August 28, 2025 • 37 mins
On this episode, Alex Bozich is joined by Jordan Majewski of Basket Under Review to discuss IU's outlook for its first season under Darian DeVries and much more.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Welcome back to a new episode of Podcasts on the
Brink Thursday, August twenty eighth. Jordan Majeski, first time guest
on Podcasts of the Brink from Basket Under Review, is
here to talk IU basketball, variety of other Big Ten
Basketball centric topics. As you know, we talk IU and
(00:39):
Big Ten hoops all year round here on Podcasts on
the Brink. If you enjoy the show, please leave us
a rating and review over on Apple Podcasts, a five
star rating over on Spotify. If you're watching on YouTube,
please subscribe to the channel like the video. It really
helps us increase our reach over on YouTube. Jordan, I've
followed you for a long time on x formerly to Twitter.
(01:00):
Always enjoyed your takes on college basketball. You know, I'd
noticed a while back that your bio had said you're
based in Bloomington. Just kind of before we get into
this week's episode, I know you're doing stuff now for
Basket Under Review, but you've been kind of in the
college basketball social media sphere for a while. How did
(01:21):
you kind of get involved about involved in writing about
college basketball, talking about college basketball and kind of where
maybe some of the formative moments I guess growing up
in college hoops that kind of made you fall in
love with the sport.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, first self, thanks for having me long time reader
and listener of the site. But yeah, I just have
been a big college basketball fan from you know, the beginning.
I actually grew up in Terre Hate, so I would
go to every Indiana State game and so I kind
of have a love of the Missouri Valley and mid
majors in general, and that's kind of where it started.
(01:57):
Where I would I noticed her wasn't a lot of
cover of those teams and the teams that I grew
up watching, and uh so I thought i'd, you know,
share my thoughts on those as social media grew, and
you know, my my presence in college basketball media also
grew because of social media. So yeah, you know, without that,
I probably not be writing about it as often as
(02:21):
I do now. But yeah, just started with watching Indiana
State basketball the s and they were not they were
not good, and.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah they've gotten I guess, you know, they were good
a couple of years ago now with I guess kind
of now in a bit of a transition period again.
But you know, I know you're involved with basket and
review writing some some stuff from them. How did how
did that opportunity come about? And kind of what are
you guys? Obviously want to give you a chance to
talk about about that, because that's the that's for for
those who don't know. It's the Truly Donovan h kind
(02:52):
of basketball vertical. They have podcasts, they have written content.
They also includes the discord over Truly Donovany she subscriber
were there, which I'm sure a lot of people listening
to this podcast already do. But what kind of your
involvement there? What are you writing about? And what are
some of the things that the people can can check
out over there?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, so that started, you know, more or less the
same way as how I got started in basketball writing
in general. Trilly was just a fan on social media,
reached out to me and asked if I'd be interested,
and then he gave me a list of all the
people involved, you know, and like Kevin Sweeney, three Man Weave, guys,
(03:32):
fellow i U, will Eme and Brennan.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I was like, well, those guys are some of my
you know, the people I read, so great opportunity to
work with them, And right now I've just been working
on first year head coaches in Division one, so guys
that were high major assistants, a couple of guys who
moved up from the Division two ranks, things like that,
what kind of schemes to expect from them, style play
(03:55):
and whatnot as they you know, embark on their first year.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
So there an investigation with the basket under review writers
to try to figure out who Trill he is or
is it kind of an unwritten rule that that you
don't that you don't go.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
There unwritten rule. Yeah. I at this point, you know,
he's there's no chance he's gonna tell us, even the
guys who work with him. So uh, you know, I
just plug in my articles, talk with the guys in
the private chat. But yeah, no one is ever like
you know, trying to put some clues together as to
(04:30):
who he can get actually be.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I always get a kick out of the Twitter threads
where someone goes down a rabbit hole and they have
like twenty different tweets like I figured it out, and
then he always will like reply, well if that's not it.
So it's at this point I think we're allays on
to the fact that he's going to remain a mystery
man as long as he wants to, which is which
is good because I think for for many reasons, you know,
(04:53):
one one good thing about his platform, one thing I
really enjoyed just about everything he's been able to do,
is you know, there's a comfort level in giving him information,
clearly with a lot of these coaches in these programs,
and a lot of that is because they, you know,
the anonymity of it. And I think he probably grants
the anonymity to to a lot of the people that
are giving him info and and it goes both ways.
(05:15):
So I think it's you know, a lot of people
have always wondering, you know, they asking is it this
person that I think, I think we're always better off
just accepting it for what it is and realizing that,
you know, he's he's built a great platform, and it's
good to see you know, the site out and thriving
and hopefully continues to grow, because I think that's kind
of one thing that I've noticed over you know, the
(05:37):
last you know, I've been doing this in two thousand
and seven, but I feel like the national coverage of
college basketball is kind of gone downhill maybe in the
last you know, five to ten years, and you know,
we've we've lost some really good I mean, John Gasoway
was somebody that I really loved to read for a
long time at ESPN, and you know, I would I
would message John and read his stuff and have him
(05:58):
on the show. And he's not writing, and there's just
been a lot of different things that have come and gone,
and to see something like this, I hope it's successful
and I hope people support it. So good luck with
everything there and we'll continue to follow along.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Thank you. Yeah, we're trying to be a unique voice
because I think I agree with you the coverage in
general has become a bit monolithic and herded, you know,
like it's one one guy says something and it's kind of,
you know, the same thing that everybody else starts saying.
And like you said, Gasaway, I loved him. He was
a unique voice. So that's what we're trying to sure.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah. Absolutely. I remember sending you a message back in
March when Indiana landed on Darren Devrees as the Higher
and you know, I don't want to quote what you said.
It was a direct message, but you know you seemed
positive on the Higher. And now as we sit here,
what about a little bit over five months removed and
Iana gets ready for its first season. We've obviously had
(06:55):
the trip down to Puerto Rico, which we had Josh
Posen inside the hall down there covering those games. Hard
to really make a lot out of exhibition games in
early August, but it was an opportunity to get some
film on this team. See a couple of the guys.
But you know, one reason I want to have you
on is you're kind of going around. I know you've
done it more from at the lower levels in terms
of what you're doing in a basket un review, but
(07:15):
I know you look at all of these hires around
the country. What about the Darren de Reese higher in
Indiana is intriguing from your side of things? And what
can maybe make this outcome different than what we've seen
with the past couple of hires. And I won't go
back to Tom Green because I think in a lot
of ways he did have a relatively good amount of success,
(07:37):
you know, winning two Big ten titles and getting to
some Sweet sixteens. But you know, the two more recent
hires with Archie Miller and Mike Woodson, there was optimism
about those hires for different reasons at different points and
there was some success, but ultimately both guys get let
go over to four years. But is there anything you
look at with the reason say maybe this could be different.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah. I think everyone that follows I, you know, IU
fans or they're just starved for some form of modern offense.
And I think that's the key here with Devrees is
that you know it's going to be spacing, a return
to shooting. I think everybody is, you know, finally ready
to see some threes fall at a high rate, like
(08:17):
everybody else in the country does. That's successful, and so yeah,
just a modernization of you know, the Miller and Woodsonara's
kind of just blended into a you know, kind of
slog fest of playing the wrong personnel and just not
exciting basketball. And it was hard to get excited about
(08:38):
IU every year with the same result. So you know,
it's going to be spacing pace, you know, the kind
of He's from the Greg McDermott school of you know,
like read and react offense and flow offense and all
of the stuff that you hear about in modern college basketball.
And yeah, you know, Devrees hasn't had I don't think
(08:59):
he's ever had at Drake or West Virginia, a team
that was in the top fifty national top fifty percent
sorry nationally in rim rate. So it's going to be
just spread basketball and a lot of threes and hopefully
a lot of makes. And he's got the personnel to
obviously do that.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
So looking at this year Ears roster in particular, I
think the biggest question that I'm getting in the preseason,
and I think the biggest question fans have is the
front court and just how that's going to play with
in a Big Ten that as we both know covered
watched the league as long as we have. There's certain
teams where they're gonna just try to pound the ball
and sign on certain nights and you're gonna have to
(09:36):
be able to stop that. Maybe maybe less so now
than it was, you know, five, ten, fifteen years ago,
but there are you look around the league. I mean,
Michigan obviously they're going to play a modern style, but
they have talent in the front court. They have bigs
that can score on the rim. Same thing with with Illinois, Purdue.
