cthomas

18 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

Time will tell for sure. Don't forget Trey. I saw him blow by Big 10 starters last year routinely...imagine those fresh legs coming at you full steam ahead with 10 to go when the starters get a breather before final 8,etc...to your point though and I think others mentioned earlier. X doesn't tire. Kid had the same burst late today as he did early. 

Agree completely. A good bench is a useful tool. But I've been watching a lot of games from the 80's and 90's and CBK didn't use the bench all that much. In fact, I'm not sure IT came out of any game I watched. I think we probably over value depth when everyone is healthy. Depth, however, is really important when the inevitable injuries occur. It's the difference between a season falling apart and maintaining success.

19 minutes ago, Lostin76 said:

I’m sure I’m jumping the gun, but I feel like our bench is better than anyone else’s in the NCAA if not better than 90% of the starters. 

I haven't seen enough of the top teams to say one way or the other. But, I know our bench is really good and getting better. I feel like guys are starting to figure out their roles. That alone can separate great teams from good teams. One thing that CBK did really well was figure out pretty quickly who could do what and then make his players fill those roles. I think Coach Woodson is letting these guys figure that out on the court. Should be fun to watch.

There are a lot of teams like this. They're really athletic but not great basketball players. They are like nats buzzing around your head. Crazy annoying.

I'm keeping an open mind on this. Everything about this is odd. It's unbelievable that he was able to live and work there and no one suspected that he was the killer. I want whoever is responsible caught and convicted but I'm not going to rush to judgement. I want to see the evidence. I have felt from the beginning that the authorities have botched the case. Given what has transpired I don't understand the degree of secrecy from the start.

1 hour ago, IUFLA said:

I did too, but where's the cocky, confident kid Coach Woodson talked about last year? He seems like he's having his doubts right now... 

 

Having a little girl will do that to you. A lot on his plate right now. When I first held my daughter, everything changed for me. I think he will settle in and find the balance he needs to be good at both being a basketball player and a dad.

It's easy to get excited with the freshmen. This is a really good class with guys who can play different spots on the floor. But there will be growing pains as they learn what they can and cannot do. I expect a lot of uneven play with overall growth as the season wears on.

21 hours ago, Steubenhoosier said:

Franklin scores 26 as UVA beats Baylor by 7

I liked Franklin and was sorry to see him leave. Wish him nothing but success.

31 minutes ago, mchenry34 said:

My random thoughts after the game:

- I wish we would push after a make rather than only after the other team's misses
- I did not like our drop ball screen coverage, especially coupled with our reticence to help off of Freemantle and Nunge. It was clear that the game plan was to keep those two from scoring forty together, but it led to lots of open looks off of ball screens...and off ball screens for that matter. TJD and Race gave very little help off their men screening
- Our offense moves slightly better than last year (especially in subtle things like repositioning according to the dribble drive), but I still wish we would have more players in attack mode. I am so tired of us running "thumb" where a half-hearted cut happens off of TJD and then we give him the ball in the mid-post and watch...We seem to only utilize three or four actions a game...would like to see that grow in sophistication
- Fino would be a bit better off right now focusing on creating for others and having others create for him...He has taken some questionable thoughts off the dribble each game...
- Teams are still going under the ball screen against us...we need to have a mentality of making them pay for that, and a creative response to that game plan
- We were much more focused and active defensively in this game than the first two...Xavier scored when we made mistakes (dig too far, blown switch, failure to help/hedge on screens, etc..) but those mistakes came at important times that gave Xavier life and confidence
- Geronimo and Bates and Kopp and Galloway were not nearly as bad as people said...Miller missed a couple opportunities at the rim early, Geronimo tried to bust out with the dribble when he shouldn't have, Bates made some scouting report errors, but actually Galloway (and Kopp) made a ton of contributions...Galloway is not an elite on the ball defender (still coming off groin injury and is not quick in the traditional sense), but he is an excellent defender overall who plays with max effort and is disruptive to the other team's sets because he pays attention to the scouting report and knows what the other team is trying to accomplish in each set...
- We won't shoot that much better until the ball movement is better...we don't create that many open looks from the perimeter even though the opposition sags....mostly because the ball sticks in X's and Fino's hands...This is why Galloway, Kopp, and even Leal could play important roles...they move the ball
- I'm glad we won, I think it will be good for the resume, we can be quite good in the end, but I doubt we will be head and shoulders above the B1G...we could win 15 or 16 or so games in conference, but will have to fight for those wins rather than blowing people out

Agree with most of this. I also think that game was closer to our floor than our ceiling. JHS is way better than he played and MR is starting to understand what he can do. This is a team that has never really experienced success. They have mostly hoped to win instead of expected to win. I want to see more of the later as the season progresses. If TJD continues with the mindset we saw last night, he may just drag everyone else along with him.

1 minute ago, NCHoosier32 said:

are we really gonna blame the officials for every loss this year again?

Yes.

1 hour ago, Parakeet Jones said:

I am so scarred by the Miller years that it will take a while for me not to be nervous again. Plus it’s not like we were world beaters on the road last year either. So the answer is yes. I do think we pull a win out though. I have no idea by how much nor do I care. 

PTSD. There are a lot of us.

4 hours ago, btownqb said:

Then why did we recruit Cupps? 

