IU878176

Man, is X already 0-5 this half? Settle down dude.

2 hours ago, Indykev said:

We just dont have a point guard who can take us anywhere. Bad passers, bad shooters and bad decision makers is what we have at point guard. Without wing scoring our offense has become stagnant and easy to guard. Double TJD, force him into a turnover, missed lay up, or a missed 3.

Some had high expectations for this season but the fact is that we don’t currently have an elite 1,2 or 3. That’s a lot to overcome. A couple of guys have “promise” but none of our 1,2 or 3’s are currently playing at a championship/high level.

2 hours ago, BGleas said:

 

We still have two bigs that can't shoot. We still have point guards that can't shoot. We still have unathletic wings that can't create shots. 

Never really thought of it that way across all positions.

Also throw in that we don’t have a two guard that can hit threes and create their own shot.  Really don’t have a “complete” high level player at any position.

14 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

 

Len Elmore said during that time, "sometimes it's not the number of turnovers, but when they happen." Dead on...

 

 

Yes, timing is crucial. In addition to the turnovers there was an important sequence late in the game where we had two consecutive possessions that consisted of Race taking and missing a three early in the clock and in the next possession TJD took and missed a 15-18 footer. Came up empty both times, neither shot should have been taken, and it was just a killer.  It just seems we have had numerous instances, over the past x years, when we fumble chances to take or extend a lead.

1 minute ago, FKIM01 said:

I don't know...I really don't.  IU's men's basketball teams have been pretty soft for awhile now.  It's hard for me to believe it's solely the kind of kids IU is recruiting and it's equally hard for me to believe that a staff led by Woodson would cultivate such a soft team.  So what is the answer?  If Woody can crack and reverse that, there's plenty of talent on this team to win every home game and at least a few road games.

Yes, I’m also mystified.
 I wasn’t a fan of many aspects of Creans coaching but he at least had a number of teams that played tough/hard. I admired his first team because they had  virtually no chance, in nearly all of their games, but they played hard. Did we ever sit around saying Yogi/Cody/Hulls weren’t bringing it or were soft? On the other hand  I thought all 4 Archie years were a disaster.

Some of it comes from coaching and some comes from having alpha dog(s) on the team. Basketball teams have a small locker and one or two guys can really impact players attitudes and confidence. From what I read about Bates I hoped he could be  one of those guys. Maybe he will be.  
 

1 hour ago, FKIM01 said:

When I first read this, it seemed like a completely unrelated comment.  After reflecting on it a bit, I wonder If university policies have created the extremely soft loser culture that seems embedded at IU.  Certainly, IU has success in baseball, soccer, women's basketball and swimming, but it seems like the flagship men's basketball and football are just soft and it makes me wonder how much of that softness comes from university administration intent on creating safe spaces and words that don't hurt or offend anyone.  Leaders like Kevin Wilson and Bob Knight were shown the door because they were too hard on kids.  Maybe they were, but a part of me can't help wonder if the pendulum has swung too far the other direction.  Seems like IU has a lot of nice kids and some solid talent but I don't see the fire needed to overcome an opponent having a good day.  I just don't see a team unwilling to accept defeat.

Is Woodson being held back by university policies designed to coddle kids and create protective bubbles around students?  I don't know, but I see disturbing signs that students and athletes are being protected from the harsh realities of a difficult and imperfect world and as a result, don't handle adversity very well when they encounter it.  That was apparent vs. Wisconsin and it appears it showed up in the effort today.  I find it hard to believe that Penn State has more talent than IU.  The only thing I can come up with is that IU has shown a pattern of softness that gives other Big Ten teams confidence that they can beat IU if they stay after it and keep fighting.  They know eventually IU will fold, especially in the absence of a friendly home crowd.  I don't see that being easy to reverse, especially when IU's players live in a soft culture of pronouns, safe spaces and participation trophies.  I hope Woody can create a killer instinct, but I haven't seen that with an IU team in more than 20 years and I don't see it this season either, even in the wins.  I hope it changes and I hope it changes soon, but absent evidence of any real mental toughness, I've learned to temper my expectations.

Do I think some kids are softer than other? Sure, it’s human nature. Guys like Sheehey and Yogi were bulldogs while our more recent recruits have overwhelmingly been “nice-guy” type players.  Do I think the IU administration has implemented safe space/participation trophy policies that make some of our teams,  but somehow not our other teams, uniquely soft? No.

