Redbird Recruits 2020

[Redhawk]

Dusan is a nice addition...whether he originated at a D2 or didn't start for his JC team.
Birds bigs were a non factor last season as Rey and Abdou combined for only
5.9 pts/6.4 rbs and were even worse on defense.

ISU doesn't need Dusan and Alex to be stars. Although they both have much better offensive skills
than prior Bird big men it's what they will bring defensively that will determine how
much ISU can improve next season.

[BEARZ77]

Dusan is a nice addition...whether he originated at a D2 or didn't start for his JC team.
Birds bigs were a non factor last season as Rey and Abdou combined for only
5.9 pts/6.4 rbs and were even worse on defense.

ISU doesn't need Dusan and Alex to be stars. Although they both have much better offensive skills
than prior Bird big men it's what they will bring defensively that will determine how
much ISU can improve next season.

That's a reasonable take; you have to have some size to defend and compete on the boards. They don't have to be stars, and if your perimeter play is strong offensively, it'll open up some scoring opportunities for the bigs. I have no idea how to evaluate the Redbirds heading into next year. I really thought they would be more competitive last year, so I'm not sure what to expect now. I like their young backcourt and they again have recruited some athletic frontcourt guys to go with the two juco bigs, but Muller has really struggled the last 3 years to get his teams to play consistent ball.

[Adunk33]

Dusan is a nice addition...whether he originated at a D2 or didn't start for his JC team.
Birds bigs were a non factor last season as Rey and Abdou combined for only
5.9 pts/6.4 rbs and were even worse on defense.

ISU doesn't need Dusan and Alex to be stars. Although they both have much better offensive skills
than prior Bird big men it's what they will bring defensively that will determine how
much ISU can improve next season.

That's a reasonable take; you have to have some size to defend and compete on the boards. They don't have to be stars, and if your perimeter play is strong offensively, it'll open up some scoring opportunities for the bigs. I have no idea how to evaluate the Redbirds heading into next year. I really thought they would be more competitive last year, so I'm not sure what to expect now. I like their young backcourt and they again have recruited some athletic frontcourt guys to go with the two juco bigs, but Muller has really struggled the last 3 years to get his teams to play consistent ball.

Totally. Redbirdfan is a headache and a mess right now so this feels like the safest place to share thoughts with out some derailing into I've accepted mediocrity/Muller should be fired camp.

Am I please with where the program has gone the last two years? No. Not at all. But if you look at their 9-9 finish in 2018-19 they were two half court buzzer beaters away from being tied for third (not sure how tiebreakers would've ended up but that would've put them as the 3 or 4 seed. Instead they were 7th. Last season was a train wreck. I think there was a lot of one on one ball being played but also do think with the exception a handful of games, they played 32-38 minutes of really good, competitive basketball. They just had lapses in game where they would completely unravel and the other team would go on a run that the Birds couldn't dig out of.

I really like what I am seeing from Horne and Reeves so far. If they stay together they will be a dominate back court in the league over the next couple years. That said, the 2020-21 team is going to be lead by Keith Fisher (who is a senior but there have been rumors about an extra year of eligibility. Fisher had a great end to his season and finally started making bunnies. He can step out and hit the three, though that shouldn't be his primary focus, it will open things up for him if he keeps it honest. Assuming the core returns in a similar capacity as last season, Horne will be the start PG, Reeves will play starters minutes if not a start, and Abdou will be one of the first guys off the bench. Three sophomores being significant contributors on the team might suggest that they need another year to grow.

Then you look at Fleming-the 6'5 freshman PG and Emon Washington, who I would comp skill set to MiKyle McIntosh (not skill level-skill set) are both expected to contribute. So that's four of probably 9 man rotation that are underclassman. I don't expect much from Kotov next season. He struggled with a broken hand last season and used a medical RS but could benefit from being a role player/getting up to speed D1 speed. It's hard not to be somewhat excited when you see that he cancelled visits to Nevada, Hawaii, Cincinnati and Texas A&M to commit to ISU.

Alston Andrews is one that will be interesting to track. It's rare freshman big men come in and play a significant roll right away but it's mentioned in the thread about the need to have size. He's got it. I believe he's listed at 6'9 with a 7'1 wingspan? His high school coach believed back in November that his college playing weight would be 240. Again size was needed and gotten, with the caveat he has a history of foot injuries though was healthy in 2019-2020.

