So how are we feeling now?

[redbirdron1]

Feeling much better than I did 10 days ago. I'm pleased with recent signees.

Concerns:

Can the new coaches assist in getting the boys back to playing tough D?
PG eligibility for the new guy from Wichita.
Wish we had one more big.
Hope Dan uses the last scholarship.
Will TB be ready and will he ever b healthy?

 

[grons]

I think everyone has raised some valid points/concerns about our roster. I can say confidently that I think we're now equipped to do some damage in the Valley. What's does that even mean though....do some damage....?

Does "do some damage" mean another regular season title with an arch madness day 1 or 2 exit?

or how about an unimpressive regular season record coupled with a nail biting conference championship loss?

I am sick and tired of falling short of expectations. We need to make the tournament. That's the damage I want to see. I don't care about player awards, rivalry wins, upset wins, pre-season tournament victories, 3* signings......I care about picking ISU as a first round upset in my 2020 bracket.

I had a friend ask me recently why I haven't been hyping the birds like I usually do this time of year....it's hard to be passionate about something if you don't have belief. This week's burst of refreshing news has reinvigorated me to say the least.

I think we all want the same thing, we want these guys to come in here and go all-in and buy into our program, do well in school, stay out of trouble, and play basketball with solid fundamentals and teamwork. Ray Idowu comes to mind, this kid seems all-in and his actions have spoken louder than his words. I want 11 Ray Idowu's. Or 11 Phil Fayne's (sad to see him go). Cloning seems like a stretch, so we need a few of these players to step up and be leaders...inspire teammates to want to execute each and every single day and have zero tolerance for nonsense.

I think we have the physical tools now, but we need the leadership. Who's going to step up and lead this team to a conference championship? The time is now, start hanging out together, start playing NBA2K together, get to know each other's strength's and weaknesses, learn each other's habits, eat together when you can, and push each other to be better each and every single day. We can do this, but the players need to go all-in now and not stop until next April. Then we can take a short victory lap and rinse and repeat for the 20-21 season. Let's freaking go.

 

[SoCalRedbird]

Well said. ^^^^^

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[BIGfan]

I am not going to miss last year's Evans. MY was too inconsistent (he won't do much in the pros because fans want to get what they expect every game). MH... no comment. Tinsley - ditto MY. So, I look forward to a better season. Idowu has skills, body and IQ to be a MVC first teamer. Unleash Chastain and he could be a star. Bruninga could bookend Chastain. Who replaces air-ball Evans? Anyone but Copeland. The Birds biggest need is an aircraft carrier in the lane. If the other team's cutters run into a wall... it will change their attack. Maybe Idowu can anchor that spot???

 

[Bird Friend]

I am not going to miss last year's Evans. MY was too inconsistent (he won't do much in the pros because fans want to get what they expect every game). MH... no comment. Tinsley - ditto MY. So, I look forward to a better season. Idowu has skills, body and IQ to be a MVC first teamer. Unleash Chastain and he could be a star. Bruninga could bookend Chastain. Who replaces air-ball Evans? Anyone but Copeland. The Birds biggest need is an aircraft carrier in the lane. If the other team's cutters run into a wall... it will change their attack. Maybe Idowu can anchor that spot???

Do you want a wall or an aircraft carrier? They're not quite the same . . .

 

[jbird]

I am not going to miss last year's Evans. MY was too inconsistent (he won't do much in the pros because fans want to get what they expect every game). MH... no comment. Tinsley - ditto MY. So, I look forward to a better season. Idowu has skills, body and IQ to be a MVC first teamer. Unleash Chastain and he could be a star. Bruninga could bookend Chastain. Who replaces air-ball Evans? Anyone but Copeland. The Birds biggest need is an aircraft carrier in the lane. If the other team's cutters run into a wall... it will change their attack. Maybe Idowu can anchor that spot???

Do you want a wall or an aircraft carrier? They're not quite the same . . .

I want a wall and I want bradley to pay for it.

 

[CaliRdBrd]

You all are so desperate for improvement (me ,too), that you’re grasping at the tiniest pebble to give a glimmer of hope. This is basically a team full of unproven talent.

You’ve been forewarned.

 

[Bird Friend]

You all are so desperate for improvement (me ,too), that you’re grasping at the tiniest pebble to give a glimmer of hope. This is basically a team full of unproven talent.

You’ve been forewarned.

 

[SoCalRedbird]

You all are so desperate for improvement (me ,too), that you’re grasping at the tiniest pebble to give a glimmer of hope. This is basically a team full of unproven talent.

You’ve been forewarned.

You're a cup half-empty kinda guy, huh?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

You all are so desperate for improvement (me ,too), that you’re grasping at the tiniest pebble to give a glimmer of hope. This is basically a team full of unproven talent.

You’ve been forewarned.

Kinda like Drake was this past season?

 

[CaliRdBrd]

You all are so desperate for improvement (me ,too), that you’re grasping at the tiniest pebble to give a glimmer of hope. This is basically a team full of unproven talent.

You’ve been forewarned.

