Nebraska Postgame Thread

[NotIThatLives]

Maybe the strategy is go big to get the other team in foul trouble, then go smaller to finish the game out?  I don't know, I just know it's slow and ugly and got our breaks beat off us at Wisconsin.  And thats a terrible Wisconsin team.  Worst in at least 10 years.  

[Let]

I love the talent that TJD has, if he could develope a 3 pt shot he could be amazing. Not sure if he can't shoot the 3, at least as well as the other guys I see throwing up the bricks. Someone here said Archie needs to go with the small lineup. I DEFINITELY agree with thatm. I was also upset when I heard Green was hurt. I was hoping Archie sat him for being such a damn idiot. He would be a heck of a player if he would just play under control, but I doubt if he will ever learn to simply SLOW DOWN! Maybe Archie show watch some of Knights games, I watched Knight bench Isaiah Thomas in the second half, for doing stupid stuff, even though it gost us the game, short loss, long term WIN. 

Don't know about Archie or this team, time will tell.

[slojoe]

If you think the B1G was brutal last year, it's even more brutal this year.  But we won!

Even though we are 10-1, this team to me still seems to be just on the borderline.  They could suddenly go into a funk or rip off a good winning streak.  We have a lot of trouble defending the man with the ball.  We're great getting to the free throw line and a good rebounding team.

[BobSaccamanno]

One positive sign. We attacked the zone comfortably and adroitly.  That bodes well for this team and the coaching staff.

TJD was phenomenal.  

To me, Smith plays really good defense except for one thing.  He’s extremely casual on closing out on threes.  This is par for the course with him.

Our work on the boards, especially offensive, was great. 

The turnovers, including by my guy Phinisee were awful.  

There are times where we look ugly in one on one defense against the drive.  Guys like Hunter and Damezi can get taken advantage of.  Even more impactful though, IMO, Neb was hitting a ton of shots out of their @$$.  However, while I give them credit, our defense on the 3 is terrible.  This has been going on too long.  It’s not even emblematic of the pack line. Guys are just not dialed in and determined.   Effort is a huge part of defense.  

I am really proud of Damezi.  First of all, I was happy to hear he’s got the gold jersey.  Second, I’m happy Archie played him key minutes (surely connected to his play in practice).  He really did all the little things.  I hope he takes confidence from this game and keeps expanding his game. 

I have made the mistake many times for dismissing teams who kept barely beating lesser competition.  Then, they turn around and win big games anyway.  I’m hoping that plays in our favor this time.  Phin has been hurt, and hasn’t been practicing.  We’ve had other injuries.  We are 10-1 and have a chance to practice and get in synch over the next two weeks.  Then, hopefully we take a big step forward.  

In the end, we played strong and tough at crunch time.  That’s a plus.  

[3Ballin]

I thought Demezi played great tonight.  He is getting bigger and better every game.  

Rob was absolutely huge tonight!!!  Glad to have him back, lets just hope he stays back!

I'm not sure how many strippers it's going to take to get TJD to stay a second year......but double it.  Of course I'm joking, but if anyone hears a magic number, let Cuban know. 😏

When Smith plays like a slashing, quick athletic forward he is dangerous.  When he stays out on the perimeter he takes away his advantages.  Hopefully he gets put in the position he thrives in more than not the rest of the year.

I thought Hunter played well.  Its only a matter of time before his shots start falling.

[bobtcat2]

2 hours ago, IU Scott said:

What is funny how the announcers and the post game crew were talking about how great of a game that was.  We are on here talking about how bad it was and how bad IU played.  I was very upset how we played in the first half on both end of the floor but I thought for the most part our offense was better in the second half.  The defense in both halves were horrible and they have to get it cleaned up.  I thought after the UCONN game that our defense was improving but tonight it went back to being horrible.

I just don't know what in the world is wrong with Green because I thought he was looking pretty good until the last 3 games.  At least Archie finally had enough of his street ball play and benched him for good.

The announcers want an entertaining game.  We want IU to play well.  Not the same thing.

