Indiana State - 01/04/2023 - 7:00 PM - ESPN+

[SlackBooDom]

What are you realistically getting from this team if you bring the majority of it back next year? No clear culture has been established yet nor have the results on the court been good. In today’s age of college hoops bad teams should be attempting to reload every year until they get it right. I’m confident in Pedon being able to do this but if you only open up 3-4 scholarships I think we see more of the same next season and that’s unacceptable.

Who do you think should go? If you want roster turnover, where does it come from? Who do you want back from this roster?

The excuse Pedon didn’t have time in the portal isn’t a real excuse. He met with the team the second they lost in the MVC tournament. He was one of the first coaches hired so he could hit the portal. We got Knight, Burford, Sandage, Petrakis, Poindexter, Kasubke. If we go into the portal and get five more like that, what do you think the record is next year?

You either have to turn the roster over for better players or you build within the program. Saying at 6-10 that every player and every coach can go without losing sleep is how you don’t build anything useful.

 

[CaliRdBrd]

Yep I’ve said before we sure do need a true 5.

Yep I’ve said before we sure do need a true 5.

Maybe Chase Walker be the answer?

 

[Adunk33]

Well the 2 teams currently leading the conference right now in Indiana State and SIU the two leaders of those schools have been in the MVC for their entire careers with Cooper Neese at Indiana State and Marcus Domask at SIU. I know Cooper Neese isn't the Indiana State leading scorer but he is the leader of that team and still scores more then 10ppg, so some schools have figured out how to do it and how to keep the players at their current schools.

Neese started his career at Butler, but the point lands, nonetheless. Look over at Bradley, they've got dudes that have been there multiple years (Ville, Hannah, Mast), Drake's starting 5 (I know not all started their careers there but they are finishing them-most in their third year), Borne leads UNI in his third year. Lance Jones at SIU. And the list goes on.

Inversely, you've got Dana over at MoST that has 85% roster turnover each year and this one he's competing.

As they say, "There is more than one way to skin a cat," there's more than one way to build a successful basketball team. I for one, am naïve and hopeful that Pedon can build the Birds into what UNI is from a retention stand point. It's too early to tell.

As far as the 2022-23 Redbirds- "young" is a term that unfortunately, cannot be applied. "Inexperienced" is more accurate. I'm not making excuses, just laying out the facts of the matter. Two of the top 6 in Luke and Malachi are really experiencing their first D1 seasons. Games and practices are a lot different. This is the most game time Kotov has seen since high school and Liam is being told he is THE GUY for the first time since he was in HS. Everyone is still trying to get used to their roles and understanding. It seems like the willingness to buy-in is there but it needs to be executed.

That said, you need more from the guys that have a lot of in-game experience. That's Sandage, Knight, Burford, Lewis and Petrakis. Those guys have played too much ball to be making "rookie mistakes." I'd love to see Joe adjust his game be more willing to go down in the post and draw some contact. He's mobile and could create some mismatches. He shot 61% from the line last year but only took 31. Work on doing things to help the team win. Unfortunately, his 21% 3pt % isn't going to be the thing to get him on the court.

 

[Popsto4]

2 5th year, 2 Grad Students, 2 Seniors, 3 RS Juniors, 6 Juniors, O Sophs, O Frosh. 12 Games played. A young team? There's nothing young about this group in any way. This is the new face of college basketball. Play better. They should be coming out of the locker room with a fire lit under their asses.

I tell you what dude. They’re trying harder to turn the program around than anyone on this message board is. Would you believe that?

 

[Redbird222]

Who do you think should go? If you want roster turnover, where does it come from? Who do you want back from this roster?

The excuse Pedon didn’t have time in the portal isn’t a real excuse. He met with the team the second they lost in the MVC tournament. He was one of the first coaches hired so he could hit the portal. We got Knight, Burford, Sandage, Petrakis, Poindexter, Kasubke. If we go into the portal and get five more like that, what do you think the record is next year?

You either have to turn the roster over for better players or you build within the program. Saying at 6-10 that every player and every coach can go without losing sleep is how you don’t build anything useful.

Pedon was establishing the coaching staff during the first month or 2 after his hire. They are huge part of recruiting and evaluating the talent that was on the team. He was also dealing with his OSU responsibilities for about 2 weeks. I dont think he hit the ground running on recruiting.

While he may not have had a huge disadvantage in the portal, he clearly would have a disadvantage in recruiting Freshman and JUCOs. He missed the early signing period and could not spend years/months developing relationships and selling them on ISU prior to his arrival Also, some coaches are able to take current players with them or recruits. Look at Indiana St, Northwestern St, and LSU and the players the coach took with them. It helps fill roster places but also helps jump start the program when players understand the system already.
Pedon didn't have the luxury of taking any Ohio St players to ISU.

