Jump to content

Duke Postgame Thread


Recommended Posts

Last night was a disappointment, no doubt, but I think it should help us temper our expectations a bit.  Duke is a legit National Title contender this year, we are not.  If you had taken the Top 10 players from each team last night, I think only 2 of them would have been Indiana players.

So before the year began, one of our biggest question marks was PG play, I think that really showed itself last night.  In the games where we have played well, we got really good play out of Al and Rob.  When they have struggled, the team has struggled.  Duke is athletic and the refs usually let them play their defense fairly aggressive, we did not have anyone we could rely on last night to be a steadying influence in that environment.  I think Rob will grow into that player but expecting a guy ranked around 100 to come in and be that right away is asking quite a bit.  This class is Archie's first real class, they are a good group of recruits, but they are not the one and done parade that Duke has.  They are going to take some time to get better...and they will.  I think Durham has improved, he will be a solid rotational player by the time he is a senior.

So what is missing out of our formula right now?  The system guys who have 3 to 4 years in Miller's system and a steadying PG.  We are getting talent in the right mix, but against the Duke's of the world, we are probably going to struggle for a year or two.

One last note, there was an article in the past few days discussing why Romeo came to Indiana.  In the article he made the comment that he did not want to be the savior.  I think Romeo is a good kid and he wants to defer to teammates because he is a humble guy.  I wish he had a little bit of Yogi Ferrell's swagger to him though.  You are not the savior but the team needs him to be "the man" more often than not.  I think he needs to seek out his shot more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 159
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Also keep in mind that Duke was awful in 2015 when they finished 25-11 but still beat us by 20 at Cameron.  We won the B1G outright and might have made the FF if we had been healthy at the end or hadn't run into a Carolina buzzsaw.  I think we'll be fine.  Now lose to NW or PSU and everyone needs to start picketing Fred's office.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very disappointed by the turnovers in the first half that just dug a hole we could never get out.  When Duke plays like that and with that talent we would have not beaten them even if we played a great game.

I know I am the first one that lives in the past way to much and I am wondering if we as a fan base lives to much in the past and have not moved on to the present.  It is obvious how much talent discrepancy there is between IU and the better teams in the country and was wondering if some of it has to do with how IU clings to the past and its traditions.  I am not saying that is why we are stuck in this area of mediocrity  but maybe it is time to start some new traditions that are more modern and are more conducive to getting some top players.  I don't want a roster full of one and done like Duke but we have to more players who are n the top 75 on our roster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Couple of positives we out rebounded them and we won the second half LOL!

Also it appears that Romeo is not at the level of the Duke freshman and to me would have trouble with the physicality of the NBA so it would be nice to see him come back for another year and hopefully play with TJD and Brooks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, IowaHoosierFan said:

The game went better than i expected actually.  We turned the ball over alot and let Duke pretty much have their way, but this game could have easily slid into the 40 point defeat i expected but we did fight a little to keep it around 20 for the second half.

Observations

1. way to many turnovers, same issue with had under Coach Crean

2.  Soft/Timid is the word to describe this team right now

3.  Last time we took a beat down by Duke, we had a really good rest of the year, so there is that hope

4.  Langford is going to need to work on his jumpshot.  Against upper tier teams he isn't always going to be able to go to the rim.

I am not worried yet about this team.  I am disappointed in them so far but they have alot of time to get better.  In another 10 games we will know who we are

I see it like you. Turnovers and soft play are an issue.

We had 20 fouls called on us. Should have been 12-15. Duke had 24 and should have been 30. Called fairly, on a neutral court, we could have hung with them- had we played with poise. 

Coach K used some full court pressure and that sped our guys up. Along with the atmosphere, we got rattled. 

Davis was the only player I thought that rose to the occasion and played better than expected. Having had success against them last year, he knew what it was going to take. 

I would hope they learn from this and listen to Archie this week so they don't lay an egg vs NW. 

