On this episode, Alex Bozich is joined by Ryan Corazza of Inside the Hall to discuss IU's recent open practice, program philosophy, recent roster additions and more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:16):
Welcome back to a new episode of Podcasts on the
Brink Friday, August first. Ryan Cross of Inside the Hall
this week's guest on Podcast on the Brink. Quickly, before
we get to Ryan, I just wanted to ask, if
you get a moment, please leave us a five star
rating and review over on Apple Podcasts. A five star
rating over on Spotify helps us grow the show, helps
(00:39):
more people find our podcast. That's our searching for IU
basketball specific content, which good chance that people will be
over the next couple of weeks as Indiana prepares for
its trip down to Puerto Rico to play three exhibition games.
Just had an open practice in Bloomington, and Ryan, welcome
back to the show. It's been a while since the spring. Obviously,
(01:00):
the roster has come more into focus in terms of
having now thirteen scholarship guys. With the two late editions,
we've got some resolution on Anthony Leal and Luke Goody.
But wanted to start off with just the idea that
that Indiana Basketball opened its doors to the media earlier
this week for a practice in Bloomington. I believe it's
(01:20):
the first time that we've had an open practice at
IU since the Tom creen, Era didn't have one in
Archie Miller, Era didn't have one under Mike Woodson. Good
opportunity for the media that was there to get a
chance to just kind of get a sense for what
they're working on, what a practice looks like, the organization,
which I wrote about on Inside the Hall. But Ryan,
you've had a chance to read what I wrote, read
(01:42):
some of the other coverage from around the Beat, and
just your big picture of thoughts on the fact that
we're getting for the first time in a long time,
I kind of a glimpse behind the scenes of IU basketball,
and I think with all of the turnover, the new
coaching staff, completely new roster, the opportunity to followly see
practice but talk to all these players, I think it's
(02:03):
been a really positive thing just in terms of the
fan base getting a little bit more familiar with this team.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, I think big picture wise with it all to me,
it goes back to when Dolson was looking for the
next coach and what he said in that initial press conference,
and I think what he's gotten in some sense with
Kurt Signetti is that CEO type And so when I
look at what's going on this summer with the program,
(02:34):
you know, not to say older regimes haven't put stuff
out on social media, but I think between some of
the social media clips in practice actually inviting team in
our media and rather to view the team. I think
when you think about that role, you know, whether I
guess people like it or not. I mean the Indiana coach,
(02:54):
and I think a CEO type is got to be
communicator and it's got to be a marketer. And so
I think that his ability to kind of bring everybody
in and like show off the product. You know, he
talked about it a little bit in his initial press
conference when he was initially hired. And now the doors
are actually open for people to see that high energy,
(03:15):
a lot of chatter going on, and you know him
talking about if there are days when some kids are
a little bit lower because everybody else has such high intensity,
has such high energy in the time that they have
that can kind of pick everybody up. And yeah, it's
about you know, being a CEO is like giving confidence
to Wall Street, giving confidence that the product that you're
selling in the direction that you're heading is is good
(03:38):
on its right and it's the it's the right decision,
so to speak. And I think looking at it from
that framework, I think is an interesting way to sort
of look at the decisions that have been made thus
far with how things are being communicated and marketed, and
but I think beyond that, it's a good kind of
glimpse into a brand new rock and frankly, unlike almost
(04:02):
any other time, maybe I guess a little bit the
very early time Green days, where things were quite different,
this is the first time in sort of this new
era as well. Something he's comfortable with doing because he
did it last year at West Virginia to pretty great success.
But this is such a new team that there's also
I think more of a hunger maybe at this point
(04:23):
in the season to know what's who the hell these
guys are I guess, right.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, I mean that's kind of the feedback I've gotten
from some of the fan base that's responded to some
of the videos and things on social media is just
people trying to put a face with a name and
get familiar. I think the interviews, having a chance to
talk to these guys one on one was very helpful
for us getting to know a little bit about each guy, because,
as you meant, I mean, these are all these guys
(04:50):
are all brand new to the program and from the
practice specifically. You know, I can't claim to be someone
that's watched ton of college basketball practices. I do remember
going to a Tom Crean practice that was two and
a half to three hours long and thinking to myself,
I really wanted to come see practice, and about after
about seventy five minutes, I was like, we still have
(05:13):
another hour and a half to go. This is getting long.
So I was appreciative of the fact that we got
a look inside the other day, but it was just
an hour long. But to me, the thing that was
most impressive was just the organization and how things moved
within the practice. They came just to kind of give
everyone a brief overview of what it was like. You know,
(05:35):
they come in and the strengthen conditioning coaches out there
with his bow and as a whistle, which I guess
that's the thing. Now we've had that with Lionel Anderson,
going back to the Green era, Cliff Marshall, Ryan Horne
the strengthen conditioning coach now kind of the same thing,
kind of getting the energy in the building, but a
lot of communication between the players as they're going through stretching.
(05:56):
There was a loud music playing, but you can kind
of tell like it's a very scripted type of practice,
like they're gonna do the same thing to get loose
and get ready to go. But then once practice started,
there was a lot of emphasis on doing things at
game speed and repetition, doing things that were actually like
translate to a game, not just basic drills. So there
(06:18):
was a lot of pace, a lot of energy, a
lot of communication, a lot of guys talking. The coaches
were constantly pointing things out, not in a negative way,
but just kind of giving feedback on letting guys know,
like you know, maybe a little go a little bit
harder this way, or you missed this small detail. But
it was there was no time when anyone was not
(06:40):
in movement. That really impressed me, and by the end
you could tell guys were fatigued. I mean there was
short breaks in between drills for like like water, but
it was really short, like like a minute long, and
the guys were talking and constantly, and to me, that
was the most impressive thing was just the pace and
the energy that was in there. And if they're doing
(07:00):
that every day, that's a lot of work that they're
putting in and I was. I talked to somebody who's
been around the program for quite a while and ask
them how it compares to Mike Woodson practice. And again
this is not to disparage that regime or in any way,
but just a completely different way of doing things in
terms of the organization and the pace of everything. So
(07:24):
to me, you know, what's the old saying is like
you play how you practice. If that's if there's any
translation to that, you can definitely tell that this is
going to be a team that's going to be very prepared.
And I just like the organization in the structure. It
feels like there's somebody in charge that really knows what
they're doing in terms of what they're working on on
(07:44):
a day to day basis. That really stood out for me.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Yeah, I mean, look.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Mentioned the Woodson regime there, but I think we're still
in that period where it's kind of impossible not to
compare it back, right, So I think to that end,
a couple of things that stood out there.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
I know it's kind of a that that theory of opposites.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I think last time I came on maybe I briefly
touched on and it's from Exus and Joe's Mike Weemouth
weymouth weymouth, you know, not the only pronunciation I'll probably
mess up today. But but he he talked about this
right that in looking for the next coach, sometimes you
look very differently than what you had in the past,
(08:28):
from the past coach to kind of just set a
new path there, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
And I think that a couple things with him.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
One is you you mentioned him at the top here,
that's Nick Ryan Horn rather strength and conditioning coach.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
He was with him at Drake.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
He came with in the West Virginia and he is
now in Indiana. And he talked about in the press
conference this idea that he knows what I do. I
know what he does. If I put one day, he'll
tailor it back and vice versa. If he pushes, I
know that I can kind of tailor it back one day.
(09:06):
And there's kind of a symbiosis and a longer held
relationship there where you look back to woods End, he
inherited Cliff Marshall.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Nothing against him. I know the kids really liked him.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
And for a staff that maybe especially at the head
of the staff, didn't bring a lot of energy, he
certainly was the one doing it, but it was just
somebody that was there, and you know, maybe they had
a conversation. Not that I know the intimate details of
by Cliffe Marshall stuck around for the Woodson era, but
I think that kind of shows the difference. That there's
something too with Devriesa and Horn where they have this
(09:36):
relationship and he has, you know, a little bit of
long relationship there.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I would also say too, another thing that stuck stuck
out to me in this regard was he is meant
he mentioned that the defense is behind the offense now,
but that as they keep going along here for their
ball stream coverages, using the term we as like as
a staff but also as the players, we're gonna keep going.
We're going to find out what works best for our
(10:01):
personnel and what we feel most comfortable with, and yeah,
that may need to change here and there. But I
think that's such a different philosophy than Woodson, who you know,
at times said Nail slot Rim, this is what we do.
