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How to make the big dance

Rotonda

Redshirt
Mar 15, 2014
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Rotonda, Florida
Yes, it was a great win today and yes there is no doubt that we are one of the top 68 teams in the country. But my sense is that we must finish in the top 8 in the conference and win at least a game in the conference tournament, a tournament which may or may not happen.I just don't see the NCAA taking 9 Big Ten teams.If the conference tournament doesn't happen we had better move to the top 7 and stay there. If not, once again, we will be sweating on selection Sunday.
 
It never makes any sense when people say who the top 68 teams are three weeks ahead of time. For example, Iowa isn't losing their next game. You don't want to play Iowa next. Another example, Michigan is going to have a tough time not losing some games upcoming now that they have lapsed for so long.

So much can still happen. Schedules matter. Healthy teams matter.
 
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It never makes any sense when people say who the top 68 teams are three weeks ahead of time. For example, Iowa isn't losing their next game. You don't want to play Iowa next. Another example, Michigan is going to have a tough time not losing some games upcoming now that they have lapsed for so long.

So much can still happen. Schedules matter. Healthy teams matter.

today was a giant step forward for this team. The IU thing to do is to lose the next game, but I have a feeling that will not be the case. We could very easily be a top 25 team in a few weeks.
 
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today was a giant step forward for this team. The IU thing to do is to lose the next game, but I have a feeling that will not be the case. We could very easily be a top 25 team in a few weeks.

I know it is a big if, but IF our 4 freshmen play with the effort, intensity, and confidence they did today and we rebound with that type of effort.... we will win more than we lose from here on our and get in the tournament with a chance to win a few games depending on the matchups. Fingers crossed.
 
You guys do know the best 68 teams in the country don’t compromise the tournament field correct? I thought we were supposed to have intelligent fans
 
You guys do know the best 68 teams in the country don’t compromise the tournament field correct? I thought we were supposed to have intelligent fans

Also there is no cap per teams per conference.

Statistically this is one of the deepest big tens in history.

Of course it's not anything like 1989 in talent, but that was a different world were nba talent stayed in school.

Anyway, yes, the big is historically tough from top to bottom. There are no Northwestern and Wisconsins that were chalk four easy wins anymore.

Also the ACC and the SEC aren't as deep as normal so...there is no cap on conference teams.

Also add that there was basically no preseason so everyone's schedule is spiked to the gills.

That also means that Maryland Tech didn't get much opportunity to get a big win so....low major conferences will have more one bid teams meaning the power conferences will suck them up.

And the Big10 is the alpha conference this year.
 
today was a giant step forward for this team. The IU thing to do is to lose the next game, but I have a feeling that will not be the case. We could very easily be a top 25 team in a few weeks.
Maybe so, but is beating Iowa a big deal? Shouldn't we expect to beat them? Laughable, the constant lowering of the bar!
 
Maybe so, but is beating Iowa a big deal? Shouldn't we expect to beat them? Laughable, the constant lowering of the bar!
I won’t be a believer until we string together 3 or 4 in row. 4 out of the next 5 would have my attention. 3 out the next 5 should be the minimum. However, I won’t be surprised if we win 2 or less. We shall see
 
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I won’t be a believer until we string together 3 or 4 in row. 4 out of the next 5 would have my attention. 3 out the next 5 should be the minimum. However, I won’t be surprised if we win 2 or less. We shall see
I won’t be a believer until we string together 3 or 4 in row. 4 out of the next 5 would have my attention. 3 out the next 5 should be the minimum. However, I won’t be surprised if we win 2 or less. We shall see
Oh yes, that'd be nice and we'd maybe deserve a 10 seed at the pity party. That is NOT what was promised!
 
Oh yes, that'd be nice and we'd maybe deserve a 10 seed at the pity party. That is NOT what was promised!
I don’t disagree. I’ve been bitching against mediocrity since Crean. I highly doubt it happens, but if we won 4/5 that’s 5/6. We have 7 left. 4 wins gets us in as a 10+ seed. 5 and we’re a 7-9 prolly. I’ll take a 7/10 seed over 8/9. We need the big tourney to happen to give us a chance to improve our seed. Key word chance as it usually hurts us more than helps. Not acceptable, but is what it is for now. Us fans can’t fire Archie.
 