Just kind of go down the list, you know, the
best teams in the league are kind of well rounded
(09:58):
where they can all hit the shots from the Premi
and Russell score in the paint. When you look at
this Indiana roster, obviously, there's some things to be excited
about with Tayton Connorway, Lamar Wilkerson, Reed Bailey, really solid
transfer portal pickups. Tucker de Reese obviously is kind of
the headliner coming along with with with Darren from West Virginia.
(10:18):
But what's maybe your biggest question mark when you look
at this roster going into next season in terms of
whether they can be, you know, a top half Big
Ten team. I don't think anyone is looking at Indiana
and saying they're gonna be a team that contends for
the Big Ten title. But I do think fans want
to see, you know, at least a team that's competing
for an NCAA tournament birth and I think you got
to be somewhere in the top half probably to feel
(10:40):
pretty good about your chances to do that.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head
at the beginning of the front court and specifically the
physicality of it. You know, read Bailey is not a
banger in the paint, So it was really encouraging to
see Sam Alexis play the way he did in Puerto Rico.
I think to me that was the big takeaway from
the whole trip was that he you know, was physical
(11:05):
and he wasn't just you know, a blocks and boards
type guy. He actually had some offensive upside to him
as well. So I think Alexis is the key there
really because the other the other front court members are
just not guys who can you know, defend at the
rim at a high level, and Alexis can and he's
going to be Divrees is you know, big proponent of
(11:28):
drop coverage, just like almost all analytically savvy coaches are
now with their defensive schemes. So you know, Alexis showed
that he can be that drop five that you know,
can protect the rim at a high level. We'll see
how that holds up, you know, against non Puerto Rican competition,
but to me, that was by far the biggest takeaway.
(11:49):
You know, we saw the offense from Wilkerson which we
expected to see. Devrees didn't play, he didn't shoot it
at an efficient level. But you know, I expect his
offense to round into form as he gets back into
you know, playing shape in the routine of it after
his shoulder injury. But yeah, to me, alexis kind of
shoring up the physicality of the front court was what
(12:11):
I really wanted to see in there, and that's what
I saw.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I'm curious, you know, I'm going through exercise right now,
which well, actually I already don't want the exercise. But
we're releasing our top forty players in the Big Ten
with with Dylan Burkhard over at UM Hoops. I'm sure
you're familiar with Dylan Dylan's work and everything he does
over at em Hoops, but we one of the things,
you know, in the transfer port air that's become harder
for us to do is all of these up transfers
(12:38):
projecting what they're going to do once they get to
big you know, the Big tenant. I feel like sometimes
you're rolling the dice. I want to ask you about
some of the guys that are coming up from a
lower level of college hoops to play at Indiana this year.
Tayton Conway Sun Belt Player of the Year, hard to project,
you know how that translates the Big Ten. We saw
him in the tournament last year play against Kentucky, so
he's been on a stage against some of these, you know,
(13:00):
top teams. He obviously led his team to the NCAA tournament.
We saw Lamar Wilkerson in an assembly hall last year. Played
relatively well, averaged over twenty points a game, shot forty
four percent on threes over I think one hundred makes,
which is which is really good. But how does that
translate up the level? Not specific to these guys, but
I'm curious just for your thoughts on what maybe to
(13:22):
look for when you're trying to project these guys moving
up a level, what translate, what translates, and maybe what
doesn't translate in your eyes.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So the I think biggest red flag the analytics guys
will say when they're looking at up transfers are guards
who are rim reliant and draw a lot of contact
that does not transfer up to the you know, Power
five schools. So that's kind of a red flag with
Connorway because he's a rim reliant guard. You know, he's
(13:54):
got a lot of athleticism though, but just the finishing
at the rim and drawing fouls typically does not translate
at this level. So, you know, Connorway is probably my
biggest concern there. I don't have concerns with Wilkerson. That
skill set has proven to translate well moving up, but
you know where I think Devrees recognizes the kind of
(14:20):
need to maybe have Connorway off the ball, so you
have the Connorway and Right combo. I think they're going
to help each other and alleviate some of those concerns
with Connorway's skill set transferring up read. Bailey's a guy
who I think it's going to depend a lot on
the you know, combination he's with on the floor, because
(14:42):
he's going to be like that kind of hub, big
passer who can they can spread the floor around him
and he can you know, read the defense and you know,
pop it out to DeVries or whoever spreading the floor.
So he's but it's gonna you know, he can't be
like we just discussed the primary five in the league.
(15:02):
He'll get you know, dominated physically. So it's going to
be how he plays with Alexis and how you know,
the backcourt and Right and Connorway play with each other.
I think to alleviate some of those up transfer concerns I.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Noticed down in Puerto Rico, which again I'm trying not
to read too much into exhibition game stats, but Bailey
wasn't really taking any three pointers down there. Did that
surprise you at all? Is that something we can expect
to be different when the games actually start.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I think that he's his spacing. It's a good thing,
you know, in the long run that he doesn't need
to be like a stretch five type player in this
offense because we have enough spacing without that element. So,
sorry to say we bad habit I have is that.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
You're you're an IU grad. You can say, well, I
guess it's.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Tough to get out of that habit. But yeah, I'm
an independent you know journalists here, so I have to be.
But yeah, it did surprise me that he wasn't used
almost at all in that regard, even like as a
you know, pick and pop guy. He wasn't out there
on the perim So I that did surprise me. But
I think it's a product of where this team is
(16:18):
at in terms of their spacing, and it's just not
an element divvere seas is necessary right now.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Yeah. The one thing, going back to Conorway for a second,
the one thing we had a chance to talk to
some of the players after they had an open practice
in late July. We got a chance to talk to
some of the guys afterwards and from talking to Conorway,
I think one of the things that he said that
stood out was just you mentioned, you know, he did
get to the rim a lot. I think in this
offense maybe his role might be a little bit different
(16:46):
of just trying to get the ball in the paint
for kickouts instead of trying to go finish. I think
watching his some of his film from last season, one
of the things that that did stand out was how
well he was able to get into the lane. May
the plays that he was finishing last year won't be
able to finish, but he might not have to if
he's got Devrees and Wilkerson, Nick Dorn, potentially Josiah Miles
(17:09):
out on the perimeter. If he can kick the ball
out for threes, I think he's a pretty good creative
playmaker from that perspective, So maybe that that can be
maybe a you know, a counter to the fact that
he may You're right, I think he may have trouble
finishing some of the plays because when you're playing Sun
Belt competition, sometimes you're going against what a six six
(17:29):
six eight guy and the paint as opposed to going
against a Dai Mara or whoever is you know, Oscar
Cloff Purdue got on the list. There's gonna be guys
that are six ten and up that he's going to
be trying to challenge in the paint the big ten.