I will offer my opinion on the 2 to 4 players that should potentially go
Andrews
Kotov
Schmidt
Petrakis
Sissoko

We all could point out something those 5 do well but the reality is all 5 have signifant areas they need to improve. These are not freshman. This is Schmidt's second year at D1 (with 2 at JUCO) and the others have played at least 3 years (includes this year) at D1 even if just sparingly. Kotov also has 2 years at JUCO. I am not saying all 5 will or should go but they are strong candidates. If Petrakis or someone turns it around between now and the end of the season that would be awesome. If not a change should seriously be considered by both sides.

I don't want to see continuous roster turnover but given the talent on the team and where we want to go, I think next year it will be warranted. In the meantime I will root whole heartedly for each of them when they are playing and I hope they prove me wrong.

 

[Popsto4]

Maybe Chase Walker be the answer?

Just a big active body can be a difference maker

 

[ISU86]

I will offer my opinion on the 2 to 4 players that should potentially go
Andrews
Kotov
Schmidt
Petrakis
Sissoko

Might be nice to at least get the players' name right - it is Schmitt (not Schmidt).

 

[Redbird222]

Might be nice to at least get the players' name right - it is Schmitt (not Schmidt).

My bad. Thanks for pointing that out

 

[ILLST25]

We need much more in the guard department. We are loaded with below average bigs.

 

[Popsto4]

We need much more in the guard department. We are loaded with below average bigs.

A TRUE PG+A TRUE BIG=GOOD TEAM

 

[TIMMY]

I tell you what dude. They’re trying harder to turn the program around than anyone on this message board is. Would you believe that?

Yes Dad I believe they're all trying really hard.

 

[Aggie]

Stop waiting for official tv timeouts and call one yourself. The team didn’t have it when they came out after the tip and Indiana state pounced on us. Call a timeout and try to stop any more momentum.

YES

 

[TIMMY]

YES

Scouting and preparation.

 

[Scipio]

I appreciate reading all the comments; but have to reiterate. We didn’t get to this point overnight. We are not going to regain legitimacy overnight; nor this season. I’m reasonably sure the AD and Pedon knew this going in. I believe the program can be restored; but it’s not going to happen this year. Let’s celebrate when we can; and give Coach a year or two. The team is working hard, the coaching staff is working hard. It’s a tough situation and it’s going to take time to fix.

 

[Scipio]

As with any sports team the younger teams usually lose the close games. This team have playing experience but very little to none coming into the season. So this is not o Ly a new team but a young one also. With the kids returning who I think will, new recruits and a transfer or maybe two the program will definitely head in the right direction. It’s frustrating as a fan and dad of a player but still I see some improvement event before the help arrive.

Well said

 

[Scipio]

This makes no sense to me. I walked out dissappointed in the loss but energized about the teams ability to fight back and stay in the game in the second half. INSU is clearly the team to beat right now in the Valley. They have been behind for a total of 6 MINUTES in their last five games. Thats an ungodly statistic, and shooting 80% FG for the majority of the first half. Those numbers are insane.

I dont understand how people are this down and ready to start bailing on the players and the coach after 15 games. Did yall think this was gonna be an instant NCAA berth team? Really? Was that your expectation going into this year?

They did fight back. Even; what 18 down they hung in there and battled. Coach and Staff made adjustments. All positives! No; I didn’t expect an NCAA bid. I just expected a more positive, fundamentally solid team.

 

[Rollbirds]

I had a team like this before. I made them go live 10 minutes before kickoff. They about crapped their drawers. We never came out slow after that. You gotta do SOMETHING! You gotta wake them up. You can't just sit there and watch.

I was thinking the same thing. Have these guys play a full on 20 minute scrimmage pregame to get em going

 

[Popsto4]

They did fight back. Even; what 18 down they hung in there and battled. Coach and Staff made adjustments. All positives! No; I didn’t expect an NCAA bid. I just expected a more positive, fundamentally solid team.

The team believe they can beat ISU Blue now. Why wouldn’t they? It’s still a learning curve even at this point in the season. I see it as we’re really beating ourselves.

 

[Popsto4]

I appreciate reading all the comments; but have to reiterate. We didn’t get to this point overnight. We are not going to regain legitimacy overnight; nor this season. I’m reasonably sure the AD and Pedon knew this going in. I believe the program can be restored; but it’s not going to happen this year. Let’s celebrate when we can; and give Coach a year or two. The team is working hard, the coaching staff is working hard. It’s a tough situation and it’s going to take time to fix.

Establishing the culture is the toughest thing to do. Pedon and the staff is on that. I believe he will get the program there. Fans can be brutal on these boards. Like everything else this program will carve its very own.

 

[SgtHulka]

I’m just wondering why the slow starts actually..

Word is out. Punch us in the mouth early with ball pressure and driving the lane and we'll end up coming back, but not soon enough