Will do for ya. Still some issues lingering from Rutgers game but vibe completely different, team in better spirits, guys hitting threes and just general overall great feeling. Still some meat on the bone and things CMW can point out (good and bad) and correct/remind them this is how it feels when you make the correct decisions. The sky is not falling, we will more games, still time to salvage season lol
Amazing what 24hrs
- Thread starter BusdriverE
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Amazing what playing Nebraska at home does... what happened to Creighton is what I want to know
The sky is not falling but without Hood Schifino this is basically last year's team, and they will struggle at times with the ball in Johnsons hands so much. I don't see this team winning the next two without Jalen.
JHS is a huge loss for IU. He is a dynamic guard who makes everyone better around him.
Thrilled with how TG and TB played last night. And Kopp is playing with a lot of confidence right now.
Malik is being exposed a little bit as a freshman lacking experience and picking up fouls. He has a lot of upside and will be the focal point in the post next year. But I believe he will big a big asset this year.
Geronimo is a way undersized 4. Certain games will be a challenge for him. Need his energy on the court.
Looking forward to the Zona game. Hope JHS can go!
Thrilled with how TG and TB played last night. And Kopp is playing with a lot of confidence right now.
Malik is being exposed a little bit as a freshman lacking experience and picking up fouls. He has a lot of upside and will be the focal point in the post next year. But I believe he will big a big asset this year.
Geronimo is a way undersized 4. Certain games will be a challenge for him. Need his energy on the court.
Looking forward to the Zona game. Hope JHS can go!
The biggest thing I saw was trace facilitating. Those guys were in perfect rhythm. Plus all can drive, even kopp.
Well, I felt I saw a couple flashes of the garbage/hustle player that Race used to be. To me that's what's been missing this year, is him looking to score in the paint. Yes, he is going to, and needs to take open 3s, but he's never gonna fool anyone in to thinking he's Steph. He always needs to look to be aggressive to score in the paint, and he's looked very hesitant to me this year. But last night he scored on that breakaway to end the half and I thought on a rebound or putback too. Still think he should average 3-4 junk baskets a game in the paint, plus whatever else he can bring from the perimeter.
he doesn't seem very interested in any low-post offense. Maybe that's just due to change in the overall spacing of the offense, getting him out of the lane more....not sure. Just doesn't seem to be in attack mode on offense. Hell Kopp looked like a killer the past 2 games. Hope he keeps up what he's been doing.
Bipolar indeed or maybe it is the years of crappy basketball but I am still not convinced this team is going where preseason they were picked.
I started to squash my doubts and then BOOM, the Rutgers game happens.
There just seems to be an element missing or maybe that is my paranoia talking!!
the next 9 days will be very telling. Do we belong in the conversation...or not? Time to put up or shut up.
Tested my friends before last night's game - Are we contenders or pretenders?
As you said the next couple of weeks will pretty much answer that question.
I would love nothing more that they are contenders but.....
Turning the ball over 20% of possessions the last two games is a concern. AZ will turn them into points this Saturday.
9 pts & 6 rebs is not completely MIA, but Race should be averaging double digits and 6-7 rebs.
i looked at the box score after I typed that, and was surprised to see 9/6 from him. But I think he's only scored 10+ in the one game that TJD sat.
Right now X is my biggest concern. Got to get his head screwed on straight....and fast. JHS or no JHS.
I'm really happy for Kopp. To me, last season was the anomaly as I thought he had a good offensive game when I saw him at NW and was excited that he was tranferring. Don't think anyone's caught more grief on here than him and glad his final season is off to a good start.
BTW, think about NW, they could have Kopp, Nance and the 7'er at Duke all on this years team!
yep, before the season there was lots of talk on this board to sit Kopp and bring him off the bench. Let's hope he keeps it up. The baseline drives/pull ups have looked really good.
The RU game was ugly...but without Kopp we would have been destroyed by 30+.