Maybe not as easy as what he was able to
do with a sun belt, right.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
And you know Troy last year, it's amazing he racked
up like I think at top twenty assister eate nationally
when they were one of the worst three point shooting
teams in the country. So you know, that's it's like
I mentioned earlier, it's the pieces around him that it's
going to alleviate for me those concerns that his rim
finishing and ability to draw contact won't translate at the
(18:11):
higher level because you know he's going to be like
you mentioned, it's about collapsing the defense within and being
able to get you know, draw pain off the dribble
and then you know, kick out to the what should
be one of the better shooting teams in the league.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Because the last guy I wanted to ask you about
was just Tucker de Freeze because I kind of feel
like in some ways he's I don't want to say
the forgotten man, but he was. It was just assumed
that he was coming to Indiana when when Darren took
the job, So there wasn't really any buzz about him committing,
and there wasn't any a ton of discussion. It was
just like, well, we're getting there, and he has getting
this guy that was the two time Missouri Valued Player
(18:48):
of the Year, and if it was, if he wasn't
the coach's son, I think a much bigger deal would
have been made out of how just how important of
a piece he is. But to have him come in,
you know, I remember watching a couple of the games
last season down in Battle for Atlantis because obviously Indiana
was down there. I think it was against Arizona. He
had some ridiculous three point I mean, just he's he
(19:10):
can pull up from anywhere. I mean, do you do
you kind of feel like the same way, he's been
maybe a little bit overlooked on this team and he's
the guy to me that flashes all big ten potential.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah, it's you're exactly right. And my you know, guys,
I went to college with our our group chat we
talk about how I was just talking about how it
seems like he's been kind of taken for granted as
his role in this team because he can legitimately do
it all. So you're not like, oh, he's going to
be our guy that you know, runs off ball screens
(19:41):
or whatever. You know, he can he can take the
ball screen, you can use him off the ball. He's
a great cutter, you know. He just he's just the
quintessential coach's son basically. So he's just so high IQ
like can do anything you ask him to do. You
can put him at you know, anywhere one through four
basically and be totally fine. So yeah, it's like his
(20:03):
skill set is so diverse that you kind of take
for granted that he doesn't have a defined role on
this team when because his role is to like play
all of those play all of those roles. So yeah,
I know exactly what you're saying that it's kind of
you know, he's possibly, you know, maybe without questioning, even
(20:24):
the best player on the team, And when anyone talks
about IU, it's kind of like, oh, yeah, and Tucker
Devriez is there, of course, you.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Know, right, but yeah, he's a really good passer too.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Right Exactly. You can put him, yeah, in the middle
of the floor, you can space him out as a shooter.
He can take the ball screen, he can create his
own shot like it's he's legitimately, like you know, unbelievably skilled.
And same on defense too. He's not like super athletic,
but he just knows where to be defensively and you know,
(20:54):
can guard multiple positions. So I think that's yeah, he's
just an incredible basketball player all around on both ends.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
So I want to you know, we only have you
for thirty thirty five minutes here, so I do want
to talk about some of the other Big Ten programs
that made coaching highers in the offseason. You know, the
one that's maybe talked about the most is IOWA and
Ben McCollum. And there was I think a time there
when Indiana fans were debating did they want McCollum, did
they want Devrees? And obviously we saw it all played out,
(21:26):
but there's a lot of fanfare, maybe a lot of it.
Seems like the national guys really like Ben McCollum in
terms of what he was able to do last season
at Drake and have a ton of respect what he
did at the D two level, and most of the
preseason predictions that I've seen so far have IOWA picked
ahead of Indiana in the Big Ten. I don't know
it's going to play out that way. I would say
(21:46):
on paper, Indiana's probably got a more talented roster. I
don't know if you would agree with that, But obviously
Ben at Sturtz is a really key piece there, and
then there's some obviously some guys moving up from lower
levels there too. But what do you like about the
McCollum higher for Iowa? Is there anything that gives you
pause in terms of how he may translate to the
(22:07):
Big Ten?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah? I think you know, like you mentioned, it was
kind of it seemed like McCollum was trending towards being
here in Bloomington. But I think that it will be
interesting to see how that kind of like total burn
offense and clock manipulation that he runs works out at
(22:31):
you know where margin evert like is slimmering games like this,
So if you keep lowering the possessions, you could be
shooting yourself in the foot. But you know, it's a
total one to eighty from Fran McCaffrey style of basketball. Obviously,
you know, Bennett Starts is just a master manipulator with
the ball screen and just completely controls the game, and
(22:54):
you know, he added the kind of versatile forward from
Robert Morris Pogeiras who they didn't have last year at Drake.
They didn't have that type of player who can be
like a short role creator in the pick and roll
game with sturts, and I think that's really gonna kind
of that was a missing piece for Drake last year
(23:14):
and they did unbelievably well without that kind of player.
But he's exactly the kind of player that they need
in that pick and roll game with starts. So I
think IOWA was going to be offensively fine. Yet like
they're going to be one of the better teams just
in terms of on an efficiency level because of how
they're going to control the game and starts. I think
(23:34):
his style of play we've seen it statistically when Drake
played up. He didn't you know, miss a beat last year.
So I think IOWA was legitimately. I don't I agree
with you talent wise, like you know, top to bottom
on the roster, they're not as good as IU, but
I think they can manipulate the game in a way
where you know they might have a top half finish
(23:55):
in the Collins first year.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Is that you talk about mine pipulation of the game.
I mean, is it reminiscent at all of some how
Wisconsin used to play. I'm just trying to get Big
ten fans prepared for what they're going to be watching.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah. Absolutely, it's it's that there's no like swing offense
elements or anything, you know, like had at all. It's
totally just how starts. Like they literally burn clock at
the beginning of possessions just to get starts in the
ball screen. They'll run ball screen after ball screen after
ball screen until they find the one they like, and
starts is just so good at you know, reading when
the time is to you know, attack or kick out
(24:33):
or whatever. And yeah, it's it's a lot like that style.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Which is there any concern that when when you when
you do that it can work? I guess at the
D two level at Drake, is there any concern against
like the best of the best in the Big ten
that that there's a ceiling on on what that can
actually do if you continue to kind of go back
to the same thing over and over. I mean sometimes
(25:00):
at some point talent becomes key to winning at the
highest level.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Yeah, absolutely, And you know we kind of it worked
in small doses when Drake played Power Conference teams because
they could, it was like kind of a shock to
the system for you know, and it turns out some
of those wins in the non conference against Miami and
Kansas State that looked impressive at the time turned out
(25:27):
to not be you know, really impressive. But obviously they
went to the second round of the tournament. You know,
it was they're legitimately a good team. But you're right,
night in and night out, it's not going to be
as effective I think as a you know, one time
shock to the system against a Power five team where
you're like, oh my god, this team is you know,
literally taking the shot clock down to five seconds before
(25:47):
they initiate offense here. So yeah, you're right. When that's
the plan every single night in the Big ten, we'll
see how effective that can be. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
I mean again, I'm not antim call. I think he's
a great coach. I think it's going to be I
think it's going to be a great addition to you know,
I've had a running joke for a long time about
just Iowa, are you ever going to play defense? I
think they've actually got a serious coach. He's going to
have them prepared on both ends. I think it's a
great addition for the league and I'm excited to see
how it works out. Moving on to Maryland, Kevin Willard,
(26:19):
anyone that follows me on social media knows I wasn't
the biggest Kevin Willard supporter. I think they actually made
an upgrade at the head coaching position bringing in Buzz Williams.
Although Buzz we can debate what his ceiling ultimately is.
He kind of gets to a program and he can
tinker things around a little bit and he can win.
He can get to the tournament. Is that kind of
how Maybe not a high ceiling higher, but I think
(26:41):
the floor is relatively high with Buddes Williams, and particularly
at Maryland, with the resources where he's going to be
able to recruit, I think he's got a chance to
have a tournament team there every year.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Yeah, totally agree. You know, he brought his kind of
brutish front court with him that you know, they dominate
the offensive glass, super physical and the paint. They switch
everything defensively, go under a ton of ball screens, basically
force you to beat them over the top, and then
they you know, grab the rebound and go. He did
(27:13):
recruit a couple like more skilled players like Elijah Saunders,
who's kind of something they've been he was missing at
Texas A and M. Like a kind of more skilled
shooting type of forward. And of course they have a
friend of the program running the show, Miles Rice now,
and I think, you know, with the way they play
defense and the way they teach physicality, he gives his
guards a lot of offensive freedom, and I think Rice
(27:35):
is going to probably have, you know, the kind of
post type breakout year that you hear a lot about
where he's just given more of a kind of you know,
I don't want to say green light, but less like
restrictions offensively, Like if you watch the guards at Texas
A and M, they will take some of the worst
shots you've ever seen because the ideas like let's get
(27:58):
a shot up and then we just crash all five
on the offensive glass. And so Rice is going to
have a lot of opportunities to do just that. So
you know, he might not have an efficiency from an
efficiency standpoint, a great year, but he's going to put
up some big numbers, you know, end of playing that role.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
So you're buying a bounce back season from Miles Rice
after Dylan and I ranked him in the top five
players last year and the big ten the preseason, he
burned us. Now we have him outside of the top forty,
and I think that he might burn us again.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, yeah, you can't. You can't catch up with him.
