This Year's Team (2023-2024)

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redbirds2000

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DougSutton said:
This thread is dedicated to @Metamoron's great point. The old "Next Year's Team" is officially This Year's Team.

With that, here's a great article from Randy Reinhardt about this year's incoming transfers.

pantagraph.com

Illinois State basketball transfers fitting in nicely with returning Redbirds

All four transfers are expected to have a big impact on the Redbirds.
pantagraph.com pantagraph.com
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It's going to be real interesting to see who gets the minutes. There appears to be a lot of depth.
 
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redbirdron1

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Our depth is great. The occasional tweaked ankle or case of the flu shouldn’t stand in the way of competing.

The questions remain- will the sum of all the parts be good enough to win on the road, cut down all the careless Turnovers and Gain some Identity with Statement Wins.
 
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Adunk33

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redbirdron1 said:
Our depth is great. The occasional tweaked ankle or case of the flu shouldn’t stand in the way of competing.

The questions remain- will the sum of all the parts be good enough to win on the road, cut down all the careless Turnovers and Gain some Identity with Statement Wins.
Click to expand...
Regarding turnovers, I hope so. That's what Johnny and Banks were brought in to help with. The unfortunate part is both were limited due to injuries over the summer. Banks says in the article he's not concerned and will be 100% by the time officially practices start.
 
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ChiRedbirdfan

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redbirdron1 said:
Our depth is great. The occasional tweaked ankle or case of the flu shouldn’t stand in the way of competing.

The questions remain- will the sum of all the parts be good enough to win on the road, cut down all the careless Turnovers and Gain some Identity with Statement Wins.
Click to expand...
yes sir! i have guarded hope on this team exceeding expectations. finally the redbirds hoop team appears to be building a team that includes character and chemistry too?
 
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DoubleDeuce

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Looking forward to seeing conference projections. As usual most teams have reasons to be optimistic if the pieces fall into place...just like the Birds. I usually disregard the lazy projections that simply re-post last year's standings, I want to see some real analysis. Three Man Weave usually puts out a pretty thoughtful analysis (occasionally get some factual mistakes...but that's easy to do with the fluidity of rosters anymore).
 
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Phantom

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Plenty of reasons to be optimistic (though guarded), but that alone feels good and refreshing compared to the last few years.

Are we still a year away? Probably. Are we going to totally flip the script from last year and win 20+? Probably not. Should we be much better overall and competitive, if not well over .500? Quite possible. If the new guys gel and contribute and we clean up what plagued us last year (turnovers, lack of ball control, strong hands) then we should be noticeably improved.
 
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Popsto4

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I talked about not having a true pg last year. That seem to be fixed, well kinda look that way. This team still doesn’t have a hybrid type player which all the better teams seem to have. The closest one may be Pence. He have the size to play multiple positions. I will admit I don’t know how good his handles are but, he may be fine there too. Most teams have a wildcard as well. Once again I’d nominate Pence for that roll. I think he can be special. He will be steady.
 
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Adunk33

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Popsto4 said:
I talked about not having a true pg last year. That seem to be fixed, well kinda look that way. This team still doesn’t have a hybrid type player which all the better teams seem to have. The closest one may be Pence. He have the size to play multiple positions. I will admit I don’t know how good his handles are but, he may be fine there too. Most teams have a wildcard as well. Once again I’d nominate Pence for that roll. I think he can be special. He will be steady.
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When you say "hybrid player," what do you mean? Just general versatility? Most of the guys on the team can play more than one position. A lot of the guys we think of as forwards, could play the 3-5 if you go with a big lineup. I know Lewis, Foster and Lieb have all been working on their 3 ball. Lewis shot it well his first year here but regressed a bit last year. Depending on lineups (on paper) here's what I see, in no particular order. (
1. Banks, JK, DB, Mal (You've noted Mal is better off the ball, and I agree, just saying he's capable if called upon with foul trouble or whatnot)
2. DB, Mal, Davis, Luke, Pence
3. Davis, Luke, Pence, DB/Mal (small ball), Lewis/Foster/Sissoko (big ball)
4. Lewis, Foster, Sissoko, Pence (small ball)
5. Lieb, Walker, Schmitt, Lewis/Foster/Sissoko

This roster should be capable of outmanning teams. Especially with the versatility of the 2-4s. I know we may be in an age of "positionless basketball" but this is how my brain still processes rosters.
 
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Popsto4

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I agree mostly. Hybrid to me is being able to play multiple positions at a high clip. Being versatile don’t necessarily mean being hybrid. Everyone I believe can be versatile but being a hybrid require more effectiveness playing other positions. This team can be good and my expectations are higher now compared to last years team at the start.
 
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redbirdron1

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Mike,
I spoke to Johnny about his expectations for minutes balanced with the medical deal he’s experienced this summer……….
He confidently looked me squarely in the eyes and says, “I can play at this level and will contribute now.”

He’s 5’11 and maybe 165 - he also says to me, “I can shoot”.
 
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redbirdron1

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Of course, most frosh don’t know what they don’t know - these freshman must contribute to forge us ahead. The Portals appear to assist in filling holes and adding depth but to really make it a nice season we gotta have JK and Ty b special in minutes for W’s and building a Brand of that Swagger Pedon speaks. Any upside and flashes we get from Chase will b a Bonus as minutes for him may b more limited????
 
Hamdonger

Hamdonger

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redbirdron1 said:
Of course, most frosh don’t know what they don’t know - these freshman must contribute to forge us ahead. The Portals appear to assist in filling holes and adding depth but to really make it a nice season we gotta have JK and Ty b special in minutes for W’s and building a Brand of that Swagger Pedon speaks. Any upside and flashes we get from Chase will b a Bonus as minutes for him may b more limited????
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More than anything, we need our returning players and veteran transfers to be IMPROVED, along with an improved team chemistry...which I expect as they've now had a good amount of time under Ryan.

This will help the freshman to come of age as they should. I hope they're all ready RIGHT NOW. But I don't expect it.
 
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DannyCooksey

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redbirdron1 said:
Mike,
I spoke to Johnny about his expectations for minutes balanced with the medical deal he’s experienced this summer……….
He confidently looked me squarely in the eyes and says, “I can play at this level and will contribute now.”

He’s 5’11 and maybe 165 - he also says to me, “I can shoot”.
Click to expand...
What medical deal?
 
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redbirdron1

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Something with his tummy but whatever it was, it has been addressed and he's doing just fine. I don't know any specifics
other than a few comments here and there that JK has pretty much been on the shelf all summer and they wanted to get it
taken care of to allow him recovery time and therefore be ready by mid-late September for practice.
 
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