Lastly, my game ball goes to Jake for leading the team (tied w Anderson) with a +2 in the +/-. Smith was worst at - 23.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, ADegenerate said:

I had to take a much needed sabbatical. Stress. Life. Depression. Med classes. Obsessive nature. Broke. IU letting me down yet again... Y'all get it.

I have no idea what my image on here is, but I try to keep it real on here. I really don't get off on posting negative stuff, but I'm passionate and do my research and trust my eyes. 

Are we still trusting Archie's system? I'm almost done with it.

 

So you already made your conclusion on Archie form less than 40 games.  Lucky for Duke there fans did not run off coach K after he missed the tournament 3 straight years and coach K had less success at Army than did Archie at Dayton.  I remember you and it just seems like you can come unhinged real quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only good thing that came from the game last night is for every IU player to see how far they are from being NBA talent.  I think Romeo will step it up and I still believe in Justin, although losing my patience, but they and all the rest saw that they need to keep working hard in practice and games to make it to the next level.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, SIHoosier26 said:

Dude beat us like a cupcake, like we were Southern Mississippi Tech. Absolutely awful performance by the players/coaching staff and I'm not even sure Duke played all that well. Have a long way to go to get where we want to be.

Duke did beat UK by over 30 on a neutral court and they were ranked in the top at that time so we at least fared better than they did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

Couple of positives we out rebounded them and we won the second half LOL!

Also it appears that Romeo is not at the level of the Duke freshman and to me would have trouble with the physicality of the NBA so it would be nice to see him come back for another year and hopefully play with TJD and Brooks.

Thus far Romeo has looked like a good freshman who shows flashes of greatness (like Vic and OG did), but is in no way a lottery pick based on his play.  I absolutely can see him returning for his soph year because NBA teams aren't going to make him a lottery pick (and that would be mostly on potential).  We're barely a month into the season so my take could very well be both premature and inaccurate.

As for the team, I'll just say it seems like we're back to square one, season expectations wise.  Ultimately, November & December results are fairly unimportant (except for now having league games so early).  This is a season we need to see improvement and direction, not one where we could realistically expect to be winning league or national championships and there's plenty of time before we can judge the results.

I absolutely believe it was inevitable that we'd have a really rough patch with all of the injury issues, but like others have mentioned the players haven't shown the grit and determination you'd like to see and that is the my only disappointment thus far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We got beat by 21 points at Cameron by one of the most loaded Duke teams I've ever seen. We are still a young team battling injures. Kentucky got hammered by 34 points on a neutral court with far more talent then us. I was really disappointed with our sloppy play but we need to have some perspective. Does that mean completey excuse our performance? Absolutely not. Nor do I think Archie does. I just don't like when people act like the sky is falling and that Archie needs to be fired already. This was never going to be a return to prominence year. I know we are tired of waiting. But we need to temper our expectations some. My only expectation is to finish in the top half of the big ten and to get to the tournament. I still believe that's possible.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, HoosierMatty said:

We got beat by 21 points at Cameron by one of the most loaded Duke teams I've ever seen. We are still a young team battling injures. Kentucky got hammered by 34 points on a neutral court with far more talent then us. I was really disappointed with our sloppy play but we need to have some perspective. Does that mean completey excuse our performance? Absolutely not. Nor do I think Archie does. I just don't like when people act like the sky is falling and that Archie needs to be fired already. This was never going to be a return to prominence year. I know we are tired of waiting. But we need to temper our expectations some. My only expectation is to finish in the top half of the big ten and to get to the tournament. I still believe that's possible.

 

Agree, finish in the top half in the big ten standings, compete in the big ten championship tournament(no early exit like in years pasts) and make the NCAA tournament no lower than a 7/8 seed.  If we do this, we will only be better next season. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was looking at how the guys responded when down big in the second half. Who has the fight in them.  Glad to see Romeo, Justin, and even DeRon go up strong and try to dunk on some people.  Al and Fitzner shot with confidence.  Rob got to the rack, even though he got swatted by an elite shot blocker several times. Really glad to see Rob's poise with the way Jones was allowed to guard.