We're never getting away from it.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Even if the personnel that they had, they didn't really
have these long rangy athletes to be able to help
one pass away and get back to the ball and
so sometimes when I say this is like feels a
little like common sense. You take what you have and
you make the best of it. But it's another one
of these where the bar is sort of at for
overall philosophy and the program and really two he just
(10:40):
hearing him speak, he has such like a familiarity with
like the seasons of college basketball, like what the summer
is in college basketball, and what you have to throw,
especially at a new group. All this stuff kind of
rapid fire, and they got to kind of pick it
up as they go.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
And he just.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Because he's been a college coach for so long, I
think one of this stuff is such an ingrained second
nature how he goes about everything, and he knows the
calendar very well. Well, again, if you have somebody kind
of coming in from the NBA ranks that at this
time of the year is maybe not used to having
to do anything right because it's this is kind of
the very very dead period of an NBA calendar with
(11:19):
I don't know, I guess some leagues wrapped at this point,
and not that head coaches are super involved there, but you.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Get what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
So I think that those things have really stuck out
to me just in terms of again really really knowing
what your philosophy is, how you want to play, how
you run a program. That's coming across very very clear
to me and very naturally out of him in a
way that I think does contrast with Woodson.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah. I mean, he's grinded his way through the ranks
of college basketball. He was a long time assistant coach
at Creyton and really had to wait for his time
to become a head coach. So it's not surprising that
he kind of understands the role of what everyone in
the gym should be doing because he was in some
of those roles that other guys on his staff are in,
(12:04):
and something that really resonated with what you just said,
like talking about we have to do everything. Just again,
not to harp on the woods in Earo, but it
was always in the press conferences, I got to get
these guys to do this. I got to get these
guys to figure this out. It never felt like it
was a whole staff approach, and I got the sense
that just the community of how this program is being run,
(12:28):
just watching that practice for an hour, everyone has a role.
Everyone in the gym is doing something there's not someone
just standing there. From student managers to the person running
the clock getting it to the next drill, to the
guys who are in there as practice players that are
doing different things. Everyone is in alignment with what's supposed
to be going on. And that's one thing that really
(12:49):
stood out in terms of the organization. Now, from what
I actually saw from a basketball perspective, you mentioned the
offense being far ahead of the defense. Are ahead of
the defense? I would say the offense is very ahead
of the defense right now. The last fifteen minutes or
so of practice, there was a long sequence where there
was Josh Harris, Ian Stevens, who's a walk on, and
(13:11):
three other guys who aren't even on the team that
were going on offense against the first team defense, and
there was several possessions in a row where they got
favorable looks and scored and you know, they had the
first team had to run back and forth. You could
tell Devies was a little bit annoyed by that, but
again it's the end of a practice, so that's kind
of when you want to work on these things from
(13:31):
a defensive perspective. So the other thing is they brought
in a ton of guys who have a really strong
offensive reputation read Bailey, Lamar Wilkerson, tayt and Connorway obviously
known a little bit more for his defense, but a
lot of guys with different skills offensively, So it shouldn't
be particulous surprising that that would translate quicker than learning
(13:53):
for a brand new defensive system for a lot of
these guys, some pack line principles. There was a lot
of emphasis on positioning and rotating and getting out the
shooters and things like that when the ball moves around
the perimeter. So a lot of detail there, But I
think it's gonna be one of those things where it's
gonna take some time for this group to get it defensively,
and that's okay because it's a brand new group. It's
(14:14):
a brand new system for a lot of these guys.
You could definitely tell that Tucker Devrees and Connor in
Wright were kind of at the forefront in terms of
knowing what to do defensively, so that those were from
a basketball perspective, My big takeaways from a team perspective.
But I'm excited to see the potential of what this
can be offensively because I think I made a note
(14:37):
with what I wrote. There's nine scholarship players that were
on the court. I think only one didn't take a
three during the practice that I saw that was Sam Beallexis.
Everyone else took a three pointer at some time. There
wasn't a lot of I mean, Lamar Wilkerson is a
guy that we've talked about this whole debate of do
you take mid range shots and do you kind of
get rid of that completely. I think he's a guy
that you're gonna just let shoot the ball from anywhere
(14:58):
on the court because he's a guy that can just
go get you a bucket. But a lot of the
shots from the other guys, it was like you're either
taking a three or getting something in the pain at
the rim, which is also a departure from what we've
seen in the past. So, you know, just kind of
rambling there a bit, but just kind of wanted to
expand a little bit in terms of what I saw
from an offensive defensive perspective. If you have anything to add, Ryan,
(15:19):
I'm curious to hear kind of what your reaction to
that is.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah, Well, in terms of what was set in the
media availability after that practice, I think that.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
He was pretty.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
You know, he said, these guys almost looked like they've
been playing together for a couple of years on offense,
and obviously to maybe be that connected at this point,
and again it's just the coach talking about it.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
So although you know you were there and you did
see some of it, but.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
When you think beyond the shooting with this group, there
were some guys that came in that have really high
assist rates, and I think they're very good at knowing
how to find guys throw good passes in the right
spots and excel in that. And so that to me
can translate pretty immediately right on the court. Where on defense,
(16:16):
as he pointed out in the press conference as well,
so many different philosophies and so many different ways to
teach things, and all these guys are coming from different programs,
so that's just kind of a stickier wicket to try
to get everybody on the same page on. So, you know,
in that sense, I think I think it makes sense
in terms of where things are at. And I'm also
(16:39):
not surprised maybe that there's potentially a little bit more
emphasis on the offensive end, just because of his sort
of pedigree and sort of what we know of Creighton's
offense and kind of carrying that that through and I
think that was more when you started reading and watching
some film and all those not the same. West Virginia
(17:00):
last year was actually are elite defensive team, but I
think this was sort of an offense forward sort of
narrative coming in with them in terms of how they play,
how they share the ball, how they space the floor,
how they shoot more threes, et cetera. So it kind
of correlates, I think so far in terms of maybe
expectations in terms of where the team is at.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Yeah, I mean I think also this time of year,
it's crazy to make any like big picture projections based
on what we see for in an hour practice. Again,
there was some struggles defensively, but they've been working together
for seven or eight weeks. They still haven't even started
official practice. We don't know what they've been emphasizing on
a day to day basis. So we'll see when the
actual games start. But we are going to get a
(17:44):
sneak peak of the season here with the games in
Puerto Rico starting out next week. Not going to be
any live video my understanding of these games, no broadcasts,
so for us that are staying at home. We're sending
Josh post from inside the hall down there, So he's
gonna be our eyes and ears down in Puerto Rico,
and he's gonna do his best to kind of relay
(18:06):
what he sees. But Ryan, what do you think we
can we make out of the games that are played
down in Puerto Rico? If anything? Is this just more
of a thing where I feel like we have the
tendency to you know, And I remember going up to
Montreal watching the Foreign Tour back in twenty fourteen, and
(18:26):
then Tyler Toshman went in twenty twenty one to the Bahamas,
and I feel like sometimes we can see stats from
these games or see something that happens and try to
project it into a regular season game. But we even
do this. I feel like with the regular season too,
Like they'll play some of these cupcake games early and
a guy will come in and have like a really
good game, and we're like, well, this guy might be
a part of the rotation. Then by the time big
(18:46):
tim play hits, he's the eighth man and barely playing.
So I feel like sometimes we can over emphasize what
happens on these trips but I think from just a
perspective of lineups and kind of seeing who starts and
maybe who's doing what, I think that's maybe the biggest
(19:08):
things we're gonna be able to take away from this.
