Let's curb the enthusiasm

[Rotonda]

In reading some posts today and talking to many Hoosier fans, the enthusiasm for this team is over the top. Time out folks. We beat the 295th ranked team in the country and the national consensus is that we are the ninth or tenth best team in the Big Ten. Remember the embarrassment last year at Duke after we had beaten some cupcakes? Let's wait about a month before we judge anything. It is way too early
.

 

[Vern Pain]

In reading some posts today and talking to many Hoosier fans, the enthusiasm for this team is over the top. Time out folks. We beat the 295th ranked team in the country and the national consensus is that we are the ninth or tenth best team in the Big Ten. Remember the embarrassment last year at Duke after we had beaten some cupcakes? Let's wait about a month before we judge anything. It is way too early
.

Well, until some of the events of last year manifest themselves, I'll maintain some optimism. That's ok isn't it?

 

[hurryin76hoosier]

In reading some posts today and talking to many Hoosier fans, the enthusiasm for this team is over the top. Time out folks. We beat the 295th ranked team in the country and the national consensus is that we are the ninth or tenth best team in the Big Ten. Remember the embarrassment last year at Duke after we had beaten some cupcakes? Let's wait about a month before we judge anything. It is way too early
.

Lighten up, francis.

 

[Hatchets7times]

I'd bet big money they're better than all magazine pundits think they are.
And will have a better year .Than last.
Nothing over the top about that..

 

[Bulk VanderHuge]

In reading some posts today and talking to many Hoosier fans, the enthusiasm for this team is over the top. Time out folks. We beat the 295th ranked team in the country and the national consensus is that we are the ninth or tenth best team in the Big Ten. Remember the embarrassment last year at Duke after we had beaten some cupcakes? Let's wait about a month before we judge anything. It is way too early
.

So, you created a screen name, waited more than 5 years to make your first post, and this is the best you could do?
Obvious troll is obvious.

 

[ndhuntington]

We have a early cup cake schedule so be hard to tell where we stand.

 

[Courtsensetwo]

In reading some posts today and talking to many Hoosier fans, the enthusiasm for this team is over the top. Time out folks. We beat the 295th ranked team in the country and the national consensus is that we are the ninth or tenth best team in the Big Ten. Remember the embarrassment last year at Duke after we had beaten some cupcakes? Let's wait about a month before we judge anything. It is way too early
.

Nice first post Chief.

 

[bailey777]

We have a early cup cake schedule so be hard to tell where we stand.

I was never even going to attempt to judge this team until the 8th game. The first 7 games should not be difficult to win.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

In reading some posts today and talking to many Hoosier fans, the enthusiasm for this team is over the top. Time out folks. We beat the 295th ranked team in the country and the national consensus is that we are the ninth or tenth best team in the Big Ten. Remember the embarrassment last year at Duke after we had beaten some cupcakes? Let's wait about a month before we judge anything. It is way too early
.

Another first post from an obvious anti-IU troll. Are you an exiting IU troll using a new name or are you a brand new anti-IU troll. Also, don't use "we" when talking about IU. That's what fans do, not you . . .

 

[rikki-tikka-tava]

Another first post from an obvious anti-IU troll. Are you an exiting IU troll using a new name or are you a brand new anti-IU troll. Also, don't use "we" when talking about IU. That's what fans do, not you . . .

Most of these first posts are from the same person - as mentioned elsewhere, new screen names are allowed one post the first 24 hours. This particular idiot usually gets banned after one post and just spins out a new handle, generally puerile, on a daily basis simply to see how much disruption it can achieve.

Responding to any first time post is a fool's game.

DFTT - Don't feed the troll(s).

 

[rocketo]

In reading some posts today and talking to many Hoosier fans, the enthusiasm for this team is over the top. Time out folks. We beat the 295th ranked team in the country and the national consensus is that we are the ninth or tenth best team in the Big Ten. Remember the embarrassment last year at Duke after we had beaten some cupcakes? Let's wait about a month before we judge anything. It is way too early
.

