IUDan93

50 minutes ago, jefftheref said:

If I were Coaching Kansas, I would of pulled Dick out much earlier. 

Sure, but there is a rhythm to the game and he thought he could keep Dick in.  

Honestly, this game was lost the moment it was scheduled. This program is not yet in a position to go on the road and win non-conference games against top 10 teams let alone KU. The reason to schedule these games is for the long-term goal of being a title contender.  This year can still be enjoyable, just not today.

We are still on the outside looking in.

23 minutes ago, btownqb said:

The intent isn't relevant, though. Balls on the way down/over the cylinder. 

Yep. We have all seen lob passes that end up going in. The points count, right?  Also, TG has taken this one-handed runner in the lane a bunch of times this year. Each time I initially think he is throwing a lob,

1 hour ago, KoB2011 said:

I do not agree on RT, despite him having his best game of the year. He and TJD both got outplayed by their bigs, and that’s not even getting into JG and MR. We were completely outplayed upfront. There’s a lot that goes into the “why” we got outplayed upfront, but not a single guy upfront outplayed their man.

Combine that with some atrocious calls and that’s the game. 

RT was over-matched physically in the post, but at least he scored from the outside. Since he did play his best game of the season, I figured that this means that his play wasn't the reason we lost. It really is too bad that TJD hasn't had an athletic 7 foot rim protector to play along side. 

I did not include MR because he did not play well. I think JG played well enough.  

2 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

 XJ was 11 and 11, and Zona went on their run with him on the bench with a bummer of a second foul. He played more than good enough to win yesterday, just wish he’d have not been in early foul trouble. 

I am not an XJ hater, it just really feels like he often makes bad plays/decisions right at the time that we are starting to build momentum. Of course, he also does make some nice plays to help us build momentum.  My point is that we need to have the advantage in the back court if the other team has the advantage in the front court. So far it seems that when JHS is playing, XJ plays better. I imagine that if JHS was in when XJ went out, we wouldn't have had the run put on us.

So, if XJ played well enough for us to win, and we should agree that MK, TB, TG, and RT played well enough for us to win, than it falls on a combination of TJD and no JHS for the loss. TJD is not going to be an All-American if he has to play every game against that size and skill. Since they took away our best player, we had to be better than them in the other areas. We were not.

If we don't have a true big man, than we better have really good guards. Arizona is a very good team that has a clear advantage over us with their size, which means our guards have to offset this.  TJD wasn't the problem in this game.  He is a great player, but he has never been a player that can match up well against really good 7 footers. XJ has not played well without JHS.  Really good teams take something away from other teams. Arizona took way TJD. If we are going to be a really good team, we have to be like wack-a-mole. 

This really felt like a tournament game, which will only help later.

3 minutes ago, Maud'Dib said:

wow, reading all the optimism here has me worried about the meltdown potential here should things go awry.  

excited for the game. come what may tonight, this team will be fun to watch all season.

It will be like Chernobyl. 

Xavier is going to win tonight.....Xavier Johnson that is.

36 minutes ago, Hippopotamo said:

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), we don’t play in Madison this year. 

Lucky for them, I guess.

Four things:

1) We have a coach that is highly respected amongst the basketball community, which is nice to have again.

2) Our depth and defense should pose too much for all teams outside of the top 5 in the country. 

3) We may not get to the Final Four, but we have a team that need not catch "lightning in a bottle" to do so. 

4) This is the year we win in Madison. 

When is the last time we went outside of the state of Indiana to sign a top 5 ranked recruit?  This would be huge, and much needed in terms of recruiting momentum.

Scott!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I love '80s basketball too. 

Thoughts and prayers for Stlboiler23.🙏

I just heard that CMW is bringing in Alford as his top assistant and eventually replacement. Everybody happy now?😁

The gleam is officially off of the Illini. Kofi is gone and they don't look like they are building toward any real success. 

Where would we have been without XJ this year? 

Cheers everyone

1 minute ago, Huntnfreak said:

Every year this happens...

Yep

I guess the B1G is a bit over-rated.

We are rattled.  

1 minute ago, mrflynn03 said:

My wife is being a bitch. I do not care. 

Let it out.

I'll be the first to say it, we would be really good if we could hit our shots.

Geronimo has arrived.

Just now, IUFLA said:

What the hell is wrong with Race?

It is without fathom.