Danomatic

14 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

We matched up well against them.  They did a good job limiting Daeger.  I think he only took 5 or 6 shots all night.  Made 4 of them.  But, otherwise, we were able to do get the ball where it needed to be. 

Creek has struggled the most against teams that shoot the ball well from beyond the arc.  Brownstown, obviously, shoots the ball very well.  

I forgot that you were an SC alum. Did you watch them play Madison Friday night? 

Sorry guys, but Woody isn’t going anywhere… or at least not after this season. As painful as it’s been to watch, the math doesn’t add up. The perception is awful, especially after the past two weeks. That being said, Woodson will have the opportunity to bring in enough talent over the next two seasons to see what he can get done. The absolute only way I see them giving him his papers before his fifth year is if they fall flat next season with Liam, potentially DQ and others that we don’t know about yet. 
 

I will say that I, along with many of you saw this year being a down year, primarily due to the guard play. X has shown absolutely zero leadership capabilities since his arrival. Couple that with the fact that he was coming off of a critical injury and these are the results. You can’t tell me that banking a scholarship, especially in this day and age, was better than taking a chance on another guard. I think that the staff failed the team by not filling that scholarship before the season even started. TG and Cupps clearly don’t cover the void, and that isn’t their fault. 
 

I'll always bleed cream and crimson, but I’m becoming numb to this team. I used to schedule my days around games and made sure that I was watching somewhere. Nowadays, I’m fine if I miss a game or two and I really hate that I feel that way. I look forward to better days, but also feel as if we’ve all been living in the movie Groundhog Day for the past 2.5 decades.

"In my 51 years behind this microphone I will say something that I've never said before: I'm embarrassed for this team, and it has nothing to do with the score."
- Don Fischer 

I’m out of bourbon, so I have to turn it off. 

47 minutes ago, Cbp4IU said:

4 guys…. I would argue IU needs 8 new guys.

I’m talking about guards specifically, but I’m sure there will be more changes…. Or at least I hope.

I know I’m late, but man, this team isn’t as bad I think they are at the moment. They are struggling like many of us thought, but it’s still difficult, even if we expected it. X is who he is… and at this point, we have to accept it. I, personally, am not a fan of his antics and thought that he could help, but leading is not his forte. TG is a nice complimentary piece that could come off the bench on a good team, but we’re kidding ourselves if any of us expected more. Cupps is a freshman who can help out and probably provide some value next season, but not now. Our frontline is pretty solid, but that’s all we have, and to win consistently at this level(I know I’m beating a dead horse here) we need solid guard play. We need at least 4 guys brought in who can handle, create and defend the perimeter next season… or we’ll be running this season back. 

I feel like at this point, Woody is just throwing 💩 at the wall to see if it sticks. What a terrible, awful game. Going to bed. 

Two things that we used to be able to count on in every game was… 

1. Smart, team basketball on both ends. This IU team might have the lowest basketball IQ of any team I can remember. 
 

2. Shooting and security. I also don’t remember when we had either of those. 

Played well enough to win, but we just don’t have enough help to get over the hump. 

Bad pass by Cupps… gotta be better down the stretch.

21 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

Give what you said about guard play, and the choice by our staff to not she the last scholarship, what is the takeaway in your mind?

My takeaway is that the college game is fluid and rosters will change substantially over the course of a season. I don’t think you should ever not take a chance on a high risk/reward type of player in the portal. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, but use that scholarship. Because there’s a great chance that we lose 30-40% of the roster in turnover anyway. Again, maybe the staff was convinced that we were going to be fine. That being said, I don’t think I know more than anyone else, but I personally didn’t feel comfortable with what we had coming into the season from our backcourt. Yes, the front court is extremely talented, but we lack balance.

2 hours ago, NCHoosier32 said:

my frustration (and this isn't aimed necessarily at you) is i don't see why we wouldn't have high expectations this season.  only argument is we lost a lot from our roster.  that said, most high level teams do these days.  transfer portal, early NBA, etc.  new world of college bball is that the roster is going to change a lot every year.  so we have three 5 star guys, a 6th year PG, and a returning starter from last season.  that's not as much talent as most?

