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NBC Sports B1G Preview


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http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2017/10/09/big-ten-conference-preview/

Not a lot of positive things to say about our Hoosiers, and they have us finishing 10th.

Indiana finally made a move to replace Tom Crean as former Dayton head coach Archie Miller is the new architect. The Hoosiers don’t have a lot of proven returning players but Miller is also a coach who is used to doing more with less. Remember, Miller once took Dayton to the NCAA Tournament with six scholarship players at the start of a conference season, so he’s done some ridiculous coaching in the past. Senior guard Robert Johnson will be expected to score at a high level and Miller has already made a positive impression on the recruiting trail with his first two groups.

10. Indiana: Robert Johnson is the team’s only known threat but there are plenty of former top-100 recruits on the roster. Junior forward Juwan Morgan has shown some positive flashes while senior point guard Josh Newkirk has seen plenty of minutes during his college career.

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4 minutes ago, Parakeet Jones said:

On a non IU note, is anyone else not 100% sold on Minnesota?  I know they have a lot back, but I have a hard time jumping on the Minnesota at number two in the B1G train.  

I think that Minnesota gets a lot of grief on this board due to the head coach being Pitino. Not saying that he is a world-beater, but he has done a decent job for UM and as yet, not had any recruiting red flags.

The team itself is comprised of quite a few upperclassmen, and adding Coffey to the mix, I think they are going to be formidable. From a schedule standpoint, they play MSU, Mich and Wisconsin once each, although the latter two are on the road. 

Wouldn't surprise me to see the Gophers as high as second, and at the worst 4th.

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51 minutes ago, IowaHoosierFan said:

Surprised that Davis wasn't mentioned as a threat. 

Yes, I think that's mostly where the NBC guys went off the rails.  Having a good low-post guy really helps the offense when you have the shooters that IU has, particularly when he's as good a passer as Davis is when they try to double-team him.  The key will be whether he can stay out of foul trouble, and it sounds from his presser that Archie is giving that his full attention.  

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1 hour ago, IowaHoosierFan said:

Surprised that Davis wasn't mentioned as a threat. 

Agree with Boom Baby.  Most "experts" are looking at what we lost from last year.  Hardly any are considering what we have coming back, nor the fresh talent coming in.

Take Collin Hartman, as an example.  Missed a year.  They don't even mention the experience and talent he can bring to the game.

Lastly.... Archie is raving about the shooting talent on this team.  He's not one to give into emotions.  But I understand he is  really excited about what he has seen so far in terms of shooting talent.

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1 hour ago, Parakeet Jones said:

On a non IU note, is anyone else not 100% sold on Minnesota?  I know they have a lot back, but I have a hard time jumping on the Minnesota at number two in the B1G train.  

It's not that I'm not sold....it's just that 2-10 is a complete crapshoot. I think you could predict 4-5 different teams to finish second and not look like a complete idiot. 

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This is just my opinion, but I think national analysts look at high volume scorers and NBA type guys.  IU has really none of that returning.  There isn't an Alan Henderson or Thomas Bryant on the roster.  And coming off a poor season and a coaching change isn't going to help that analysis.  However, I think there is one thing many are overlooking and that is experience.  Newkirk, Johnson, Hartman, and Freddie (and Morgan) have all played a lot of basketball and senior leadership, especially at guard can really be a glue that keeps a team together.  I can see this team becoming a Wichita St like team.  I don't know if any of those Fred Van Fleet (sp?) teams ever put anyone in the NBA, but they obviously were a really tough out.  I, for one, would be really pleased to see a team like that.  I'm also not sure we have that 15 ppg scorer, but may have 6 guys who average between 9-12 and sometimes that balance really pays dividends as well.  In short, I think that IU's experience gives us an edge over maybe some teams like Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.  Maybe Penn State as well.  I think cracking the top 4 is going to be difficult (but when isn't it?), but I could see IU being in there between 5-7.

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3 hours ago, Jerry Lundergaard said:

I think that Minnesota gets a lot of grief on this board due to the head coach being Pitino. Not saying that he is a world-beater, but he has done a decent job for UM and as yet, not had any recruiting red flags.

The team itself is comprised of quite a few upperclassmen, and adding Coffey to the mix, I think they are going to be formidable. From a schedule standpoint, they play MSU, Mich and Wisconsin once each, although the latter two are on the road. 

