One game at a time

[IUNorth]

That's probably up there as the most cliché saying in all of sports.

But I think that's where we're at as a program...and it fits our team and fanbase about as well as any I can remember.

When you look at our remaining 10 games...holy hell. I'm not sure I can pick out a single game I'd confidently pick that we'll win. So thinking ahead, where will IU finish, can they catch Purdouche, what do the tournaments end up looking like...yikes?! Who the heck knows?

But, can we beat Maryland at Maryland? Hell yes we can! UCLA curb stomped them in their gym. They look very similar to Illinois to me. We've actually played decent ball there a few times in the last decade. If we defend well, we're just better than them. PSU/Minny performance and they'll drill us though.

And then after that game, no matter how Maryland goes...can we beat Purdue in the Hall? Of course. Its actually a decent matchup for us. And its in the Hall.

And evidence that even a loss or two shouldn't crush our season dreams...who would have thought we'd have won 5 in a row after the late December/early January we had? No one has a clue how this team is going to respond to wins and losses. Rikki and the Pom Squad don't know. Big Red Buffalo and the Sky Fallers don't know.

So lets go play well at Maryland tomorrow night. And I don't know if its comforting or not, but whether we do or don't play well tomorrow night, likely isn't any sort of indicator on how we'll do Saturday.

 

[GeddyHoosier]

That's probably up there as the most cliché saying in all of sports.

But I think that's where we're at as a program...and it fits our team and fanbase about as well as any I can remember.

When you look at our remaining 10 games...holy hell. I'm not sure I can pick out a single game I'd confidently pick that we'll win. So thinking ahead, where will IU finish, can they catch Purdouche, what do the tournaments end up looking like...yikes?! Who the heck knows?

But, can we beat Maryland at Maryland? Hell yes we can! UCLA curb stomped them in their gym. They look very similar to Illinois to me. We've actually played decent ball there a few times in the last decade. If we defend well, we're just better than them. PSU/Minny performance and they'll drill us though.

And then after that game, no matter how Maryland goes...can we beat Purdue in the Hall? Of course. Its actually a decent matchup for us. And its in the Hall.

And evidence that even a loss or two shouldn't crush our season dreams...who would have thought we'd have won 5 in a row after the late December/early January we had? No one has a clue how this team is going to respond to wins and losses. Rikki and the Pom Squad don't know. Big Red Buffalo and the Sky Fallers don't know.

So lets go play well at Maryland tomorrow night. And I don't know if its comforting or not, but whether we do or don't play well tomorrow night, likely isn't any sort of indicator on how we'll do Saturday.

Maryland playing pretty well lately. This will be a tough game at their place.

 

[IUNorth]

Maryland playing pretty well lately. This will be a tough game at their place.

I get the sense they're a little like us though. Inexplicable let downs (UCLA game)...very well played stretches (current). We gotta make it really, really hard on them to get comfortable and to score.

 

[GeorgeStrait IU]

Maryland playing pretty well lately. This will be a tough game at their place.

And not very many people
are talking the Maryland game. I could see Indiana losing PSU style... Hopefully they keep their heads where they are at now. Having said that, I'd settle for 1-1 and be happy this week.

 

[Jfats]

Like Ohio State, we play Maryland just once. A win would put them two games behind us and a head-to-head loss. It would be huge to get another road win and put a team in the heap of teams within one game if each other way below us.

 

[IUNorth]

And not very many people
are talking the Maryland game. I could see Indiana losing PSU style... Hopefully they keep their heads where they are at now. Having said that, I'd settle for 1-1 and be happy this week.

If Minny hadn't happened, Woody or no Woody, I'd disagree with you on the PSU thing. It sure seems like overall we're in a better place than we were at PSU. And Maryland shouldn't be able to thump us like that. But Minny did happen. And if we play anywhere near that poorly, Maryland will thump us.

But if we are dialed in, and force them to make tough shots on us, it'll be a good game. And we'll have a great chance to win. Maryland's a solid B10 team though, so winning at their place was always going to be difficult.

 

[Chicago-bound Hoosier]

I'm going to DC tonight and may have a shot at going to the game tomorrow night.
Yep one game at a time. B1G schedule this year is as tough as ever.

At the halfway point, not too many experts had the league at 1-2-3 being PU, RU and NW with only one team in the top 25 (as of yesterday, haven't seen the new polls yet).