He's I think he could have a you know, pretty
decent year.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Last guy I want to talk about, Nico medved comes
over from Colorado State to Minnesota's alma mater. I would
say of the four new hires, probably has the biggest
hill to climb there for a variety of reasons, one
being the nil resources and every you know, just kind
of the program prestige in history at Minnesota is lesser
(28:56):
than the other three programs. It's not an easy job.
I mean, they ran Richard Patino out of there, and
he actually did a relatively solid job, and kind of
he's ended up maybe in a better spot than than
when he was there at Minnesota ended up ultimately Xavier,
but it's a tough job. I think he's relying this
year on a ton of up transfers, so it's really
(29:18):
hard to project. When we looked at I think the
top forty for the big tip in the preseason. I'm
not sure I even seriously considered a player from Minnesota
to put on there. So they're gonna have to be
a sum of their parts rather than having one, one
or two studs. What do you like about that fit there?
And is there any hope for for Minnesota to kind
(29:39):
of outperform expectations this year? Is that going to be
something where he's going to need to build it over
the next couple of years.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yeah, I think Minnesota is kind of a deeper sleeper
in the league. Like I'm not saying they're going to
be in the same there's kind of that big, meaty
tier of the you know, Wisconsin, Ohio, State, i U, Iowa,
Maryland like that, they're all kind of generally about the
same minutes. Soda is below that tier, but I think
they can knock on the door of that tier in
the first year just because he medved is kind of
(30:07):
it'll remind me a lot of like Matt Pater's offense
before they you know, had you know, seven foot five
guys every single season. It's a lot of off ball movement,
a lot of cutters, a lot of off ball screening,
and he's got a point guard from Western Michigan that
I really like, Chauncey Willis. He put up some amazing
(30:29):
efficiency numbers for a really bad Western Michigan team, and
I think he's kind of the typical point guard that
he had at Colorado State that can really run his offense.
He's relying on a kind of Taton Connorway player I
think to be his leading scorer with Langston Reynolds, who
is a big rim finisher at Northern Colorado as an
off guard. So that's kind of the you know, red
(30:52):
flag kind of player that we talked about earlier. So
we'll see how that translates. But a lot of the
rim looks Colorado State rated under him wasn't born from
like dribble penetration. It's from off ball movement, spacing and
just you know, attacking that gap that you create. And
I think a big key to them kind of reaching
(31:13):
some sort of ceiling will be a cage. Tyson, the
Velmont transfer, went to North Carolina last year and bombed.
I think he was poorly coached and poorly utilized there,
and so with a he's a perfect fit in the
style of offense. They run a similar offense to what
Belmont uses. So he's going to be I think kind
(31:33):
of in that post hype breakout role as well, where
he can really thrive with a lot of open shots
that this offense creates. I think Minnesota's got some definite upside,
big coaching upgrade, you know. I don't think they're going
to compete necessarily for a at large spot or you know,
be even in the you know, bottom tier of the middle.
(31:57):
I think they're solidly in the bottom tier, but I
think they have potential to you know, kind of be
around that area and surprise with some wins.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
So quickly before before we wrap up here, the two
teams that you know, I keep coming back to at
the bottom. I'm curious if you have agreement on this
or is there any debate Penn State and Rutgers. They
kind of looks like the bottom to.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
You easily the bottom tier, like they're a tier of
their own at the bottom. You know, I think Michael's
going to be a little bit relieved to be rid
of you know, the Harper Bailey kind of it's just
it just was a poor fit from the beginning, you know,
it just it's not his style. But so they're going
to get more into that kind of you know, ground
(32:40):
and pound way that they play with him, but they
just don't have anywhere near the talent level that you know,
if you're relying on another friend of the program, hearn
Zerno to be your leading scorer, which I think Rutgers
might be. I think you're in pretty big trouble. And
then Penn State they got you know, like a I
think intriguing point guard, freshman point guard Kaden Mingo coming in,
(33:04):
and some Euros, Murdics and Urich in the front court.
But other than that, I think they're pretty easily the
worst team in the Big Ten this year.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
And then the top is it is it a Michigan
Purdue battle or is there a chance for Illinois somebody.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Similar to the bottom, I see two teams in the top,
Purdue in Michigan, like a clear, clearly defined tier one,
and then right below them, I'd probably put Illinois and
U c l A together U c l A a little higher,
and then like I mentioned earlier, this kind of third
tier of Wisconsin, Michigan State, Oregon, Ohio State, Maryland, I
(33:39):
U Iowa even maybe like Washington, USC could be in
that tier as well. I think they're kind of just
one massive lump of teams right now that it's hard
to differentiate from a power ranking perspective before the season starts.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
So basically, what you're saying is chaos as usual in
the middle of the Big Ten. Everyone's gonna beat up
on each other and we'll see we'll see you in
Chicago for the Big Ten Tournament when it's all the
sides in terms of the seating.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
And you could have another team like Nebraska who doesn't
even or Northwestern, you know, who doesn't even qualify for
the Big Ten Tournament, but who you know has like
a fringe at large case because I you know, I
see them as kind of their own tier right behind
that where they're capable of, like they have such stylistic
differences as opposed to the rest of the Big Ten,
(34:25):
Northwestern and Nebraska, where you know, it's always a headache
playing and you know, dealing with those post traps and
things like that. So it's, yeah, a convoluted mess in
the middle.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Yeah, that's that's one thing. You know. I got some
friends that are acc fans and fans of other leagues too.
It's like I trying to tell people and I like
to throw it back, Well, the Big Ten hasn't won
a championships in two thousand. I'm like, there's there's not
very many off nights in the Big Ten once you
get into conference play. I mean there might be this
season with Penn State and Rutgers depending. I mean, although
I I will say if you catch Rutgers on the
(35:01):
wrong night at the RACK, they can be tough. I
don't care who's playing. But a lot of these teams,
I mean, you look at the ACC last year, and
this is kind of one thing I've cautioned people. They've
they've said, well, Pat Kelsey turned things around at Louisville
last year and year one can't do the same thing
at Ie. I'm like, look at the teams that were
playing for a lot of those games, they had those
long winning streaks. They were just not even competitive college
(35:23):
basketball teams. And the Big Ten you're not. You're not
going to have those games where it's just a gimmea
on a given night. I mean, you may have, like
I said, a couple at home against the bottom tier league,
but if you don't come to play, anyone can beat
anyone in the Big Ten. I truly believe that and
it's not like that other than maybe the SEC the
Big Twelve on some of its you know, best years,
(35:44):
but really the only leagues like that in the country
that I can see.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Right, and for an eighteen team league as well, you know,
like the Big Ten has benefited from that, the ACC
has not. You know, like you mentioned the bottom half
of that ACC megafield is just they were awful last year.
You know, those were easy, like almost guaranteed wins in
that league and they're just yeah, as you're saying, there
(36:09):
just isn't such a thing with this eighteen team league.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Well, Jordan, thanks for taking the time, really enjoying the conversation.
I'd love to have you on again once we actually
get some data in from the season, some results, and
so jerre in Bloomington there. I know you have a
close eye on the Hoosiers. Love to have you on
again at some point when the season gets closer or
when the season starts to talk some more college hoops
and I you, I really appreciate you taking the time.
Good luck with everything with a Basket under Review. If
(36:34):
you haven't checked that out, make sure you check out
Jordan's work and everything they're doing over there, Basket Underview
hopefully continues to go well for everyone over there.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Yeah, thank you for having me love the site, been
you know, fanned for many years.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Thanks for having me appreciate it as Again, as I
said at the top, if you enjoy the show, please
leave with the rating and review over on Apple Podcasts,
preferably five stars. If you don't mind five star rating
over on Spotify, like and subscribe to the YouTube channel
and we'll be back soon with another episode of Podcast
on the Break.
