All of the hand-wringing....

[oldcougar77]

over not winning the B1G title, and how we are going to suck next year is really head-scratching to me. Thinking that because we brought in a highly-rated class that we would somehow go from near the bottom of the conference to title contenders is a bit of a stretch on reality. Freshmen are still freshmen. Very few are the difference between contending and not - at any program. i would ask these two questions:
1. Have we ever won the Big Ten championship under any coach (including RMK) with a team less athletic or less experienced than this team has been (taking into account that RT and X have missed so much time or in Race's case, played the entire conference schedule at half-strength).
2. If you were told at the start of the year that our starting point guard would not play at all the entire conference season and that our most veteran big would play hobbled the entire season ( and miss multiple games as well) would you have predicted that we would win 11 or 12 games and be tied for second in the league with one game to play.

We've had some profoundly disappointing losses for sure - so has every other team in the league this year - including Purdue. We've also had some excelllent wins, especially on the road. The whole body of work in my mind is about where I would expect it given the circumstances.

As for next year, I don't get the hyper-pessimism. Freshman players typically make big leaps before the next year - so do many upperclassmen. Galloway and Kopp are both miles ahead of where they were last season. Gunn, Banks, and Reneau are all long and skilled - exactly what this team misses this year. They just aren't physically ready and savvy enough to be big contributors as freshmen. With the portal, it's much easier these days to plug holes and IU is an attractive place for good players looking to transfer to land. We may be great next year, we may be average, we may be not very good at all. But none of us can know that right now. I get the concern, but the cocksureness with which some here profess to know for certain that we are going to be terrible is just as delusional as declaring that we are going to dominate the conference. A team is always a thing in flux from season to season. What we see on the floor next year will certainly be different. That doesn't guarantee it's going to be worse.

 

[mushroomgod_1]

over not winning the B1G title, and how we are going to suck next year is really head-scratching to me. Thinking that because we brought in a highly-rated class that we would somehow go from near the bottom of the conference to title contenders is a bit of a stretch on reality. Freshmen are still freshmen. Very few are the difference between contending and not - at any program. i would ask these two questions:
1. Have we ever won the Big Ten championship under any coach (including RMK) with a team less athletic or less experienced than this team has been (taking into account that RT and X have missed so much time or in Race's case, played the entire conference schedule at half-strength).
2. If you were told at the start of the year that our starting point guard would not play at all the entire conference season and that our most veteran big would play hobbled the entire season ( and miss multiple games as well) would you have predicted that we would win 11 or 12 games and be tied for second in the league with one game to play.

We've had some profoundly disappointing losses for sure - so has every other team in the league this year - including Purdue. We've also had some excelllent wins, especially on the road. The whole body of work in my mind is about where I would expect it given the circumstances.

As for next year, I don't get the hyper-pessimism. Freshman players typically make big leaps before the next year - so do many upperclassmen. Galloway and Kopp are both miles ahead of where they were last season. Gunn, Banks, and Reneau are all long and skilled - exactly what this team misses this year. They just aren't physically ready and savvy enough to be big contributors as freshmen. With the portal, it's much easier these days to plug holes and IU is an attractive place for good players looking to transfer to land. We may be great next year, we may be average, we may be not very good at all. But none of us can know that right now. I get the concern, but the cocksureness with which some here profess to know for certain that we are going to be terrible is just as delusional as declaring that we are going to dominate the conference. A team is always a thing in flux from season to season. What we see on the floor next year will certainly be different. That doesn't guarantee it's going to be worse.

It's not whether we won or lost, it's how we've played the games.

In my eyes we've had a lot more poor or disappointing efforts this year than really good or encouraging efforts.

On the good side, I'd list Xavier; UNC; Wisconsin; at Illinois; OSU; at Purdue; Purdue.

On the bad side, I'd list at Rutgers; AZ; KU; at Iowa; NW; at PSU; MSU; at MN (missing a key player); at MD; at Michigan; at NW; Illinois (missing a key player); at MSU; Iowa.

More specifically, the lack of development with Bates and JG has been concerning. So have been our many poor starts where we did not appear ready to play, and several pretty spectacular collapses. Also, we've seen poor fundamentals, esp. in the area of passing, including lazy passing and passing with poor angles. Finally, we've been lethargic on the boards all year, other than TJD and JG on those occasions when he played well. It appears our team expects TJD to get every defensive rebound. When there have been loose balls, we've been slow to the ball. There have been numerous games where it seemed the opponent got nearly every loose ball.