OSU is going to struggle to even be NIT eligible.

EDIT- looks like we're back in at #25

 

[abraxis]

Maryland playing pretty well lately. This will be a tough game at their place.

Yes, that is bad news...Maryland playing pretty well lately. The good news is that so are we. Now, back to the bad news...the game is at their place with additional good news being "It's Indiana!". It's in Indiana we trust.

 

[Crusty The Baker]

If Minny hadn't happened, Woody or no Woody, I'd disagree with you on the PSU thing. It sure seems like overall we're in a better place than we were at PSU. And Maryland shouldn't be able to thump us like that. But Minny did happen. And if we play anywhere near that poorly, Maryland will thump us.

But if we are dialed in, and force them to make tough shots on us, it'll be a good game. And we'll have a great chance to win. Maryland's a solid B10 team though, so winning at their place was always going to be difficult.

One noteworthy aberration re: the PSU game is that TJD only took 10 shots. It was apparent that his back was still bothering him in that game and he also wasn’t practicing.

TJD has been taking 18-19 shots a game during this win streak. If he stays fresh and healthy, I like our chances in the second half of the conference season.

TJD vs Edey is going to be something. Both of them have been obliterating their opponents.

 

[IUNorth]

Saturday strategy...

Start Race...have him guard Edey. Have TJD be the defacto "help" guy. Tell him to not over commit. But to be there to bother Edey as much as possible. We're going to need TJD to remain dedicated to cleaning the boards.

The other 3, stick to their men like glue. Ball pressure like they've never pressured before. Make sure you box Morton and Smith out.

On offense...they're not good enough defensively to really change much. If Edey gets into any sort of foul trouble, maybe make a pointed effort to go after him. Otherwise, just move TJD around a lot and keep trying to work through him. Smith and Loyer, neither are bad enough defensively to really do anything out of our comfort zone to attack them.

The biggest thing will be to put up some resistance against Edey, without fully giving guys like Loyer, Smith, Morton, and any of their backup perimeter guys, wide open looks offensively. If Edey gets 30 and 15, and we can effectively shut everyone else down, we'll win handily. If we can get Edey in foul trouble, and he scores well below his average, we'll win handily. If he gets his AND a handful other guys have decent games, they'll beat us.

edit...already breaking the "one game at a time" theme...Saturday is different though.

 

[Chicago-bound Hoosier]

One noteworthy aberration re: the PSU game is that TJD only took 10 shots. It was apparent that his back was still bothering him in that game and he also wasn’t practicing.

TJD has been taking 18-19 shots a game during this win streak. If he stays fresh and healthy, I like our chances in the second half of the conference season.

TJD vs Edey is going to be something. Both of them have been obliterating their opponents.

PSU was shooting 3s out their ass that game...we were never going to win that one
The NW loss still bugs me, but choking in Iowa even more so...win that and we're alone in 2nd place at the moment. No excuse for losing a game like that. 20-some point lead...no techs on the crazy McCaffs at the end...whatever...done is done.

Fouls will be a huge deal vs Purdue especially with the bigs. TJD and Edey really aren't a good match up for each other, on either end of the court. Wouldn't surprise me if both teams have someone else covering them most of the game. Between Race, Malik and Logan (assuming he's healthy) we have 15 fouls to throw at Edey.

Edey has not been getting into foul trouble.

I think if JHS shows up like he did vs OSU, it will cause PU issues. He's too big for Smith to deal with.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

think if JHS shows up like he did vs OSU, it will cause PU issues. He's too big for Smith to deal with.

JHS is the X factor. His mid range game will be hard to handle. Edey won’t come out to defend at all. There will be open spots because of it. Also TJD is a great passer and will have PUke chasing a little. JHS is the guy though for this one. Imho

 

[rikki-tikka-tava]

JHS is the X factor. His mid range game will be hard to handle. Edey won’t come out to defend at all. There will be open spots because of it. Also TJD is a great passer and will have PUke chasing a little. JHS is the guy though for this one. Imho

At least once want to see Kopp score 20+ in regulation. What better time for a career night than his last home game against pU in AH?

 

[go_iu]

Saturday strategy...

Start Race...have him guard Edey. Have TJD be the defacto "help" guy. Tell him to not over commit. But to be there to bother Edey as much as possible. We're going to need TJD to remain dedicated to cleaning the boards.

The other 3, stick to their men like glue. Ball pressure like they've never pressured before. Make sure you box Morton and Smith out.