Don’t think anybody is anticipating some F4 run. Should we all bitch and moan instead?

 

[Rotonda Jim]

FYI. I am not a troll. I am a grad from 1969 who has posted mainly on the football side of things. I coached hoops in Ohio for 25 years and did well.
Now, I have lived in Florida for 20 years and probably have a different perspective since I am not surrounded by Hoosier Hysteria like I used to be. I have learned that there is a lot of talent in places that are not Indiana. Simply, I love the Hoosiers but will not buy into the hoopla when much of the country says otherwise. Let the season play out. Yes, there is talent but the talent has not blossomed. I hope it will but am not certain. It really is that simple.

 

[RiverView31]

FYI. I am not a troll. I am a grad from 1969 who has posted mainly on the football side of things. I coached hoops in Ohio for 25 years and did well.
Now, I have lived in Florida for 20 years and probably have a different perspective since I am not surrounded by Hoosier Hysteria like I used to be. I have learned that there is a lot of talent in places that are not Indiana. Simply, I love the Hoosiers but will not buy into the hoopla when much of the country says otherwise. Let the season play out. Yes, there is talent but the talent has not blossomed. I hope it will but am not certain. It really is that simple.

Ok Boomer

 

[zeke4ahs]

In reading some posts today and talking to many Hoosier fans, the enthusiasm for this team is over the top. Time out folks. We beat the 295th ranked team in the country and the national consensus is that we are the ninth or tenth best team in the Big Ten. Remember the embarrassment last year at Duke after we had beaten some cupcakes? Let's wait about a month before we judge anything. It is way too early
.

I love these little lectures . I think most of us are just making observations from positives we saw in the game. I think most of us are smart enough to know we didn’t play a very good team. I didn’t see a single post saying we were going to win the B1G, go to the Final Four, etc. I think some people just aren’t happy if everything isn’t negative. I’ll judge what I’ve seen after every game.

 

[abraxis]

We have a early cup cake schedule so be hard to tell where we stand.

I'll tell you where we stand-united we stand, divided we fall, and if our backs should ever be against the wall, we'll be together, together you and I! Scheduled cupcakes be damned!

 

[Tegray1]

You are correct. I lost track of how many home BIG games we lost last year. Folks should deal in reality with guarded optimism. I am optimistic about our size and ability to defend inside and rebound. Brunk is a great addition even though some of the experts on this board had Davis starting. Playing with a 6'7' center is not good. Starting Brunk and Trayce will allow Smith and Hunter a chance to play SF. Without Devonte we have no one with a confident scorer's mentality. Happy with Franklin's start.

FYI. I am not a troll. I am a grad from 1969 who has posted mainly on the football side of things. I coached hoops in Ohio for 25 years and did well.
Now, I have lived in Florida for 20 years and probably have a different perspective since I am not surrounded by Hoosier Hysteria like I used to be. I have learned that there is a lot of talent in places that are not Indiana. Simply, I love the Hoosiers but will not buy into the hoopla when much of the country says otherwise. Let the season play out. Yes, there is talent but the talent has not blossomed. I hope it will but am not certain. It really is that simple.

 

[Hatchets7times]

Pittsburg beat FSU last night.
So I kinda question that game now. Especially at home.

 

[Tegray1]

FSU has a tough schedule. They will be battle tested when they come in and we won't be.

Pittsburg beat FSU last night.
So I kinda question that game now. Especially at home.

 

[jsig]

This is a Hoosier site and I have not seen crazy off the wall predictions about how great this team is. What optimism is being referenced? Please post a link or quote.

I think this team can win 20. Will it? I have no idea. There a lot of questions to be answered. Just like last year and season before, I can't wait to watch the next game.

I like what we see out of Smith, Al and Phin and they have proved they can play in the B1G. Green will join them at some point.