Yes, IUis one of the best 68 teams on the country. Unless they really screw the pooch, they will be in the dance with this win. About time!
 
You guys do know the best 68 teams in the country don’t compromise the tournament field correct? I thought we were supposed to have intelligent fans
I am not quite sure what you are referring to here. The main point of my original post is exactly what you are implying. Yes, we are one of the best 68 teams in the country but because of the structure of the tournament, that alone does not put us in. So what is your point? I am merely pointing out what I think we must do to get in.
 
Maybe so, but is beating Iowa a big deal? Shouldn't we expect to beat them? Laughable, the constant lowering of the bar!
I have no problem with legit concerns or questions about our program, and there are many to choose from. But, it's when people just make shit up to vent or complain that irks me. Yes, beating Iowa, THIS year, is a big deal, just as it was in 87 when they'd been ranked #1 earlier in the season. That'd be like saying beating Baylor this year is no big deal because historically we would've owned them. Beating top 10 teams is always a big deal, and always has been.
 
Yes, it was a great win today and yes there is no doubt that we are one of the top 68 teams in the country. But my sense is that we must finish in the top 8 in the conference and win at least a game in the conference tournament, a tournament which may or may not happen.I just don't see the NCAA taking 9 Big Ten teams.If the conference tournament doesn't happen we had better move to the top 7 and stay there. If not, once again, we will be sweating on selection Sunday.
I hate critiqueing after a win, but one of the things we need to do is to just play smarter. We really need to forcefeed TJD the ball more, especially in scoring opportunities, like Iowa does with Garza. There's no doubt he's their first and second option on most possessions and even when saddled with fouls, he still gets the most shot attempts. TJD did get the most attempts (which amazingly has not always been the case this year) but you still had Franklin, Phin and Durham putting up 26 attempts and making 4 to TJD's 12 attempts and he made 7. We'd likely have won comfortably if he'd put up say 16-17 shots, and that's before considering Lander's 1-6. I just don't see our guards looking to get TJD the ball enough, and yes, I know he's the focus for the other team and that our shooting doesn't draw defenders out like Iowa's do. Still, I see times early in possessions when we could get it to him, let alone doing more pick and roll or driving and dishing. And this is as much or more a critique of our coaching staff, but we pretty much know who this team is and we need to create ways to get TJD 15+ shot attempts almost every game, as Garza does. It would help in almost every game except when he's facing Kofi and his shot selection goes out the window. But that can be worked on and improve too.

Play smarter: win more games. It's something we really need to see for the rest of the year if we are going to make the tourney.
 
if we want to have any chance of making the tourney, winning the next 3 of 4 is needed. And it's very possible. Assuming UM gets back into business, our last couple games will be tough, so the next 4 need to yield 3 wins, or I just don't see us making it. And even then...we're talking low seed and possible one -and-out...so would we consider that a moral victory?

Anyhow, 3 of the next 4 games....win 3. Cannot go into the B1G tourney 1-2 games above .500 and expect to make the big dance.
 
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if we want to have any chance of making the tourney, winning the next 3 of 4 is needed. And it's very possible. Assuming UM gets back into business, our last couple games will be tough, so the next 4 need to yield 3 wins, or I just don't see us making it. And even then...we're talking low seed and possible one -and-out...so would we consider that a moral victory?

