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Negative Nancy

aajohn2000

aajohn2000

All-American
Apr 12, 2012
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It's August and we are months away from basketball. That said, I am not highly confident in the trajectory for this team from last year. We lost SUBSTANTIAL contribution in TJD. He was a beast and last season and is the all time leader in IUBB history in blocks and rebounds. This is not going to be replaced and not sure it can be replaced by committee either. In JHS, we lost a top 10 NBA draft talent. No person on this team replaces that. Where we lacked production last season was in the 2, 3 and 4 spots. So, if we see significant improvement here, this can balance out the losses in these two players. I am not sold on X primarily due to how he played when he last saw minutes which was every game last season up until Kansas and that book of work was not anything to instill confidence. I have learned to tamper expectations going into every season because every season since 2016 has been a disappointment with the exception of last season. I am excited about the prospects of this season and this team, but I am prepared to see another middle of the road finish in the big ten and a team that is fighting for a bid on selection Sunday.
 
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aajohn2000 said:
It's August and we are months away from basketball. That said, I am not highly confident in the trajectory for this team from last year. We lost SUBSTANTIAL contribution in TJD. He was a beast and last season and is the all time leader in IUBB history in blocks and rebounds. This is not going to be replaced and not sure it can be replaced by committee either. In JHS, we lost a top 10 NBA draft talent. No person on this team replaces that. Where we lacked production last season was in the 2, 3 and 4 spots. So, if we see significant improvement here, this can balance out the losses in these two players. I am not sold on X primarily due to how he played when he last saw minutes which was every game last season up until Kansas and that book of work was not anything to instill confidence. I have learned to tamper expectations going into every season because every season since 2016 has been a disappointment with the exception of last season. I am excited about the prospects of this season and this team, but I am prepared to see another middle of the road finish in the big ten and a team that is fighting for a bid on selection Sunday.
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So if we finish middle of the road in the B10 and solidly in the NCAA tournament, we would finish same as last yr and you’d be happy with that……got it
 
The most recent projection I saw was a 10 seed. I think X showed enough his Junior year, that we need not worry about him. The season will hinge upon how much better MR, Ware, Banks, and Gunn got over the summer. And whether Mackenzie is really ready for big time minutes. It won’t be a first four season. It shouldn’t be an abject disappointment. Woody will be starting 4 players he recruited and fan favorite Galloway.
 
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There are too many unknowns coming in to the season, for anyone outside the program to have any sort of good handle on how good they will be.

I think the ceiling is higher than last year's team ended up being. But the floor is lower. My main hope is an overall change in style of play to a faster paced, more modern "outside-in" type offense. And then just a much better, and more consistent defense. We have enough experience and talent to be really good. We also have enough unknowns, that if the coaching, buy in from the players, consistency, etc... isn't good, we can be very mediocre.

Floor...bubble team
Ceiling...B10 and FF contender

Heading in to the season, I put a lot of where we end up on Woody's shoulders. He did a good job last year, managing through the injuries and still taking a step forward. I think he needs to improve some foundational things this year. Offense, defense, pace, consistency.
 
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To me, it's about having fewer players, that don't meet expectations..


Last season, X due to injury, Bates, Geronimo, Race, Leal, Duncomb, and possibly Gunn fell into this bucket.

That's half the damn roster.

Two starters, and two key bench pieces.
 
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IUNorth said:
There are too many unknowns coming in to the season, for anyone outside the program to have any sort of good handle on how good they will be.

I think the ceiling is higher than last year's team ended up being. But the floor is lower. My main hope is an overall change in style of play to a faster paced, more modern "outside-in" type offense. And then just a much better, and more consistent defense. We have enough experience and talent to be really good. We also have enough unknowns, that if the coaching, buy in from the players, consistency, etc... isn't good, we can be very mediocre.

