cthomas

27 minutes ago, btownqb said:

Ehh.. man. Idk. 

When was the last time someone NOT OSU/UM beat OSU/UM? I mean, basically, Penn State can hardly compete with them, which is scary.

I checked-- UM, in the last three seasons, has 3 losses-- Mich St 2 years ago when MSU was Top 10, UGA 2 years ago (one of the best college teams ever assembled), and TCU last year in the Semis. 

OSU- since 2012- has 17 total losses lol--- Top 10 Missouri, Top 10 Oregon, Michigan x3, UGA (CFP), Bama (CFP), @Purdue lol, Top 5 Oklahoma, @Top 10 Iowa, @ Penn State, Clemson (CFP)x2, Top 10 MSUx2, Virginia Tech, Top 10 Clemson (not CFP)

Maybe we can be Purdue from 2016 or whatever it was and pull a once-a-decade upset? Those two programs are just-- the elite of the elite though. 

All true. They are among a handful of programs who are the gold standard of college football. But beating them starts with believing you can. I wouldn't want to coach a team that went into any game thinking it had already lost.

We significantly upgraded our non-conference schedule and a consequence of that is you can get your a$$ beat on any given night. Most of these games were closer than we would have liked but they made the team work for the win. I believe has made the team better. I'll withhold judgement on what we can or can't do until I see a few games with us at full strength.

1 hour ago, IUFLA said:

Link to Illinois Loyalty Forum discussion on TSJ...

Details are slowly emerging...Interesting reading (23 pages)...

After reading the last few pages, I have concluded that young men should be very cautious with girls they don't know who they just met in a bar. Consent is a very tricky deal these days. Human nature being what it is, young men and young women make bad decisions, especially when alcohol is involved. In this case, something traumatic took place or maybe it didn't. I don't know what to think.

24 minutes ago, Reacher said:

but will they be leaving behind girlfriends?

Football players can usually find new girlfriends, if you know what I mean.

5 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

We did not shoot 100%.

 

 

I always took the opposite approach and said I didn't want the other team to score, at all.

1 minute ago, Euroclydon said:

Relying heavily on two freshmen and two sophomores is creating problems for IU. The lack of maturity and composure stands out. They have to play through it and learn how to be ready for every game.

The reality is the game is much more difficult when you can only hit a few three pointers per game and back that up by missing 12 free throws. 

If this game was on the road they lose by double digits.

What frustrates me is they ended up so thin at guard one injury has put the season in jeopardy. Playing your starters 30+ minutes and then asking them to do it again two days later is  probably not going to turn out well long term.

 

 

 

Agree with all of this. But, I think the freshmen are growing into their roles. MM is much better than he was a and I thinks Cupps is getting better as well. It's a lot to ask this early in the season. They've taken quite a bit of criticism but I'm proud of them.

4 minutes ago, Artesian_86 said:

For what it’s worth, this time last year, we were also 8-3 on December 19th and went 9-3 by beating Elon on December 20th, 2022.

Ground hog day?

The wrong team lost and I'm glad they did. We didn't earn it and we didn't deserve it. Happy we got it.

Being as unbiased as possible for a 65+ years IU guy, Purdue has a really good team, maybe championship good team. I also really like Painter because he knows who he is and builds good teams without chasing 5 star, one and done guys. I love that. Obviously I don't know him, but he has always seemed like a class act. 

8 minutes ago, Steubenhoosier said:

 

The only picture I’ve ever seen of Larry Bird at IU.

I can only imagine what would have happened if he had stayed at IU. I'm not sure his personality type at the time could have taken CBK, but the trash talking NBA version would have flourished.

I like everything about this.

8 minutes ago, Zuckerkorn said:

Big Mac is a big reason I became an IU fan. One of my biggest heros as a kid.  When he left the Pacers for the 76'ers he got overshadowed by Dr.J IMO.

To those too young to have watched him play, I suggest watching some videos and marvel at that unique, one-handed shot.

RIP

Imagine McGinnis on the 73 IU team with Steve Downing. UCLA can kiss my a$$. That team would have been National Champions.

3 hours ago, IUFLA said:

The 1969 IHSAA Semi Final between Indianapolis Washington and Marion... Great game... McGinnis is 44 in white, Steve Downing is 43, Wayne Pack (who played a short stint with the Pacers) is 23... Former Purdue star Jovon Price played for Marion... 

 

Probably the best, highest level, high school game I ever saw.

Good article in the IndyStar by Greg Doyel about McGinnis. I watched him play in high school when the Indianapolis city schools were really good. Most years getting out of the city sectional was the toughest round of the tournament. He was maybe the most phenomenal athlete I ever saw and, by all accounts, a really good human being.