[madmax]

It sounds stupid to say, but when we can even shoot average from the 3 point line it completely changes the game. If this team had a Hulls/Zeisloft/Bohannon type player it would make the offense about 10x better. Our starting lineup tonight really only had two shooters-Devonte who is streaky, and Al who is inconsistent at best.  Can Damezi be that guy? He hasn’t been able to knock em down consistently yet, but man if he could it would really change things. 

[kyhoosier29]

All I can say is that I’m extremely frustrated and embarrassed to be an IU fan right now. Listening to CAM’s post game interview, it appears he’s just as frustrated, especially with the defense. 

[Leathernecks]

Our offense and defense might not have been good tonight, but at least our special teams showed up.  We didn't miss a single kick, and we didn't give up any return yards.

Wait, there's no kickers in basketball?  Damn.

[3Ballin]

Just now, Leathernecks said:

Our offense and defense might not have been good tonight, but at least our special teams showed up.  We didn't miss a single kick, and we didn't give up any return yards.

Wait, there's no kickers in basketball?  Damn.

The way some of our guys have shot the last couple years, kicking might not be a bad option. 

[bobtcat2]

1 hour ago, madmax said:

Look, no one(and I’m sure this includes CAM and the team) is elated with how we played tonight. I think everyone in cream and crimson realizes that there are some glaringly bad things that need to be fixed. But that being said-it’s still a win. This team essentially has played 3 “real” games-Wisconsin, UCONN, and Nebraska. It’s completely foolish to write off this team or Archie when we are 10-1. Criticize? Sure. Be frustrated? Absolutely. But to give up hope is completely ridiculous.

The thing is- all 10-1 are not created equal.  They've played one good team.  That's the problem.  If they were 7-4 with the schedule that Gonzaga played it would be much better than 10-1 with this joke of a schedule.  Yeah, yeah, the wins all count- but why does anyone think it means anything to beat North Alabama? 

[Hoosierhoopster]

2 hours ago, BGleas said:

I’m an Archie supporter, but I’m also fair and not a blind supporter. I thought Archie was bad tonight from a coaching perspective and it really concerns me for the rest of the year. It was absolutely plain as day early in the game that the big lineup was killing us on both ends. 

As we get into conference play, the coaches know IU and our personnel too well to keep running that lineup out there. Nebraska simply packed the paint leaving Smith, TJD, Brunk completely wide open when they were on the perimeter, and also sagging off Franklin when he was in and even Durham a bit. They packed the paint and basically made both our perimeter and interior offense non-existent. We can not continue, especially in conference play, to play big, it’s going to cost us games. 

TJD has no room to operate, Smith is ineffective on the wing, and our guards can’t get to the rim at all. It took Archie until 10 minutes left in the ga,e to figure this out and that’s when Smith started becoming effective around the foul line and in the paint, TJD finally had room to operate, and lanes opened for Phinisee. 

This is glaringly obvious to me. The coaches in conference that’s know IU’s personnel are going to do this to us all year. 

Also, defensively the big lineup killed us too. Nebraska was getting to the rim at will. 

Why the heck did we not foul at the end of regulation? Nebraska is a bad free throw shooting team and a bad rebounding team. Make them make 2 at the line, and even if they miss we should get the board, but don’t let a team get a 3off there. 

Finally, Justin Smith is excellent at the 4. He needs to stay there. 

It’s funny how much we agree on this and both have been saying this about the big lineup basically since the first game, and yet here we are. I have the same concern — my thinking has been that the lineup has been developed while guards — Rob and Green — are injured, and Demez and Hunter get their game legs and rhythm. 

That may still be the deal. Rob is close but Cam has been saying easing him back — that’s probably prudent given the several injuries and missed game time. 

But I am somewhat concerned that Cam will keep trying to play big. That’s not going to work. I say somewhat because I doubt it. Rob will start. Absolutely sucks that Green got hurt again, say what you will about his ups and downs, we need him, in the perimeter. We need the spacing he will bring. Still need Demez and Hunter to get worked in and shooting with confidence 

[Hoosierhoopster]

2 hours ago, 3Ballin said:

I thought Demezi played great tonight.  He is getting bigger and better every game.  