Floor...bubble team
Ceiling...B10 and FF contender

Heading in to the season, I put a lot of where we end up on Woody's shoulders. He did a good job last year, managing through the injuries and still taking a step forward. I think he needs to improve some foundational things this year. Offense, defense, pace, consistency.
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Totally agree with most of this. FF contender would be an awesome surprise. Hope you’re right.
 
aajohn2000 said:
It's August and we are months away from basketball. That said, I am not highly confident in the trajectory for this team from last year. We lost SUBSTANTIAL contribution in TJD. He was a beast and last season and is the all time leader in IUBB history in blocks and rebounds. This is not going to be replaced and not sure it can be replaced by committee either. In JHS, we lost a top 10 NBA draft talent. No person on this team replaces that. Where we lacked production last season was in the 2, 3 and 4 spots. So, if we see significant improvement here, this can balance out the losses in these two players. I am not sold on X primarily due to how he played when he last saw minutes which was every game last season up until Kansas and that book of work was not anything to instill confidence. I have learned to tamper expectations going into every season because every season since 2016 has been a disappointment with the exception of last season. I am excited about the prospects of this season and this team, but I am prepared to see another middle of the road finish in the big ten and a team that is fighting for a bid on selection Sunday.
Click to expand...
well, given what we lost and what we had coming in, I think the coaching staff did a pretty remarkable job remaking the roster to even have a team that is now projected to make the tournament. I thought we were going to be pretty awful and now we are being projected to make the tourney, adding 2 top 10ish talents and 2 more solid frontcourt players?
 
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aajohn2000 said:
It's August and we are months away from basketball. That said, I am not highly confident in the trajectory for this team from last year. We lost SUBSTANTIAL contribution in TJD. He was a beast and last season and is the all time leader in IUBB history in blocks and rebounds. This is not going to be replaced and not sure it can be replaced by committee either. In JHS, we lost a top 10 NBA draft talent. No person on this team replaces that. Where we lacked production last season was in the 2, 3 and 4 spots. So, if we see significant improvement here, this can balance out the losses in these two players. I am not sold on X primarily due to how he played when he last saw minutes which was every game last season up until Kansas and that book of work was not anything to instill confidence. I have learned to tamper expectations going into every season because every season since 2016 has been a disappointment with the exception of last season. I am excited about the prospects of this season and this team, but I am prepared to see another middle of the road finish in the big ten and a team that is fighting for a bid on selection Sunday.
Click to expand...
I am guessing preaseaon we go like 7-4 or 8-3 we scheduled some brutal games and will be playing mostly new guys. . Probably about .500 in the big ten I think. Way too many unknowns with this team right now and I still think not adding another two guard will come back to bite us later in the season. Injuries do and likely will happen.
 
bailey777 said:
I am guessing preaseaon we go like 7-4 or 8-3 we scheduled some brutal games and will be playing mostly new guys. . Probably about .500 in the big ten I think. Way too many unknowns with this team right now and I still think not adding another two guard will come back to bite us later in the season. Injuries do and likely will happen.
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I'm in agreement with you, other than I think we'll be at least a couple of games above .500 in conference.
 
X got off to a slow start last season only because he wasn't used to playing with JHS and Reneau. He was only warming up, having yet to turn on his afterburners, but he will again, in time.

I think TJD will be quickly forgotten. We won't be forced to depend upon him so much. It would be nice if we had JHS coming back. If so, they wouldn't be saying we're thin at the guard position, depth-wise. We would be more excited for the season. That said, new faces are always refreshing. Every player has his own unique style of playing the game, resulting in varying degrees of effectiveness, guaranteed to stir immediate reaction in those who care.

Our basketball play this season will be more dynamic in execution. Without downs there would be no ups. It's the feeling of up that keep us coming back from the downs. The downs stir the pot that cooks the ups. May grasshoppers recognize the virtue in patience. It will be needed.
 
