Hoosierdave

4 minutes ago, mrflynn03 said:

One of my only criticisms of Woody is it seems he still has the NBA mentality and is trying to get guys minutes to keep them happy. IDK. 

It’s unacceptable. It happens virtually every game. Rutgers playing with far more intensity and had to burn a timeout because of it.

And without fail, Woody puts in more subs than starters and kills all the momentum 

Very few teams I feel like I can say this but I think we have a matchup advantage at all 5 spots. Key will be taking care of the ball, smart shot selection, and playing good defense. 

I don’t think we win but this is as winnable of a conference game as you can draw up.

Good bounce back win. X reminded us all very quickly how important he is and how “speed kills”. Im hoping having him back playing 30+ minutes completely turns the season around. 

This game to me was an important and friendly reminder that based on our teams’ style of play, we really need to be like last year and lean into prioritizing our defense and cleaning up the boards. I don’t love our half court offense, and the fact that we don’t rely on perimeter scoring to win games means we need to be great at other aspects of basketball like drawing more fouls/ extra free throw attempts and points off turnovers. 

I really hope Gunn builds off this because the aforementioned is so much easier to execute with him involved.

And yea let’s learn how to rebound before Tuesday lol. 

When X grabbed that rebound LOL. 

Ngl I feel like we’re gonna lose. Can’t rebound and Ohio st is in the bonus 

Do we practice rebounding and does our staff know that most teams miss more than they make so it’s kind of a vital part of basketball?

Ohio st proving how easy it is to guard us on D. Just plant your big men under the hoop to contest/block shots because it’s always going to end up there. 
 

I really struggle to understand why when the other team puts their center on Reneau that we still try and go through him via post ups instead of using pnr action with Ware on a shorter defender

So we have a first round NBA player in Ware and our staff decides to have Gunn, Reneau, X, Banks, etc take shots instead…

1 hour ago, NCHoosier32 said:

XJ and MR are questionable for tonight?

They both are dressed and warming up so assuming it’s nothing serious.

I guess instead of complaining about what has happened so far this season, here’s what I would like to see moving forward:

-Utilize more of the action where we throw 3 people on one side and have either Ware/Reneau play a 2 man game with Gallo/X. I don’t love Ware/Reneau with their backs to the basket because they get it stripped or they don’t recognize the double quick enough and throw it away. I’d prefer simplifying things for them and getting them going towards the basket with a full head of steam, and worst case need 1-2 dribbles max before putting up a shot. I’d like to see us maximize Ware’s height and vertical because that is an objective advantage he has over a lot of guys he’ll face this year. 

-When we do throw the ball into the post for Ware/Reneau, make sure that Mac is the nearest perimeter option. He’s the most confident/comfortable catch & fire shooter. Gotta take the wide open 3s when they are available. if we need to reverse the ball, we have guys like Gallo and X that I’m confident can get to the rim/draw fouls because defenders are now out of position and scrambling. 

-Give Mac more isolation opportunities. I don’t love him getting the ball curling off a screen because he isn’t particularly fast and it forces him to put the ball on the deck in traffic. He’s also our best free throw shooter so giving him space to create against smaller guys could go a long way. Also, can we at least give him a shot at the 4? I’m baffled we haven’t seen a single minute of that yet, considering that would be utilizing him most effectively.

-Utilize a zone more. If these guys are being taught to overhelp and prevent drives to the rim, might as well have Ware/Reneau under the basket to block shots and be in better positions to rebound and outlet the ball to guys like X and Gallo who then can get out in transition and run. 

-Maybe throw in a press occasionally? Considering that we don’t really utilize our guards for playmaking on the offensive side, might as well tire out the other teams guards. That way, you hope all those 3 point shots these teams take come up short because of tired legs, and the lack of power on the shot prevents those long rebounds that we constantly lose. We’re not a great rebounding and FT shooting team, so need to find ways to get extra possessions. Obviously having one open scholarship and no Jakai makes this a little more difficult.

-Get into our sets much quicker on offense. Considering that we don’t shoot many 3s and play from behind constantly, you can’t afford to waste almost the whole shot clock  aimlessly passing the ball around in a circle.

1 hour ago, Artesian_86 said:

....First off, I am very disappointed in last night's performance, especially the amount of time off between our last game.

Several on here may not agree with me on this, but here are several observations that really stand out with how/why this team is currently playing. (IMHO)...

- We are an extremely young roster with a lot of new faces. XJ is the only player from the original starting 5 from last year. (TJD, JHS, XJ, Kopp, Thompson). **Reneau started some games and got more and more minutes as the season went on.

- We are in desperate, desperate need of smart, vocal leader on this current team! Last year's team had several starting with TJD, JHS, XJ and Race (when healthy and playing well).

- Ware has been a welcomed addition and has not disappointed,........... However, for us to continue to grow, he has to be more vocal and be more aggressive. 

- We appear rudderless from a PG standpoint at this stage in the season and lack confidence shooting the ball from our guard play.

- Woodson banked/counted on bench players, Gunn and Banks to step and make positive impact at guard play over last year. (Banks has made some welcomed improvement, but.....)

- Without freshman Cupps forced into the starting PG spot, we quite possibly could be below 500 right now!

- XJ at starting PG is now the X factor to moving this team forward in a positive way. It is HIS time to shine and establish leadership. His best assets are his speed, court awareness, ball handling and passing. On the flip side, they have been his Achilles Heal too. Which one are we going to see from here on out?

- I have said this from day one, freshman guard, Jakai Newton is a HUGE LOSS to this year's team.  IMO, he was the X factor at guard play that we are missing.