2 hours ago, Seeking6 said:

Time will tell for sure. He was only going to be here one season either way so let's make the best of it and roll from there. In the world the adults have created 20-10 will piss the locals off but if send another kid or two to the league that means the door is open for 24 portal and beyond. 

IIRC....because I don't look at most older posts enjoy your trip. Headed down ourselves on Saturday. Can't wait for this one. 

I didn't expect Ware to be as good as he has been so far. He will be a major reason we have a decent season. I don't even want to think where we would be without him.

1 hour ago, SawatchHoosier said:

remember I'm an idiot

Me too!

Feels like it's a game we can win with proper mindset. If Cupps continues to play relatively mistake free and the sophomores continue to grow and play within themselves, I like our chances. At this point, we are playing with house money. To just split this four game stretch without XJ would feel like a win to me.

On 12/1/2023 at 7:21 PM, IU247 said:

 

Is Zach really leaning into that. Of all the things one could take away from this hire is that. We hired a coach who is going to be about what wins football games and not about what wins the press conference. CBK was right about most journalists when he said most of us learn to write by the third grade and then move on.

Just like that the natural order of the universe is restored.

2 hours ago, IUCrazy2 said:

So here is a thought I have had about that very thing.  If you were an outside the box thinker at the AD, it would almost be in your best interest to offer a deal like the following to several of your large donors.  We are about to embark on a large building spree for say football.  We would normally be coming to you looking for a large donation to help fund that for naming rights.  However, in lieu of that, we would like to request a $100,000 donation to the school for naming rights and then the type of donation that got made to put the Simon-Skjodt name on Assembly Hall instead be made to Hoosiers For Good.

You want a huge NIL endowment that you can invest and then you supplement all the year to year NIL donations with 75% of the gains from the endowment each year.

For instance, say you are able to cobble together an initial endowment of $100 million.  At a usually modest return of 7% you are now sitting on $107 million.  Fund the next year's NIL with $5.25 million and you still have $101.75 million left over.  A 7% gain on that would yield $7,122,500 in gains.  Take 75% of that and you have $5.34 million to plug into NIL and your endowment has grown to $103,530,625.

You wouldn't be competing with the Ohio State's in football right off the bat but that money would continue to grow until you were.  It also keeps you from having to constantly fundraise for NIL with those high dollar people and they get their name on a building to boot.

You must be a finance guy. I have a good friend who goes on and on about compounding and how misunderstood it is. I really like your idea.

1 hour ago, iuswingman said:

seems unsustainable.  Is someone donating 3 million per year?

Life changing money to me but not much more than pocket change to billionaires.

23 minutes ago, IU247 said:

 

So should we ask Anthony Leal who the next coach will be.

I want to see continued improvement from CJ Gunn. I believe he and Banks, along with MM, are the keys to where our ceiling is.

26 minutes ago, BGleas said:

First, phenomenal call by Woodson to go zone. That completely changed the game. It doesn't matter whose idea it was, the head coach has to sign off. If Woodson didn't want to make the switch to zone we wouldn't have gone zone. Kudos to Woodson for making the change and also for listening to his staff/team.

A big reason we won is because Woodson changed. He did things a bit differently, a couple of the things many people have been asking for.

He didn't just keep banging his head against a wall hoping things would get better. First set out of the gate we went with a horns set which I haven't seen us do yet, and we did it throughout the game. We also went with a 4-out/1-in as opposed to 2 bigs in the paint together. While not a drastic, massive improvement. it did get our guards and wings into the lane to create a bit more and it gave Reneau and Ware a bit more room. 

Then of course the zone change. 

Now of course, some guys also just flat-out stepped up and improved. Walker and Sparks in particular. I've always liked Banks and hoped he would figure things out. He's not completely there yet, but he was really good defensively and on the boards tonight. Really happy for Banks and hoping he can find where he fits offensively as well. 

I think Banks length and athleticism not only helped in the zone, but also helped on the boards. 

Really great job by Woodson and the staff, as well as several players that stepped up. Hopefully we continue to improve and continue to use these different sets. 

Isn't this really what we have been saying from the start. Guys have to figure out what their role is and how they can best help the team. With this many new players, even the returnees or looking at different roles. The coaching staff is also trying to figure to best utilize what we have. We all want to see a well oiled machine, but it's going to take some time. I loved seeing CMW switch things up a bit. Flexibility is our friend, especially early. This is not like the early Crean years. This team has the talent to compete. The kids want to be good. Let's try to give them the chance to be good without being too negative towards them.

3 hours ago, Sea Turtle said:

It took a long time and a lot of effort from Indiana University. But it happened.

Congratulations Indiana University!

Good for you. In other news, who cares.