On offense...they're not good enough defensively to really change much. If Edey gets into any sort of foul trouble, maybe make a pointed effort to go after him. Otherwise, just move TJD around a lot and keep trying to work through him. Smith and Loyer, neither are bad enough defensively to really do anything out of our comfort zone to attack them.

The biggest thing will be to put up some resistance against Edey, without fully giving guys like Loyer, Smith, Morton, and any of their backup perimeter guys, wide open looks offensively. If Edey gets 30 and 15, and we can effectively shut everyone else down, we'll win handily. If we can get Edey in foul trouble, and he scores well below his average, we'll win handily. If he gets his AND a handful other guys have decent games, they'll beat us.

edit...already breaking the "one game at a time" theme...Saturday is different though.

I wouldn't pput TJD on Edey for ine mkment. If he can't be stopped, put Race ot Duncolmb on hom amd let them pick up the fouls

 

[kkott]

Saturday strategy...

Start Race...have him guard Edey. Have TJD be the defacto "help" guy. Tell him to not over commit. But to be there to bother Edey as much as possible. We're going to need TJD to remain dedicated to cleaning the boards.

The other 3, stick to their men like glue. Ball pressure like they've never pressured before. Make sure you box Morton and Smith out.

On offense...they're not good enough defensively to really change much. If Edey gets into any sort of foul trouble, maybe make a pointed effort to go after him. Otherwise, just move TJD around a lot and keep trying to work through him. Smith and Loyer, neither are bad enough defensively to really do anything out of our comfort zone to attack them.

The biggest thing will be to put up some resistance against Edey, without fully giving guys like Loyer, Smith, Morton, and any of their backup perimeter guys, wide open looks offensively. If Edey gets 30 and 15, and we can effectively shut everyone else down, we'll win handily. If we can get Edey in foul trouble, and he scores well below his average, we'll win handily. If he gets his AND a handful other guys have decent games, they'll beat us.

edit...already breaking the "one game at a time" theme...Saturday is different though.

I don't think Race has the size to counter Edey. I'd guess it will be TJD with MR backing him up. I think either Edey or TJD will end up in foul trouble, which is why I'm hoping TJD is aggressive and takes it at Edey. I think Race will probably be on Furst/Gillis/Kaufman. Race might have to guard Edey some, but I think he hasn't looked as strong or coordinated since he's come back and I think he'll rack up fouls quickly if he has to guard Zach. I don't want Smith, Loyer or Newman getting open shots, but I'd let Morton shoot until the cows come home, or he makes 2 3s whichever happens first.

 

[kkott]

I wouldn't pput TJD on Edey for ine mkment. If he can't be stopped, put Race ot Duncolmb on hom amd let them pick up the fouls

kurt, is that you?

 

[Victorbmyboy]

At least once want to see Kopp score 20+ in regulation. What better time for a career night than his last home game against pU in AH?

I do too but it’s not his role. Can it happen? Would be fun to see him hit 6 threes.

 

[rikki-tikka-tava]

I do too but it’s not his role. Can it happen? Would be fun to see him hit 6 threes.

His "role" depends almost entirely how opponents choose to guard. If they start sagging of and/or collapsing to double TJD his role is to make them pay. Might also happen if IU gets enough TOs and fast-break opportunities although Miller seems better with set shots than in transition.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

His "role" depends almost entirely how opponents choose to guard. If they start sagging of and/or collapsing to double TJD his role is to make them pay. Might also happen if IU gets enough TOs and fast-break opportunities although Miller seems better with set shots than in transition.

They rarely if ever come off Kopp to double or dig. Now fast break is Kopps job. He’s the secondary break guy that makes defenders choose. (Crean was really good at that). He’s about even on shots from the break. If you noticed lately he’s hurt teams a bit(found more shots) in the second half because teams have had to adjust to consentrate on JHS or others. He’s delivered when he’s open.

 

[HoosierJimbo89]

Saturday strategy...

Start Race...have him guard Edey. Have TJD be the defacto "help" guy. Tell him to not over commit. But to be there to bother Edey as much as possible. We're going to need TJD to remain dedicated to cleaning the boards.

The other 3, stick to their men like glue. Ball pressure like they've never pressured before. Make sure you box Morton and Smith out.