I like what I see with Race, Damezi, and Franklin, also. They have prove to be productive once the games toughen up after November.

TJD and Hunter are the wild cards. Once Hunter gets his perimeter shot which is apparently a strength, he'll be tough to keep on the bench. I never seen him in HS so he'll have hit those perimeters shots for a buy in. Nobody is predicting TJD as a frosh to be better than a junior/senior Morgan. Still, TJD has the potential to be better than Morgan in the paint. IMO, when it happens is the only question that needs answered. Meanwhile, we will see if smith can keep it up. He is making a case so far and Morgan's game didn't take off until about this time in his IU career that Smith is at.

Having Brunk and Deron healthy is nice but I wonder how many minutes they will split. IMO, we might see a lot of TJD and Smith as the 2 bigs on the court. That is not a bad thing because it gives Archie versatility when he has to play a quicker lineup vs a lineup with size. I felt he had a lack of options in his initial 2 years when it came to having size on the court.

 

[Tegray1]

I don't agree with this. Smith as an athletic 3 and Trayce as an athletic 4 is better. Trayce isn't ready to play center in the BIG. There are some huge teams in the BIG.

This is a Hoosier site and I have not seen crazy off the wall predictions about how great this team is. What optimism is being referenced? Please post a link or quote.

I think this team can win 20. Will it? I have no idea. There a lot of questions to be answered. Just like last year and season before, I can't wait to watch the next game.

I like what we see out of Smith, Al and Phin and they have proved they can play in the B1G. Green will join them at some point.

I like what I see with Race, Damezi, and Franklin, also. They have prove to be productive once the games toughen up after November.

TJD and Hunter are the wild cards. Once Hunter gets his perimeter shot which is apparently a strength, he'll be tough to keep on the bench. I never seen him in HS so he'll have hit those perimeters shots for a buy in. Nobody is predicting TJD as a frosh to be better than a junior/senior Morgan. Still, TJD has the potential to be better than Morgan in the paint. IMO, when it happens is the only question that needs answered. Meanwhile, we will see if smith can keep it up. He is making a case so far and Morgan's game didn't take off until about this time in his IU career that Smith is at.

Having Brunk and Deron healthy is nice but I wonder how many minutes they will split. IMO, we might see a lot of TJD and Smith as the 2 bigs on the court. That is not a bad thing because it gives Archie versatility when he has to play a quicker lineup vs a lineup with size. I felt he had a lack of options in his initial 2 years when it came to having size on the court.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

I think this team can win 20. Will it? I have no idea.

Well, considering that our first 7 games are against Western Illinois, Portland State, North Alabama, Troy, Princeton, Louisiana Tech, and South Dakota State, I'd certainly hope and expect those to be 7 wins. So it doesn't seem like too much to ask for the team to win 13 of the remaining 25 games (24 regular season plus one BTT game) to get to 20 wins.

I'm not sure I'd consider 20 wins -- 7 coming against cupcakes -- to be a super successful season. But I guess it would at least be an improvement.

That said (and I know the competition was really bad) I thought there were some positive things in the WIU game. If Justin Smith can come close to consistently playing as aggressively as he did Tuesday night, that would be a huge boost for us.

 

[iubud]

In reading some posts today and talking to many Hoosier fans, the enthusiasm for this team is over the top. Time out folks. We beat the 295th ranked team in the country and the national consensus is that we are the ninth or tenth best team in the Big Ten. Remember the embarrassment last year at Duke after we had beaten some cupcakes? Let's wait about a month before we judge anything. It is way too early
.

National consensus can kiss my ass. Those boobs looked at our record last year, added and subtracted the players leaving and coming in and ranked them accordingly. I doubt too many in the national press understand how wounded we were. I don't like to make excuses, but you have to admit it is going to be difficult when your star is playing with an injured hand and your only depth healthy enough to play is Anderson, Forrester, Moore, and Fitzner. They also don't count Hunter and Thompson as new players. They may not be stars, but they will play an important role at some point.