But also at the same time, you have to remember
that I think he's gonna want to get guys as
many minutes as possible, maybe get some of the younger guys,
which is just Trent Sisley. But we'll see what happens
with the newcomers in terms of the international players if
they get a chance to play down there. But you know,
I think it's a valuable experience from the standpoint of
(19:31):
it's a brand new team and get a chance to
play some games. But I also don't want to go
too far in terms of just making any grand conclusions
from three exhibition games in early August out in Puerto Rico.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Yeah, at the end of the day, it's almost more
for the team and the program and to try to
just get some more wraps and get some more sort
of quote unquote like real world live wraps in a
game that I think it is for the observers of
the program. Remembering Bahamas, I feel like Tamar Bates really
stuck out and he.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Was gonna he was gonna be a first round pick
after a freshman or something freshman year, right, maybe something
like that.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Now, he went on to have a pretty good college
career at.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
A at the Zoo.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
But uh, in terms of an Indiana uniform, that didn't
quite work out, And yeah, you're right, it's it's a
small sample size. It's in a different environment than a
kind of different class of teams than they're gonna see
during the regular season. So it's more I think about
seeing this scalf the sort of the scaffolding in the
(20:35):
architecture of the program and how things are run on
the floor and maybe those sorts of things, than it
is the kind of drilling in on one player or
one guy that might pop off and say, okay, well
this is this is gonna be how it is, because yeah,
it's just it's just a different environment.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
It's gonna be early August.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
So there is Uh, I don't of caution is the
right word, but there's certainly the idea of tempering expectations
or not taking everything as gospel with how things go
and how guys certainly looked on there. And yeah, I
mean there's a couple players right now that are injured
that aren't going to be in the mix, that might
(21:16):
be more strongly in the mix by the time the
fall hits. And then both of the international players, it
looks like Restick Restitch.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
I'm going with Retitch Restitch is maybe did he just
maybe I saw that yesterday. He maybe just arrived or
he's about to arrive. So the fact that they're going.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
To be down there in a couple of days and
he's just arriving with the team, it sounds like maybe
he'll get in, maybe he won't. And obviously he's got
to get up the speed. So and then this recent
pickup that they had earlier this week as well from Bosnia,
it's like, these guys aren't even going to be in
the mix at all in this and they could be
(21:55):
later in the season. So right now, it's sort of
the the guys that brought you here. I think in
terms of talker, I think in terms of en right
sort of not to say that he's going to be, uh,
you know, a key, key, key, key, key contributor, but
in terms of because he knows the program, and it
sounds like at this point those guys are kind of
(22:16):
running things a bit, and as other players get more
up to speed with the program and everything, things may
kind of shape shift by the time, you know, we're
sitting here in March.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yeah, and our my fly is back here that we
man the uh you know, the first take of the podcast,
we had a fly that was obviously that's on my
forehead now for those watching on video, but so we
had to We stopped after five minutes and I tried
to actually locate the fly in the room, was trying
to track it down for five minutes, couldn't find it.
(22:49):
Thought it had left.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
So now why we should have just kept it rolling
this You know, we could have first taked it because
this this flies back.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Oh yeah, so those watching them video are getting some
entertainment from this fly clearly annoying me by continuously landing
on my head and flying in front of my face.
But moving on the other thing. Just talking to people
around the program, one thing that is being really emphasized
about this trip is it's not just about the basketball.
(23:18):
It's about the team building off the court. They're gonna
be down there for a week, They're only playing three games.
I don't think there's gonna be like a ton of
prep work before each game in terms of like scouting reports.
I don't think they're breaking down film of this Puerto
Rico team that they're gonna pay. I don't even know
if they know who's gonna be on it on a game,
you know, for the first game, and I know the
team that they're gonna play from Serbia. There's probably not
(23:41):
a lot of prep work going into that as well.
So I think a lot of what they're gonna be
doing is off the court things in terms of just
spending time together. And I think from a team building perspective,
that was something else that I just wanted to mention.
I think is a big part of this trip that
they could I felt like with Cream when he did
this trip, it was definitely about the basketball, because I
remember we went to Montreal, it was like six days,
(24:03):
he played five games. I was like, this guy's like
clearly like trying to get like a ton out of
this from a basketball perspective. But Derees is almost like, Yeah,
We're going down there to play some games, but I'm
not too worried about the results of the games or
what actually happens in the games. I'm going down there
more for the experience of getting these guys together, getting
them to the bomb, which I think is a good thing.
(24:23):
This is like a perfect time to take one of
these trips. It's you got a brand new roster, you
got a brand new coach. You get down there, you
have the opportunity to to spend some time and do
some bonding and all that I think is a great thing.
I wanted to ask you Ryan. We haven't had you
on the show since they've had these two international additions
to the roster. The Serbian guard Alexa Resticho, we've had
(24:44):
a chance to see some video of, at least recently
from his play in the Foba event, and then the
more recent edition was the Bosnian big man Andre I
don't even want to just call him Andre. You can uh,
We'll wait for an official pronunciation from the IU folks
when that happens. Just just curious. Do you have any
(25:06):
thoughts on those guys? And I don't think we we'll
see a ton of them on this trip, if anything,
but they seem like more long term development pieces other
than guys that can make a huge impact. I feel
like research has a chance to maybe play more, if
at all, of these two guys as a freshman.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yeah, I think based on Research's skill set, he to
me seems pretty intriguing.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Getting this late start here and coming in.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
When he's coming in, We'll see how long it might
take him to come along.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
But uh, in terms of.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Asimovic, I'm just gonna we'll just we'll just throw it
out there. I think the biggest critique, and honestly one
of the biggest narratives going around the last couple of
months in terms of the online chatter with this program,
is where's the rim protector? Where's room protect Everyone says, oh, well,
they got shooting, and they got passing, and they got this,
they got that.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
But there is no quote unquote true big on this team.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
And I think a lot of people were sort of
kept banging that drum, maybe to a degree that didn't
need to be banged, because you know, you can some
people point to, well, there's other ways you can kind
of go about defending a team, if you put some
more ball pressure up front, et cetera. But this, at
least this pickup to me is we had a need
(26:30):
for a shot blocker, and we are bringing in a
player that has a skill set of blocking shots. I think,
I mean, what somebody of that stuff? Some many of
these guys like, Okay, here's a two minute highlight reel
and what can you really gather from that?
Speaker 3 (26:49):
To me, offensively, he looks a little a little slow
getting into his moves.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
I don't think he's hyper athletic, but just like so
many other players on this team, to me, his passing
stood out. I was like, oh, this this is another
big that can pass the ball.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Well.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
He ran the floor pretty well too. I think the
timing on his some of the couple of shot blocks
they had at the very end of that video look
pretty pretty strong as well. So I'm not sure how
much of a rotation player he might be at all
(27:28):
this year. But if they were really trying to just
find somebody to fill a need and I don't know
rolling the dice on it, this to me, these fills
that need in a way that a lot of the
other you know.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
No, Sam Alexis. That's another one where.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
We talk about the idea of well he's only six
to nine, but he plays a little bit taller right
and against Some people are kind of graping on that that,
oh he's really not that big, Although I would say
tray Jackson Davis was a pretty good shot blocker and
not being a seven foot or too right, so I
it can be done at various sizes. But so yeah,
that's kind of where I see why I guess he
(28:08):
was brought in. But whether that's gonna actually be a
key cog in the rotation to really shore that rimp
production up, I'm not sure I see that right now.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
At least, yeah, I agree with you. And the other
thing is we have to realize, like all of these
deals now on college basketball is a year to year basis.
So if somebody comes in and whatever reason doesn't get
the playing time that they want or the program feels
like it's not the right fit, then you know, we
kind of know how these situations and up there there's
movement every year in college bast I'm not saying that's
the case with either of these players, but there's no
(28:40):
reason not to fill your spots and take a chance
on somebody if you think there's potential, and who knows,
this guy, he may come in for a year and
not play at all and develop a lot over the season.
Then next offseason he's someone that maybe next year you
can put him in and play him ten to twelve minutes.
But I do think from watching practice again, it was
just an hour. I want to caveat this, but I
(29:01):
do think that was my biggest concern with this group defensively,
was there was I mentioned that stretch at the end
of practice where the kind of the walk Ons and
a couple of managers and another support staff guy were
playing against the first team, and when they got past
that first line of defense and got the ball on
the paint, there wasn't There's not a rim protector. So
(29:22):
this is really gonna have to be a team effort
in terms of how they're gonna guard the post. There's
gonna be some Knights in the Big Ten where it's
it's not gonna be great in terms of stopping teams
at the rim. I mean, you look at Michigan what
they have. Morris Johnson came over from Illinois and de
mar came over from UCLA. They've got the transfer from you.
I mean again, elite team, projected top five preseason. Same
(29:43):
thing with Purdue. They're gonna have a really good front court.
There's gonna be some nights in the Big Ten where
it's gonna be difficult, But I do think that it's
you know, it's a it's a it's a it's a
clear need for the program to get to bring some
additional size in the front court and to find someone
that can potentially develop into someone that can help protect
the rim. And it's again, you're not bringing this guy
(30:05):
in to be the starter. You're bringing him in to
be the twelve or thirteen man. Same thing with kind
of research, It's like, if you can develop these guys
over the course of the year and make them into
productive college players, I think that's also a good way
to kind of tap into this international market. Maybe you
can find some other players that you can point to
(30:26):
these guys and say, hey, we brought this guy in,
he didn't have a ton of options, and we developed
him into, you know, a guy that can contribute in
the Big ten level. I think it can only help.