As far as Romeo, he reminds me at times of Josh Jackson from KU several years ago. That guy was not impressive at all at the beginning of the year. Once he got used to the pace and strength required to finish, he was almost unstoppable.  Hoping we see that kind of learning and growth this season from Romeo.  Think they both have that same kind of smooth game that almost looks passive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Chad B said:

The only good thing that came from the game last night is for every IU player to see how far they are from being NBA talent.  I think Romeo will step it up and I still believe in Justin, although losing my patience, but they and all the rest saw that they need to keep working hard in practice and games to make it to the next level.

I am not giving up on Justin either, but until he shows some mental toughness, he needs out of the starting lineup. Mentally tough players look at guarding a Zion as a challenge to show others what you are made of, and Justin wanted no part of that. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, IowaHoosierFan said:

The game went better than i expected actually.  We turned the ball over alot and let Duke pretty much have their way, but this game could have easily slid into the 40 point defeat i expected but we did fight a little to keep it around 20 for the second half.

Observations

1. way to many turnovers, same issue with had under Coach Crean

2.  Soft/Timid is the word to describe this team right now

3.  Last time we took a beat down by Duke, we had a really good rest of the year, so there is that hope

4.  Langford is going to need to work on his jumpshot.  Against upper tier teams he isn't always going to be able to go to the rim.

I am not worried yet about this team.  I am disappointed in them so far but they have alot of time to get better.  In another 10 games we will know who we are

To me, this is keeping it real.

Disappointing game for sure. Our effort looked weak. We were not as well prepared as I thought we'd be -- and that is absolutely on CAM. 

But it was going to be a loss and it was probably going to be a bad one, and we have the players and a coaching staff that should give us reason to believe the season will end up well. That's where I am, this is just one game and to me was not, at all, a defining game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Seeking6 said:

We can talk schemes, sets, coaching,etc....all we want. Until the playing field is even it's not an apples to apples argument. Most important thing we can do now to get on par with the likes of Duke is give a kid a tractor, another a mercedes (cadilac if you really want him to play well) and another a house.

There, fixed it for ya.....:coffee:👍

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

Just as Alan Henderson tweeted out. UCLA beat up our 92 Final 4 team in the preseason only to see us destroy them when it mattered. As he said....we just need to get back to work. 

I also remember the 88-89 team losing big to UNC, Syracuse and UL and gave up over 100 each time and they came back to win the big ten.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was pretty intense for the first several minutes of the game, then, I just started laughing. It was a disappointing loss for sure, an embarrassment on a national TV which I absolutely hate most, but those Dukie players that Nike and their boosters probably spent over a million dollar to assemble were simply FAR MORE SUPERIOR physically, athletically, and in skill level. IU was a cupcake last night. Our one-two punches in Morgan and Langford looked like division 2 players, and Justin Smith traveled back to his middle school days.

I'm actually not that upset because we played the game that we had no business of winning. Our team was totally overwhelmed by their superiority. Speed, length, quickness, skill, physicality...we didn't have any edge in one of these areas. One thing that could've been better was we should've given Fitzner more open looks for 3 point shots; he was on fire last night. Many Dukie players (even Tre Jones) played at rim level and they destroyed our inside game. 3-point and freethrow remained the critical weaknesses when the margin of error was slim to none. Our guys seriously need to work on freethrows if they want to play in March. We're not going to win close games with 63% freethrows. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Duke is really, really good.

Cameron Arena is really,really hard to play in.

We are not getting better and perhaps getting worse.  Many B1G teams are whizzing past us.

20 Errors!  Barf.   Many of them just stupid.  For example, near end of 1st half Phinisee takes the ball over half court and attempts to pass to Fitzner who is standing still near the ten second line.  Williamson swoops in and steals the "pass" and goes in for an uncontested fancy dunk.

Defense.  What defense?  Not only could we not stop the dribble dunk, but we couldn't even land one hard foul on them.  Or at least that was so through the first 6 minutes of the 2d half when I gave up.

We were the "entertainment"  last night.

We didn't even put up any fight.

We're far from a top 25 team right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...