HoosierDPU95

Certainly not when he's surrounded by a bunch of guys who are just trying not to lose

What I saw in the last 5 minutes (and probably sooner) was everyone except XJ went "soft". Someone mentioned earlier that XJ was playing pissed and probably trying too hard to make something happen (paraphrasing). I wish all our guys would get pissed instead of retreating into their shells.

Lander is basically like the highly ranked freshman quarterback on a football team. When the team loses some games with the experienced QB at the helm, the fans start screaming for the backup to play. If Lander gave us a better chance of winning games, I 100% trust that our staff would play him. People screaming for him to play are just saying they think they know better than the staff.

Hope I'm wrong of course, but I just don't see anything but a double digit loss for us in this one.

Agreed. If we rely on Kopp to defend Davison it won't turn out well for the good guys. Refer back to OT in the Syracuse game when they started to iso Boeheim. Nobody we had on the floor could handle him one on one. I think Rob and XJ playing together some would be the answer but if the refs aren't letting our guards play physical (which I've never seen happen in the Kohl center) then that could backfire as well.

We're all still recovering from the last regime where we could (and often did) lose to anyone on any given night regardless of home or away. Personally, it will be a while before I don't have some worry about us laying an egg against a bottom tier conference team or ever feel good about winning a game at Wisconsin or even competing with PU.

I thought another positive from last night (all be it very minor) was Durr's 5 minutes. I cringed when he came in the game to give Trace a blow but when all said and done, I thought he gave us quality minutes. No turnovers, didn't foul, snagged a rebound, and hit his FTs. I was pleasantly surprised

They posted a stat at one point in the second half (I think) and it showed Cuse had 31 points off of turnovers compared to our 11. Syracuse didn't expose our defense, we did by not protecting the ball.

I hope you're correct here but I think if Rob is still out it will be tough for us to win this one as our first road game.

X had a great game as well. Hope Rob is healthy next week to help give him a blow

💯

Form and elevation in action

Listened to the game on the radio last night but watched the highlights this morning. Completely agree with what your are saying about Rob's shots. When seeing them, I thought everyone of them (including the free throws) where going in and they all where in an out. Lot's of folks dog him but right now his defense (with limited offense) is a greater asset than Lander's offense (with limited defense) IMO. Lander cannot hang with big strong guards

I vividly remember this IU-St. Johns game. Hopefully we fare better this go round. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1999-03-13-indiana.html

First game jitters out of the way? - ✔️ Didn't have to watch a pack-line? - ✔️ Learned plenty of things not to do in the future? - ✔️ Got a win? - ✔️

Because UK doesn't know how to play zone.