And I do think it's also smart to just kind
of go international looking for players and talent because basketball
is a global game at this point, and you look
(30:46):
at what Illinois is doing, you're looking at what all
these other programs are doing. Indiana has never really done that,
and with the resources that they have and the fact
that they can pretty much go anywhere to scout guys
and look at guys. I think it's smart to kind
of open open this door and see what's out there,
and you know, who knows, maybe it leads to other
opportunities in the future. If you know that there could
(31:06):
be a coach or an Asian or somebody that that
looks at this and says, Indiana did a really good
job at this player, we want to send our guy there.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Well, that's just how college sports and really, you know,
drilling down the college basketball is now that because there
players are getting paid, there is a much bigger, more
robust international market for players to come in. And I
think some teams have been more advantageous with that and
have gone after that.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
In the last year or two.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
And late in the game in terms of when these
pickups happened, the Indiana staff identified a couple of players
as well, and I yeah, I think as time goes
along here, there's going to be probably even more of it,
because it's it's almost one of those I mean, there's
two things with it. I think it just expands the
(32:00):
Allen pool and you can get a better team if
you're really out there looking internationally instead of just in
the high school ranks or you know, in the transfer
portal for players, but the way some international wow, I mean,
I don't know if I should say all. But there's
(32:20):
also the different philosophy of how these players are learning
and being taught the game as opposed to American players.
And I think if you look at at least in
the professional ranks in terms of the NBA, and you
see some of these players that are are really you know,
playing well in the league, and some of the top
five players in the league, you say, you know, between
(32:41):
Yokichen and Luka doncis I mean, they're arguably two of
the top three or two of the top five.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Best players in the league. And they're international players.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
So I think there's and I believe too now in
the NBA, like percentage of international players is just about
as high as it's ever been. I think, I don't know,
maybe they need to look that up after the pods
of we'll get our factor check here on that.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
But you know, no, that's that's right. I mean. The
other the other thing, just not to interrupt you, is no,
go with the the way now that players can make
money in college basketball like they're they might be a
lot of these guys might be able to make more
coming to the US playing for their team and whatever
it is, uh, you know, Bosnia or Serbia. So that
(33:28):
that's another thing. And I think probably some of these
international teams don't don't like this, but it's just the
reality of the new system. So I think that can actually,
I think I actually can make the game better in
college basketball if some of these guys, more of these
guys are coming over to play, because we've kind of
seen that with the NBA, right, I mean thirty years ago,
there wasn't there weren't these many, this many international guys
(33:49):
playing in the NBA. You mentioned Jokic, don Giannis. I mean,
it's just the list goes on of great players. And
again it's it's a global game. So I think I
think it's smart for ending Her to tap into this
market and try to, you know, bring over players that
(34:10):
fit kind of what they want to do. And you know,
I think it can only be a good thing for
the health of college basketball. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
And it goes the other way too, right, because the
US players that maybe are trying to leave after their
sophomore year or they're looking to get paid internationally, they
can stay longer in college and get paid, or they're
trying to test the draft. Maybe I can be a
second round pick, maybe I can hook on somewhere, or
even I mean it's possible that even you know, first
(34:40):
rounders would be more apt to sticking around in college
potentially for another year.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
So I think.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Between basically the money is making the product better. I
think there's a pretty big narrative that obviously the transfer
portal and guys moving around so much that this is
bad for the game, and like you know, and sometimes
I get that there's the lack of continuity and people
sort of bemoaning how it used to be and how
it is now.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Whatever.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
I just feel like this is a coach just complaining
about that, like no one from like from from my perspective,
Like I get like having wanting some continuity, But at
the same time, it's also like it's made the sport
more of a year round sport, right, I mean, we
have now we're talking about college basketball more days out
(35:29):
of the year than we ever did before. Because think
about like before the portal, like your team was pretty
much set, maybe you got a couple of spring recruiter too,
and then it was basically like April and May, we're
pretty quiet, and then you look to July for recruiting information.
Who coaches are watching that now, it's like the opposite
in terms of high school kids are kind of taking
(35:49):
a little bit of a backseat, and the portal is
we can we can to see it from the interest
in the website, right, I mean the portal the last
couple of years, there's more interest in that at times,
and there's actual game. So I think, you know, I
don't necessarily agree that it's I don't disagree that it's
a bad thing in some situations, but also I don't
(36:11):
think we're going to get back to the way it was.
So you just have to embrace the new era and
it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
Agree that's that's that's life. That that's the way the
world moves.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
You know, some things change, and uh, especially if you're
going to be a coach and you're going to try
to be successful in this modern era, you got to adapt.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
So you have to.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
If you don't, if you're gonna complain about it, I mean,
then you're you've got one one foot out the door.
I mean there's been there alre been some coaches that
have said we don't want to do this, We're going
to get out of there. But yeah, I think it's
I mean, it's a whole other conversation in terms of
like where this ends up. And there's so many different
moving pieces with this that I think we'll eventually get
(36:55):
to a place where there's a more set in stone system.
But anytime there's like this big of a disruption in
any industry, like, there's a lot of steps you have
to take along the way to get to the finished product,
and this is just kind of where we are, so
just embrace it, enjoy it. I think for Indiana it's
actually a really good thing because they're gonna be one
of the programs that's gonna have among the top resources
(37:19):
in the sport. And for a long time we I
think Indiana fans would complain like, well, you know, these
programs buying these guys, this guy, we can't get some
of these guys. I think Indiana now is more on
a level playing field, and I think long term and
has a chance to really up the talent level in
the program. I think in terms of what the revenue
(37:41):
share is going to be spent towards men's basketball and
Bloomington is going to be as high as any in
the Big Ten, and I think the nil opportunities will
we get some more clarity on how that's all going
to be all gonna work in terms of this new
commission that's going to prove the Again, I still don't
understand how this is gonna work, like when the portal
actually opens, Like, are they gonna are they gonna actually
(38:03):
like look at every nil deal that comes across their
desk and say, I don't know how many people are
gonna be working on this. But again, a whole other conversation.
Last thing, Ryan, before we get you out of here,
just what from just a basketball perspective, if anything, are
you gonna look for in these Puerto Rico games, Like
(38:24):
in terms of like the games, are you gonna be
looking for from a statistical perspective like how many threes
are taken or anything? Or is that any of that
stuff matter at all? I think.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
I will be looking for I don't know if I'll
be looking for it.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
I think I'll just be basking in a in an
offense that spaces the floor, that passes, that passes well,
that shoots threes, that plays a modern style and more
of a style that puts you in the mix to
win more games, and however that sort of works itself
out with in these three games, I are a couple
(39:01):
of games here. I'm not looking for anything specific other
than maybe just feeling that and in knowing that that's
coming down the pike for the season and that it's
going to be quite different as we wrap up with
our theory of opposites than than the last regime. And
I'm just kind of interested in actually seeing an Indiana
(39:22):
team play this because as we know, it's not just
the Woods scenario. We gotta have about another four years
before that as well with Archie Miller and going on
almost a decade here of I think some style of
play that has not always been the most aesthetically pleasing,
and I'm just interested to see players in an Indiana
(39:42):
uniform playing playing a much different style on the offensive end.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
Thanks for thanks for taking the Tom Ryan, always good
to catch up with you for In terms of the
podcast moving forward, Josh was obviously going to be in
Puerto Rico, so we're gonna try. I don't know if
it's gonna be after every game or at least a
couple of times when he's down there, to have him
on the show and kind of talk through what he saw,
what he observed. He's gonna be wearing a lot of
(40:11):
hats down there in terms of he's gonna be the
only man on the ground, so he's gonna be trying
to pay attention to the game, maybe film some cliffs
from the game, maybe post some things on social media
during the game. So a lot of different things going on.
But he you know, talked to him earlier in the
week up and blowing him when he was at the
open practice. He's really excited to get down there and
have a chance to watch this team. I think it's
gonna be I'm interested to see just what the atmosphere
(40:34):
is like down there. I don't really have any sense
of how many people actually gonna be going down there.
It's from what I understand, I gonna be played in
a pretty large arena. So could there be a thousand
AU fans there, could there be three thousand. I have
no idea what to expect from that perspective. So I
don't even have a firm schedule at this point in
terms of game times, and people keep asking me I
(40:55):
mentioned earlier as of right now no live broadcast plan
of the game. Who knows. Maybe someone when the stands
will live stream the games on YouTube. Who knows what's
going to happen with this, So we'll be curious to
see how that all plays out, but we'll have you
covered every step of the way. Again, Ryan, thanks for
taking the time to come on the show. Really really
enjoyed the conversation.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
As always, happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
As we mentioned at the top, Please if you get
a chance to leave us the rating and review over
on Apple Podcasts five star rating, preferably with a review
and a five star rating over on Spotify. I've noticed
gotten to a few of those lately, so appreciate everyone
that's taking the time to do that. And we'll be
back soon with another episode of Podcast on the Brain.