On offense...they're not good enough defensively to really change much. If Edey gets into any sort of foul trouble, maybe make a pointed effort to go after him. Otherwise, just move TJD around a lot and keep trying to work through him. Smith and Loyer, neither are bad enough defensively to really do anything out of our comfort zone to attack them.

The biggest thing will be to put up some resistance against Edey, without fully giving guys like Loyer, Smith, Morton, and any of their backup perimeter guys, wide open looks offensively. If Edey gets 30 and 15, and we can effectively shut everyone else down, we'll win handily. If we can get Edey in foul trouble, and he scores well below his average, we'll win handily. If he gets his AND a handful other guys have decent games, they'll beat us.

edit...already breaking the "one game at a time" theme...Saturday is different though.

Let Morton shoot all he wants, and guard him 5-10 feet out: no easy layups. If Morton takes the most shots of all PU players, then IU wins.

Pressure the hell out of Braden. Make somebody other than Edey beat you.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

Let Morton shoot all he wants, and guard him 5-10 feet out: no easy layups. If Morton takes the most shots of all PU players, then IU wins.

Pressure the hell out of Braden. Make somebody other than Edey beat you.

Don’t let Edey turn his left shoulder. Make him go to the right. Also make him set up as far out as you can. Then foul him if he gets to his left. It works. He will still get some. Pressure smith like you said. Stay on everyone else but help off Morton. I’d like to see IU press too. Don’t give them a full shot clock. Also deny smith too.

 

[HoosierJimbo89]

Don’t let Edey turn his left shoulder. Make him go to the right. Also make him set up as far out as you can. Then foul him if he gets to his left. It works. He will still get some. Pressure smith like you said. Stay on everyone else but help off Morton. I’d like to see IU press too. Don’t give them a full shot clock. Also deny smith too.

I think a 2-3 zone would throw them off. Their offense is based on man D. The bottom 3 of the zone would address Edey and rebounding. Just make sure the top 2 are on the best 2 shooters. Let Morton do whatever he wants.

 

[iu2win]

I think the PU game is one game where IU should go smaller; meaning Kopp out and perhaps Bates in. I'm thinking Kopp was taken to school by Sensabaugh mainly because Kopp was not quick enough to stay with him. If that scenario plays out against Purdue then IU could fall behind early. Having said that, Bates will need to focus on "D"; more on stopping PU than scoring himself. IU has enough scoring power beat Purdue IF they can shut down the shooting guards and stop easy layups. Edey can't beat IU by himself.

 

[IUNorth]

Don’t let Edey turn his left shoulder. Make him go to the right. Also make him set up as far out as you can. Then foul him if he gets to his left. It works. He will still get some. Pressure smith like you said. Stay on everyone else but help off Morton. I’d like to see IU press too. Don’t give them a full shot clock. Also deny smith too.

I'm definitely not worried about Morton. But he's "good enough" that you can't just leave him alone. Probably no issues choosing him as one of the guys to hedge/help from. But if you go overboard with that, and he hits 3-4 threes because of it...that hurts bad. And taking an approach to largely leave him and double off him brings one of his strengths in to play as well, which is flashing or cutting to the basket. He creates a lot of action catching on those flashes.

This is college basketball. Purdue is the number 1 team in the country. I think the mindset of "helping off" players is a very dangerous one.

Fight Edey to push him out, even a foot or two further on the catch.

Hedge from the other bigs man, and yes, from Morton, even Newman, or Smith. But don't totally commit off of people. Edey isn't a great passer, but he's good enough, and then any of their players are good enough, that they'll do damage if they're catching in unguarded positions.

Just my opinion. Maybe Morton would go 0-8 or something on unguarded threes, and we'd take 8 Edey shots away from doubling off Morton. I get that's the thought. I just don't buy it against this level of team.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

I think a 2-3 zone would throw them off. Their offense is based on man D. The bottom 3 of the zone would address Edey and rebounding. Just make sure the top 2 are on the best 2 shooters. Let Morton do whatever he wants.

I hate 2-3 zone. Too easy to get flat. We now are scoring over 80 points a game at home. Why mess with zoning out when we havnt done it much if at all. Man on man we are better plus we don’t want them hitting easy shots over the zone. Plus it’s easy to lob it over the zone.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

I'm definitely not worried about Morton. But he's "good enough" that you can't just leave him alone. Probably no issues choosing him as one of the guys to hedge/help from. But if you go overboard with that, and he hits 3-4 threes because of it...that hurts bad. And taking an approach to largely leave him and double off him brings one of his strengths in to play as well, which is flashing or cutting to the basket. He creates a lot of action catching on those flashes.

