The Assembly Call Blog

This week’s edition of Assembly Call Radio was recorded while the NBA draft was going on, so we decided to make it our own little IU-themed draft party.

First, we discuss which players on the current roster will someday play in the NBA. Romeo is a lock, Juwan seems probable, but who else? We break down the NBA chances of guys like Justin Smith, Jerome Hunter, Jake Forrester, Damezi Anderson, and more (including Clifton Moore).

Then, we have a little offseason fun.

It’s our own IU basketball draft, in which each of us pick a 7-man roster plus a coach from the last 12 years of IU basketball. We draft live, snake-style, then debate our rosters before turning it over to you to tell us whose team is best. Send us a tweet and let us know.

Here are the final rosters, for reference …

Ryan:

• Starters: Jordan Hulls, Victor Oladipo, Troy Williams, Juwan Morgan, Thomas Bryant
• Bench: Noah Vonleh, Jerome Hunter
• Coach: Tom Crean

Coach Tonsoni:

• Starters: Eric Gordon, Romeo Langford, Will Sheehey, Christian Watford, Cody Zeller
• Bench: Robert Johnson, Robert Phinisee
• Coach: Dan Dakich

Jerod:

• Starters: Yogi Ferrell, James Blackmon Jr., Zach McRobers, OG Anunoby, DJ White
• Bench: Max Bielfeldt, Nick Zeisloft
• Coach: Archie Miller

Which roster do you think would have the best chance at winning a national title?

Then it’s Q&A time. We answer questions about:

• What do we think of the Crossroads Classic?
• Why isn’t Al Durham getting any love as a potential answer at the point guard slot?
• Is Indiana being underrated in the way-too-early preseason polls, or rated about right?

All of that and more on this week’s edition of Assembly Call Radio.

[Read more…] about [412] Which Current Hoosiers Will Play in the NBA?

This week on Assembly Call Radio, we hit a couple of headlines and then dive into an IU history topic that is perfect for a slow news week with the NBA draft fast approaching.

We open by discussing the freshmen arriving on campus, and why it’s important that IU made a big deal about on social media.

We also talk about D.J. Carton, who set his official visit date, and why he is such an important recruit for Indiana in 2019. Ryan provides a short scouting report.

Then we dive into Indiana’s less-than-impressive draft history over the last 30 years. We discuss what it means that Indiana has had such a dearth of quality draft picks, as contrasted with their much more impressive draft history from prior decades.

We assess every player who has been drafted since 1987 and rank them from least valuable to most valuable. The top two names on the list probably won’t surprise you, but the placement of some other names might.

Finally, we take your questions:

• What team stat do we think will improve the most from the beginning of the season to the end?
• Is there any chance Romeo stays for more than one year?
• Would we rather have a supreme one-and-done talent or a solid four-year player?

All of that on this week’s edition of Assembly Call Radio, hosted by Jerod Morris and Ryan Phillips.

[Read more…] about [411] The Best/Worst IU Draft Picks of The Last 30 Years

It’s time for another mailbag, where we catch up on all the questions you submitted on Thursday that we didn’t have time to include in our AC Radio broadcast.

Jerod opens with a quick thought about the Indiana All Stars’ performance against Kentucky over the weekend, then explains why it’s so important that you bookmark and use the following three links:

• http://iustore.shop
• http://iutickets.shop
• http://assemblycall.com/amazon

Then he dives into your questions, which include:

• What are the chances Damezi Anderson ends up stealing minutes from Justin Smith?
• What are our go-to advanced stats for the college game?
• What is the most surprising recent season by an IU player?
• Which of the incoming freshmen will adapt best to the packline defense?
• Is Joe Lunardi’s preseason bracketology prediction of a 9 seed for Indiana too low?
• Does it worry us that the three potential 2019 scholarships could be filled by forwards?
• Do we think Archie Miller will be less cavalier with scholarship offers than Tom Crean was?
• Is Dale Davis’ son still a recruit?
• Should (and can) IU play exhibition games around the state like they used to?
• What are the top recruits we have a shot at landing?
• What non-B1G school not named Louisville or Kentucky would be like to see IU set up a recurring home-and-home with?

[Read more…] about [410] Mailbag: What Is The Most Surprising Recent Season By an IU Player?

This week, we continue our offseason player-by-player breakdown by focusing on Justin Smith.

Justin is easily the most common answer when you ask IU fans and analysts what player is most likely to break out next season. But what will that breakout look like? What strengths will Justin need to build on? What weaknesses will he need to improve? We dive deep to assess.

In addition, we also cover:

• The positive takeaway from the Indiana Senior-Junior All Star Game
• The importance of Indiana’s upgraded social media strategy
• Jerod wonders aloud if we’re underestimating the impact of Robert Johnson’s loss, and Andy and Ryan give their thoughts

Then we answer your questions. This week, that includes:

• Our bold (yet realistic) predictions for the upcoming season
• Who we each think is the most overlooked player on the roster
• Which player is most susceptible to disappointing this season

And if you didn’t get a chance to answer your question, we’ll try to fire off another mailbag early next week to pick them up.

[Read more…] about [409] Justin Smith Offseason Analysis: What Will The Breakout Look Like?

We’re trying something new this week: a Monday mailbag. This gives us an opportunity to answer the questions we couldn’t get to last Thursday night, as well as pick up some new ones.

In this episode, Jerod opens with some thoughts on Rob Phinisee (why he’s such a perfect fit for Archie Miller) and John Beilein (why it’s in Indiana’s best interest for Beilein to stay at Michigan). Then he answers a sack of questions submitted by listeners.

Question rundown:

• Will Clifton Moore get into the rotation?
• Is Al Durham the forgotten man in the backcourt, and could he be starting Big Ten play?
• Who is the enforcer on next year’s team?
• What does Jerod eat and drink while watching games?
• What are reasonable statistical expectations for Romeo’s freshman season?
• When will the schedule will be released?
• Should IU play another mid- or high-major team to improve its NCAA chances?
• Who is the one recruit in 2019 that is must-get for Indiana?

We hope you enjoy, and we’ll plan to do another one of these sometime next week. It will probably be Monday, but could be Sunday or Tuesday depending on how things shake out.

[Read more…] about [408] Mailbag: What Are Reasonable Expectations for Romeo?

After a few slow weeks there was a flurry of IU basketball news over the past couple of days. And we cover it all on this week’s edition of Assembly Call Radio.

• Why Juwan Morgan’s senior season will be one of the most anticipated in the last two decades of IU basketball

• Is there any downside for Indiana in playing Duke at Cameron Indoor? And how much might Indiana miss De’Ron Davis’ presence in that game?

• What should we expect from Juwan as a senior? Is D.J. White’s senior season a fair comparison? And might Archie have some trouble giving Juwan the freedom to showcase his outside game while also needing him to dominate inside?

• Jerod has a new starting lineup hypothesis based on some of Archie’s comments at Huber’s

• Should we read anything into Archie’s comments about Devonte?

Then we answer plenty of questions you submitted, including:

• Who Andy might choose for his next fan club

• When was the last time the optimism for IU basketball and football was so simultaneously high?

• And what kind of non-marquee non-con opponents we hope to see on the schedule in the future.

Whew. A jam-packed episode this week, with Jerod, Ryan, and Andy on hand as hosts.

[Read more…] about [407] IU-Duke (Again!) and Expectations for Juwan’s Senior Season