Welcome back to a new episode of Podcasts on the
Brink Friday, August first. Ryan Cross of Inside the Hall
this week's guest on Podcast on the Brink. Quickly, before
we get to Ryan, I just wanted to ask, if
you get a moment, please leave us a five star
rating and review over on Apple Podcasts. A five star
rating over on Spotify helps us grow the show, helps
(00:39):
more people find our podcast. That's our searching for IU
basketball specific content, which good chance that people will be
over the next couple of weeks as Indiana prepares for
its trip down to Puerto Rico to play three exhibition games.
Just had an open practice in Bloomington, and Ryan, welcome
back to the show. It's been a while since the spring. Obviously,
(01:00):
the roster has come more into focus in terms of
having now thirteen scholarship guys. With the two late editions,
we've got some resolution on Anthony Leal and Luke Goody.
But wanted to start off with just the idea that
that Indiana Basketball opened its doors to the media earlier
this week for a practice in Bloomington. I believe it's
(01:20):
the first time that we've had an open practice at
IU since the Tom creen, Era didn't have one in
Archie Miller, Era didn't have one under Mike Woodson. Good
opportunity for the media that was there to get a
chance to just kind of get a sense for what
they're working on, what a practice looks like, the organization,
which I wrote about on Inside the Hall. But Ryan,
you've had a chance to read what I wrote, read
(01:42):
some of the other coverage from around the Beat, and
just your big picture of thoughts on the fact that
we're getting for the first time in a long time,
I kind of a glimpse behind the scenes of IU basketball,
and I think with all of the turnover, the new
coaching staff, completely new roster, the opportunity to followly see
practice but talk to all these players, I think it's
(02:03):
been a really positive thing just in terms of the
fan base getting a little bit more familiar with this team.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah, I think big picture wise with it all to me,
it goes back to when Dolson was looking for the
next coach and what he said in that initial press conference,
and I think what he's gotten in some sense with
Kurt Signetti is that CEO type And so when I
look at what's going on this summer with the program,
(02:34):
you know, not to say older regimes haven't put stuff
out on social media, but I think between some of
the social media clips in practice actually inviting team in
our media and rather to view the team. I think
when you think about that role, you know, whether I
guess people like it or not. I mean the Indiana coach,
(02:54):
and I think a CEO type is got to be
communicator and it's got to be a marketer. And so
I think that his ability to kind of bring everybody
in and like show off the product. You know, he
talked about it a little bit in his initial press
conference when he was initially hired. And now the doors
are actually open for people to see that high energy,
(03:15):
a lot of chatter going on, and you know him
talking about if there are days when some kids are
a little bit lower because everybody else has such high intensity,
has such high energy in the time that they have
that can kind of pick everybody up. And yeah, it's
about you know, being a CEO is like giving confidence
to Wall Street, giving confidence that the product that you're
selling in the direction that you're heading is is good
(03:38):
on its right and it's the it's the right decision,
so to speak. And I think looking at it from
that framework, I think is an interesting way to sort
of look at the decisions that have been made thus
far with how things are being communicated and marketed, and
but I think beyond that, it's a good kind of
glimpse into a brand new rock and frankly, unlike almost
(04:02):
any other time, maybe I guess a little bit the
very early time Green days, where things were quite different,
this is the first time in sort of this new
era as well. Something he's comfortable with doing because he
did it last year at West Virginia to pretty great success.
But this is such a new team that there's also
I think more of a hunger maybe at this point
(04:23):
in the season to know what's who the hell these
guys are I guess, right.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, I mean that's kind of the feedback I've gotten
from some of the fan base that's responded to some
of the videos and things on social media is just
people trying to put a face with a name and
get familiar. I think the interviews, having a chance to
talk to these guys one on one was very helpful
for us getting to know a little bit about each guy, because,
as you meant, I mean, these are all these guys
(04:50):
are all brand new to the program and from the
practice specifically. You know, I can't claim to be someone
that's watched ton of college basketball practices. I do remember
going to a Tom Crean practice that was two and
a half to three hours long and thinking to myself,
I really wanted to come see practice, and about after
about seventy five minutes, I was like, we still have
(05:13):
another hour and a half to go. This is getting long.
So I was appreciative of the fact that we got
a look inside the other day, but it was just
an hour long. But to me, the thing that was
most impressive was just the organization and how things moved
within the practice. They came just to kind of give
everyone a brief overview of what it was like. You know,
(05:35):
they come in and the strengthen conditioning coaches out there
with his bow and as a whistle, which I guess
that's the thing. Now we've had that with Lionel Anderson,
going back to the Green era, Cliff Marshall, Ryan Horne
the strengthen conditioning coach now kind of the same thing,
kind of getting the energy in the building, but a
lot of communication between the players as they're going through stretching.
(05:56):
There was a loud music playing, but you can kind
of tell like it's a very scripted type of practice,
like they're gonna do the same thing to get loose
and get ready to go. But then once practice started,
there was a lot of emphasis on doing things at
game speed and repetition, doing things that were actually like
translate to a game, not just basic drills. So there
(06:18):
was a lot of pace, a lot of energy, a
lot of communication, a lot of guys talking. The coaches
were constantly pointing things out, not in a negative way,
but just kind of giving feedback on letting guys know,
like you know, maybe a little go a little bit
harder this way, or you missed this small detail. But
it was there was no time when anyone was not
(06:40):
in movement. That really impressed me, and by the end
you could tell guys were fatigued. I mean there was
short breaks in between drills for like like water, but
it was really short, like like a minute long, and
the guys were talking and constantly, and to me, that
was the most impressive thing was just the pace and
the energy that was in there. And if they're doing
(07:00):
that every day, that's a lot of work that they're
putting in and I was. I talked to somebody who's
been around the program for quite a while and ask
them how it compares to Mike Woodson practice. And again
this is not to disparage that regime or in any way,
but just a completely different way of doing things in
terms of the organization and the pace of everything. So
(07:24):
to me, you know, what's the old saying is like
you play how you practice. If that's if there's any
translation to that, you can definitely tell that this is
going to be a team that's going to be very prepared.
And I just like the organization in the structure. It
feels like there's somebody in charge that really knows what
they're doing in terms of what they're working on on
(07:44):
a day to day basis. That really stood out for me.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Yeah, I mean, look.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Mentioned the Woodson regime there, but I think we're still
in that period where it's kind of impossible not to
compare it back, right, So I think to that end,
a couple of things that stood out there.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
I know it's kind of a that that theory of opposites.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I think last time I came on maybe I briefly
touched on and it's from Exus and Joe's Mike Weemouth
weymouth weymouth, you know, not the only pronunciation I'll probably
mess up today. But but he he talked about this
right that in looking for the next coach, sometimes you
look very differently than what you had in the past,
(08:28):
from the past coach to kind of just set a
new path there, so to speak.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
And I think that a couple things with him.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
One is you you mentioned him at the top here,
that's Nick Ryan Horn rather strength and conditioning coach.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
He was with him at Drake.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
He came with in the West Virginia and he is
now in Indiana. And he talked about in the press
conference this idea that he knows what I do. I
know what he does. If I put one day, he'll
tailor it back and vice versa. If he pushes, I
know that I can kind of tailor it back one day.
(09:06):
And there's kind of a symbiosis and a longer held
relationship there where you look back to woods End, he
inherited Cliff Marshall.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Nothing against him. I know the kids really liked him.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
And for a staff that maybe especially at the head
of the staff, didn't bring a lot of energy, he
certainly was the one doing it, but it was just
somebody that was there, and you know, maybe they had
a conversation. Not that I know the intimate details of
by Cliffe Marshall stuck around for the Woodson era, but
I think that kind of shows the difference. That there's
something too with Devriesa and Horn where they have this
(09:36):
relationship and he has, you know, a little bit of
long relationship there.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I would also say too, another thing that stuck stuck
out to me in this regard was he is meant
he mentioned that the defense is behind the offense now,
but that as they keep going along here for their
ball stream coverages, using the term we as like as
a staff but also as the players, we're gonna keep going.
We're going to find out what works best for our
(10:01):
personnel and what we feel most comfortable with, and yeah,
that may need to change here and there. But I
think that's such a different philosophy than Woodson, who you know,
at times said Nail slot Rim, this is what we do.
