Auburn Pre-Game Thread

[Hoosier987]

5 minutes ago, Inequality said:

Looking forward to this game. I’ve missed the last two. Lost my dad and have been taking care of that.

Sorry to hear! Hopefully we can pull out the W. 

[BGleas]

5 minutes ago, Inequality said:

Looking forward to this game. I’ve missed the last two. Lost my dad and have been taking care of that.

Sorry to hear that! Thinking of you and your family! 

It will be a year next Wednesday since we lost my Dad. While never easy, this time of year adds an extra layer, for sure. 

[NCHoosier32]

7 minutes ago, Inequality said:

Looking forward to this game. I’ve missed the last two. Lost my dad and have been taking care of that.

sorry to hear.  i pray for comfort to you and your family.  

[Parakeet Jones]

8 minutes ago, Inequality said:

Looking forward to this game. I’ve missed the last two. Lost my dad and have been taking care of that.

Sorry to hear. That’s tough. 

[John S]

Just now, Parakeet Jones said:

Sorry to hear. That’s tough. 

May he RIP. 

[Reacher]

9 minutes ago, Inequality said:

Looking forward to this game. I’ve missed the last two. Lost my dad and have been taking care of that.

Sorry to hear that. Always tough. Hopefully an IU win can distract you for a few hours. 

[IUFLA]

15 minutes ago, Inequality said:

Looking forward to this game. I’ve missed the last two. Lost my dad and have been taking care of that.

Sorry to hear it...You're in my thoughts and prayers

[BGleas]

 

 

[Hoosierinbham]

1 hour ago, Inequality said:

Looking forward to this game. I’ve missed the last two. Lost my dad and have been taking care of that.

Prayers for your loss

[eddy4iu]

On 12/9/2023 at 10:31 AM, IUFLA said:

It'll be interesting to see the crowd we bring...I know @ledies22, @Hoosierinbham, @eddy4iu, and @Indy1987 will be there...Maybe get some early intel as to what kind of crowd we have?

Reading the Auburn boards, they think they'll have a big advantage...Only and hour and 40 minute drive from Auburn to Atlanta...

Just seeing this but the crowd was AT WORST 50/50 and I'd say more like 60/40 IU.  Would have been nice to have our band and cheer squad there to counter the Auburn presence of same as well as their home PA announcer pumping things up for the Tigers at every chance.

Scott told me that finals limited us to taking critical personnel only and that Auburn's finals were all but over  and they only had a short drive to Atlanta.  Had it been closer to Indy they might have taken band and cheer squad - sure would have helped for momentum in my opinion but certainly much more going on to contribute to the loss. Hockey line substitution philosophy and lack of guards stick out like a sore thumb.  I left my party in the seats at the 10 minute mark and went to the concourse to sulk.  Still brushing myself off after that one and combined with my experience in Vegas last year I find myself wondering why I continue to travel for this?

[IUFLA]

32 minutes ago, eddy4iu said:

Just seeing this but the crowd was AT WORST 50/50 and I'd say more like 60/40 IU.  Would have been nice to have our band and cheer squad there to counter the Auburn presence of same as well as their home PA announcer pumping things up for the Tigers at every chance.

Scott told me that finals limited us to taking critical personnel only and that Auburn's finals were all but over  and they only had a short drive to Atlanta.  Had it been closer to Indy they might have taken band and cheer squad - sure would have helped for momentum in my opinion but certainly much more going on to contribute to the loss. Hockey line substitution philosophy and lack of guards stick out like a sore thumb.  I left my party in the seats at the 10 minute mark and went to the concourse to sulk.  Still brushing myself off after that one and combined with my experience in Vegas last year I find myself wondering why I continue to travel for this?

Thanks for that...

[Sea Turtle]

Indiana still doesn't have guards or players who can shoot. I feel like this problem has been here for 7 or more years.

Why can't indiana players shoot?

[KoB2011]

3 hours ago, Sea Turtle said:

Indiana still doesn't have guards or players who can shoot. I feel like this problem has been here for 7 or more years.

Why can't indiana players shoot?

I would contend running regressive offensive schemes for those 7 years is a contributing factor. 