Welcome back to a new episode of Podcasts on the
Brink Thursday, August twenty eighth. Jordan Majeski, first time guest
on Podcasts of the Brink from Basket Under Review, is
here to talk IU basketball, variety of other Big Ten
Basketball centric topics. As you know, we talk IU and
(00:39):
Big Ten hoops all year round here on Podcasts on
the Brink. If you enjoy the show, please leave us
a rating and review over on Apple Podcasts, a five
star rating over on Spotify. If you're watching on YouTube,
please subscribe to the channel like the video. It really
helps us increase our reach over on YouTube. Jordan, I've
followed you for a long time on x formerly to Twitter.
(01:00):
Always enjoyed your takes on college basketball. You know, I'd
noticed a while back that your bio had said you're
based in Bloomington. Just kind of before we get into
this week's episode, I know you're doing stuff now for
Basket Under Review, but you've been kind of in the
college basketball social media sphere for a while. How did
(01:21):
you kind of get involved about involved in writing about
college basketball, talking about college basketball and kind of where
maybe some of the formative moments I guess growing up
in college hoops that kind of made you fall in
love with the sport.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, first self, thanks for having me long time reader
and listener of the site. But yeah, I just have
been a big college basketball fan from you know, the beginning.
I actually grew up in Terre Hate, so I would
go to every Indiana State game and so I kind
of have a love of the Missouri Valley and mid
majors in general, and that's kind of where it started.
(01:57):
Where I would I noticed her wasn't a lot of
cover of those teams and the teams that I grew
up watching, and uh so I thought i'd, you know,
share my thoughts on those as social media grew, and
you know, my my presence in college basketball media also
grew because of social media. So yeah, you know, without that,
I probably not be writing about it as often as
(02:21):
I do now. But yeah, just started with watching Indiana
State basketball the s and they were not they were
not good, and.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Yeah they've gotten I guess, you know, they were good
a couple of years ago now with I guess kind
of now in a bit of a transition period again.
But you know, I know you're involved with basket and
review writing some some stuff from them. How did how
did that opportunity come about? And kind of what are
you guys? Obviously want to give you a chance to
talk about about that, because that's the that's for for
those who don't know. It's the Truly Donovan h kind
(02:52):
of basketball vertical. They have podcasts, they have written content.
They also includes the discord over Truly Donovany she subscriber
were there, which I'm sure a lot of people listening
to this podcast already do. But what kind of your
involvement there? What are you writing about? And what are
some of the things that the people can can check
out over there?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, so that started, you know, more or less the
same way as how I got started in basketball writing
in general. Trilly was just a fan on social media,
reached out to me and asked if I'd be interested,
and then he gave me a list of all the
people involved, you know, and like Kevin Sweeney, three Man Weave, guys,
(03:32):
fellow i U, will Eme and Brennan.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
I was like, well, those guys are some of my
you know, the people I read, so great opportunity to
work with them, And right now I've just been working
on first year head coaches in Division one, so guys
that were high major assistants, a couple of guys who
moved up from the Division two ranks, things like that,
what kind of schemes to expect from them, style play
(03:55):
and whatnot as they you know, embark on their first year.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
So there an investigation with the basket under review writers
to try to figure out who Trill he is or
is it kind of an unwritten rule that that you
don't that you don't go.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
There unwritten rule. Yeah. I at this point, you know,
he's there's no chance he's gonna tell us, even the
guys who work with him. So uh, you know, I
just plug in my articles, talk with the guys in
the private chat. But yeah, no one is ever like
you know, trying to put some clues together as to
(04:30):
who he can get actually be.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I always get a kick out of the Twitter threads
where someone goes down a rabbit hole and they have
like twenty different tweets like I figured it out, and
then he always will like reply, well if that's not it.
So it's at this point I think we're allays on
to the fact that he's going to remain a mystery
man as long as he wants to, which is which
is good because I think for for many reasons, you know,
(04:53):
one one good thing about his platform, one thing I
really enjoyed just about everything he's been able to do,
is you know, there's a comfort level in giving him information,
clearly with a lot of these coaches in these programs,
and a lot of that is because they, you know,
the anonymity of it. And I think he probably grants
the anonymity to to a lot of the people that
are giving him info and and it goes both ways.
(05:15):
So I think it's you know, a lot of people
have always wondering, you know, they asking is it this
person that I think, I think we're always better off
just accepting it for what it is and realizing that,
you know, he's he's built a great platform, and it's
good to see you know, the site out and thriving
and hopefully continues to grow, because I think that's kind
of one thing that I've noticed over you know, the
(05:37):
last you know, I've been doing this in two thousand
and seven, but I feel like the national coverage of
college basketball is kind of gone downhill maybe in the
last you know, five to ten years, and you know,
we've we've lost some really good I mean, John Gasoway
was somebody that I really loved to read for a
long time at ESPN, and you know, I would I
would message John and read his stuff and have him
(05:58):
on the show. And he's not writing, and there's just
been a lot of different things that have come and gone,
and to see something like this, I hope it's successful
and I hope people support it. So good luck with
everything there and we'll continue to follow along.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Thank you. Yeah, we're trying to be a unique voice
because I think I agree with you the coverage in
general has become a bit monolithic and herded, you know,
like it's one one guy says something and it's kind of,
you know, the same thing that everybody else starts saying.
And like you said, Gasaway, I loved him. He was
a unique voice. So that's what we're trying to sure.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Yeah. Absolutely. I remember sending you a message back in
March when Indiana landed on Darren Devrees as the Higher
and you know, I don't want to quote what you said.
It was a direct message, but you know you seemed
positive on the Higher. And now as we sit here,
what about a little bit over five months removed and
Iana gets ready for its first season. We've obviously had
(06:55):
the trip down to Puerto Rico, which we had Josh
Posen inside the hall down there covering those games. Hard
to really make a lot out of exhibition games in
early August, but it was an opportunity to get some
film on this team. See a couple of the guys.
But you know, one reason I want to have you
on is you're kind of going around. I know you've
done it more from at the lower levels in terms
of what you're doing in a basket un review, but
(07:15):
I know you look at all of these hires around
the country. What about the Darren de Reese higher in
Indiana is intriguing from your side of things? And what
can maybe make this outcome different than what we've seen
with the past couple of hires. And I won't go
back to Tom Green because I think in a lot
of ways he did have a relatively good amount of success,
(07:37):
you know, winning two Big ten titles and getting to
some Sweet sixteens. But you know, the two more recent
hires with Archie Miller and Mike Woodson, there was optimism
about those hires for different reasons at different points and
there was some success, but ultimately both guys get let
go over to four years. But is there anything you
look at with the reason say maybe this could be different.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah. I think everyone that follows I, you know, IU
fans or they're just starved for some form of modern offense.
And I think that's the key here with Devrees is
that you know it's going to be spacing, a return
to shooting. I think everybody is, you know, finally ready
to see some threes fall at a high rate, like
(08:17):
everybody else in the country does. That's successful, and so yeah,
just a modernization of you know, the Miller and Woodsonara's
kind of just blended into a you know, kind of
slog fest of playing the wrong personnel and just not
exciting basketball. And it was hard to get excited about
(08:38):
IU every year with the same result. So you know,
it's going to be spacing pace, you know, the kind
of He's from the Greg McDermott school of you know,
like read and react offense and flow offense and all
of the stuff that you hear about in modern college basketball.
And yeah, you know, Devrees hasn't had I don't think
(08:59):
he's ever had at Drake or West Virginia, a team
that was in the top fifty national top fifty percent
sorry nationally in rim rate. So it's going to be
just spread basketball and a lot of threes and hopefully
a lot of makes. And he's got the personnel to
obviously do that.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
So looking at this year Ears roster in particular, I
think the biggest question that I'm getting in the preseason,
and I think the biggest question fans have is the
front court and just how that's going to play with
in a Big Ten that as we both know covered
watched the league as long as we have. There's certain
teams where they're gonna just try to pound the ball
and sign on certain nights and you're gonna have to
(09:36):
be able to stop that. Maybe maybe less so now
than it was, you know, five, ten, fifteen years ago,
but there are you look around the league. I mean,
Michigan obviously they're going to play a modern style, but
they have talent in the front court. They have bigs
that can score on the rim. Same thing with with Illinois, Purdue.