One kid one one seems to talk about is JUCO G Josiah Strong who played he freshman year at Navy before transferring to Iowa Western. As a sophomore he scored 17.6 ppg while shooting 46% from 3. Could definitely contribute at three positions.

One poster mentioned that it is silly how excited fans are getting over the signing of JUCO players. From my perspective, it's two-fold. First, during this pandemic, there's no sports. Sports focus has to go somewhere and some elect to look at the guys their team signs. Second, the Birds have had really unfortunate seasons the past two years. The "glory" (of being drubbed by WSU twice) in 2016-17 seems like a lifetime ago. Many want Muller fired, but I do believe there is a shift in the culture and when he is given a chance to build a team and hold them together, they can accomplish great things. From a culture prospective- no off the court issues since Milik graduated (small victories have to start somewhere), effort level has been better, and so has energy. Last year's 10 and whatever team was more likable than the 2018-19 team. Muller's first 4-year class was the team that had that great senior class with Paris, Tony, Mikyle, and Teddy (yes McIntish and Hawkins transferred for their final years, but they were academic seniors),where they were left out of the NCAA Tournament and vomited an opportunity to host Illannoy at Redbird Area.

Not that anyone asked for any of this but its COVID Stay-At-Home and I'm avoiding doing work.
Here's your way too early depth chart for the Birds for 2020-2021 who I do not believe will be playing Thursday night in STL (even if that means 6th).This is for the start of the season. I do think the freshmen will be more involved come conference time.

1. Horne, Strong, Fleming Reeves, Donnelly
2. Reeves, Boyd, Strong, Fleming, Miller, Donnelly
3. Boyd, Strong, Reeves, Washington, Sissoko, Fleming, Abdou, Kotov, Miller
4. Fisher, Abdou, Sissoko, Andrews, Kotov, Dusan,
5. Dusan, Abdou, Fisher, Andrews

[BEARZ77]

Looking from the outside , that's pretty close to what I'm thinking and how I view your talent and coming year. The talent is there as this looks like many of Dan's teams with a good collection of athletes, reasonable size, and potential if things break right to challenge for the upper half. But much like I view Ford at MSU, I have to see more consistent smart basketball because talent hasn't proven to be enough. And then you get into that unsolvable debate of is the talent overrated or the coach not good enough, although of course the solution to that after too many years of that debate is called "coaching search". But like I said I like your back court's potential, and again you have some young athletic frontcourt guys. I'd like to pick you 5th or 6th but then like most years I have about 5 teams in that conversation.

[Adunk33]

Seeming like some big news is coming by way of the Redbirds filling their final scholarship. Official announcement expected tonight.

https://twitter.com/teerain444/status/1 ... 0196913163

[Adunk33]

Seeming like some big news is coming by way of the Redbirds filling their final scholarship. Official announcement expected tonight.

https://twitter.com/teerain444/status/1 ... 0196913163

Nevermind.

[tribecalledquest]

Seeming like some big news is coming by way of the Redbirds filling their final scholarship. Official announcement expected tonight.

https://twitter.com/teerain444/status/1 ... 0196913163

Nevermind.

That was never happening.

[Redhawk]

Seeming like some big news is coming by way of the Redbirds filling their final scholarship. Official announcement expected tonight.

https://twitter.com/teerain444/status/1 ... 0196913163

Nevermind.

That was never happening.

Thanks for the insight after the fact. You could have saved Redbird Nation a lot of aggravation
if only you would have told us yesterday!

[tribecalledquest]

Thanks for the insight after the fact. You could have saved Redbird Nation a lot of aggravation
if only you would have told us yesterday!

Or Redbird Nation could have used logic.

[BEARZ77]

Thanks for the insight after the fact. You could have saved Redbird Nation a lot of aggravation
if only you would have told us yesterday!

Or Redbird Nation could have used logic.

I'm not sure that's an accurate read in that most everything I saw said it came down to ISU and SLU , so I think they had a reason to be hopeful. But the SLU situation involved some old AAU contacts and the fact Travis Ford has it going in St Louis with a solid team and some good young talent since Okuro is likely to rs.