- Most every player has asperations to play at the next level, whether the NBA or over seas. Coach Woodson has coached and been around the NBA long enough to know what it takes to get them there.

- Lastly, with all this being said, you have to play with the hand you're dealt. The coaches coach and prepare a game plan to be executed successfully. It's then up each individual player to fully buy in, perform and execute that game plan. 

- "Is it the chicken or the egg?" Whose fault is it, the coaches or the players? I tend to lean towards the players not successfully completing their assignments properly.  IF NOT, YOU GET RESULTS LIKE LAST NIGHT!

Go IU!

 

 

 

 

Good analysis. Just a couple things I respectfully disagree on:

-Being young/new faces-> Purdue has been one of the best teams for the last 2 years and relies on a backcourt of underclassman. They also weren’t big time recruits/burger boys coming in. Also, Duke/Kentucky/etc rely on freshman year after year and do just fine.
Just like us, here’s a list of (ranked) teams that have at least 2 new starters on their team: Kansas, UConn, Illinois, UK, UNC, Zona, Memphis, Baylor, Texas, Gonzaga. 
 

Jakai’s impact-> He’s been injured so long and hasn’t played competitive basketball in a while. Also hasn’t played a single game of college basketball so I think it’s a bit of a leap to assume he would have made a big impact. He also wasn’t known for his perimeter scoring, which is what we need most. 

I felt this way after the Kansas game and especially after that Morehead st game. Like Trilly Donovan said with Fran and Iowa, I think IU is in purgatory with Coach Woodson. 

You can’t fire him because he’s made progress each year and it would be a bad look for our program to have so many different coaches in so many years. Also wouldn’t have the necessary money to make a big time hire with buyouts. 

But there’s no reason to suggest he was a great hire and shouldn’t be on the hot seat. Maybe I’m ignorant but on paper I see talent and potential in this team. But so many aspects absolutely baffle me. 

Our defense consists of over helping and giving up wide open shots. Good teams make them and get confident quickly. Then our offense consists of wasting half the shot clock with our guards standing around waiting for a pick, or passing the ball around in a circle to feed the post and have either Ware or Reneau shoot through 2-3 guys. We struggle to rebound, shoot free throws, and win the turnover battle regularly.

We also have no leadership. If I didn’t know the captains, I would have guessed it was Walker and Leal. Away from home we look lost and uninspired. 

Nothing about us gives me confidence Woodson can turn this around this year or next. His roster construction and style of play leads me to believe that he’ll continue to be stubborn and not make the necessary adjustments all us fans see and have been bitching and moaning about for years. He’s also royally screwed us with recruiting guards because we have no film that doesn’t involve our bigs always being the center of attention.

Unless Woody decides to make Liam the primary scoring option and kills it in the portal, this is basically the kiss of death for IU basketball. 

1 minute ago, kyhoosier29 said:

And then Ware does that. We are the dumbest team in basketball.

Literally. Started to climb back in and playing with more intensity and it evaporates in a second. 

Fingers crossed getting Mac and Reneau back make the difference. At least those 2 play with confidence and have a desire to be assertive with the ball in their hands. 

Gotta get out and run in transition. Half court offense looks terrible and is causing most of the turnovers. 

Someone needs to give ware a shove in the locker room and wake him up. You’re 7ft, demand the ball and get to the rim. Assert yourself! 
 

Also my god stop with the dumb reach in fouls!! 

This might be the worst half I’ve seen them play. Just astonishingly bad turnovers and fouls. 

On 12/27/2023 at 4:53 PM, Hoosierfan1901 said:

I think the projected decision is around mid-January whenever Montverde does than ESPN thing. But no one truly knows

Maybe it’s just me but I’m totally fine with him waiting until the spring to make a decision. Not that I wouldn’t be excited if he committed earlier, I just personally would prefer to have a proof of concept/larger sample size of Reneau being able to shoot and beat players off the dribble from the perimeter. Reneau to me has the style and best fit to be a small ball 5. Also, I’ve yet to see any mock drafts have Mgbako going first round, so I’m personally more excited about having him for a second year and finally playing the 4. Reneau/Mac/Liam sounds stylistically far more effective and complimentary than Queen/Reneau/Liam. 
 

I just want to see a more modernized style we were promised from Woody after TJD left.

😂

Hoping this is the “getting over the hump” game in terms of balanced offense. Finally scoring from all 3 levels. Guys look like they are having fun, playing with some confidence and swagger. 

Am I the only one confused as to why Coach doesn’t know his health status lol? 

Mass subbing after a good start…wtf

On 12/20/2023 at 8:48 AM, IUFLA said:

Another team that takes and makes a lot of 3s.

Perfect lol!

Need to be much better rebounding as a result, exhausting watching all these teams get second chance opportunities from chucking up shots and not having to value the ball. Snag those rebounds and use transition opportunities to draw fouls and get easy baskets. Get these guys into foul trouble early so we can utilize our strengths (Ware/Reneau) down low and put them in a tough spot to defend without fouling.

We know perimeter scoring is not our strength so we need to beat them in the other aspects of basketball that are just as important (turnovers, FT’s, hustle plays).
 

Really bold choice by the social media team with the all caps. I would have personally gone with size 1 font or maybe if I did all caps thrown in a “??” at the end haha

I legit only watched the last 30 seconds because I thought I was going to vomit watching that game unfold. 
 

Im happy for our guys that we won that game but I don’t see this team making the tourney. Hope I’m wrong but we have such a glaring weakness (guard play, leadership) that it will continue to get exposed and it’s too late to make any roster changes.