AxnJxn

41 minutes ago, Zuckerkorn said:

Oh, big whoop!  Crean used to drain long 3's  Diet Cokes during warmups all the time...🤣

FTFY

IMO, it's pretty clear that some of these guys are having issues mentally in games with open shots, particularly Parker and Rob. It's like Jon Lester not being able to throw to first or Ben Simmons from the foul line in the playoffs last year and whatnot. The form is there, they are getting good shots, so there's something between the ears that's causing them to miss, and that can be difficult to fix once it gets dug in.

Certainly seems like a good matchup, and a good draw overall. The last 100 minutes we've played is some of the best basketball we've played all year, but it was also on the heels of possibly the worst 20 minutes we've played this year. The Iowa game, while we did a number of things really well, also showed our two main Achilles' heels - an inability to hit open shots, and closing out games. Those are two bad things to continue to be problematic going into a tournament where parity rules, and games are generally tight. 

On the plus side, we're getting terrific guard play from XJ, TJD seems to be motivated, and our defense is among the best in the country. If anything, it's just nice to be in a situation where we could make a run in the tournament, and this team definitely has the potential to put it all together for a few games at least.

8 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

As I was watching the brackets come out as soon as I saw Houston a 5 seed I thought for sure that is where we would show up

I literally closed my eyes when I saw Houston come up. That would have been .... weird.

I mean, I’m not even being sarcastic at this point - is it really worth it to win the BTT, or is it best to just get to Saturday? We get another day of rest/prep, our seeding difference would be pretty minimal, and I’m one of those old school hardheads that believes the regular season champion is the true champion.

2 hours ago, Proud2BAHoosier said:

Figures doesn't it??

My issue with playing in Dayton is, isn't that a Tuesday game? If so, after playing 3 straight grueling games, it doesn't give the guys much time to recuperate.....

I mean, if I’m running the committee, I’m doing what i can to get an IU/UK matchup. It used to be a terrific rivalry, it’s always a little extra intense, and it will get decent ratings, too. It’s a game that i think a lot of college basketball fans in general want to see.
 

It really is a shame that they can’t figure out how to get this game back on the schedule every year. 

Re: the offensive foul on TJD, we’re debating it with multiple angles, slo mo, etc., and we still can’t come to a definitive conclusion on whether it was a good call or not (personally,  i didn’t really have a problem with it). The ref gets one angle in real time. Not sure how anyone can say it was an egregiously bad call considering those circumstances. 

1 minute ago, ephul said:

Do you think Dakich had the power to fire Sampson? Seriously? Is that what you're saying? He knew exactly what was going on, thus, the administration did too. Did Kelvin Sampson report to Dan Dakich?

Ok, so you’re saying DD knew what was going on, but just didn’t say anything? I’m just trying to clarify what you were saying with that comment. 

6 hours ago, ephul said:

If you think that's really the case, I got nothing for you. 

So, just to clarify, you think DD had no idea what was going on, yet he almost immediately kicked a bunch of guys off the team? That makes sense to you?

Gotta be honest - in a lot of situations, I’m not sure there’s much value in winning the B1G tournament. We got ourselves into the important tournament, and it’s likely better than we didn’t go further, because it could push us up into an 8/9 seed. There’s also the chance of injury, getting nicked up with something that could be nagging with playing another game - Ivey just took a hard fall on his back. 
 

In other words, I’m actually good with this result. 

While it would have been great to play tomorrow and win one of these things, this might be a better result. We clearly got some confidence and are playing really well, we should be safely in the tournament, and we get an extra day of rest. 

Cripes , i hate losing a game on a play that’s more luck than skill, especially when our defense was terrific on that play. 

Nothing Iowa is doing defensively - zone. press, MTM - is all that concerning. 

15 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

That loss was to the same Illinois team that we just beat who plays a similar, physical defense and who also pounded the ball inside to Kofi, who they had no answer for...

I've never seen Trayce have as much confidence in a game against an All American caliber player like Cockburn...it's like he finally realized he was on that level too...

We compete on the defensive end the way we have these last 2 and pound it inside, and we've got a great chance here...

Completely agree. If Iowa goes crazy from 3, or if we get in foul trouble or something, that could cause issues, but i don’t see another way Iowa can win this. We’re better up front, we’re better in the back court, we’re better on defense, but they have better shooters. 
 

I’m sure we’ll see some zone, so will be interesting to see how we attack that, too. 

6 hours ago, ephul said:

Will have to agree to disagree. I've never heard him "attack" anyone that hasn't "attacked" someone else.

No offense, but this really isn’t accurate at all, and it’s one of the issues that most people have with Dakich. Someone posted a rant of his on here a week or two ago, and he went after the players, their parents, and anyone else in their vicinity. He kicks people off his show all the time who simply don’t agree with his opinions, then belittles them, or at least he used to - i haven’t listened to him in years, but i can’t imagine he’s changed much. 
 

It’s not really complicated. You can make the same points he’s making in a much more respectful manner - he constantly goes for the lowest level of discourse. For example, there are disagreements all the time in this board, but you don’t see people calling each other morons, babies, or other names and whatnot, or attacking each other’s character. We’re having a disagreement on this subject and no one has had to stoop to that level to get their point across. As someone else noted, he’s a very different person when he’s not on his radio show, too - I was a big fan when he was doing color for ESPN, because he clearly knows the game and is good at teaching it to others. To me, that shows that he’s not “telling it like it is” when he acts like he does on his radio show, he’s just doing it for ratings. 

What’s one of the most important things for success in the tournament? Guard play. We’re getting some excellent play from our guards, and if Rob can knock down a J or two, they’re pretty much a nightmare matchup for teams.
 