Just kind of go down the list, you know, the
best teams in the league are kind of well rounded
(09:58):
where they can all hit the shots from the Premi
and Russell score in the paint. When you look at
this Indiana roster, obviously, there's some things to be excited
about with Tayton Connorway, Lamar Wilkerson, Reed Bailey, really solid
transfer portal pickups. Tucker de Reese obviously is kind of
the headliner coming along with with with Darren from West Virginia.
(10:18):
But what's maybe your biggest question mark when you look
at this roster going into next season in terms of
whether they can be, you know, a top half Big
Ten team. I don't think anyone is looking at Indiana
and saying they're gonna be a team that contends for
the Big Ten title. But I do think fans want
to see, you know, at least a team that's competing
for an NCAA tournament birth and I think you got
to be somewhere in the top half probably to feel
(10:40):
pretty good about your chances to do that.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head
at the beginning of the front court and specifically the
physicality of it. You know, read Bailey is not a
banger in the paint, So it was really encouraging to
see Sam Alexis play the way he did in Puerto Rico.
I think to me that was the big takeaway from
the whole trip was that he you know, was physical
(11:05):
and he wasn't just you know, a blocks and boards
type guy. He actually had some offensive upside to him
as well. So I think Alexis is the key there
really because the other the other front court members are
just not guys who can you know, defend at the
rim at a high level, and Alexis can and he's
going to be Divrees is you know, big proponent of
(11:28):
drop coverage, just like almost all analytically savvy coaches are
now with their defensive schemes. So you know, Alexis showed
that he can be that drop five that you know,
can protect the rim at a high level. We'll see
how that holds up, you know, against non Puerto Rican competition,
but to me, that was by far the biggest takeaway.
(11:49):
You know, we saw the offense from Wilkerson which we
expected to see. Devrees didn't play, he didn't shoot it
at an efficient level. But you know, I expect his
offense to round into form as he gets back into
you know, playing shape in the routine of it after
his shoulder injury. But yeah, to me, alexis kind of
shoring up the physicality of the front court was what
(12:11):
I really wanted to see in there, and that's what
I saw.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
I'm curious, you know, I'm going through exercise right now,
which well, actually I already don't want the exercise. But
we're releasing our top forty players in the Big Ten
with with Dylan Burkhard over at UM Hoops. I'm sure
you're familiar with Dylan Dylan's work and everything he does
over at em Hoops, but we one of the things,
you know, in the transfer port air that's become harder
for us to do is all of these up transfers
(12:38):
projecting what they're going to do once they get to
big you know, the Big tenant. I feel like sometimes
you're rolling the dice. I want to ask you about
some of the guys that are coming up from a
lower level of college hoops to play at Indiana this year.
Tayton Conway Sun Belt Player of the Year, hard to project,
you know how that translates the Big Ten. We saw
him in the tournament last year play against Kentucky, so
he's been on a stage against some of these, you know,
(13:00):
top teams. He obviously led his team to the NCAA tournament.
We saw Lamar Wilkerson in an assembly hall last year. Played
relatively well, averaged over twenty points a game, shot forty
four percent on threes over I think one hundred makes,
which is which is really good. But how does that
translate up the level? Not specific to these guys, but
I'm curious just for your thoughts on what maybe to
(13:22):
look for when you're trying to project these guys moving
up a level, what translate, what translates, and maybe what
doesn't translate in your eyes.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So the I think biggest red flag the analytics guys
will say when they're looking at up transfers are guards
who are rim reliant and draw a lot of contact
that does not transfer up to the you know, Power
five schools. So that's kind of a red flag with
Connorway because he's a rim reliant guard. You know, he's
(13:54):
got a lot of athleticism though, but just the finishing
at the rim and drawing fouls typically does not translate
at this level. So, you know, Connorway is probably my
biggest concern there. I don't have concerns with Wilkerson. That
skill set has proven to translate well moving up, but
you know where I think Devrees recognizes the kind of
(14:20):
need to maybe have Connorway off the ball, so you
have the Connorway and Right combo. I think they're going
to help each other and alleviate some of those concerns
with Connorway's skill set transferring up read. Bailey's a guy
who I think it's going to depend a lot on
the you know, combination he's with on the floor, because
(14:42):
he's going to be like that kind of hub, big
passer who can they can spread the floor around him
and he can you know, read the defense and you know,
pop it out to DeVries or whoever spreading the floor.
So he's but it's gonna you know, he can't be
like we just discussed the primary five in the league.
(15:02):
He'll get you know, dominated physically. So it's going to
be how he plays with Alexis and how you know,
the backcourt and Right and Connorway play with each other.
I think to alleviate some of those up transfer concerns I.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Noticed down in Puerto Rico, which again I'm trying not
to read too much into exhibition game stats, but Bailey
wasn't really taking any three pointers down there. Did that
surprise you at all? Is that something we can expect
to be different when the games actually start.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I think that he's his spacing. It's a good thing,
you know, in the long run that he doesn't need
to be like a stretch five type player in this
offense because we have enough spacing without that element. So,
sorry to say we bad habit I have is that.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
You're you're an IU grad. You can say, well, I
guess it's.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Tough to get out of that habit. But yeah, I'm
an independent you know journalists here, so I have to be.
But yeah, it did surprise me that he wasn't used
almost at all in that regard, even like as a
you know, pick and pop guy. He wasn't out there
on the perim So I that did surprise me. But
I think it's a product of where this team is
(16:18):
at in terms of their spacing, and it's just not
an element divvere seas is necessary right now.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
Yeah. The one thing, going back to Conorway for a second,
the one thing we had a chance to talk to
some of the players after they had an open practice
in late July. We got a chance to talk to
some of the guys afterwards and from talking to Conorway,
I think one of the things that he said that
stood out was just you mentioned, you know, he did
get to the rim a lot. I think in this
offense maybe his role might be a little bit different
(16:46):
of just trying to get the ball in the paint
for kickouts instead of trying to go finish. I think
watching his some of his film from last season, one
of the things that that did stand out was how
well he was able to get into the lane. May
the plays that he was finishing last year won't be
able to finish, but he might not have to if
he's got Devrees and Wilkerson, Nick Dorn, potentially Josiah Miles
(17:09):
out on the perimeter. If he can kick the ball
out for threes, I think he's a pretty good creative
playmaker from that perspective, So maybe that that can be
maybe a you know, a counter to the fact that
he may You're right, I think he may have trouble
finishing some of the plays because when you're playing Sun
Belt competition, sometimes you're going against what a six six
(17:29):
six eight guy and the paint as opposed to going
against a Dai Mara or whoever is you know, Oscar
Cloff Purdue got on the list. There's gonna be guys
that are six ten and up that he's going to
be trying to challenge in the paint the big ten.