The primary factor in what I saw going into the season was the guards. You need high quality guards to be able to sustain success at this level. When we didn’t land a difference maker in the portal at the guard position, my expectations changed for this team. Again, I really like our guys, but I didn’t realistically see this team competing for a B1G title or much more once we decided to pocket the last scholarship. Indiana has been most successful when we’ve had great guard play. And for whatever reason, we just haven’t landed much since 2015. 

3 hours ago, MSHoosier said:

Don't know where that is coming from. I saw three McD's boys, a six year and a four year guard and thought we should be good. The guards have not been good enough, and that was certainly true today. 

Just my personal opinion I guess. From an evaluation standpoint, I didn’t think we’d have the guard play to compete at a very high level. Yes, our bigs are super talented but we have next to no perimeter shot makers, nor can they create off the bounce. In order for Woodson’s system to flourish, he needs high level guard play. We just don’t have that on this roster.

Looking forward to next weekend. Lots to dissect and figure out for the staff. Hopefully X can come back and be effective. 
 

P.S. - I don’t think many expected us to do much this season, if we’re being honest. That being said, we just weren’t competitive today.

I think the most frustrating part about today has been watching us get punched in the mouth repeatedly, and not countering. I’m not saying that Woody is a bad coach, but he’s only used one timeout. When we went on a 7-0 run to start the 2nd half, Pearl immediately called a timeout. They’ve went on multiple double digit runs and we’ve just waited for the tv timeout to try and make adjustments. Hopefully we learn from this. 

We’re getting out coached and getting away from what we do well on the offensive end. Woodson needs to reemphasize that we’re not a perimeter oriented team at the half. Get back to what we do well and guard the interior on the defensive end. 

Tough times in Atlanta.

What’s tragic is the fact that he could potentially have to face an Indiana team that features a class with Liam, DQ, Sonon and Davis surrounded by a junior Malik, sophomore Cupps, senior Galloway, junior Gunn, junior Banks and redshirt freshman Newton. Then throw in a pair of portal guys, maybe three… lots can happen in between now and then, but it’s fun to think about. 

At one point, I thought it would be a pipe dream to land any 3 man combo in the 24 class, but considered getting 2 of them a fantastic class. Now, I’m about to put that pipe back in my mouth and fall asleep. Having Harper, McNeeley and Queen ending up at IU next year with Malik, Cupps and whatever the portal brings and our staff retains…. Would be amazing.

Fellas, I’ll say this and then I’m out. We’re going to struggle all season against solid guard play defensively. Offensively, we play too slow, and are still prone to making poor decisions with the ball. I don’t want to sound like an armchair expert, but outside of Cupps(and he’s not exempt)… our guard play is underwhelming to say the least. 

8 hours ago, BGleas said:

Disclaimer, this is not a "sour grapes, we didn't want him anyways" post. I absolutely wanted Fland for both his talent, position and the perception of getting two 5*'s in one week against KU and UK. 

We need to be stacking high-end talent in these classes, and especially in the backcourt. 

I wanted us to land Fland. Just making it crystal clear. 

With all of that said, I am perfectly comfortable with a sophomore Gabe Cupps as our point guard next season. I was hoping to have Fland and Cupps together, but I'm perfectly comfortable with Cupps running the show next year. 

I'd even argue a sophomore Cupps has more potential to impact winning at the college level next year as a point guard than a freshmen Fland. 

Now, we need to add more talent in the backcourt. More playmakers, more creators, etc., but I'm good with Cupps. 

Definitely agree here, and while I’m disappointed that we missed on Fland, at least we’re swinging. I also think that elite level guard play is what this team has been missing for the last several seasons. We’ve obviously landed some talented bigs, but we need guys who can handle, create and such. 

22 minutes ago, RoadToZion said:

Smoke screen. Gonna be a wild few hours 

If so, that’s the biggest troll job by Trilly, and cat fans will likely never forgive him. 

I saw somewhere on Twitter or X, whatever it’s called now, that he informed the coaches Wednesday. At this point, I don’t care, but I did like the idea of him playing alongside of Liam and potentially others. 

Man, I got my hopes up again…. Oh well, story of my life. 

I hope DQ is watching TJD right now on TV. The 57th pick in the draft is now starting for Golden State and looks really comfortable out there. Happy for Trayce, and excited for what’s to come.