Because it’s never too early to start talking about rankings — or having some of your own for that matter — let me direct you over to FanHouse. Its college hoops bloggers have compiled a “Premature Hoops BlogPoll” for the upcoming men’s basketball season.
The poll ranked 26 teams. IU came in at No. 8 on the list.
How good will Eric Gordon be? Tell me that and I’ll tell you how good Indiana will be.
Gordon, one of the nation’s best incoming freshmen, verbally committed to Illinois before changing his mind and heading to Indiana, and that changed the balance of power in the Big Ten as well as assuring that things will get heated when the Hoosiers visit Champaign.
But Gordon isn’t all Indiana has. D.J. White, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound shot blocker and a very tough presence inside, is back, as is guard Armon Bassett, who showed a great deal of promise as a freshman last season. Although the Hoosiers will miss the departed Roderick Wilmont, this team should be significantly better than it was last year.
It’s a quick analysis for sure, but it gets the job done — save for a JaMarcus Ellis mention. (Which a commenter altered them to under the post.) As far as other Big Ten school are concerned, FanHouse ranked Michigan State at No. 9. Other than that, no other Big Ten schools made the cut.
I’d think that once the preseason AP poll drops, IU will be somewhere in the No. 7 to No. 14 range.
Thoughts anyone?
To say that IU fans are looking forward to next season would be an understatement. In fact, most of us can’t wait for October, when the season officially kicks off with Midnight Madness at Assembly Hall.
Taking the Wonk to task on Eric Gordon
While I agree with a lot of what Gasaway offered up, some of his comments regarding Eric Gordon and what he’ll bring to Assembly Hall were hard to agree with.
Case in point:
No offense to Wilmont, but I disagree that EJ will be doing well to “perform at the level set by Wilmont last season.” While Rod had a stellar season at 12.6 ppg, he was mainly a perimeter threat. The fact that he only got to the foul line 53 times tells you that he really never attacked the basket consistently. For a point of reference, Joey Shaw shot 62 free throws.
Gasaway is failing to recognize perhaps the most important piece of Gordon’s game: His ability to get into the lane and score the basketball. This really makes me wonder: How closely has Gasaway followed Gordon’s game? Has he ever seen him play? My guess would be probably not. Expect IU’s free throw attempts to go way up this season. These attempts will not just come from Gordon, but from other players who will get opportunities from defenders collapsing due to his penetration. Not to mention all of the open jump shots created on the perimeter when Gordon kicks it out.
So, am I off base here? Should we really not expect much more than a Wilmontesque performance from our boy this season? What do you say, ITH faithful…