Euroclydon

X and Parker have struggled with fouls. I can see one or both having to sit much of the first half with two fouls no matter what they do.

I'd like to see a game against Wisconsin where IU's team looks like they have a clue and can get inside the Badger's heads instead of the usual. My guess is you will see Davison taking a marginally dirty shot at some point or faking a broken leg and getting the call. Let's see if IU can keep their composure and out think them for once. And the one thing you can bank on is they will double TJD every possession and be very physical with him. There wont be a foul called for this but they will make someone else beat them.

A more telling game than Cuse. History says Wis sets the pace, every turnover is like three, and IU will be in foul trouble stepping off the buss. Would like to see IU dictate how this game will be played.

uk diseased. mono and strep. if multiple wildcats end up with mono wouldn't you question what was going on in lexington? regardless, cal has a built in excuse now. maybe they'll stop cancelling games for made up reasons.

#1 Montverde and JHS dominating #11 Oak Hills 48-22 at the half on ESPNU.

Disappointing but not the end of the world. First half many of them looked lost. The moment was too big. What surprised me most was how easy it was for X, Parker and Race to loose focus. They've played too many games to panic like they did and both X and Parker let their emotions get the best of them. Cant happen. Second half they came to play and Cuse cooled off. Still, too many key moments where they couldn't execute. Hopefully they learn and grow from this. They need to figure out how to use Geronimo and hopefully get more from Durr. Maybe Trey can bring something when he returns. I was glad to see the pressure Rob put on them in the second half. One thing that stood out on that last play - once their guard was about to get trapped he gave up the ball but kept running. He got it back and Lander was chasing and picked up the foul. Just a smart play by their guy to continue playing and not relax.

Very winnable game handed to Syracuse. Veteran guards fouling out. Race with 7 turnovers and 25 as a team. Still not sure why they continually left shooters to hedge against slow guys who didnt want to dribble anyway. Couldn't get a shot to win it because Lander couldn't make a pass. Then Lander couldn't catch a pass. Not picking on him but had a veteran player been in the game they wouldn't have to rely on a freshman. Defense needs to go back to the drawing board.

Freshmen

If I never see another underhanded scoop pass it'll be too soon. Race, X, Lander and others seem to think you can do a slo-mo underhanded scoop at your bigs ankles and everything will work out. Just ridiculous.

Race with at least 5 terrible passes and I think all were turnovers

Much better looking on both ends of the floor. But they can't waste trips because at some point Syracuse is going to knock down a few more 3. Fortunately they cooled off to start the second half.

Completely lost composure - Parker, X, Race. There really is no reason TJD shouldn't touch the ball every possession. Let him flash and make them double. Defense is completely lost. Why leave a shooter to hedge someone who doesn't want to dribble anyway? Make them drive and beat you. Worse case scenario you give up 2 instead of 3.

Durr has a chance at two rebounds basically right to him and can't move enough to grab them. He makes Deron Davis look mobile and athletic

Is Jordan the one you want trying to make a pass in a crowd? They've turned it over with really very little pressure being applied. Cuse is going to shoot it. You either get in their jersey or pay the price. Force them to put it in the floor. Rebounding Rebiunding Rebounding

Patience and player/ball movement should result in a lot of open shots for IU. It's a matter of hitting them. Let's see if they can show that patience for 40 minutes and if they can work the zone and get the shot they want from the players they want to take them. Cuse has one legit shot blocker who tends to foul, so it's important IU takes the ball inside and not rely solely on hitting threes. From the little I've seen of the orange this season it appears you can get to the lane off the dribble or with a pick at the top and that opens up everything. Colgate got the zone moving and just a simple pump fake led to wide open shots. X could have a huge game dishing out assists if he stays under control. Something Coach Knight always practiced against the zone was bringing someone from behind. If you can get the ball to certain spots and force them to rotate up or over it's hard for a team playing zone to account for what's going on behind them. Auburn was able to get lobs at the rim and easy layups with this approach. When Syracuse has the ball it looks like a big part of their offense is just trying to push the ball after a miss and pull up from three in transition. In the half-court it was a lot of one-on-one trying to beat their man and a lot of perimeter shots. Did not see much effort to toss the ball inside and did not see a lot of pick and roll. They can definitely shoot it though. IU will need to stay with their man. I'm interested to see how IU rebounds the ball. Against a zone you should have an advantage and IU may be able to work the offensive glass. If they can't rebound the ball, especially after taking some long three pointers, it may lead to easy offense for Syracuse.

As much as we want them to dominate from start to finish, this was a good test coming from behind. You want to see who responds when things are not going well. It was ugly at times but they figured it out. I like that to this point they have played against some very different types of teams. Not the best competition level but now they have seen zone D, fast break offense, small ball offense, and man-to-man D. They've seen TJD doubled, faced full court press D and last night their pick and roll D was exposed. They were able to adjust in-game and now they will work on it going forward. That's a good sign. They did a better job preventing offensive rebounds. Lander continues to show signs and it is nice to see him get to the rim and score. He just has to lower the turnovers. Tamar and Geronimo were not good last night. The pace of the game really had them confused on defense. I'm concerned about the minutes TJD and Race played last night. I know X and Parker played 30+ also but that's due to injuries to Rob and Trey, plus Leal didn't see the floor. Once healthy the minutes should work out better for the guards. But insude Durr isn't giving them enough and it's going to catch up to them. In his three minutes played he had two turnovers and a foul. He looks slow and he can't seem to get his footwork together to even get a shot without traveling. It's a potential replay of last season with Brunk. If the idea is he needs to play his way into game shape, he needs more than three minutes. If he's still hurt and not able to move, he should be sitting. Unfortunately LD apparently can't be trusted off the court and likely isn't ready on the court. Take the W, improve, and move on.