We are going to easily replace the points and production of Romeo and Morgan. I waited to see how our new players would play. I wanted to see who came out in the first game and what they were able to do in the exhibition and first game. I like the development of Durham and Smith. Thompson and Hunter will show why they were missed last year. This is a better team than last year.

This is not a 9th place team. There is more praise for a purdue team that used only 8 players in a 20+ point win in their first game. Why did their leading scorer have to play 38 minutes? Illinois also has to prove they are better. They haven't impressed me as a very intelligent team. They are athletic but so where Crean's teams.

 

[bailey777]

Pittsburg beat FSU last night.
So I kinda question that game now. Especially at home.

We should easily start 7 and 0. That will be the first real test.

 

[ATLHoosier]

You are correct. I lost track of how many home BIG games we lost last year. Folks should deal in reality with guarded optimism. I am optimistic about our size and ability to defend inside and rebound. Brunk is a great addition even though some of the experts on this board had Davis starting. Playing with a 6'7' center is not good. Starting Brunk and Trayce will allow Smith and Hunter a chance to play SF. Without Devonte we have no one with a confident scorer's mentality. Happy with Franklin's start.

"Without Devonte we have no one with a confident scorer's mentality."
Al Durham says hello.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

"Without Devonte we have no one with a confident scorer's mentality."
Al Durham says hello.

Yeah, Al was clearly champing at the bit for open shots the other night. And Justin was just as clearly trying to be aggressive to and around the rim.

I don't want to make too much of a game against a badly outmatched opponent. That can be fool's gold. But it at least seemed very evident that both of them (and Rob, at times) were looking to be primary scoring options.

 

[hookyIU1990]

Curb this. The day I stop being enthusiastic about IU hoops is the day they'll put me in the ground.

Sorry you're not enjoying it, but that's on you.

Go Hoosiers!

 

[Tegray1]

Did you watch any of the BIG season last year? Look at the BIG stats please. Devonte had a great NIT and BIG tourney game. Smith and Durham haven't proven anything at the college level except being a role player.

https://iuhoosiers.com/documents/2019/3/26//Binder1.pdf?id=31533

"Without Devonte we have no one with a confident scorer's mentality."
Al Durham says hello.

 

[Tegray1]

Teams will guard them in the future.

"Without Devonte we have no one with a confident scorer's mentality."
Al Durham says hello.

 

[RRgo]

In reading some posts today and talking to many Hoosier fans, the enthusiasm for this team is over the top. Time out folks. We beat the 295th ranked team in the country and the national consensus is that we are the ninth or tenth best team in the Big Ten. Remember the embarrassment last year at Duke after we had beaten some cupcakes? Let's wait about a month before we judge anything. It is way too early
.

No one has them winning the BigTen nor a ncaa championship. I think we’re fine

 

[TommyCracker]

Did you watch any of the BIG season last year? Look at the BIG stats please. Devonte had a great NIT and BIG tourney game. Smith and Durham haven't proven anything at the college level except being a role player.

https://iuhoosiers.com/documents/2019/3/26//Binder1.pdf?id=31533

A big chunk of Smith's point explosion is from transition, which he's always been really good in.

Problem is our team's haven't been good in transition even though that's a staple of both Sean's and Archie's teams at Dayton (it's why the 6'7" Rondae Hollis-Jefferson could shoot around 20% from three, 50% from the ft line and still get drafted into the NBA, because he killed in transition).

Smith has had to play the four his career so far and so far he's been spending most of his time at the three....which puts him on the runway for more transition run out opportunities.

IF this transition game isn't a mirage and IF Smith plays a good chunk from the 3....I'm going to be shocked if Smith doesn't get double figures easily.

He's scored 42 points in 42 minutes so far and if you give him Romeo minutes (35) his numbers last game extrapolate to 38 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks.

