker 1: I'm curious, it's kind of when you watch this team,
32:01
Speaker 1: if you have any additional thoughts on the raze, if
32:03
Speaker 1: there's anybody else that's kind of stood out to you
32:05
Speaker 1: in terms of having a lot of fun watching so far.
32:09
Speaker 2: Well, that first half against Marquette when Devree's got on
32:12
Speaker 2: that heater was insane, and that was if you want
32:16
Speaker 2: to talk to NBA, some of those shots that he had,
32:17
Speaker 2: especially that one coming off maybe it's like a double
32:20
Speaker 2: double pin down like on the on the left side,
32:23
Speaker 2: on the left side, hitting that three on the move
32:26
Speaker 2: was I mean, that's like, that's pro stuff right there.
32:28
Speaker 3: It just is.
32:30
Speaker 2: So I think that first half, when he really had
32:32
Speaker 2: it going and he scored in a variety of ways,
32:34
Speaker 2: was probably the most fun to watch. But but I like,
32:38
Speaker 2: I mean, I think because when I think about the
32:42
Speaker 2: last several years of point guards as well, and sort
32:44
Speaker 2: of maybe the promise first the reality of some of
32:47
Speaker 2: these players.
32:48
Speaker 3: I mean, obviously, uh Jalen h. Shaffino had his moments
32:53
Speaker 3: and could really get.
32:54
Speaker 2: It going in some games as sort of the mid
32:56
Speaker 2: range master, but Conorway is just fun because just his shiftiness,
33:02
Speaker 2: the way he's just kind of unique.
33:04
Speaker 3: In the way that he moves.
33:05
Speaker 2: And I also you could say, maybe kind of plays
33:09
Speaker 2: at his own pace too, or kind of does his
33:11
Speaker 2: own thing, so to speak. So I've really enjoyed him
33:14
Speaker 2: as well because I think that that's the type of
33:16
Speaker 2: player that I know. Sometimes this is something on a
33:19
Speaker 2: pod he talked about over the summer, just in terms
33:22
Speaker 2: of sometimes these lower level guys that move up that
33:25
Speaker 2: we're good at scoring at the basket. Sometimes that doesn't
33:27
Speaker 2: always translate against Milwaukee on Wednesday night it did. We'll
33:31
Speaker 2: see as it doesn't the Big ten season, but I
33:33
Speaker 2: think as long as there's offense keeps giving space, he'll
33:38
Speaker 2: have some opportunities.
33:39
Speaker 3: And I've been enjoying watching his style play as well.
33:44
Speaker 1: Well. Thanks again for taking the time, Ryan. Always good
33:48
Speaker 1: to have you here on the show. Just wanted to
33:52
Speaker 1: say one more time, really enjoying the new version of
33:54
Speaker 1: film session. Always enjoy reading and editing the minute after.
33:58
Speaker 1: I know the IU fan are feeled the same way,
34:01
Speaker 1: So thanks again for taking the time to join us
34:03
Speaker 1: on this week's episode.
34:04
Speaker 3: Always Hey, everybody out there like and subscribe, you know.
34:08
Speaker 1: Yeah for sure, and leave us a it's a five
34:11
Speaker 1: star rating over on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Those those
34:15
Speaker 1: those numbers, Ryan, I check them every week. They go
34:17
Speaker 1: up in communally every week. But our downloads have been
34:20
Speaker 1: strong now for you know, a good portion of this year,
34:25
Speaker 1: and want to continue to grow the show and the channel,
34:29
Speaker 1: so appreciate everybody's support and we'll be back soon with
34:32
Speaker 1: another episode of Podcast on the Brain.