What’s another significant bonus? Having an AA player who gets on a hot streak. TJD is playing some of the best ball of his career. Another bonus? Hitting key FTs. 
 

Throw in a defense that seems pretty relentless, and this is rapidly becoming a team no one wants to play in a one and done situation. We just beat our two worst matchups, and we match up extremely well with the remaining 4. Just sayin’. 

I don't think I've seen anything that crazy in IU basketball since, what, 2002? The first 30 minutes were a combination of just atrocious basketball (missing open 3s all over the place, bonehead turnovers, missed dunks and other bunnies, and on and on and on) and atrocious referring (don't even know where to start with that one, but it was also ridiculously bad). The last 10 minutes were just pure energy and execution, and some of the best defense I've seen us play since, what, 2002? 

If anyone on the selection committee was watching, I don't think there's any way you can keep this team out of the tournament. 

16 minutes ago, Sea Turtle said:

Why does anybody think TJD is coming back? He's gone for sure. 

Probably because of things like this:

Draft Notes

A skilled big with decent length and a solid mid range and post up game.

TJD is a high level athlete who is able to use his strength and athleticism to punish opposing college players in the paint. At this point in his career he does most of his damage in the paint and will have to expand his game to make it at the NBA level.

Draft Projection

possible second round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft

I'm pretty excited about next year, particularly if one or both of Race/TJD return, and XJ returns. I think my biggest concern is some sort of change of culture/mentality with these guys, as they seem to completely wilt as a unit down the stretch of games. I'm not sure how you fix that, but it dropped us from potentially competing for a B1G title to where we are.

We'll have a really good mix of experience and youth, and it's going to be interesting to see how these guys improve and if they put in the work in the offseason. Can Trey develop an outside shot? Can Geronimo improve his handle and cut down on fouling? Can Bates take the next step? Can Leal carve out some P/T? Same with Lander if he returns, and so forth.

I'm also interested in how much CMW and the staff learn from round one with this group. I think we're ahead of schedule defensively, but there will likely need to be adjustments made on the offensive end, along with the end of game issues. 

In short, every single person on this team has work to do, but the potential is certainly there to compete for a B1G title.

If anything, this game should show us how much we've learned and developed this year. We were down double figures for most of the first game, and it never really seemed competitive, even when it dropped to under 10 before the end of the first half. 

4 minutes ago, IowaHoosierFan said:

Sure sure.  doesnt mean it will happen.  But just my opinion.  He is not a 3 point shooter.  I wish we would stop trying to make him one.  Let him learn to hit that 15 footer or hit about 80% free throws since that is where he can make bank

I don't really know why you're saying that. He's clearly got the green light, not just from CMW, but also from CAM last year, so seems pretty obvious he's been hitting them regularly in practice even before he started hitting them in games, and it's really valuable to have a big that can draw the defense out that far.

22 minutes ago, IowaHoosierFan said:

You have much more confidence in Race becoming a 3 point shooter

He's hit 9 of his last 21 from there, and he's shot it with confidence all year, even when they weren't going down.  

4 minutes ago, btownqb said:

I think JHS+Bates will be better than any transfer 2 we could get, that is my opinion. I'm projecting. I have an immense amount of faith in our staff's ability to develop. 

1 minute ago, KoB2011 said:

I get what you’re saying and don’t disagree, but to some level that’s going to be a question mark next year No matter what heading into the season short of an All-League type guy from a P5 conference transferring in.

Kopp was a good P5 player and Stewart was a high scoring mid-major player, and neither of them has cut it for what we need on the perimeter. JHS is already a 5 star freshman coming in.

Bates HAS to develop. JHS has to be for real. Galloway getting a more consistent shot and starting healthy would be big. Rob staying healthy could be big. Maybe Leal can find a way to give us 10-15 minutes. I’d love to add another to that too if it’s a proven P5 guy, but short of that it is probably as big of a risk as what we already have. 

Appreciate what both of you are saying here, and we'll see what the staff can do with these guys. I do think Bates has the 'it' factor and can fill that role, and I think someone like Leal could knock down those shots in certain situations, and then there is the potential of the freshmen coming in. Very good point on PS and MK seemingly being exactly what we needed this year, and that not working out, too. 

I think my biggest fear is that we're sitting here at the same time next year kicking ourselves for not fixing the problem that was staring us right in the face. 

2 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

if Race and TJD come back we may not have a ton of room for adding players in the portal, but those two are better than whatever we'd get in the portal almost assuredly.

Yeah, there's no way you say no to either of those guys if they want to return. In addition to their skills on the court, they're great ambassadors for the program, lots of experience, etc. 

BUT, you still have the same issue we've been talking about on this board ad nauseum, where we don't have guys that can knock down shots, especially in big moments, and I'm not sure that is fixed with a couple of freshmen and hoping a sophomore makes a jump to that role. With respect to Kopp, he certainly came along towards the end of the year, and I think his leadership skills are highly underrated, but he's also the same guy that was mostly non-existent offensively for a significant part of the B1G season.

I guess my concern is if you run it back with this group plus the freshmen, I'm not sure you've addressed the biggest issue, unless CMW can do something to fix the mentality of this team down the stretch of games and get some of the same guys to hit open shots. 

1 minute ago, btownqb said:

I think JHS starts at the 2 day 1. Bates will be a SO and a huge key for our success next season. Those two plus Galloway and RP..... and I would love to have Kopp here in a diminished role. 

Well, then you start getting to the point where you have to decide who leaves to open up those roster spots. Three freshmen coming, if you want to keep Kopp, if you get a good wing in the portal, etc. The extra covid year could cause some issues across the game, with rosters backing up a bit due to guys not leaving and whatnot.