[BGleas]

13 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

I would contend running regressive offensive schemes for those 7 years is a contributing factor. 

This is the tricky part. I'm not arguing that we have great shooters on our team. There isn't a James Blackmon, Jr., Jordan Hulls, Steve Alford, etc., etc.

We don't have that. But, we also don't have a scheme that supports building confidence from 3. The scheme doesn't create or support a lot of rhythm 3's and at least IMO the staff doesn't seem (of course we're not in building) to build confidence in shooting. 

Take Crean's teams. Oladipo wasn't a great shooter coming in. Biefeldt had barely made any 3's before transferring from Michigan. Zeisloft shot 35% from 3 the year before transferring to IU. 

But despite his flaws, Crean's system built confidence in his guys to shoot the ball, shoot it freely, and it created open looks for rhythm 3's. 

I think with Woodson, I was hoping we'd get tough, smart, improved defense paired with a more Crean style of offense. 

I think Reneau is a great example of this. Many of us have complained about his reluctance to kick the ball out to shooters when he's double/triple teamed. He has a lot of assists but most of them are big-to-big. 

He probably misses 4-6+ completely wide open shooters (MM, Cupps, XJ when healthy, etc.), per game. 

Some will say "why would he pass to those guys when they don't shoot a good percentage?"

My response is that that is an example of the system not supporting building confidence in guys shooting. There seems to be no push from the staff to urge Reneau to make those passes. 

The kickout 3 is one of the best 3's you can take. I'm confident MM, XJ and Cupps would shoot much better if they got those great looks and shot more in rhythm. 

Cupps first 3 against Auburn is a perfect example. Ball goes to Ware in the paint, he spins baseline and hits Cupps in rhythm in the opposite corner. 

That's why I often say I don't like the system and I don't think it supports confident shooting. 

Edit: To be crystal clear before someone says it, this is not me saying we should lead the country, or even be top 50, in 3pt attempts. But, there are things we can do to be better balanced offensively. 

[13th&Jackson]

1 hour ago, BGleas said:

This is the tricky part. I'm not arguing that we have great shooters on our team. There isn't a James Blackmon, Jr., Jordan Hulls, Steve Alford, etc., etc.

We don't have that. But, we also don't have a scheme that supports building confidence from 3. The scheme doesn't create or support a lot of rhythm 3's and at least IMO the staff doesn't seem (of course we're not in building) to build confidence in shooting. 

Take Crean's teams. Oladipo wasn't a great shooter coming in. Biefeldt had barely made any 3's before transferring from Michigan. Zeisloft shot 35% from 3 the year before transferring to IU. 

But despite his flaws, Crean's system built confidence in his guys to shoot the ball, shoot it freely, and it created open looks for rhythm 3's. 

I think with Woodson, I was hoping we'd get tough, smart, improved defense paired with a more Crean style of offense. 

I think Reneau is a great example of this. Many of us have complained about his reluctance to kick the ball out to shooters when he's double/triple teamed. He has a lot of assists but most of them are big-to-big. 

He probably misses 4-6+ completely wide open shooters (MM, Cupps, XJ when healthy, etc.), per game. 

Some will say "why would he pass to those guys when they don't shoot a good percentage?"

My response is that that is an example of the system not supporting building confidence in guys shooting. There seems to be no push from the staff to urge Reneau to make those passes. 

The kickout 3 is one of the best 3's you can take. I'm confident MM, XJ and Cupps would shoot much better if they got those great looks and shot more in rhythm. 

Cupps first 3 against Auburn is a perfect example. Ball goes to Ware in the paint, he spins baseline and hits Cupps in rhythm in the opposite corner. 

That's why I often say I don't like the system and I don't think it supports confident shooting. 

Edit: To be crystal clear before someone says it, this is not me saying we should lead the country, or even be top 50, in 3pt attempts. But, there are things we can do to be better balanced offensively. 

TJD went through what Malik is now. For much of his career, he'd pass out of a double team to an open shooter, who'd miss. You could see it deflate him. So, he started just taking on the double team and often forced up a bad shot. It seems like last year he finally had the confidence to trust his teammates and make the passes. We still didn't shoot a high percentage, but it was adequate.