Significant improv.ement from Trey, Trayce, Tamar and Kopp + Malik (and Banks/Gunn) notwithstanding, eh? What a stupid take. Team is already far ahead defensively and offensively (empirically and statistically) from this time last year.
Gee, the attacking mongoose strikes again, what a shocker. I noticed you didn't list Johnson as "significant improvement." My point being, with him as the point, it's last years team. Other players improving is futile if they can't get the ball. (7 turnovers against Nebraska) I guess we will see how the next two play out. I hope you're right but without Jalen our chances are slim.
Frankly. I think the missing elements are heart and physical toughness. It would be nice to have more shooting, but those factors are essential. The Rutgers game was a (bad) reminder of what has dogged this program for years.
Very encouraging game from Kopp.....I believe he even had 4 rebounds....he seems more serious about things, maybe because its his last year?
But think about what you're saying.....if Kopp is your only 'gamer' and you'd get beat by 30 without him what a massive fail.
Right now it seems like we are the massive ? in the BT. I feel like I have a better handle on Purdue, Illinois. MSU, Iowa, MD, OSU, Rutgers than us. We seem to be more balanced on an edge. Not a good feeling.
Agree with “balanced on the edge” theory, we see the potential, both good and bad, just don’t see any consistency, hence the “balancing”act
my two cents is it's a combo of JHS being out, and the UNC game not meaning what we thought it would. Plus all the WTF? as the results of the RU game. Still have a lot of unanswered questions. The next 8 days will answer some of them. But ultimately, it will come down to winning at home and showing well on the road in the B1G, just like every year.
Losing against AZ and Kansas would suck, but won't matter much if we go 7-3 on the road in the B1G. I always feel the road conference games are the true test. Unfortunately we just failed our first test last weekend. Not because we lost at RU...but, because we played like dogshit.
They're not big guys, but Galloway is a gamer and I think XJ is too, he just sometimes counteracts any value that brings with TOs and dumb plays. JHS I think will prove to be a gamer. We just need someone who's a little nasty in the frontcourt. Race? Malik? Wanna help your team, there's what we could use!
I thought that guy would be Race but I'm just not seeing it. Malik is getting too many freshman fouls as it is....I'd like to see him avoid the silly fouls, especially away from the basket. I don't mind seeing bigs get fouls playing like bad asses in the lane, but picking up cheap fouls 30 ft from the basket because of lazy feet or just reaching, that's how 25 minutes of playing time turns into 8 minutes.
We've seen a lot of zone the past few days, and without JHS, X really struggled. Against man-to-man, X is much more effective. Neb zoned us a lot and X really looked lost on offense. And his recently-reliable 3 point shot was off as well.
TJD has his work cut out for him tomorrow. AZ brings 2 bigs, one being a real beast, and both are putting up some very big numbers. Front court foul trouble on either team will be huge.
Jury is still out on X, what of it? Doesn't negate the rest of it by any stretch, and that's as "basic" as it gets. Seem to recall a majority writing off X last Season as well before he... well, you know about that.
Just for openers, so not the same Team when Kopp and/or Trey and/or Tamar can go off for twenty on any given night, and saying so dismisses the effort/improvement of the IU's veterans. As in how many times did Trayce log even 5 assists last Season let alone 10? And anyway, which "last year's team" are you talking about? The one that lost five straight in February or the one that nearly swept pureDoo right before just missing on making it to the Conference Championship?
Calling it, and by extension you, "stupid" was discourteous, not sure "irrational" would have read any better. Think IU's "chances" are much better than "slim" even without JHS, but no question it's a much more robust/compete proposition with him. Do find it intriguing that Xavier's travails sort of exploded coincident with Jalen suddenly being out, but have seen him struggle before figuring it out before, reckon he can do it again and then some.
This is last year’s team at all: Trey and Tamar are much improved. Malik is gives IU big body front court depth. Jordan is playing better too.
XJ’s inconsistency is indeed perplexing.