 

[papawboog]

over not winning the B1G title, and how we are going to suck next year is really head-scratching to me. Thinking that because we brought in a highly-rated class that we would somehow go from near the bottom of the conference to title contenders is a bit of a stretch on reality. Freshmen are still freshmen. Very few are the difference between contending and not - at any program. i would ask these two questions:
1. Have we ever won the Big Ten championship under any coach (including RMK) with a team less athletic or less experienced than this team has been (taking into account that RT and X have missed so much time or in Race's case, played the entire conference schedule at half-strength).
2. If you were told at the start of the year that our starting point guard would not play at all the entire conference season and that our most veteran big would play hobbled the entire season ( and miss multiple games as well) would you have predicted that we would win 11 or 12 games and be tied for second in the league with one game to play.

We've had some profoundly disappointing losses for sure - so has every other team in the league this year - including Purdue. We've also had some excelllent wins, especially on the road. The whole body of work in my mind is about where I would expect it given the circumstances.

As for next year, I don't get the hyper-pessimism. Freshman players typically make big leaps before the next year - so do many upperclassmen. Galloway and Kopp are both miles ahead of where they were last season. Gunn, Banks, and Reneau are all long and skilled - exactly what this team misses this year. They just aren't physically ready and savvy enough to be big contributors as freshmen. With the portal, it's much easier these days to plug holes and IU is an attractive place for good players looking to transfer to land. We may be great next year, we may be average, we may be not very good at all. But none of us can know that right now. I get the concern, but the cocksureness with which some here profess to know for certain that we are going to be terrible is just as delusional as declaring that we are going to dominate the conference. A team is always a thing in flux from season to season. What we see on the floor next year will certainly be different. That doesn't guarantee it's going to be worse.

Couldn't have said it better. Let's finish this year on a run. Next year will be what it is.

 

[IUNorth]

The inconsistency has continued to plague us. I'd say we're actually even more inconsistent this year, than last. Our highs are a little higher, but our lows are a little lower.

There are reasons out of our control for the inconsistency, namely X being out for so long, and Race missing time. I don't list TJD's back issues, as he's been superhuman this season more than he hasn't. But man, I think more of the reasons for our up and down nature come from things we should be able to control. Our defensive effort and focus is a roller coaster. Our rebounding intensity is a roller coaster. We go long stretches where our offense has lots of movement, pace, people and the ball are moving side to side and inside out...but then we'll revert for long stretches to a version of last years post ISO offense...and we'll bog down. We have good starts, we have bad starts. We finish halves well, we finish halves poorly. We start 2nd halves well, we stumble out of the gate in 2nd halves.

All in all, its a tough team to follow. I love them because they're IU...I like Coach...it seems like they're a group of good kids...but man, what is this teams identity? Seemed like it was gonna be defense early on...until we got torched by Arizona and Kansas. We're MUCH better overall offensively, by the metrics, until we have games where we struggle and have long droughts. Specific players will have big games, then not play the next game at all. Or they'll have a couple good games, then disappear for a week or two. Or they'll play well, then they'll be in a walking boot.

I've said this before, the only 2 things that are consistent in our program right now is that invariably, we're going to be inconsistent within games, and within stretches of games...and we're resilient. One of those things is admirable, and is keeping me from being a lot more negative. The other is frustrating as hell.

 

[oldcougar77]

It's not whether we won or lost, it's how we've played the games.

In my eyes we've had a lot more poor or disappointing efforts this year than really good or encouraging efforts.

On the good side, I'd list Xavier; UNC; Wisconsin; at Illinois; OSU; at Purdue; Purdue.

On the bad side, I'd list at Rutgers; AZ; KU; at Iowa; NW; at PSU; MSU; at MN (missing a key player); at MD; at Michigan; at NW; Illinois (missing a key player); at MSU; Iowa.

More specifically, the lack of development with Bates and JG has been concerning. So have been our many poor starts where we did not appear ready to play, and several pretty spectacular collapses. Also, we've seen poor fundamentals, esp. in the area of passing, including lazy passing and passing with poor angles. Finally, we've been lethargic on the boards all year, other than TJD and JG on those occasions when he played well. It appears our team expects TJD to get every defensive rebound. When there have been loose balls, we've been slow to the ball. There have been numerous games where it seemed the opponent got nearly every loose ball.

That's all true, but it's also true of every other team sitting tied with us right now. Especially those who, like us, have had key injuries. Look at MSU's total collapse at Iowa, Northwestern's collapse at Illinois, and Illinois' (who I think is the most talented team in the conference) multiple baffling losses. Izzo isn't an idiot, Underwood isn't incompetent, and both of those teams lost to us despite being far deeper and more athletic.

My point is that it isn't exclusive to IU. It's a function of parity and to some extent the nature of college basketball these days. Nobody in this conference, including the conference champ, has gone through this season without multiple bad games. It's also worth noting that just as those other teams were missing key players, so were we - in every game.