Anyhow, 3 of the next 4 games....win 3. Cannot go into the B1G tourney 1-2 games above .500 and expect to make the big dance.
Honestly, without beating PU and a really good run to finish the season, or winning a mostly intact B10 tourney, or advancing to a S16, this season to me is a disappointment. I expected improvement, and thought a breakthrough, and a much higher finish than expected, was possible. And, based on results and how closely we've played some good teams, I think it was possible. I think most would think Archie has underperformed up to this year, so I think it was fair to hope we might overperform for once... nope. But I counted last year as a "made" tourney off the bubble so I expected better this year. I guess someone could argue that wasn't realistic given how good the B10 is, but I subscribe to the "we're IU and we should be in the mix at the top of the conference... and win once in awhile" line of thought. Winning 3 of the next 4 would be a good start and necessary if we can count this season as any kind of continued improvement.
 
today was a giant step forward for this team. The IU thing to do is to lose the next game, but I have a feeling that will not be the case. We could very easily be a top 25 team in a few weeks.
As long as we don’t have to play the perennial powerhouse Rutgers again, we should be fine.
 
When Rutgers makes a sweet 16 run this year I’ll remind you of how shitty they were this year. Rutgers is a doormat no more!!!!
weren't you touting Rutgers as E8 or even a dark horse F4 team? S16 feels like you're backing off them a little.
 
As long as we don’t have to play the perennial powerhouse Rutgers again, we should be fine.
Rutgers is a good team. They play hard and physical and get after it. Not traits we always show, so those are bad matchups for us... ie. Purdue. Now, I can agree that we "should" be better than them, but we haven't been so far this year.
 
Honestly, without beating PU and a really good run to finish the season, or winning a mostly intact B10 tourney, or advancing to a S16, this season to me is a disappointment. I expected improvement, and thought a breakthrough, and a much higher finish than expected, was possible. And, based on results and how closely we've played some good teams, I think it was possible. I think most would think Archie has underperformed up to this year, so I think it was fair to hope we might overperform for once... nope. But I counted last year as a "made" tourney off the bubble so I expected better this year. I guess someone could argue that wasn't realistic given how good the B10 is, but I subscribe to the "we're IU and we should be in the mix at the top of the conference... and win once in awhile" line of thought. Winning 3 of the next 4 would be a good start and necessary if we can count this season as any kind of continued improvement.
pretty much in line with my thoughts. Squeaking into the tourney and being done before the first weekend was over was probably how last yr would have turned out before covid took control. And now those results seem like the best-case scenario for this year. So yeah, didn't really gain any forward traction this season. And when you throw in some of the recruiting misses, it's hard to call this year a step forward. Treading water at best. This team just lacks consistency. Winning 3 of the next 4 (would then actually be 4 of 5 with the Iowa win) is something we haven't been able to establish all season...they need to prove they can play consistently well for a 2 week period.
 
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pretty much in line with my thoughts. Squeaking into the tourney and being done before the first weekend was over was probably how last yr would have turned out before covid took control. And now those results seem like the best-case scenario for this year. So yeah, didn't really gain any forward traction this season. And when you throw in some of the recruiting misses, it's hard to call this year a step forward. Treading water at best. This team just lacks consistency. Winning 3 of the next 4 (would then actually be 4 of 5 with the Iowa win) is something we haven't been able to establish all season...they need to prove they can play consistently well for a 2 week period.
Yeah, good grief, just a sustained winning streak of say 4 games or wait for it: longer, would feel great and be surprising. Maybe someone else will do the work for me, but have we ever won 4 consecutive B10 games under Archie? Guessing not, but that seems almost as unbelievable as never having beaten PU.
 
Yeah, good grief, just a sustained winning streak of say 4 games or wait for it: longer, would feel great and be surprising. Maybe someone else will do the work for me, but have we ever won 4 consecutive B10 games under Archie? Guessing not, but that seems almost as unbelievable as never having beaten PU.
4 games was the most- once each in CAM's first 2 seasons (although second one came on the heels of losing 12 of 13 so it didn't feel so special).
Last 2 seasons, best B1G streak is 2.

Thanks Wikipedia....actually only took 3 minutes.
 
losing the home B1G opener to NW (which now looks like a pretty bad loss) and choking away the game in Madison (which we should have won) - those two games alone now have a huge impact on the season. We would be 12-6/ 7-4 with 3 wins vs Top 10 teams (2 on the road), and probably a projected 6-7 seed. Audige goes MJ on us in the second half of the NW game, and we just spit the bit vs UW. Margin of error is razor thin.
 
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