Wouldn't surprise me to see the Gophers as high as second, and at the worst 4th.

Little Ricky has nothing to do with it for me personally.  Whenever a team that hasn't been very good has an out of nowhere season I generally take a wait and see approach the next season.  If they start strong in the B1G, I will concede they weren't a fluke and are legit.

 In some ways I guess the same could be said for NW, but I think you could see their season coming last year a bit more than Minnesota's.  I am curious to see how the season played in a different home court affects them.

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2 hours ago, thirdgenhoosier said:

This is just my opinion, but I think national analysts look at high volume scorers and NBA type guys.  IU has really none of that returning.  There isn't an Alan Henderson or Thomas Bryant on the roster.  And coming off a poor season and a coaching change isn't going to help that analysis.  However, I think there is one thing many are overlooking and that is experience.  Newkirk, Johnson, Hartman, and Freddie (and Morgan) have all played a lot of basketball and senior leadership, especially at guard can really be a glue that keeps a team together.  I can see this team becoming a Wichita St like team.  I don't know if any of those Fred Van Fleet (sp?) teams ever put anyone in the NBA, but they obviously were a really tough out.  I, for one, would be really pleased to see a team like that.  I'm also not sure we have that 15 ppg scorer, but may have 6 guys who average between 9-12 and sometimes that balance really pays dividends as well.  In short, I think that IU's experience gives us an edge over maybe some teams like Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.  Maybe Penn State as well.  I think cracking the top 4 is going to be difficult (but when isn't it?), but I could see IU being in there between 5-7.

The problem with this is that, with the exception of Hartman, none of our upperclassmen are natural leaders, as evidenced by last season.  Will be tough to field a team like Wichita State unless that changes.  I do agree that our experience should give us an edge over some teams predicted to finish ahead of us though.

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4 hours ago, BoomBaby said:

Yes, I think that's mostly where the NBC guys went off the rails.  Having a good low-post guy really helps the offense when you have the shooters that IU has, particularly when he's as good a passer as Davis is when they try to double-team him.  The key will be whether he can stay out of foul trouble, and it sounds from his presser that Archie is giving that his full attention.  

On the other hand, can you name any players on other B1G teams that averaged fewer than 15 minutes and 6 points a game last season that are going to be big difference makers this year?  As IU fans, we're rightfully excited to see what Davis can do this year, but from an outsider's perspective, he's still a big unknown.

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1 hour ago, FW_Hoosier said:

The problem with this is that, with the exception of Hartman, none of our upperclassmen are natural leaders, as evidenced by last season.  Will be tough to field a team like Wichita State unless that changes.  I do agree that our experience should give us an edge over some teams predicted to finish ahead of us though.

Yeah, I know.  Just trying to be optimistic!

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3 hours ago, 5fouls said:

If IU finishes outside the top 5 it has underachieved. 10th is ridiculous. If the experts really believed in Archie they would be predicting the same.

The experts love Archie, they just don't like our roster and then add to it a first year coach with that roster. 

I will be surprised if IU finishes 10th, but I also won't be surprised if if it's something like 7th. We simply don't have a lot of proven guys. Outside of RoJo, who was awful the second half of last season, we have very few guys who have proven much at this level. 

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On 10/9/2017 at 2:02 PM, Jerry Lundergaard said:

I think that Minnesota gets a lot of grief on this board due to the head coach being Pitino. Not saying that he is a world-beater, but he has done a decent job for UM and as yet, not had any recruiting red flags.

The team itself is comprised of quite a few upperclassmen, and adding Coffey to the mix, I think they are going to be formidable. From a schedule standpoint, they play MSU, Mich and Wisconsin once each, although the latter two are on the road. 

Wouldn't surprise me to see the Gophers as high as second, and at the worst 4th.

I'd be one of those. I don't see anything in Little Ricky's body of work to make me believe that he's anything more than a mediocre coach skating on a famous name and pedigree.  Minessota hired him after one lackluster season at FIU.  Other than a good year last season (in a soft Big 10), I've seen nothing from him to make me think he's the long-term solution for any school mid-major and up.  If he continues to have success at Minnesota, I'll revisit my opinion but right now, I think Tom Crean is a considerably better coach and IU fired him.

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