Another step in the process of getting where they want to be as a team. Some very good and some not very good, but you can see things are moving in the right direction. We see the negatives - some poor defensive rebounding and several bad reaching fouls - but then you notice they once again smothered a team in the first half. 14 points in a half and a total 14 FGs made in the game! Not trying to make more of it than it is but that's impressive. You can say they let off the gas again in the second half but keep in mind Race and TJD each played 19 minutes in this game. CMW, with the game in hand, wanted to see what others can do with extended minutes. Still, you have to acknowledge the opponent's offensive rebounding has been an issue and they have to figure it out. Speaking of rebounding, Durr played 16 minutes and had zero boards. That's not going to work. Let's see if that starts to come around as his knee improves. Kopp with seven rebounds is more in line with what we all hope he can do but it really doesn't seem like that is something you can count on. The biggest concern is the turnovers by the guards. That has to be cleaned up fast. Lander looked like the potential future starter we all hope he can be some day. He does turn it over and he does dribble in and out of situations that make you scratch your head but it's a learning process. The guy that really struggled was Geronimo. I'd like to write this game off entirely. Rarely see a guy go 1 - 7 shooting, 1 - 3 FTs, 5 turnovers, add 4 fouls and clank 2 dunks and he still gets 21 minutes of playing time. My guess is this was CMWs way of letting him work on his game. But his energy is great and he is all effort. Let's see how they do with an undersized Jackson State team. Could see a lot more of the bench players.

Hate to see it. Good luck to Trey with his recovery. If you want a positive takeaway - Lander and/or Leal may see the court and that can only help them.

That's a solid win and by the end of the season it's going to look good on the resume. St John's gets a lot out of the small ball lineup and I was impressed with how physical they can play with four guards. The fact they played even on the boards is either a huge positive for them or a concern for IU. Some things that stood out... On defense IU was locked in again in the first half. Can't imagine they could do any better. Second half wasn't as sharp and give credit to the Red Storm for continuing to attack and make plays. It's the second time; however, where IU had few answers for the one guy on the other side that is going off - and they tried multiple players with little success. This has to be addressed. On offense it appeared they wanted to use their size advantage with Race and then went away from it. As others noted, the fact IU responded every time they were pushed is a nice change. No way they do that last season. Big plays and big shots by several is something to be excited about going forward. Yes, TJD is key but he has help this season and won't have to do it by himself. The concern on offense is they can't rely on matching shot for shot every game when it gets close. There needs to be a point where they realize momentum is shifting and they understand how to get the shot they want or better still how to get TJD the ball in the right spot and have multiple options. Other than that, the only nagging issue is the free throw shooting. It will come back to haunt them eventually. Would like to think you can count on guys, especially those with 3 or more seasons under their belts. All-in-all, IU basketball looks significantly better this season on both ends of the floor. The defense at times looks incredible. Find a way to continue it for 40 minutes and anything is possible. Three games now where IU can really start to put it together hopefully without overlooking anyone and then the next big test in Syracuse.

First reaction - he's a fighter that appears to have a chip on his shoulder and that usually bodes well for the level of effort he will bring. He is likely the closest thing to a true point guard IU has had since Yogi. Admittedly, I was concerned about his size after seeing references to 6'0 160 lbs and then others have him at 6'2 170. But he has a couple years before arriving so that's going to change. This is the first recruit that does not fall into the template CMW has been following of large, multi-position players. Still, he looks to be a reliable point that can run the offense and shoot it and shooting it is a big part of what CMW has preached since he arrived. Solid signing and the 2023 class is developing quickly.

Watched Providence beat Wisconsin. Al's game hasn't changed a bit. Late in the clock hero attempts. Not great dribbling. Under five minutes hero threes - made one missed two including an airball. Empty trip to the free throw line. Fell down while called for travel. Never could understand why he spent so much time falling down at IU. They got W though.

Great signings for IU. This three man class checks a lot of boxes with their size and skill sets. Yes, they need still need to add some post presence through the portal, but I like JHS, KB and Gunn as the new template for what IU wants to add. Glad to have all three and their families.

Is the Champions Classic in need of an overhaul? Michigan State hasn't won a championship since 2000 and only has four wins in this event. Kansas and uk have only won one title since 2000. Duke has had more success winning three titles since 2000. Seems like UNC with 3 or Nova, Uconn, and Florida with 2 each would have as much claim to play in this as uk, MSU and KU. Maybe setting it up for last seasons champs to always be a part of it would make it better or using teams that have won it in the past ten seasons or so would help. My guess is they count on the fans for these four traveling.

CMW will need to adjust the rotation and shorten it up until he can trust some of these guys. There really was no need to jack up threes all night. Work thru TJD, attack the paint, get to the line, force EM to adjust. They really played into their hands in the second half and one guy for EM got red hot.

Fell in love with the three pointers and didn't attack the lane. Defense dropped off the table second half with a big lead. Didn't see a lot of leadership on the floor tonight. Game one is done and they got the W. Lets see if they can clean it up in game two.