You mention baseball, women’s basketball, swimming and soccer not being soft. I would argue that the football team the previous year, that was willing to run through a wall for Allen and played in a January Bowl, also was not soft. So somehow we should conclude that the administration created/forced a soft culture for the basketball team and this years football team but did not create that type of culture for last years football team or soccer team or women’s basketball team or swimming team or the baseball team? Whew…talk about the administration threading the needle!
Not to mention that Wisconsin was noted as a tough team we could not overcome which begs the question is the rough and tumble Madison Wisconsin administration really breeding tough minded kids that are uniquely shielded from participation trophy environments? I doubt it.

EDIT: I do think we have had “soft” basketball teams that did not play hard, especially during the Archie years, but I just don’t think it came from the administration.

We would be no where without TJD and I’m thrilled he stayed.  Early in the season I was impressed how he had improved by attacking the rim like he hated the rim rather than weakly flicking the ball towards the basket. It was great to see. Today he reverted to  several weak “flicks” all of which missed, in crunch time. We would be doomed without TJD but our All-American has to attack the rim at crunch time. 

8 minutes ago, BobSaccamanno said:

Great point.  Looking at the box score, Stewart and Kopp played 60 combined minutes and contributed 7 total points.   That’s 60 minutes out of 300 total.  That’s way too big of a chunk of useless play.   Should not be tolerated by the staff.  Neither guy is athletic enough to do much else if they aren’t hitting jumpers.  

It’s worse. They played 60 out of 200 (not 300) minutes. Just can’t have two “scorers” play 30% of all the total available minutes and only score 7 points. It just can’t happen.  I posted during the game that I love Stewart’s stroke, and he plays decent defense, but he goes through long stretches without having any impact on the offense. 

I’d try starting Bates with either Stewart or Kopp being one of the early guys off the bench.  I don’t think Bates is necessarily ready but he seems to have the most potential to be a guy that can get his own shot/create especially if he is in with starters the D has to worry about, like TJD and Race, rather than just playing with the back-ups.

I get the love for Galloway and Leal, and think they will be good 4 year guys for the program, but they don’t have the same potential to be the “get your own shot”, 2 and 3 point threat, as Bates. Give Bates a shot with the starters as we can’t afford to continue starting two “catch and shoot” guys.

Well…….game is still there for the taking.

Just now, Hippopotamo said:

This team really needs guards who can create for themselves and others on a consistent basis. Xavier sometimes has it and Rob rarely does. When they’re rolling this team is rolling. 

Agree. That’s why I had hoped Bates would be further along at this point. 

Stewart has a great stroke but has long stretches where he makes nothing happen on offense. 

It’s raining threes…..

Into TJD. What a great idea.

5 minutes ago, rico said:

We need Parker and Kopp to score more...

Early in the year I hoped Bates would work himself into the starting lineup and that Kopp or Parker would come off the bench. Would be nice not to have two catch and shoot guys on the floor at the same time. Bates will be good for us but hasn’t adjusted as quickly as I hoped.

Love watching JG hit the boards. He gets a lot that are seemingly out of his “space”.

Just now, tdhoosier said:

I’m tough on XJ, but man does he get a lot of ticky-tac fouls. 

I couldn’t agree more.

The second one they called on him…….give me a break. On the flip side he doesn’t seem to get calls when he drives and gets contact from the D. 

1 minute ago, IU Scott said:

Where is Race

Has a towel over his left shoulder. Hope that doesn’t mean anything..

Just now, IU878176 said:

Got to admit that Len Elmore really brings a lot of excitement to the game.

I honestly think he could make a threesome sound boring.

Got to admit that Len Elmore really brings a lot of excitement to the game.

I knew we would miss the start of the game as soon as I saw the stupid 2:00 and 4:00 starts. 

17 minutes ago, rico said:

UK fans are ecstatic this morning...

Can’t stand UK fans. If they get too big headed remind them that we also competed against Iowa this year.  Oh….wait….never mind.

MSU at Northwester is on BTN at 2:00 followed by our game at 4:00. Statistically that’s means there is a 90% chance the MSU-Northwestern game goes into overtime.

Far from an easy game but “on paper” this is one of our most winnable BT road games. BIG, BIG game in regards to our tourney hopes as we really need to pick up a couple of road wins to go dancing. Losing won’t be the end of the world but it will make the journey to the tourney more difficult. 

6 minutes ago, Hoosier51 said:

Yeah if his injury isn't to serious i think he will be fine in the draft. 

I agree but that being said…seeing him on crutches will undoubtedly make those that sat out think they did the right thing and it will be an example that future agents and family members use to convince guys to sit. 

2 minutes ago, btownqb said:

B1G is still an excellent conference. There are two way, way, way ahead of everyone else. 

Yes, in the middle/high range I think the SEC gets too much credit and the BT does not get enough.  At the very top, however, as much as I hate it the SEC wears the crown.