We're never getting away from it.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Even if the personnel that they had, they didn't really
have these long rangy athletes to be able to help
one pass away and get back to the ball and
so sometimes when I say this is like feels a
little like common sense. You take what you have and
you make the best of it. But it's another one
of these where the bar is sort of at for
overall philosophy and the program and really two he just
(10:40):
hearing him speak, he has such like a familiarity with
like the seasons of college basketball, like what the summer
is in college basketball, and what you have to throw,
especially at a new group. All this stuff kind of
rapid fire, and they got to kind of pick it
up as they go.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
And he just.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Because he's been a college coach for so long, I
think one of this stuff is such an ingrained second
nature how he goes about everything, and he knows the
calendar very well. Well, again, if you have somebody kind
of coming in from the NBA ranks that at this
time of the year is maybe not used to having
to do anything right because it's this is kind of
the very very dead period of an NBA calendar with
(11:19):
I don't know, I guess some leagues wrapped at this point,
and not that head coaches are super involved there, but you.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Get what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
So I think that those things have really stuck out
to me just in terms of again really really knowing
what your philosophy is, how you want to play, how
you run a program. That's coming across very very clear
to me and very naturally out of him in a
way that I think does contrast with Woodson.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Yeah. I mean, he's grinded his way through the ranks
of college basketball. He was a long time assistant coach
at Creyton and really had to wait for his time
to become a head coach. So it's not surprising that
he kind of understands the role of what everyone in
the gym should be doing because he was in some
of those roles that other guys on his staff are in,
(12:04):
and something that really resonated with what you just said,
like talking about we have to do everything. Just again,
not to harp on the woods in Earo, but it
was always in the press conferences, I got to get
these guys to do this. I got to get these
guys to figure this out. It never felt like it
was a whole staff approach, and I got the sense
that just the community of how this program is being run,
(12:28):
just watching that practice for an hour, everyone has a role.
Everyone in the gym is doing something there's not someone
just standing there. From student managers to the person running
the clock getting it to the next drill, to the
guys who are in there as practice players that are
doing different things. Everyone is in alignment with what's supposed
to be going on. And that's one thing that really
(12:49):
stood out in terms of the organization. Now, from what
I actually saw from a basketball perspective, you mentioned the
offense being far ahead of the defense. Are ahead of
the defense? I would say the offense is very ahead
of the defense right now. The last fifteen minutes or
so of practice, there was a long sequence where there
was Josh Harris, Ian Stevens, who's a walk on, and
(13:11):
three other guys who aren't even on the team that
were going on offense against the first team defense, and
there was several possessions in a row where they got
favorable looks and scored and you know, they had the
first team had to run back and forth. You could
tell Devies was a little bit annoyed by that, but
again it's the end of a practice, so that's kind
of when you want to work on these things from
(13:31):
a defensive perspective. So the other thing is they brought
in a ton of guys who have a really strong
offensive reputation read Bailey, Lamar Wilkerson, tayt and Connorway obviously
known a little bit more for his defense, but a
lot of guys with different skills offensively, So it shouldn't
be particulous surprising that that would translate quicker than learning
(13:53):
for a brand new defensive system for a lot of
these guys, some pack line principles. There was a lot
of emphasis on positioning and rotating and getting out the
shooters and things like that when the ball moves around
the perimeter. So a lot of detail there, But I
think it's gonna be one of those things where it's
gonna take some time for this group to get it defensively,
and that's okay because it's a brand new group. It's
(14:14):
a brand new system for a lot of these guys.
You could definitely tell that Tucker Devrees and Connor in
Wright were kind of at the forefront in terms of
knowing what to do defensively, so that those were from
a basketball perspective, My big takeaways from a team perspective.
But I'm excited to see the potential of what this
can be offensively because I think I made a note
(14:37):
with what I wrote. There's nine scholarship players that were
on the court. I think only one didn't take a
three during the practice that I saw that was Sam Beallexis.
Everyone else took a three pointer at some time. There
wasn't a lot of I mean, Lamar Wilkerson is a
guy that we've talked about this whole debate of do
you take mid range shots and do you kind of
get rid of that completely. I think he's a guy
that you're gonna just let shoot the ball from anywhere
(14:58):
on the court because he's a guy that can just
go get you a bucket. But a lot of the
shots from the other guys, it was like you're either
taking a three or getting something in the pain at
the rim, which is also a departure from what we've
seen in the past. So, you know, just kind of
rambling there a bit, but just kind of wanted to
expand a little bit in terms of what I saw
from an offensive defensive perspective. If you have anything to add, Ryan,
(15:19):
I'm curious to hear kind of what your reaction to
that is.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah, Well, in terms of what was set in the
media availability after that practice, I think that.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
He was pretty.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
You know, he said, these guys almost looked like they've
been playing together for a couple of years on offense,
and obviously to maybe be that connected at this point,
and again it's just the coach talking about it.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
So although you know you were there and you did
see some of it, but.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
When you think beyond the shooting with this group, there
were some guys that came in that have really high
assist rates, and I think they're very good at knowing
how to find guys throw good passes in the right
spots and excel in that. And so that to me
can translate pretty immediately right on the court. Where on defense,
(16:16):
as he pointed out in the press conference as well,
so many different philosophies and so many different ways to
teach things, and all these guys are coming from different programs,
so that's just kind of a stickier wicket to try
to get everybody on the same page on. So, you know,
in that sense, I think I think it makes sense
in terms of where things are at. And I'm also
(16:39):
not surprised maybe that there's potentially a little bit more
emphasis on the offensive end, just because of his sort
of pedigree and sort of what we know of Creighton's
offense and kind of carrying that that through and I
think that was more when you started reading and watching
some film and all those not the same. West Virginia
(17:00):
last year was actually are elite defensive team, but I
think this was sort of an offense forward sort of
narrative coming in with them in terms of how they play,
how they share the ball, how they space the floor,
how they shoot more threes, et cetera. So it kind
of correlates, I think so far in terms of maybe
expectations in terms of where the team is at.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Yeah, I mean I think also this time of year,
it's crazy to make any like big picture projections based
on what we see for in an hour practice. Again,
there was some struggles defensively, but they've been working together
for seven or eight weeks. They still haven't even started
official practice. We don't know what they've been emphasizing on
a day to day basis. So we'll see when the
actual games start. But we are going to get a
(17:44):
sneak peak of the season here with the games in
Puerto Rico starting out next week. Not going to be
any live video my understanding of these games, no broadcasts,
so for us that are staying at home. We're sending
Josh post from inside the hall down there, So he's
gonna be our eyes and ears down in Puerto Rico,
and he's gonna do his best to kind of relay
(18:06):
what he sees. But Ryan, what do you think we
can we make out of the games that are played
down in Puerto Rico? If anything? Is this just more
of a thing where I feel like we have the
tendency to you know, And I remember going up to
Montreal watching the Foreign Tour back in twenty fourteen, and
(18:26):
then Tyler Toshman went in twenty twenty one to the Bahamas,
and I feel like sometimes we can see stats from
these games or see something that happens and try to
project it into a regular season game. But we even
do this. I feel like with the regular season too,
Like they'll play some of these cupcake games early and
a guy will come in and have like a really
good game, and we're like, well, this guy might be
a part of the rotation. Then by the time big
(18:46):
tim play hits, he's the eighth man and barely playing.
So I feel like sometimes we can over emphasize what
happens on these trips but I think from just a
perspective of lineups and kind of seeing who starts and
maybe who's doing what, I think that's maybe the biggest
(19:08):
things we're gonna be able to take away from this.