I get the frustration because the things you mention drive me crazy as well. We have to be better at all those things to win the BTT or make a run in the NCAAT. I'm sure that the fans of every one of those teams sitting tied with us are thinking the exact same things about their teams. And from where I sit, I think that all of them are just as talented or more so than we are. The ones that are not are generally more experienced. The problem is that as fans, we view things only through the lens of our team and fail to see that we aren't the only ones who occasionally or frequently fail to meet expectations. There is no such thing as an easy win in this conference, and every team is likely to lay a couple of eggs.

 

[bsmitty08]

over not winning the B1G title, and how we are going to suck next year is really head-scratching to me. Thinking that because we brought in a highly-rated class that we would somehow go from near the bottom of the conference to title contenders is a bit of a stretch on reality. Freshmen are still freshmen. Very few are the difference between contending and not - at any program. i would ask these two questions:
1. Have we ever won the Big Ten championship under any coach (including RMK) with a team less athletic or less experienced than this team has been (taking into account that RT and X have missed so much time or in Race's case, played the entire conference schedule at half-strength).
2. If you were told at the start of the year that our starting point guard would not play at all the entire conference season and that our most veteran big would play hobbled the entire season ( and miss multiple games as well) would you have predicted that we would win 11 or 12 games and be tied for second in the league with one game to play.

We've had some profoundly disappointing losses for sure - so has every other team in the league this year - including Purdue. We've also had some excelllent wins, especially on the road. The whole body of work in my mind is about where I would expect it given the circumstances.

As for next year, I don't get the hyper-pessimism. Freshman players typically make big leaps before the next year - so do many upperclassmen. Galloway and Kopp are both miles ahead of where they were last season. Gunn, Banks, and Reneau are all long and skilled - exactly what this team misses this year. They just aren't physically ready and savvy enough to be big contributors as freshmen. With the portal, it's much easier these days to plug holes and IU is an attractive place for good players looking to transfer to land. We may be great next year, we may be average, we may be not very good at all. But none of us can know that right now. I get the concern, but the cocksureness with which some here profess to know for certain that we are going to be terrible is just as delusional as declaring that we are going to dominate the conference. A team is always a thing in flux from season to season. What we see on the floor next year will certainly be different. That doesn't guarantee it's going to be worse.

I would say we are better without X. Hood is the guy we want with the ball in his hands at all times not X

 

[Harry Hondo]

That's all true, but it's also true of every other team sitting tied with us right now. Especially those who, like us, have had key injuries. Look at MSU's total collapse at Iowa, Northwestern's collapse at Illinois, and Illinois' (who I think is the most talented team in the conference) multiple baffling losses. Izzo isn't an idiot, Underwood isn't incompetent, and both of those teams lost to us despite being far deeper and more athletic.

My point is that it isn't exclusive to IU. It's a function of parity and to some extent the nature of college basketball these days. Nobody in this conference, including the conference champ, has gone through this season without multiple bad games. It's also worth noting that just as those other teams were missing key players, so were we - in every game.

I get the frustration because the things you mention drive me crazy as well. We have to be better at all those things to win the BTT or make a run in the NCAAT. I'm sure that the fans of every one of those teams sitting tied with us are thinking the exact same things about their teams. And from where I sit, I think that all of them are just as talented or more so than we are. The ones that are not are generally more experienced. The problem is that as fans, we view things only through the lens of our team and fail to see that we aren't the only ones who occasionally or frequently fail to meet expectations. There is no such thing as an easy win in this conference, and every team is likely to lay a couple of eggs.

You bring up a great point about how a lot of good teams have gone through their struggles. If Purdue loses at Wisconsin tonight, which could happen, they’d be 2-5 in their last 7 and they still have Illinois in Mackey, which is not a given. IU’s 1-4 start was bad, but at least it didn’t happen at the end of the season. Sometimes our fans think it’s just an IU problem and somehow we’re unique in the suck department.

 

[Harry Hondo]

I would say we are better without X. Hood is the guy we want with the ball in his hands at all times not X

We need to see how he’ll be used. I doubt Woody is gonna just hand X the keys and tell him to go run the offense. One thing though, we could’ve used X’s defense to slow down Perkins the other night and keep Boo Buie in check in that game at Northwestern. We have no one to guard good fast guards like that, but we should now with X back.

 

[IUNorth]

You bring up a great point about how a lot of good teams have gone through their struggles. If Purdue loses at Wisconsin tonight, which could happen, they’d be 2-5 in their last 7 and they still have Illinois in Mackey, which is not a given. IU’s 1-4 start was bad, but at least it didn’t happen at the end of the season. Sometimes our fans think it’s just an IU problem and somehow we’re unique in the suck department.