We've had the Cupps commitment for quite a while. Woodson saw something in him that he liked and offered. And I think his measureables are somewhat better than Smith's. I'm not knocking Smith at all because I wanted him at IU bad. I just think CMW saw something he really liked and we took Cupps. And the kids he is looking at and offering seem to fit a certain template. Going forward, I just don't see CMW making either a first choice type of player.

2 hours ago, btownqb said:

I don't fault our staff for passing, we had JHS, Cupps. Whatever. But we had posters here basically try to claim this kid couldn't play for us because he was ranked in the 200s? Nonsense. 

CMW is looking for a different type of player. He likes long, athletic players who can guard multiple positions. As much as I liked Smith, and that was a lot, I don't see CMW ever recruiting a Smith type player.

4 hours ago, jefftheref said:

Wouldn't change a thing. Their second string is better than anyone we have. This is like watching a pro team playing a high school team. We suck from top to bottom. 

It's been that way forever. Even when we have given them a game, the talent gap was still obvious. They are loaded with 5 star recruits with a few 4 stars sprinkled in. We celebrate getting a 4 star guy once in a while. Where we recruit we will never compete or beat them on a consistent basis. We are who we are. Until that changes we are competing with the bottom of the conference. I'll concede that the top teams are out of reach. But there is no reason we can't compete with everyone else.

3 minutes ago, mrflynn03 said:

I wish Archie the best but it almost seems like the IU job broke him. Or maybe he just got lucky at Dayton. 

As much as I liked Archie when he was hired, he was obviously wrong for IU. What CMW has done in such a short period of time just underscores that. I think we have finally gotten it right. I hope coach Miller has success, but I'm glad he is there and not here.

This is a team that will go as far as their talent will allow them. It's CMW's responsibility to maximize that. If this goes well, we are just getting started on a great run. If not, we slip back into mediocrity again. I'm betting on the former.

Kopp is a really good player and I don't think we give him enough credit. Our point guard play is so much better this year. They are getting him the ball where can immediately go into his shot. That wasn't happening consistently last year. If he keeps getting good looks, he will keep knocking them down. This team in general looks so much more comfortable and confident than a year ago. 

1 hour ago, IUJoe said:

I’d add a 69-17 home loss to Nebraska.  On national TV.  Think it was 1977.

I watched that one on TV. I think we were unbeaten at the time.

2 hours ago, OGIUAndy said:

I would add last years 38-3 lost to Rutgers as one of the worst games I have seen recently and let us not forget losing to Ball State in 2011.  But that 83-20 game Wisky is the one I will never forget. What a blow out that was. 

I thought they were going to score 100.

37 minutes ago, BGleas said:

We have a chance to be an absolutely phenomenal defensive team. 

Yes we do. And beyond that, as these guys figure out their roles, we have a chance to be an outstanding offensive team as well. This can be the best two way team we have had in quite some time.

31 minutes ago, Reacher said:

Who had CJ Gunn for the first technical of the year? 

That was, in my opinion, a BS call. Of all the things that deserve a T that has to be at the bottom of the list. Love that kid.

1 hour ago, Steubenhoosier said:

Have you ever said anything positive about IU football?

 I get it that we have not performed up to expectations. But you just continue to beat the negative drum. You sure that you are an IU fan, and not some troll?

I understand the desire to find the positive, but I don't see much now or in the immediate future. I've been watching or listening for the better part of 60 years. The brief good years I have seen only make the inevitable bad years that much worse. It feels like I have fallen for the scam all over again. I love IU football and want it to at least be respectable. We had that a couple of years ago, but that's all gone now. I will continue to watch and support but not heap praises on the product that we see on the field now.

41 minutes ago, Stlboiler23 said:

He looks really good. Doesn’t look like a freshman at all. That lob/oop to Edey was awesome. 

As a Westfield alum ('66) I hope the kid has great success, except for a couple of times a year. This looks to me like Painter's kind of team. Possibly better than last years. That's about all of the good things I can say about Purdue without losing my dinner.

I vote but no longer feel as good about it as I once did. I'm an independent and tend to vote for candidates and not parties. The influence that corporate money has on candidates and then the laws that get passed is very disturbing to me. But I will continue to play the game and hope that eventually some positive changes are made.

I like JHS a lot. He seems to have a complete game. I think he could be a legend at IU if he comes back next year. We still have to see how he plays when the competition is elite also. Actually, that goes for the whole team. We'll find out pretty soon how good we are and how far we can go.

8 minutes ago, BGleas said:

Really strong first performance for the team. So fun seeing the talent level has been upgraded so much!

Obviously its just one game, it's really early, and we're really good. I'd say my biggest concern for how good this team can he is mostly just identity. How will they carve out an identity and what will it be?

I understand our biggest strength is our inside depth, but we also have to carve out a perimeter identity. We can't play through the post all of the time, it's just not how the game is played anymore. 

I don’t like how few 3's were taking. Our starting backcourt combined to take 2 3pt attempts (X and JHS took 0) and our frontcourt took 57% of our shots. 

We need to put up more 3's and run more through JHS, X, Bates, etc.

I agree with all of this. I think CMW has stated the importance of the three point shot enough that I think he will figure that part out. You know probably better than anyone, with your NBA experience, that CMW understands how the game needs to be played. I have great confidence that CMW is the guy to get IU where we all want to go.