Maybe not as easy as what he was able to
do with a sun belt, right.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
And you know Troy last year, it's amazing he racked
up like I think at top twenty assister eate nationally
when they were one of the worst three point shooting
teams in the country. So you know, that's it's like
I mentioned earlier, it's the pieces around him that it's
going to alleviate for me those concerns that his rim
finishing and ability to draw contact won't translate at the
(18:11):
higher level because you know he's going to be like
you mentioned, it's about collapsing the defense within and being
able to get you know, draw pain off the dribble
and then you know, kick out to the what should
be one of the better shooting teams in the league.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Because the last guy I wanted to ask you about
was just Tucker de Freeze because I kind of feel
like in some ways he's I don't want to say
the forgotten man, but he was. It was just assumed
that he was coming to Indiana when when Darren took
the job, So there wasn't really any buzz about him committing,
and there wasn't any a ton of discussion. It was
just like, well, we're getting there, and he has getting
this guy that was the two time Missouri Valued Player
(18:48):
of the Year, and if it was, if he wasn't
the coach's son, I think a much bigger deal would
have been made out of how just how important of
a piece he is. But to have him come in,
you know, I remember watching a couple of the games
last season down in Battle for Atlantis because obviously Indiana
was down there. I think it was against Arizona. He
had some ridiculous three point I mean, just he's he
(19:10):
can pull up from anywhere. I mean, do you do
you kind of feel like the same way, he's been
maybe a little bit overlooked on this team and he's
the guy to me that flashes all big ten potential.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah, it's you're exactly right. And my you know, guys,
I went to college with our our group chat we
talk about how I was just talking about how it
seems like he's been kind of taken for granted as
his role in this team because he can legitimately do
it all. So you're not like, oh, he's going to
be our guy that you know, runs off ball screens
(19:41):
or whatever. You know, he can he can take the
ball screen, you can use him off the ball. He's
a great cutter, you know. He just he's just the
quintessential coach's son basically. So he's just so high IQ
like can do anything you ask him to do. You
can put him at you know, anywhere one through four
basically and be totally fine. So yeah, it's like his
(20:03):
skill set is so diverse that you kind of take
for granted that he doesn't have a defined role on
this team when because his role is to like play
all of those play all of those roles. So yeah,
I know exactly what you're saying that it's kind of
you know, he's possibly, you know, maybe without questioning, even
(20:24):
the best player on the team, And when anyone talks
about IU, it's kind of like, oh, yeah, and Tucker
Devriez is there, of course, you.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Know, right, but yeah, he's a really good passer too.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Right Exactly. You can put him, yeah, in the middle
of the floor, you can space him out as a shooter.
He can take the ball screen, he can create his
own shot like it's he's legitimately, like you know, unbelievably skilled.
And same on defense too. He's not like super athletic,
but he just knows where to be defensively and you know,
(20:54):
can guard multiple positions. So I think that's yeah, he's
just an incredible basketball player all around on both ends.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
So I want to you know, we only have you
for thirty thirty five minutes here, so I do want
to talk about some of the other Big Ten programs
that made coaching highers in the offseason. You know, the
one that's maybe talked about the most is IOWA and
Ben McCollum. And there was I think a time there
when Indiana fans were debating did they want McCollum, did
they want Devrees? And obviously we saw it all played out,
(21:26):
but there's a lot of fanfare, maybe a lot of it.
Seems like the national guys really like Ben McCollum in
terms of what he was able to do last season
at Drake and have a ton of respect what he
did at the D two level, and most of the
preseason predictions that I've seen so far have IOWA picked
ahead of Indiana in the Big Ten. I don't know
it's going to play out that way. I would say
(21:46):
on paper, Indiana's probably got a more talented roster. I
don't know if you would agree with that, But obviously
Ben at Sturtz is a really key piece there, and
then there's some obviously some guys moving up from lower
levels there too. But what do you like about the
McCollum higher for Iowa? Is there anything that gives you
pause in terms of how he may translate to the
(22:07):
Big Ten?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah? I think you know, like you mentioned, it was
kind of it seemed like McCollum was trending towards being
here in Bloomington. But I think that it will be
interesting to see how that kind of like total burn
offense and clock manipulation that he runs works out at
(22:31):
you know where margin evert like is slimmering games like this,
So if you keep lowering the possessions, you could be
shooting yourself in the foot. But you know, it's a
total one to eighty from Fran McCaffrey style of basketball. Obviously,
you know, Bennett Starts is just a master manipulator with
the ball screen and just completely controls the game, and
(22:54):
you know, he added the kind of versatile forward from
Robert Morris Pogeiras who they didn't have last year at Drake.
They didn't have that type of player who can be
like a short role creator in the pick and roll
game with sturts, and I think that's really gonna kind
of that was a missing piece for Drake last year
(23:14):
and they did unbelievably well without that kind of player.
But he's exactly the kind of player that they need
in that pick and roll game with starts. So I
think IOWA was going to be offensively fine. Yet like
they're going to be one of the better teams just
in terms of on an efficiency level because of how
they're going to control the game and starts. I think
(23:34):
his style of play we've seen it statistically when Drake
played up. He didn't you know, miss a beat last year.
So I think IOWA was legitimately. I don't I agree
with you talent wise, like you know, top to bottom
on the roster, they're not as good as IU, but
I think they can manipulate the game in a way
where you know they might have a top half finish
(23:55):
in the Collins first year.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Is that you talk about mine pipulation of the game.
I mean, is it reminiscent at all of some how
Wisconsin used to play. I'm just trying to get Big
ten fans prepared for what they're going to be watching.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
Yeah. Absolutely, it's it's that there's no like swing offense
elements or anything, you know, like had at all. It's
totally just how starts. Like they literally burn clock at
the beginning of possessions just to get starts in the
ball screen. They'll run ball screen after ball screen after
ball screen until they find the one they like, and
starts is just so good at you know, reading when
the time is to you know, attack or kick out
(24:33):
or whatever. And yeah, it's it's a lot like that style.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Which is there any concern that when when you when
you do that it can work? I guess at the
D two level at Drake, is there any concern against
like the best of the best in the Big ten
that that there's a ceiling on on what that can
actually do if you continue to kind of go back
to the same thing over and over. I mean sometimes
(25:00):
at some point talent becomes key to winning at the
highest level.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Yeah, absolutely, And you know we kind of it worked
in small doses when Drake played Power Conference teams because
they could, it was like kind of a shock to
the system for you know, and it turns out some
of those wins in the non conference against Miami and
Kansas State that looked impressive at the time turned out
(25:27):
to not be you know, really impressive. But obviously they
went to the second round of the tournament. You know,
it was they're legitimately a good team. But you're right,
night in and night out, it's not going to be
as effective I think as a you know, one time
shock to the system against a Power five team where
you're like, oh my god, this team is you know,
literally taking the shot clock down to five seconds before
(25:47):
they initiate offense here. So yeah, you're right. When that's
the plan every single night in the Big ten, we'll
see how effective that can be. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
I mean again, I'm not antim call. I think he's
a great coach. I think it's going to be I
think it's going to be a great addition to you know,
I've had a running joke for a long time about
just Iowa, are you ever going to play defense? I
think they've actually got a serious coach. He's going to
have them prepared on both ends. I think it's a
great addition for the league and I'm excited to see
how it works out. Moving on to Maryland, Kevin Willard,
(26:19):
anyone that follows me on social media knows I wasn't
the biggest Kevin Willard supporter. I think they actually made
an upgrade at the head coaching position bringing in Buzz Williams.
Although Buzz we can debate what his ceiling ultimately is.
He kind of gets to a program and he can
tinker things around a little bit and he can win.
He can get to the tournament. Is that kind of
how Maybe not a high ceiling higher, but I think
(26:41):
the floor is relatively high with Buddes Williams, and particularly
at Maryland, with the resources where he's going to be
able to recruit, I think he's got a chance to
have a tournament team there every year.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Yeah, totally agree. You know, he brought his kind of
brutish front court with him that you know, they dominate
the offensive glass, super physical and the paint. They switch
everything defensively, go under a ton of ball screens, basically
force you to beat them over the top, and then
they you know, grab the rebound and go. He did
(27:13):
recruit a couple like more skilled players like Elijah Saunders,
who's kind of something they've been he was missing at
Texas A and M. Like a kind of more skilled
shooting type of forward. And of course they have a
friend of the program running the show, Miles Rice now,
and I think, you know, with the way they play
defense and the way they teach physicality, he gives his
guards a lot of offensive freedom, and I think Rice
(27:35):
is going to probably have, you know, the kind of
post type breakout year that you hear a lot about
where he's just given more of a kind of you know,
I don't want to say green light, but less like
restrictions offensively, Like if you watch the guards at Texas
A and M, they will take some of the worst
shots you've ever seen because the ideas like let's get
(27:58):
a shot up and then we just crash all five
on the offensive glass. And so Rice is going to
have a lot of opportunities to do just that. So
you know, he might not have an efficiency from an
efficiency standpoint, a great year, but he's going to put
up some big numbers, you know, end of playing that role.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
So you're buying a bounce back season from Miles Rice
after Dylan and I ranked him in the top five
players last year and the big ten the preseason, he
burned us. Now we have him outside of the top forty,
and I think that he might burn us again.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, yeah, you can't. You can't catch up with him.