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aajohn2000 said:
It's August and we are months away from basketball. That said, I am not highly confident in the trajectory for this team from last year. We lost SUBSTANTIAL contribution in TJD. He was a beast and last season and is the all time leader in IUBB history in blocks and rebounds. This is not going to be replaced and not sure it can be replaced by committee either. In JHS, we lost a top 10 NBA draft talent. No person on this team replaces that. Where we lacked production last season was in the 2, 3 and 4 spots. So, if we see significant improvement here, this can balance out the losses in these two players. I am not sold on X primarily due to how he played when he last saw minutes which was every game last season up until Kansas and that book of work was not anything to instill confidence. I have learned to tamper expectations going into every season because every season since 2016 has been a disappointment with the exception of last season. I am excited about the prospects of this season and this team, but I am prepared to see another middle of the road finish in the big ten and a team that is fighting for a bid on selection Sunday.
Click to expand...
Woody has build a nice foundation and he is a better coach than we have had since CBK (discounting Sampson). This is the first year there could be a slight slide in performance with some significant loses of talent. IMO, this gives us a good opportunity to see how well this staff can truly develop talent. If we are close to what we did last year, that is a very positive sign. And if we are better, then watch out.

Either way, looking forward to watching this team and how they gel as the season progresses. There are certainly a lot of challenges to come.
 
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aajohn2000 said:
It's August and we are months away from basketball. That said, I am not highly confident in the trajectory for this team from last year. We lost SUBSTANTIAL contribution in TJD. He was a beast and last season and is the all time leader in IUBB history in blocks and rebounds. This is not going to be replaced and not sure it can be replaced by committee either. In JHS, we lost a top 10 NBA draft talent. No person on this team replaces that. Where we lacked production last season was in the 2, 3 and 4 spots. So, if we see significant improvement here, this can balance out the losses in these two players. I am not sold on X primarily due to how he played when he last saw minutes which was every game last season up until Kansas and that book of work was not anything to instill confidence. I have learned to tamper expectations going into every season because every season since 2016 has been a disappointment with the exception of last season. I am excited about the prospects of this season and this team, but I am prepared to see another middle of the road finish in the big ten and a team that is fighting for a bid on selection Sunday.
Click to expand...


 
T.M.P. said:
exactly ..
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Perhaps Leal could end up being an important player for us playing limited minutes. He plays hard and defends, seems know how to find the open man, and looks like he has a well formed shot. He's also
older now. Real curious for sure to see if he's ready now to make a contribution on the court.
 
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abraxis said:
I think TJD will be quickly forgotten.
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Regardless if we can move on fine without him, TJD is an all-timer. Just as names of guys like Henderson, Newton, Woodson, Guyton, Graham, Haston are remembered as Hoosier greats (specifically picked guys without NCs), so too will TJD. And, I'll be shocked if, more than once, we're not saying/thinking: "if we only had TJD this year..."!
 
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kkott said:
Regardless if we can move on fine without him, TJD is an all-timer. Just as names of guys like Henderson, Newton, Woodson, Guyton, Graham, Haston are remembered as Hoosier greats (specifically picked guys without NCs), so too will TJD. And, I'll be shocked if, more than once, we're not saying/thinking: "if we only had TJD this year..."!
Click to expand...
Each player brings something unique in style. Some styles might be more point productive while other styles may be more apt to limit point production of the opposition. It's the new styles integrating with the old that make it fun each new season.
 
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abraxis said:
Each player brings something unique in style. Some styles might be more point productive while other styles may be more apt to limit point production of the opposition. It's the new styles integrating with the old that make it fun each new season.
Click to expand...
What I am looking forward to is the new style of play away from the TJD, Morgan, OG centric style of recent years. It will be different and is unpredictable at this time.
 
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BusdriverE said:
So if we finish middle of the road in the B10 and solidly in the NCAA tournament, we would finish same as last yr and you’d be happy with that……got it
Click to expand...
No. We were on the cusp of middle of the road, but finished second. We drew a 4 seed and got whipped by a FF team in the round of 32. I just am not drinking the IU Koolaid like I used too for so many seasons this time of the year. We have more or at a minimum, as many unknowns with this team as any other team in recent history. too many to feel confident in a stronger more collective team than last season. I hope I am wrong.
 