You're a cup half-empty kinda guy, huh?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Ha! Yep.
Being a Redbird fan should come with a warning label that this is a potential side effect

 

[DoubleDeuce]

You all are so desperate for improvement (me ,too), that you’re grasping at the tiniest pebble to give a glimmer of hope. This is basically a team full of unproven talent.

You’ve been forewarned.

You're a cup half-empty kinda guy, huh?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I had BWW last night, I'm more of a toilet bowl half full kinda guy.

 

[ThisIsTheLineup]

To be honest, I don't have any expectations for next season. I am going in knowing anything can happen and whatever happens, happens.

That way, I feel like I will have a much better experience next year as compared to this past year lol.

 

[Brick]

Just some random thoughts

I don’t get picking on Evans. He was and is a class act. He never recovered from the injury his Jr year. But he never quit and represented the University well.

Won’t miss Milik. Just too much baggage which was a shame given his talent.

I like what’s occurred with the coaching staff. Brought in some really good experience. I also like the recruiting thus far. Including the preferred walk on. That kid can shoot. For the past few seasons consistent shooting has been a MAJOR problem IMO.

lastly I am ok with banking the last scholarship UNLESS we could get a real quality player.

 

[cubird]

Ditto :clap:

 

[CaliRdBrd]

Just some random thoughts

I don’t get picking on Evans. He was and is a class act. He never recovered from the injury his Jr year. But he never quit and represented the University well.

Won’t miss Milik. Just too much baggage which was a shame given his talent.

I like what’s occurred with the coaching staff. Brought in some really good experience. I also like the recruiting thus far. Including the preferred walk on. That kid can shoot. For the past few seasons consistent shooting has been a MAJOR problem IMO.

lastly I am ok with banking the last scholarship UNLESS we could get a real quality player.

I’m sure KE is a great dude, and he clearly represented ISU well, but I doubt he was recruited to be a nice guy.

 

[CB2K]

Agree on the on the plague of inconsistent shooting on last year's team that hindered their offensive margins which is why it is disappointing at some level that Josh Jefferson transferred. He is a pure shooter and couldn't get on the floor (assume defensive liability) and then went into a slump. I am not sure if the doghouse model coach extensively uses is the best approach to maximize production and improvement. I recall that Tyler Brown did fine under Jank but was always in the doghouse with DM.

 

[Redbird Alum 2004]

Agree on the on the plague of inconsistent shooting on last year's team that hindered their offensive margins which is why it is disappointing at some level that Josh Jefferson transferred. He is a pure shooter and couldn't get on the floor (assume defensive liability) and then went into a slump. I am not sure if the doghouse model coach extensively uses is the best approach to maximize production and improvement. I recall that Tyler Brown did fine under Jank but was always in the doghouse with DM.

When Jefferson's shot stopped falling that's when his minutes went down. His liability on the defensive side was too great if he wasn't making shots. When he was making shots he was our leading minutes guy.

 

[Bird Friend]

Just some random thoughts

I don’t get picking on Evans. He was and is a class act. He never recovered from the injury his Jr year. But he never quit and represented the University well.

Won’t miss Milik. Just too much baggage which was a shame given his talent.

I like what’s occurred with the coaching staff. Brought in some really good experience. I also like the recruiting thus far. Including the preferred walk on. That kid can shoot. For the past few seasons consistent shooting has been a MAJOR problem IMO.

lastly I am ok with banking the last scholarship UNLESS we could get a real quality player.

I’m sure KE is a great dude, and he clearly represented ISU well, but I doubt he was recruited to be a nice guy.

 

[Hrtnfldhse]

After what I have to say is among the most incredible three weeks in recent offseason program history, the lineup, staff and overall program looks suddenly, potentially very solid.

Let's review:

5/1- Muller fills vacant assistant coaching opening with University of North Dakota HC, Brian Jones.
5/8- Matt Hein graduates and transfers from program.
5/13- Chris Duhon resigns and is replaced with Indiana St Ast HC, Marcus Belcher
5/14- Harouna Sissoko (2* 6'7'' SF) signs with 4 years of eligibility
5/17- Antonio Reeves (3* 6'4'' SG) signs with ISU. Reeves is widely known as the best player on Chicago Simeon's 2018-19 roster and is a 4A All State selection. ISU's first Simeon signing since Kenyon Smith in 2009.
5/18- Ricky Torres (JC 6'2'' PG) transfers from WSU to ISU. Was a first team 2017-18 JC All American at PG.


Now lets add this into the following of what we already have:

Guards:

D. Boyd (JR?)
Z. Copeland (SR)
J. Hillsman (R-SR)
M. Chastain (JR)

Forwards:
K. Fisher (JR)
A. Ndaiye (R- FR)
T. Bruninga (R-SO)
R. Idowu (SO)

I think you have yourself a SQUAD here and, even though I have not seen them, I want to assume they will play better team ball than MY's tenure here. None of these guys are on NBA radars, and that is, IMO a very good thing. There won't be any showing off. I expect lots of passing and defense plus a much increased shooting percentage.

I, for one, am now REALLY excited to see how this goes.

Don't forget our other signee. DJ Horne