He's I think he could have a you know, pretty
decent year.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Last guy I want to talk about, Nico medved comes
over from Colorado State to Minnesota's alma mater. I would
say of the four new hires, probably has the biggest
hill to climb there for a variety of reasons, one
being the nil resources and every you know, just kind
of the program prestige in history at Minnesota is lesser
(28:56):
than the other three programs. It's not an easy job.
I mean, they ran Richard Patino out of there, and
he actually did a relatively solid job, and kind of
he's ended up maybe in a better spot than than
when he was there at Minnesota ended up ultimately Xavier,
but it's a tough job. I think he's relying this
year on a ton of up transfers, so it's really
(29:18):
hard to project. When we looked at I think the
top forty for the big tip in the preseason. I'm
not sure I even seriously considered a player from Minnesota
to put on there. So they're gonna have to be
a sum of their parts rather than having one, one
or two studs. What do you like about that fit there?
And is there any hope for for Minnesota to kind
(29:39):
of outperform expectations this year? Is that going to be
something where he's going to need to build it over
the next couple of years.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yeah, I think Minnesota is kind of a deeper sleeper
in the league. Like I'm not saying they're going to
be in the same there's kind of that big, meaty
tier of the you know, Wisconsin, Ohio, State, i U, Iowa,
Maryland like that, they're all kind of generally about the
same minutes. Soda is below that tier, but I think
they can knock on the door of that tier in
the first year just because he medved is kind of
(30:07):
it'll remind me a lot of like Matt Pater's offense
before they you know, had you know, seven foot five
guys every single season. It's a lot of off ball movement,
a lot of cutters, a lot of off ball screening,
and he's got a point guard from Western Michigan that
I really like, Chauncey Willis. He put up some amazing
(30:29):
efficiency numbers for a really bad Western Michigan team, and
I think he's kind of the typical point guard that
he had at Colorado State that can really run his offense.
He's relying on a kind of Taton Connorway player I
think to be his leading scorer with Langston Reynolds, who
is a big rim finisher at Northern Colorado as an
off guard. So that's kind of the you know, red
(30:52):
flag kind of player that we talked about earlier. So
we'll see how that translates. But a lot of the
rim looks Colorado State rated under him wasn't born from
like dribble penetration. It's from off ball movement, spacing and
just you know, attacking that gap that you create. And
I think a big key to them kind of reaching
(31:13):
some sort of ceiling will be a cage. Tyson, the
Velmont transfer, went to North Carolina last year and bombed.
I think he was poorly coached and poorly utilized there,
and so with a he's a perfect fit in the
style of offense. They run a similar offense to what
Belmont uses. So he's going to be I think kind
(31:33):
of in that post hype breakout role as well, where
he can really thrive with a lot of open shots
that this offense creates. I think Minnesota's got some definite upside,
big coaching upgrade, you know. I don't think they're going
to compete necessarily for a at large spot or you know,
be even in the you know, bottom tier of the middle.
(31:57):
I think they're solidly in the bottom tier, but I
think they have potential to you know, kind of be
around that area and surprise with some wins.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
So quickly before before we wrap up here, the two
teams that you know, I keep coming back to at
the bottom. I'm curious if you have agreement on this
or is there any debate Penn State and Rutgers. They
kind of looks like the bottom to.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
You easily the bottom tier, like they're a tier of
their own at the bottom. You know, I think Michael's
going to be a little bit relieved to be rid
of you know, the Harper Bailey kind of it's just
it just was a poor fit from the beginning, you know,
it just it's not his style. But so they're going
to get more into that kind of you know, ground
(32:40):
and pound way that they play with him, but they
just don't have anywhere near the talent level that you know,
if you're relying on another friend of the program, hearn
Zerno to be your leading scorer, which I think Rutgers
might be. I think you're in pretty big trouble. And
then Penn State they got you know, like a I
think intriguing point guard, freshman point guard Kaden Mingo coming in,
(33:04):
and some Euros, Murdics and Urich in the front court.
But other than that, I think they're pretty easily the
worst team in the Big Ten this year.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
And then the top is it is it a Michigan
Purdue battle or is there a chance for Illinois somebody.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Similar to the bottom, I see two teams in the top,
Purdue in Michigan, like a clear, clearly defined tier one,
and then right below them, I'd probably put Illinois and
U c l A together U c l A a little higher,
and then like I mentioned earlier, this kind of third
tier of Wisconsin, Michigan State, Oregon, Ohio State, Maryland, I
(33:39):
U Iowa even maybe like Washington, USC could be in
that tier as well. I think they're kind of just
one massive lump of teams right now that it's hard
to differentiate from a power ranking perspective before the season starts.
Speaker 1 (33:54):
So basically, what you're saying is chaos as usual in
the middle of the Big Ten. Everyone's gonna beat up
on each other and we'll see we'll see you in
Chicago for the Big Ten Tournament when it's all the
sides in terms of the seating.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
And you could have another team like Nebraska who doesn't
even or Northwestern, you know, who doesn't even qualify for
the Big Ten Tournament, but who you know has like
a fringe at large case because I you know, I
see them as kind of their own tier right behind
that where they're capable of, like they have such stylistic
differences as opposed to the rest of the Big Ten,
(34:25):
Northwestern and Nebraska, where you know, it's always a headache
playing and you know, dealing with those post traps and
things like that. So it's, yeah, a convoluted mess in
the middle.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Yeah, that's that's one thing. You know. I got some
friends that are acc fans and fans of other leagues too.
It's like I trying to tell people and I like
to throw it back, Well, the Big Ten hasn't won
a championships in two thousand. I'm like, there's there's not
very many off nights in the Big Ten once you
get into conference play. I mean there might be this
season with Penn State and Rutgers depending. I mean, although
I I will say if you catch Rutgers on the
(35:01):
wrong night at the RACK, they can be tough. I
don't care who's playing. But a lot of these teams,
I mean, you look at the ACC last year, and
this is kind of one thing I've cautioned people. They've
they've said, well, Pat Kelsey turned things around at Louisville
last year and year one can't do the same thing
at Ie. I'm like, look at the teams that were
playing for a lot of those games, they had those
long winning streaks. They were just not even competitive college
(35:23):
basketball teams. And the Big Ten you're not. You're not
going to have those games where it's just a gimmea
on a given night. I mean, you may have, like
I said, a couple at home against the bottom tier league,
but if you don't come to play, anyone can beat
anyone in the Big Ten. I truly believe that and
it's not like that other than maybe the SEC the
Big Twelve on some of its you know, best years,
(35:44):
but really the only leagues like that in the country
that I can see.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Right, and for an eighteen team league as well, you know,
like the Big Ten has benefited from that, the ACC
has not. You know, like you mentioned the bottom half
of that ACC megafield is just they were awful last year.
You know, those were easy, like almost guaranteed wins in
that league and they're just yeah, as you're saying, there
(36:09):
just isn't such a thing with this eighteen team league.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Well, Jordan, thanks for taking the time, really enjoying the conversation.
I'd love to have you on again once we actually
get some data in from the season, some results, and
so jerre in Bloomington there. I know you have a
close eye on the Hoosiers. Love to have you on
again at some point when the season gets closer or
when the season starts to talk some more college hoops
and I you, I really appreciate you taking the time.
Good luck with everything with a Basket under Review. If
(36:34):
you haven't checked that out, make sure you check out
Jordan's work and everything they're doing over there, Basket Underview
hopefully continues to go well for everyone over there.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
Yeah, thank you for having me love the site, been
you know, fanned for many years.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Thanks for having me appreciate it as Again, as I
said at the top, if you enjoy the show, please
leave with the rating and review over on Apple Podcasts,
preferably five stars. If you don't mind five star rating
over on Spotify, like and subscribe to the YouTube channel
and we'll be back soon with another episode of Podcast
on the Break.
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