But also at the same time, you have to remember
that I think he's gonna want to get guys as
many minutes as possible, maybe get some of the younger guys,
which is just Trent Sisley. But we'll see what happens
with the newcomers in terms of the international players if
they get a chance to play down there. But you know,
I think it's a valuable experience from the standpoint of
(19:31):
it's a brand new team and get a chance to
play some games. But I also don't want to go
too far in terms of just making any grand conclusions
from three exhibition games in early August out in Puerto Rico.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Yeah, at the end of the day, it's almost more
for the team and the program and to try to
just get some more wraps and get some more sort
of quote unquote like real world live wraps in a
game that I think it is for the observers of
the program. Remembering Bahamas, I feel like Tamar Bates really
stuck out and he.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Was gonna he was gonna be a first round pick
after a freshman or something freshman year, right, maybe something
like that.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Now, he went on to have a pretty good college
career at.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
A at the Zoo.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
But uh, in terms of an Indiana uniform, that didn't
quite work out, And yeah, you're right, it's it's a
small sample size. It's in a different environment than a
kind of different class of teams than they're gonna see
during the regular season. So it's more I think about
seeing this scalf the sort of the scaffolding in the
(20:35):
architecture of the program and how things are run on
the floor and maybe those sorts of things, than it
is the kind of drilling in on one player or
one guy that might pop off and say, okay, well
this is this is gonna be how it is, because yeah,
it's just it's just a different environment.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
It's gonna be early August.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
So there is Uh, I don't of caution is the
right word, but there's certainly the idea of tempering expectations
or not taking everything as gospel with how things go
and how guys certainly looked on there. And yeah, I
mean there's a couple players right now that are injured
that aren't going to be in the mix, that might
(21:16):
be more strongly in the mix by the time the
fall hits. And then both of the international players, it
looks like Restick Restitch.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
I'm going with Retitch Restitch is maybe did he just
maybe I saw that yesterday. He maybe just arrived or
he's about to arrive. So the fact that they're going.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
To be down there in a couple of days and
he's just arriving with the team, it sounds like maybe
he'll get in, maybe he won't. And obviously he's got
to get up the speed. So and then this recent
pickup that they had earlier this week as well from Bosnia,
it's like, these guys aren't even going to be in
the mix at all in this and they could be
(21:55):
later in the season. So right now, it's sort of
the the guys that brought you here. I think in
terms of talker, I think in terms of en right
sort of not to say that he's going to be, uh,
you know, a key, key, key, key, key contributor, but
in terms of because he knows the program, and it
sounds like at this point those guys are kind of
(22:16):
running things a bit, and as other players get more
up to speed with the program and everything, things may
kind of shape shift by the time, you know, we're
sitting here in March.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yeah, and our my fly is back here that we
man the uh you know, the first take of the podcast,
we had a fly that was obviously that's on my
forehead now for those watching on video, but so we
had to We stopped after five minutes and I tried
to actually locate the fly in the room, was trying
to track it down for five minutes, couldn't find it.
(22:49):
Thought it had left.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
So now why we should have just kept it rolling
this You know, we could have first taked it because
this this flies back.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Oh yeah, so those watching them video are getting some
entertainment from this fly clearly annoying me by continuously landing
on my head and flying in front of my face.
But moving on the other thing. Just talking to people
around the program, one thing that is being really emphasized
about this trip is it's not just about the basketball.
(23:18):
It's about the team building off the court. They're gonna
be down there for a week, They're only playing three games.
I don't think there's gonna be like a ton of
prep work before each game in terms of like scouting reports.
I don't think they're breaking down film of this Puerto
Rico team that they're gonna pay. I don't even know
if they know who's gonna be on it on a game,
you know, for the first game, and I know the
team that they're gonna play from Serbia. There's probably not
(23:41):
a lot of prep work going into that as well.
So I think a lot of what they're gonna be
doing is off the court things in terms of just
spending time together. And I think from a team building perspective,
that was something else that I just wanted to mention.
I think is a big part of this trip that
they could I felt like with Cream when he did
this trip, it was definitely about the basketball, because I
remember we went to Montreal, it was like six days,
(24:03):
he played five games. I was like, this guy's like
clearly like trying to get like a ton out of
this from a basketball perspective. But Derees is almost like, Yeah,
We're going down there to play some games, but I'm
not too worried about the results of the games or
what actually happens in the games. I'm going down there
more for the experience of getting these guys together, getting
them to the bomb, which I think is a good thing.
(24:23):
This is like a perfect time to take one of
these trips. It's you got a brand new roster, you
got a brand new coach. You get down there, you
have the opportunity to to spend some time and do
some bonding and all that I think is a great thing.
I wanted to ask you Ryan. We haven't had you
on the show since they've had these two international additions
to the roster. The Serbian guard Alexa Resticho, we've had
(24:44):
a chance to see some video of, at least recently
from his play in the Foba event, and then the
more recent edition was the Bosnian big man Andre I
don't even want to just call him Andre. You can uh,
We'll wait for an official pronunciation from the IU folks
when that happens. Just just curious. Do you have any
(25:06):
thoughts on those guys? And I don't think we we'll
see a ton of them on this trip, if anything,
but they seem like more long term development pieces other
than guys that can make a huge impact. I feel
like research has a chance to maybe play more, if
at all, of these two guys as a freshman.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yeah, I think based on Research's skill set, he to
me seems pretty intriguing.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Getting this late start here and coming in.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
When he's coming in, We'll see how long it might
take him to come along.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
But uh, in terms of.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
Asimovic, I'm just gonna we'll just we'll just throw it
out there. I think the biggest critique, and honestly one
of the biggest narratives going around the last couple of
months in terms of the online chatter with this program,
is where's the rim protector? Where's room protect Everyone says, oh, well,
they got shooting, and they got passing, and they got this,
they got that.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
But there is no quote unquote true big on this team.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
And I think a lot of people were sort of
kept banging that drum, maybe to a degree that didn't
need to be banged, because you know, you can some
people point to, well, there's other ways you can kind
of go about defending a team, if you put some
more ball pressure up front, et cetera. But this, at
least this pickup to me is we had a need
(26:30):
for a shot blocker, and we are bringing in a
player that has a skill set of blocking shots. I think,
I mean, what somebody of that stuff? Some many of
these guys like, Okay, here's a two minute highlight reel
and what can you really gather from that?
Speaker 3 (26:49):
To me, offensively, he looks a little a little slow
getting into his moves.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
I don't think he's hyper athletic, but just like so
many other players on this team, to me, his passing
stood out. I was like, oh, this this is another
big that can pass the ball.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Well.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
He ran the floor pretty well too. I think the
timing on his some of the couple of shot blocks
they had at the very end of that video look
pretty pretty strong as well. So I'm not sure how
much of a rotation player he might be at all
(27:28):
this year. But if they were really trying to just
find somebody to fill a need and I don't know
rolling the dice on it, this to me, these fills
that need in a way that a lot of the
other you know.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
No, Sam Alexis. That's another one where.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
We talk about the idea of well he's only six
to nine, but he plays a little bit taller right
and against Some people are kind of graping on that that,
oh he's really not that big, Although I would say
tray Jackson Davis was a pretty good shot blocker and
not being a seven foot or too right, so I
it can be done at various sizes. But so yeah,
that's kind of where I see why I guess he
(28:08):
was brought in. But whether that's gonna actually be a
key cog in the rotation to really shore that rimp
production up, I'm not sure I see that right now.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
At least, yeah, I agree with you. And the other
thing is we have to realize, like all of these
deals now on college basketball is a year to year basis.
So if somebody comes in and whatever reason doesn't get
the playing time that they want or the program feels
like it's not the right fit, then you know, we
kind of know how these situations and up there there's
movement every year in college bast I'm not saying that's
the case with either of these players, but there's no
(28:40):
reason not to fill your spots and take a chance
on somebody if you think there's potential, and who knows,
this guy, he may come in for a year and
not play at all and develop a lot over the season.
Then next offseason he's someone that maybe next year you
can put him in and play him ten to twelve minutes.
But I do think from watching practice again, it was
just an hour. I want to caveat this, but I
(29:01):
do think that was my biggest concern with this group defensively,
was there was I mentioned that stretch at the end
of practice where the kind of the walk Ons and
a couple of managers and another support staff guy were
playing against the first team, and when they got past
that first line of defense and got the ball on
the paint, there wasn't There's not a rim protector. So
(29:22):
this is really gonna have to be a team effort
in terms of how they're gonna guard the post. There's
gonna be some Knights in the Big Ten where it's
it's not gonna be great in terms of stopping teams
at the rim. I mean, you look at Michigan what
they have. Morris Johnson came over from Illinois and de
mar came over from UCLA. They've got the transfer from you.
I mean again, elite team, projected top five preseason. Same
(29:43):
thing with Purdue. They're gonna have a really good front court.
There's gonna be some nights in the Big Ten where
it's gonna be difficult, But I do think that it's
you know, it's a it's a it's a it's a
clear need for the program to get to bring some
additional size in the front court and to find someone
that can potentially develop into someone that can help protect
the rim. And it's again, you're not bringing this guy
(30:05):
in to be the starter. You're bringing him in to
be the twelve or thirteen man. Same thing with kind
of research, It's like, if you can develop these guys
over the course of the year and make them into
productive college players, I think that's also a good way
to kind of tap into this international market. Maybe you
can find some other players that you can point to
(30:26):
these guys and say, hey, we brought this guy in,
he didn't have a ton of options, and we developed
him into, you know, a guy that can contribute in
the Big ten level. I think it can only help.