Rob was absolutely huge tonight!!!  Glad to have him back, lets just hope he stays back!

I'm not sure how many strippers it's going to take to get TJD to stay a second year......but double it.  Of course I'm joking, but if anyone hears a magic number, let Cuban know. 😏

When Smith plays like a slashing, quick athletic forward he is dangerous.  When he stays out on the perimeter he takes away his advantages.  Hopefully he gets put in the position he thrives in more than not the rest of the year.

I thought Hunter played well.  Its only a matter of time before his shots start falling.

Well said 

[H00sier]

7 hours ago, jv1972iu said:

Sorry, but you have to go back a little farther to reach the glory days, IMHO.  Crean ain't the glory days.

This times 1000, I thought it was a joke he used Crean as the glory days.

[DWB]

Just read all of your fine posts. Wanted to make sure I wasn't duplicating someone's take on the game.

Some (not all) of all our problems appeared to be a lack of energy. I thought from the 16 min mark of the 1st half we started to play "tired". For those of you who DVR'd it, look at it again, and watch how lazy and limp our passing is. We had several turnovers from lazy-ass passes. I really think the guys were running on fumes the 2nd half and OT. Thank God for TJD & Rob. But even Rob looked gassed (no surprise since he hasn't played or practiced much). After an exhausting UConn game, they get back to the dorm @ 5 AM Wed. That gives them essentially 1 practice and a shoot around to get ready for NE. And no real recovery time. Sure, the guys are 18-22 year olds, and certainly recover quicker than most of us, but they really had a tough physical game, plus the travel with UConn.

Neb had a good game plan...pack the paint and make us beat them from deep. There were several possessions where there were literally 7 guys in the paint at once. Didn't see near as many screens and no double screens against the zone they played. Also didn't see much of overloading one side of the zone, or clear outs on man to man.

I counted one....ONE...shot fake, and that was from Al, in the whole game. And maybe one pass fake.

Now for a few positives:

• Damezi really improved his defense and intensity in this game. (also won the gold jersey recently)
• TJD is almost unstoppable when he's determined (but needs to develop right hand)
• Smith had a good (not great) night. Solid D for the most part, and rebounds.
• Rob was in command when he was in there.

Neb played it's best game by far of the season. Credit Hoiberg for a good game plan and recognition of our weak areas. They got hot from 3, we didn't.

But we found a way to win. Credit the guys.

 

[Reacher]

5 hours ago, Hoosierhoopster said:

It’s funny how much we agree on this and both have been saying this about the big lineup basically since the first game, and yet here we are. I have the same concern — my thinking has been that the lineup has been developed while guards — Rob and Green — are injured, and Demez and Hunter get their game legs and rhythm. 

That may still be the deal. Rob is close but Cam has been saying easing him back — that’s probably prudent given the several injuries and missed game time. 

But I am somewhat concerned that Cam will keep trying to play big. That’s not going to work. I say somewhat because I doubt it. Rob will start. Absolutely sucks that Green got hurt again, say what you will about his ups and downs, we need him, in the perimeter. We need the spacing he will bring. Still need Demez and Hunter to get worked in and shooting with confidence 

Agree wholeheartedly. As Rob gets into shape and with a healthy Green, we will have more flexibility to go smaller. 

I think we have 2 legit B1G 10 players in Rob and TJD. With occasional contributions from Smith, Green and others, we can be a dangerous team - ask FL St. 

Hoping we just need time to gel. 

[IUFLA]

7 hours ago, Danomatic said:

This game(also previous two), in my opinion, we lacked true leadership from our upperclassmen. I will beat this horse in the ground, but our current upperclassmen don’t know what it’s like to win. Therefore we’re relying on them to finish games and I’m not sure that Green, Deron, Smith and Durham are capable of filling that role. I do think that it’s become fairly obvious that Rob and TJD are more than capable, but Archie will need to make that clear. 
 

I was happy with what I saw from Anderson and honestly believe that if we’re going to reach 20+ wins, with a tournament berth... we’ll need to see him continue to grow and become more confident. Franklin has been ok, but he tends to get careless with the ball at times. I’m really not sure what to say about Hunter, other than I guess that I was expecting more. Thompson has provided solid depth in the post and we’ll need to see him continue to stay aggressive on the block. 
 

