Was IU's sweep of MSU a portend of something special?

[IowaHoosierFan]

1 hour ago, IUALUM03 said:

The game in East Lansing, I texted my friend and said this is what we have to look forward to.  I think the biggest mistake was not giving our young players more time last year.  That was the game that made me upset when Forester decided to transfer.  All of our freshmen contributed that game, but then never really saw the floor after.  I was hoping he would use that game as a blueprint for the rest of the season and live or die with our young guys. At least this would make them better for the future.

I was always puzzled why our younger guys didn't get more playing time. Yes some of them looked bad at time but that is how they learn.  Anywho, i hope this year is different and we win some games

[milehiiu]

2 hours ago, IowaHoosierFan said:

I was always puzzled why our younger guys didn't get more playing time. Yes some of them looked bad at time but that is how they learn.  Anywho, i hope this year is different and we win some games

You learn in practice. That's how one earns actual game PT.  Obviously some were not displaying a learning curve in practice. Enough to get them game time PT.  

[addictedtoIU]

The sweep was a pretty significant achievement, and I did believe that was really what the last season's team was capable of. Team had a high ceiling, but just couldn't play at its potential consistently and dropped the ball too many times. 

[Drroogh]

So there seems to be a general consensus that the two wins were not the anomaly but the losses were. Takes me back to my original post, do we think the play of those two games is something we will see more consistently this season?

Side note, the Game everyone says Justin hitting 3's was the reason. He took 6 3's hitting 3 of them, all in the first half. So how do you explain IU overcoming a 7 point half time deficit? Side side, he was only 6-13 from 2 point land. 

[Steubenhoosier]

I view the two MSU games as a good example of how a younger team functions.  Gets up for the big games, but can’t sustain the same level over the course of the season. IMO, this is where McRobert’s absence hurt us the most. His Senior leadership, while on the floor, could have prevented some of the meltdowns we saw. Juwan was there as well, but he was asked to do quite a lot already. A healthy Zach would have made a big difference in the steadiness of last year’s team and I believe would have turned at least a couple of the losses into wins

[Officer Obie]

2 hours ago, Steubenhoosier said:

I view the two MSU games as a good example of how a younger team functions.  Gets up for the big games, but can’t sustain the same level over the course of the season. IMO, this is where McRobert’s absence hurt us the most. His Senior leadership, while on the floor, could have prevented some of the meltdowns we saw. Juwan was there as well, but he was asked to do quite a lot already. A healthy Zach would have made a big difference in the steadiness of last year’s team and I believe would have turned at least a couple of the losses into wins

Ding ding... 

what the crocodile said.

[IowaHoosierFan]

14 hours ago, Steubenhoosier said:

I view the two MSU games as a good example of how a younger team functions.  Gets up for the big games, but can’t sustain the same level over the course of the season. IMO, this is where McRobert’s absence hurt us the most. His Senior leadership, while on the floor, could have prevented some of the meltdowns we saw. Juwan was there as well, but he was asked to do quite a lot already. A healthy Zach would have made a big difference in the steadiness of last year’s team and I believe would have turned at least a couple of the losses into wins

Unfortunately a healthy Zack i think was one of the reason we under performed.  More younger guys played against MSU when Zack was out and then Morgan had to sit.  Robert by all means was a great kid and tough nosed but he didn't score, which was a problem for this team as a whole.  The whole year when he was healthy, we played 4 on 5 offensively and everyone knew it.   Much like the Blackmon Injury of 3 years ago, we got addition by subtraction (was the other way around with Blackmon, kid could score but couldn't guard a chair).

The whole team last year was an enigma?  They had alot of talent on that team, but could not just pull it together most of the time.  Obviously something happened after the 12-2 start where we just couldn't win against anyone regardless of talent.  Hopefully this year is different and we win at home and steal a few on the road. 

Just my 2 cents.  Feel free to tell me i am wrong, you're probably right

[morganmonroe]

On 7/16/2019 at 9:13 PM, Officer Obie said:

We beat Michigan State twice in one year.

We are Indiana. We should beat Michigan State twice in one year. Any year. Every year.

I like this post.  A lot.  One upvote isn't enough so I'm going to like my own just to give it another like.

[jblaz13]

On 7/18/2019 at 8:46 AM, IowaHoosierFan said:

Unfortunately a healthy Zack i think was one of the reason we under performed.  More younger guys played against MSU when Zack was out and then Morgan had to sit.  Robert by all means was a great kid and tough nosed but he didn't score, which was a problem for this team as a whole.  The whole year when he was healthy, we played 4 on 5 offensively and everyone knew it.   Much like the Blackmon Injury of 3 years ago, we got addition by subtraction (was the other way around with Blackmon, kid could score but couldn't guard a chair).

The whole team last year was an enigma?  They had alot of talent on that team, but could not just pull it together most of the time.  Obviously something happened after the 12-2 start where we just couldn't win against anyone regardless of talent.  Hopefully this year is different and we win at home and steal a few on the road. 

Just my 2 cents.  Feel free to tell me i am wrong, you're probably right

Huh?  What happened to the days when if your walk-ons started then your scholarship guys weren't getting it done?

Just asking.

All I saw Zach do at full health was cover guys behinds who were doing less to live up to thier own respective potential - if we look at it as walk-on who resumed playing after initially giving up the game and leaving his scholarship at Vermont.

He was doing things others were not with more consistency and not eating a scholarship a scorer could have used. Makes absolutely no sense to say he was anything but an addition.That is before getting into direct hand he had in either a win or keeping a loss from being even worse.Right up with Juwan on knowing what you get every night perceived shortcomings with scoring aside.

Had Zach NOT played the way and to the degree he did in important situations Miller's first IU team would have finished with more losses than wins.It almost ended up that way as it was, but without Zach it would have been guaranteed given how things transpired with end results and his own importance in many of those efforts.

In a perfect world where guys with more natural ability go all out down to a man, yes perhaps lacking offense is a liability but not in real life, especially when relatively in terms of effort in proportion with physical ability it is the #1 guy on the team. 

Other than pkayer with limited ohysical talent, it was nothing like JBJ and much more like Hartman's injury.  We never really saw the exact same ZM due to the late timing in his college career. Although the nature/circumstances of the injuries were totally different, neither Hartman nor McRoberts seemed to be the same as prior.I might be wrong but I had understood it as Zach's back was never going to get totally right while he still had eligibility left. Disagree if you wish, but that wasn't pre-injury level McRoberts in any B1G game.

[BobSaccamanno]

If you consider Morgan a post player, then the forward position gave us minimal production last year.   Hunter had his unfortunate condition.  McRoberts was hobbled. Anderson showed a good motor, which should bode well for the future, but he wasn't remotely ready for the speed of the game. Justin Smith was an enigma, to put it politely. Forrester and Moore didn't contribute to the point that they left.

It's remarkable that you could get so little production out of your forwards.

But, the Michigan State games were actually games where the forwards showed up, and in a big way.  Smith played well in particular.

I think this team will be significantly better if you can get some production out of the forward position, and the MSU games are a great indicator on this.  Hunter would be massive.  It would be nice to have some athleticism and length at the 3.  I think the 5 and the guards will be good.  It's the forwards where we could use the biggest boost.