And I do think it's also smart to just kind
of go international looking for players and talent because basketball
is a global game at this point, and you look
(30:46):
at what Illinois is doing, you're looking at what all
these other programs are doing. Indiana has never really done that,
and with the resources that they have and the fact
that they can pretty much go anywhere to scout guys
and look at guys. I think it's smart to kind
of open open this door and see what's out there,
and you know, who knows, maybe it leads to other
opportunities in the future. If you know that there could
(31:06):
be a coach or an Asian or somebody that that
looks at this and says, Indiana did a really good
job at this player, we want to send our guy there.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Well, that's just how college sports and really, you know,
drilling down the college basketball is now that because there
players are getting paid, there is a much bigger, more
robust international market for players to come in. And I
think some teams have been more advantageous with that and
have gone after that.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
In the last year or two.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
And late in the game in terms of when these
pickups happened, the Indiana staff identified a couple of players
as well, and I yeah, I think as time goes
along here, there's going to be probably even more of it,
because it's it's almost one of those I mean, there's
two things with it. I think it just expands the
(32:00):
Allen pool and you can get a better team if
you're really out there looking internationally instead of just in
the high school ranks or you know, in the transfer
portal for players, but the way some international wow, I mean,
I don't know if I should say all. But there's
(32:20):
also the different philosophy of how these players are learning
and being taught the game as opposed to American players.
And I think if you look at at least in
the professional ranks in terms of the NBA, and you
see some of these players that are are really you know,
playing well in the league, and some of the top
five players in the league, you say, you know, between
(32:41):
Yokichen and Luka doncis I mean, they're arguably two of
the top three or two of the top five.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Best players in the league. And they're international players.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
So I think there's and I believe too now in
the NBA, like percentage of international players is just about
as high as it's ever been. I think, I don't know,
maybe they need to look that up after the pods
of we'll get our factor check here on that.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
But you know, no, that's that's right. I mean. The
other the other thing, just not to interrupt you, is no,
go with the the way now that players can make
money in college basketball like they're they might be a
lot of these guys might be able to make more
coming to the US playing for their team and whatever
it is, uh, you know, Bosnia or Serbia. So that
(33:28):
that's another thing. And I think probably some of these
international teams don't don't like this, but it's just the
reality of the new system. So I think that can actually,
I think I actually can make the game better in
college basketball if some of these guys, more of these
guys are coming over to play, because we've kind of
seen that with the NBA, right, I mean thirty years ago,
there wasn't there weren't these many, this many international guys
(33:49):
playing in the NBA. You mentioned Jokic, don Giannis. I mean,
it's just the list goes on of great players. And
again it's it's a global game. So I think I
think it's smart for ending Her to tap into this
market and try to, you know, bring over players that
(34:10):
fit kind of what they want to do. And you know,
I think it can only be a good thing for
the health of college basketball. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
And it goes the other way too, right, because the
US players that maybe are trying to leave after their
sophomore year or they're looking to get paid internationally, they
can stay longer in college and get paid, or they're
trying to test the draft. Maybe I can be a
second round pick, maybe I can hook on somewhere, or
even I mean it's possible that even you know, first
(34:40):
rounders would be more apt to sticking around in college
potentially for another year.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
So I think.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Between basically the money is making the product better. I
think there's a pretty big narrative that obviously the transfer
portal and guys moving around so much that this is
bad for the game, and like you know, and sometimes
I get that there's the lack of continuity and people
sort of bemoaning how it used to be and how
it is now.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Whatever.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
I just feel like this is a coach just complaining
about that, like no one from like from from my perspective,
Like I get like having wanting some continuity, But at
the same time, it's also like it's made the sport
more of a year round sport, right, I mean, we
have now we're talking about college basketball more days out
(35:29):
of the year than we ever did before. Because think
about like before the portal, like your team was pretty
much set, maybe you got a couple of spring recruiter too,
and then it was basically like April and May, we're
pretty quiet, and then you look to July for recruiting information.
Who coaches are watching that now, it's like the opposite
in terms of high school kids are kind of taking
(35:49):
a little bit of a backseat, and the portal is
we can we can to see it from the interest
in the website, right, I mean the portal the last
couple of years, there's more interest in that at times,
and there's actual game. So I think, you know, I
don't necessarily agree that it's I don't disagree that it's
a bad thing in some situations, but also I don't
(36:11):
think we're going to get back to the way it was.
So you just have to embrace the new era and
it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
Agree that's that's that's life. That that's the way the
world moves.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
You know, some things change, and uh, especially if you're
going to be a coach and you're going to try
to be successful in this modern era, you got to adapt.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
So you have to.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
If you don't, if you're gonna complain about it, I mean,
then you're you've got one one foot out the door.
I mean there's been there alre been some coaches that
have said we don't want to do this, We're going
to get out of there. But yeah, I think it's
I mean, it's a whole other conversation in terms of
like where this ends up. And there's so many different
moving pieces with this that I think we'll eventually get
(36:55):
to a place where there's a more set in stone system.
But anytime there's like this big of a disruption in
any industry, like, there's a lot of steps you have
to take along the way to get to the finished product,
and this is just kind of where we are, so
just embrace it, enjoy it. I think for Indiana it's
actually a really good thing because they're gonna be one
of the programs that's gonna have among the top resources
(37:19):
in the sport. And for a long time we I
think Indiana fans would complain like, well, you know, these
programs buying these guys, this guy, we can't get some
of these guys. I think Indiana now is more on
a level playing field, and I think long term and
has a chance to really up the talent level in
the program. I think in terms of what the revenue
(37:41):
share is going to be spent towards men's basketball and
Bloomington is going to be as high as any in
the Big Ten, and I think the nil opportunities will
we get some more clarity on how that's all going
to be all gonna work in terms of this new
commission that's going to prove the Again, I still don't
understand how this is gonna work, like when the portal
actually opens, Like, are they gonna are they gonna actually
(38:03):
like look at every nil deal that comes across their
desk and say, I don't know how many people are
gonna be working on this. But again, a whole other conversation.
Last thing, Ryan, before we get you out of here,
just what from just a basketball perspective, if anything, are
you gonna look for in these Puerto Rico games, Like
(38:24):
in terms of like the games, are you gonna be
looking for from a statistical perspective like how many threes
are taken or anything? Or is that any of that
stuff matter at all? I think.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
I will be looking for I don't know if I'll
be looking for it.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
I think I'll just be basking in a in an
offense that spaces the floor, that passes, that passes well,
that shoots threes, that plays a modern style and more
of a style that puts you in the mix to
win more games, and however that sort of works itself
out with in these three games, I are a couple
(39:01):
of games here. I'm not looking for anything specific other
than maybe just feeling that and in knowing that that's
coming down the pike for the season and that it's
going to be quite different as we wrap up with
our theory of opposites than than the last regime. And
I'm just kind of interested in actually seeing an Indiana
(39:22):
team play this because as we know, it's not just
the Woods scenario. We gotta have about another four years
before that as well with Archie Miller and going on
almost a decade here of I think some style of
play that has not always been the most aesthetically pleasing,
and I'm just interested to see players in an Indiana
(39:42):
uniform playing playing a much different style on the offensive end.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
Thanks for thanks for taking the Tom Ryan, always good
to catch up with you for In terms of the
podcast moving forward, Josh was obviously going to be in
Puerto Rico, so we're gonna try. I don't know if
it's gonna be after every game or at least a
couple of times when he's down there, to have him
on the show and kind of talk through what he saw,
what he observed. He's gonna be wearing a lot of
(40:11):
hats down there in terms of he's gonna be the
only man on the ground, so he's gonna be trying
to pay attention to the game, maybe film some cliffs
from the game, maybe post some things on social media
during the game. So a lot of different things going on.
But he you know, talked to him earlier in the
week up and blowing him when he was at the
open practice. He's really excited to get down there and
have a chance to watch this team. I think it's
gonna be I'm interested to see just what the atmosphere
(40:34):
is like down there. I don't really have any sense
of how many people actually gonna be going down there.
It's from what I understand, I gonna be played in
a pretty large arena. So could there be a thousand
AU fans there, could there be three thousand. I have
no idea what to expect from that perspective. So I
don't even have a firm schedule at this point in
terms of game times, and people keep asking me I
(40:55):
mentioned earlier as of right now no live broadcast plan
of the game. Who knows. Maybe someone when the stands
will live stream the games on YouTube. Who knows what's
going to happen with this, So we'll be curious to
see how that all plays out, but we'll have you
covered every step of the way. Again, Ryan, thanks for
taking the time to come on the show. Really really
enjoyed the conversation.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
As always, happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
As we mentioned at the top, Please if you get
a chance to leave us the rating and review over
on Apple Podcasts five star rating, preferably with a review
and a five star rating over on Spotify. I've noticed
gotten to a few of those lately, so appreciate everyone
that's taking the time to do that. And we'll be
back soon with another episode of Podcast on the Brain.
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