I feel like we have a pretty good team, I really do. However, I think we will continue to struggle to close out games because of our lack in understanding how to win. If we can get Green to play to his potential(hopefully his injury isn’t serious) and Smith/Durham step up vocally, I think we can finish top five in the B1G. 

This sums up how I feel as well...

When you play good teams, it's not hard to get everyone psyched and playing hard...but when I see these guys playing down to the competition, I blame it on the on the court leadership. 

[IUCrazy2]

8 hours ago, madmax said:

Look, no one(and I’m sure this includes CAM and the team) is elated with how we played tonight. I think everyone in cream and crimson realizes that there are some glaringly bad things that need to be fixed. But that being said-it’s still a win. This team essentially has played 3 “real” games-Wisconsin, UCONN, and Nebraska. It’s completely foolish to write off this team or Archie when we are 10-1. Criticize? Sure. Be frustrated? Absolutely. But to give up hope is completely ridiculous.

I would not say give up hope but some of the things being discussed were the same issues as when we were 12-2 last year...the 10-1 does not mean much when 7 of those 10 wins were against bad teams.  The FSU win was good.  UCONN looked average to me.  The rest of the wins were against what I would consider inferior competition.

End of the day, no matter the record now, if we play the rest of the way like we have the past 3 games, we are going to pile up more losses than wins over the rest of the schedule.

[Hoosier987]

What injury did Green occur? He looked fine on the bench to me.

[Seeking6]

12 minutes ago, Hoosier987 said:

What injury did Green occur? He looked fine on the bench to me.

Achilles. No word on severity but for a guy who puts the jump in jump shot it might explain his recent games.

[milehiiu]

I've started looking at a play or plays by one individual that, for me were critical in our win. Last game it was Joey, and his point surge in the second half. Not a ton of points. But enough to keep us in the game.

Against Nebraska. For me. It was Anderson. And the take away on a break in the overtime.  Not only did he NOT foul on the play. He managed to bat the ball down and bring it back. Important to me, in that it stemmed the tide. ALL night long, we allowed Nebraska to drive the lane. That and their free throw shooting,  is what, iMHO kept them in the game. That one play by Anderson, as far as I am concerned was critical for IU in keeping the momentum, which eventually led to the win.

[Seeking6]

I'm never going to be in the camp of complaining about a win. With that said this past summer we often discussed the lineups we could use taking advantage of our size with TJD, Brunk, Davis,etc...but right now (and I'm sure Archie is studying it as well) we'll have to go small. If we could just find one guy who consistently can knock down outside shots the whole offense would change. Until that happens though I see what all coaches will and should do. Keep baiting us to take that 18 foot uncontested shot because we just aren't making them. 

[Proud2BAHoosier]

12 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

I'm never going to be in the camp of complaining about a win. With that said this past summer we often discussed the lineups we could use taking advantage of our size with TJD, Brunk, Davis,etc...but right now (and I'm sure Archie is studying it as well) we'll have to go small. If we could just find one guy who consistently can knock down outside shots the whole offense would change. Until that happens though I see what all coaches will and should do. Keep baiting us to take that 18 foot uncontested shot because we just aren't making them. 

Can Yogi come back???????

[hoosiertildeath]

The thing I like about this season is that we have faced a different defensive and offensive approach by each opponent ! And , we have adjusted to each different game approach we have faced so far ! ( except Wisconsin ) !!!!!!!

[Fiveoutofsix]

I get the desire to play with three guards.  I'm a fan of the current structure of three bigs, two guards.

It's the guards that are struggling playing statight up, fighting through screens, and closing out.  Not necessarily the bigs.  Al is really struggling at defense.  Green plays out of position, etc.

Furthermore, after watching the game twice.  Open shot after open shot did not fall.  We can play 5 guards and teams will still pack it in.  There is no lock down shooter on this team.  Recruiting solves that and next year is the first recruits where you read they have a J from range.