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aajohn2000 said:
No. We were on the cusp of middle of the road, but finished second. We drew a 4 seed and got whipped by a FF team in the round of 32. I just am not drinking the IU Koolaid like I used too for so many seasons this time of the year. We have more or at a minimum, as many unknowns with this team as any other team in recent history. too many to feel confident in a stronger more collective team than last season. I hope I am wrong.
Click to expand...
Last years team was always going to lose to a fast/athletic team in the NCAA. They were 12-8 in the 3rd or 4th best conference. Yes, they finished 2nd, yes they got a 4 seed. But as a team, they were average after the X injury. Heck, they were wildly inconsistent before the X injury, even within games. And basically any team that had good, talented athletic perimeter players, they were going to struggle against.

This team doesn't have TJD...so that's an unknown and an adjustment that will need to be made. And they don't have JHS...another unknown an adjustment that will need to be made.

But they also will be replacing 2 spots that had guys that were very solid in some ways, but very limited in other ways...with much more talented and versatile players. Kopp/Thompson versus Mack/Ware. Their play will be very different, but man their abilities sure do answer some of our problems from last year. X being back is a huge factor. Its a tough one to fully measure. There's just his singular presence that will be a positive impact. But also pushing Trey back to more of his natural off the ball role will help too. His willingness and abilities to play with pace...that'll help CJ, Kaleb, probably Mack and Kelel, and even Trey.

I think the unknowns are more about who specifically will emerge and be stars. But we'll be more athletic. We'll be more versatile. And the "knowns" are good enough that we should be able to be "as good" as we were at the end of the year last year. Will that equate to more or less wins? Too many variables to predict. But our athleticism and versatility, and X's presence should make our team just as competitive, overall as last years team was.
 
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IUNorth said:
Last years team was always going to lose to a fast/athletic team in the NCAA. They were 12-8 in the 3rd or 4th best conference. Yes, they finished 2nd, yes they got a 4 seed. But as a team, they were average after the X injury. Heck, they were wildly inconsistent before the X injury, even within games. And basically any team that had good, talented athletic perimeter players, they were going to struggle against.

This team doesn't have TJD...so that's an unknown and an adjustment that will need to be made. And they don't have JHS...another unknown an adjustment that will need to be made.

But they also will be replacing 2 spots that had guys that were very solid in some ways, but very limited in other ways...with much more talented and versatile players. Kopp/Thompson versus Mack/Ware. Their play will be very different, but man their abilities sure do answer some of our problems from last year. X being back is a huge factor. Its a tough one to fully measure. There's just his singular presence that will be a positive impact. But also pushing Trey back to more of his natural off the ball role will help too. His willingness and abilities to play with pace...that'll help CJ, Kaleb, probably Mack and Kelel, and even Trey.

I think the unknowns are more about who specifically will emerge and be stars. But we'll be more athletic. We'll be more versatile. And the "knowns" are good enough that we should be able to be "as good" as we were at the end of the year last year. Will that equate to more or less wins? Too many variables to predict. But our athleticism and versatility, and X's presence should make our team just as competitive, overall as last years team was.
Click to expand...
Good take and cannot disagree with any of it. Hip wing for same thing as every year which is improvement and better overall basketball. It would be nice to also whip Purdue’s ass twice again.
 
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aajohn2000 said:
It's August and we are months away from basketball. That said, I am not highly confident in the trajectory for this team from last year. We lost SUBSTANTIAL contribution in TJD. He was a beast and last season and is the all time leader in IUBB history in blocks and rebounds. This is not going to be replaced and not sure it can be replaced by committee either. In JHS, we lost a top 10 NBA draft talent. No person on this team replaces that. Where we lacked production last season was in the 2, 3 and 4 spots. So, if we see significant improvement here, this can balance out the losses in these two players. I am not sold on X primarily due to how he played when he last saw minutes which was every game last season up until Kansas and that book of work was not anything to instill confidence. I have learned to tamper expectations going into every season because every season since 2016 has been a disappointment with the exception of last season. I am excited about the prospects of this season and this team, but I am prepared to see another middle of the road finish in the big ten and a team that is fighting for a bid on selection Sunday.
Click to expand...
It’s August. I haven’t spent a single second thinking about this year’s basketball team.
 