I haven't heard many, if any, say the inconsistency is just an IU problem. I don't really care what everyone else is doing when I say it. I know most other teams have had some inconsistency issues as well. I'm sure those teams are saying similar things about their coaches and teams...And if they're less worried about it, it might be because their coaches have shown an ability to pull things together and win a handful of games in a row in March (Izzo and MSU), or that they've had prolonged stretches of success this season (Painter and Purdue), or they didn't have the lofty expectations or the historical longing to be a postseason factor again entering this season like we do.

If I'm not doing the right things, the last thing I want to do is try to compare and associate myself with others that aren't doing the right things as well. We're ALL going to get bounced early in the NCAAs if we don't find some consistency quick.

 

[Sope Creek]

I would say we are better without X. Hood is the guy we want with the ball in his hands at all times not X

Maybe on offense. But not on defense. And defense is what makes this team.

 

[NWfor3]

Finally a thread with good, well thought out responses & opinions! We do miss X, especially on defense, where he can guard the quicker, more athletic guards and use his experience. How many games has this team been totally intact and 100% healthy?

 

[IUNorth]

Finally a thread with good, well thought out responses & opinions! We do miss X, especially on defense, where he can guard the quicker, more athletic guards and use his experience. How many games has this team been totally intact and 100% healthy?

First few games through Xavier. That's it. UNC, I believe, is when TJD's back issues started. JHS missed a few after that. Kansas we started the game with everyone available, but TJD's back was jacked, and that's the game X got hurt.

 

[ribbont]

I would say we are better without X. Hood is the guy we want with the ball in his hands at all times not X

1000% disagree. X is our best on ball defender and it's not even close. His strength and quickness keep guards from getting downhill. I am sure Perkins was happy to see X on the bench all night.

 

[Coach Geez]

I would say we are better without X. Hood is the guy we want with the ball in his hands at all times not X

Nowhere close to being a better team without X. Xavier's injury has allowed Hood-Schifino to become a better player individually, but there's been multiple games where we don't have a defensive stopper out on the perimeter and Xavier Johnson is still the only guard who has the quickness to consistently get to the rim.

Don't confuse the two.

 

[Coach Geez]

Nowhere close to being a better team without X. Xavier's injury has allowed Hood-Schifino to become a better player individually, but there's been multiple games where we don't have a defensive stopper out on the perimeter and Xavier Johnson is still the only guard who has the quickness to consistently get to the rim.

Don't confuse the two.

To add, we've lost a hell of a lot more games this years due to not being able to get stops, as opposed to not being able to put the ball in the hoop.

 

[SUNDOWN]

While the Big Ten title, and especially rivalry games are huge deals, I think the story of the 22-23 Hoosiers is determined by the NCAA tournament in a couple of weeks. In as little as 3 days we saw the best of this team (at Purdue) and the worst of this team (Iowa). There has been enough good this season that a Sweet 16/ Elite 8 run is possible, and that would probably leave a lot of fans pleased with the season overall. There has been enough bad that a first or second round exit would solidify the idea that the season was very disappointing.

The most interesting things that I am interested in seeing are how good or bad of a matchup we draw each game, and which Hoosier team shows up each game when the season is on the line. Only time will tell.

 

[rikki-tikka-tava]

I would say we are better without X. Hood is the guy we want with the ball in his hands at all times not X

Of course you would - you post stupid shit all the time.

Woodson is not a college coach

Woodson isn’t the answer. This was so predictable when they hired him.

Just an awful athletic program

We will be very lucky not to finish dead
Last in conference

Hope Woody isn’t back

 

[GThomas]

Nowhere close to being a better team without X. Xavier's injury has allowed Hood-Schifino to become a better player individually, but there's been multiple games where we don't have a defensive stopper out on the perimeter and Xavier Johnson is still the only guard who has the quickness to consistently get to the rim.

Don't confuse the two.

I'm not sure how the offense would have faired with X healthy all season. Heck, maybe it's better now than it would have been.

But, as you mention. IU has SORELY missed X on the defensive end. The Hoosiers have had difficulty matching up with faster, quicker guards. JHS and Gallo can hold down slower guards, which is why IU matches up well with Purdue. But quick guards seem to run layup drills on our Hoosiers.

 

[bsmitty08]

Nowhere close to being a better team without X. Xavier's injury has allowed Hood-Schifino to become a better player individually, but there's been multiple games where we don't have a defensive stopper out on the perimeter and Xavier Johnson is still the only guard who has the quickness to consistently get to the rim.

Don't confuse the two.

His decisions with ball in hand make this offense stagnant. He may defend but our offense was brutal with him running the point

 

[bsmitty08]

Of course you would - you post stupid shit all the time.

You are a Biden voter so I guess we are even. Lol

 

[rikki-tikka-tava]

You are a Biden voter so I guess we are even.

QED