Not too shabby especially from a guy many want to run off or bench.

 

[Tegray1]

Good teams don't turn it over that much. Less chances

A big chunk of Smith's point explosion is from transition, which he's always been really good in.

Problem is our team's haven't been good in transition even though that's a staple of both Sean's and Archie's teams at Dayton (it's why the 6'7" Rondae Hollis-Jefferson could shoot around 20% from three, 50% from the ft line and still get drafted into the NBA, because he killed in transition).

Smith has had to play the four his career so far and so far he's been spending most of his time at the three....which puts him on the runway for more transition run out opportunities.

IF this transition game isn't a mirage and IF Smith plays a good chunk from the 3....I'm going to be shocked if Smith doesn't get double figures easily.

He's scored 42 points in 42 minutes so far and if you give him Romeo minutes (35) his numbers last game extrapolate to 38 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks.

Not too shabby especially from a guy many want to run off or bench.

 

[TommyCracker]

Good teams don't turn it over that much. Less chances

Transition opportunities also come from long rebounds.

I'm not expecting Smith to average 38 points per game...more like 12.

 

[kmathum]

A big chunk of Smith's point explosion is from transition, which he's always been really good in.

Problem is our team's haven't been good in transition even though that's a staple of both Sean's and Archie's teams at Dayton (it's why the 6'7" Rondae Hollis-Jefferson could shoot around 20% from three, 50% from the ft line and still get drafted into the NBA, because he killed in transition).

Smith has had to play the four his career so far and so far he's been spending most of his time at the three....which puts him on the runway for more transition run out opportunities.

IF this transition game isn't a mirage and IF Smith plays a good chunk from the 3....I'm going to be shocked if Smith doesn't get double figures easily.

He's scored 42 points in 42 minutes so far and if you give him Romeo minutes (35) his numbers last game extrapolate to 38 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks.

Not too shabby especially from a guy many want to run off or bench.

are you his agent?

 

[stollcpa]

I'd bet big money they're better than all magazine pundits think they are.
And will have a better year .Than last.
Nothing over the top about that..

Tuesday night there was something different this year. There was energy, enthusiasm, ball moved on offense, effort on defense and SMILES. Hope it lasts all year when rotation tightens up and competition toughens up.

 

[stollcpa]

Transition opportunities also come from long rebounds.

I'm not expecting Smith to average 38 points per game...more like 12.

Smith drove me crazy the last two years. I think he’s going to break out and have very good year. We will know for sure the first time he has some adversity in a bigger game. Does he dig in and work hard or pout on the bench?

 

[fpeaugh]

Another first post from an obvious anti-IU troll. Are you an exiting IU troll using a new name or are you a brand new anti-IU troll. Also, don't use "we" when talking about IU. That's what fans do, not you . . .

You think every rational person is an anti IU troll.

 

[minneman]

You think every rational person is an anti IU troll.

You think that viewing everything through a prism of negativity is rational. You have so little self-awareness that you don't realize you're the polar opposite of the sunshine pumpers and just as irrational but exponentially more annoying.

 

[fpeaugh]

You think that viewing everything through a prism of negativity is rational. You have so little self-awareness that you don't realize you're the polar opposite of the sunshine pumpers and just as irrational but exponentially more annoying.

I’m very rarely negative with anything. Seems to only be with IU these days. When I’m given a reason to be positive I will be. The last decade have given rational people very little reason to be positive.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

You think every rational person is an anti IU troll.

You think you're rational? You're an irrational anti-IU troll. That's a fact.

 

[zeke4ahs]

Did you watch any of the BIG season last year? Look at the BIG stats please. Devonte had a great NIT and BIG tourney game. Smith and Durham haven't proven anything at the college level except being a role player.

https://iuhoosiers.com/documents/2019/3/26//Binder1.pdf?id=31533

"Without Devonte we have no one with a confident scorer's mentality."
Al Durham says hello.

Michigan State says hi.