aajohn2000 said:
No. We were on the cusp of middle of the road, but finished second. We drew a 4 seed and got whipped by a FF team in the round of 32. I just am not drinking the IU Koolaid like I used too for so many seasons this time of the year. We have more or at a minimum, as many unknowns with this team as any other team in recent history. too many to feel confident in a stronger more collective team than last season. I hope I am wrong.
Click to expand...
Injuries three starters sealed the middling fate last year
 
aajohn2000 said:
It's August and we are months away from basketball. That said, I am not highly confident in the trajectory for this team from last year. We lost SUBSTANTIAL contribution in TJD. He was a beast and last season and is the all time leader in IUBB history in blocks and rebounds. This is not going to be replaced and not sure it can be replaced by committee either. In JHS, we lost a top 10 NBA draft talent. No person on this team replaces that. Where we lacked production last season was in the 2, 3 and 4 spots. So, if we see significant improvement here, this can balance out the losses in these two players. I am not sold on X primarily due to how he played when he last saw minutes which was every game last season up until Kansas and that book of work was not anything to instill confidence. I have learned to tamper expectations going into every season because every season since 2016 has been a disappointment with the exception of last season. I am excited about the prospects of this season and this team, but I am prepared to see another middle of the road finish in the big ten and a team that is fighting for a bid on selection Sunday.
Click to expand...
Well dang, I guess that's that. I suppose I'll just have to find something else to do during basketball season this year. 🤦🤦🤦
 
82hoosier said:
The conference was very competitive last year. I think going into the last game the Hoosiers mathematically could have finished anywhere between 2nd and 9th.
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The conference was very competitive at mediocrity. Purdue flamed out in Round 1 and lost you 16 seed. MSU made it interesting due to coaching. But I believe they still lost in the round of 16. The conference was competitive inside the league as it always is, but style of play and lack of talent did the conference in like it always does in March. JMO.
 
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aajohn2000 said:
X. race and who was the third?
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TJD discussed in several interviews last year that he was playing hurt and could barely walk around the 1st or 2nd week of January. It was the two week stretch starting the Big Ten season I believe. I think he was playing hurt for the Iowa, Northwestern, and Penn St loses.

I also think it was mentioned in mid November that TJD also was dealing with a severely sprained thumb.
 
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Beorik said:
TJD discussed in several interviews last year that he was playing hurt and could barely walk around the 1st or 2nd week of January. It was the two week stretch starting the Big Ten season I believe. I think he was playing hurt for the Iowa, Northwestern, and Penn St loses.

I also think it was mentioned in mid November that TJD also was dealing with a severely sprained thumb.
Click to expand...
Beorik said:
TJD discussed in several interviews last year that he was playing hurt and could barely walk around the 1st or 2nd week of January. It was the two week stretch starting the Big Ten season I believe. I think he was playing hurt for the Iowa, Northwestern, and Penn St loses.

I also think it was mentioned in mid November that TJD also was dealing with a severely sprained thumb.
Click to expand...
I also believe he started and played an avg of about 34 minutes per big ten game. He will be missed immensely next season. Playing with injuries and being out of the game with injuries are two different things.
 
aajohn2000 said:
I also believe he started and played an avg of about 34 minutes per big ten game. He will be missed immensely next season. Playing with injuries and being out of the game with injuries are two different things.
Click to expand...
For sure he will be missed. I think the original poster was just saying that his injury also had a major impact. Who thinks we lose 3 straight games if TJD isn’t hurt? Heck Race came back and played the last month injured but was never really the same. Injuries happen to everyone. Just sucks when they happen to your 3 best and most experienced players. Could have been a different year.
 
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