This is college basketball. Purdue is the number 1 team in the country. I think the mindset of "helping off" players is a very dangerous one.

Fight Edey to push him out, even a foot or two further on the catch.

Hedge from the other bigs man, and yes, from Morton, even Newman, or Smith. But don't totally commit off of people. Edey isn't a great passer, but he's good enough, and then any of their players are good enough, that they'll do damage if they're catching in unguarded positions.

Just my opinion. Maybe Morton would go 0-8 or something on unguarded threes, and we'd take 8 Edey shots away from doubling off Morton. I get that's the thought. I just don't buy it against this level of team.

Of course only help if it’s an easy turn. Morton is the likely guy as he’s not the guy that kills you. He’s not scoring even when teams double off him. If I’m picking poison I’m picking the least damaging one. Morton. IU will double. You can count on that.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

I think the PU game is one game where IU should go smaller; meaning Kopp out and perhaps Bates in. I'm thinking Kopp was taken to school by Sensabaugh mainly because Kopp was not quick enough to stay with him. If that scenario plays out against Purdue then IU could fall behind early. Having said that, Bates will need to focus on "D"; more on stopping PU than scoring himself. IU has enough scoring power beat Purdue IF they can shut down the shooting guards and stop easy layups. Edey can't beat IU by himself.

Nobody guards sensebaugh well. Don’t overthink this. Kopp can guard and will do well in this game. Purdue doesn’t have a sensebaugh.

 

[mk30]

And not very many people
are talking the Maryland game. I could see Indiana losing PSU style... Hopefully they keep their heads where they are at now. Having said that, I'd settle for 1-1 and be happy this week.

Bet you won’t say that on Wednesday if we win Tuesday!

 

[IUNorth]

Bet you won’t say that on Wednesday if we win Tuesday!

I was thinking of the best way to counter that 1-1 comment. This is probably it.

I'd take 1-1 if I knew the win was Purdue. I'd take 1-1 if I knew the alternative was 0-2. I wouldn't sign up today for 1-1, without knowing who the win was against though.

 

[Courtsensetwo]

Nobody guards sensebaugh well. Don’t overthink this. Kopp can guard and will do well in this game. Purdue doesn’t have a sensebaugh.

The Ahia game featured the two best freshmen in the BIG. Both put on a show.

 

[HoosierJimbo89]

I hate 2-3 zone. Too easy to get flat. We now are scoring over 80 points a game at home. Why mess with zoning out when we havnt done it much if at all. Man on man we are better plus we don’t want them hitting easy shots over the zone. Plus it’s easy to lob it over the zone.

That may be the price you have to pay to contain Edey on offense and get defensive rebounds. I think IU is big and long enough to prevent easy lobs. If the goal is to make somebody else beat you, then that is going to involve other players trying to score: mission accomplished. Rank the other players on offense and guard the biggest threats the most.

 

[Victorbmyboy]

The Ahia game featured the two best freshmen in the BIG. Both put on a show.

Yep and it’s not like anyone else has guarded sensebaugh effectively. Including the rest of our roster.

 

[Courtsensetwo]

Yep and it’s not like anyone else has guarded sensebaugh effectively. Including the rest of our roster.

I came away impressed.

 

[JB_Nomee]

PSU was shooting 3s out their ass that game...we were never going to win that one
The NW loss still bugs me, but choking in Iowa even more so...win that and we're alone in 2nd place at the moment. No excuse for losing a game like that. 20-some point lead...no techs on the crazy McCaffs at the end...whatever...done is done.

Fouls will be a huge deal vs Purdue especially with the bigs. TJD and Edey really aren't a good match up for each other, on either end of the court. Wouldn't surprise me if both teams have someone else covering them most of the game. Between Race, Malik and Logan (assuming he's healthy) we have 15 fouls to throw at Edey.

Edey has not been getting into foul trouble.

I think if JHS shows up like he did vs OSU, it will cause PU issues. He's too big for Smith to deal with.

I sure hope purdouche puts someone else on TJD. He’ll eat whoever that is up. If edey guards him (which I would expect), high pick n roll with JHS should cause some problems…

 

[Victorbmyboy]

I sure hope purdouche puts someone else on TJD. He’ll eat whoever that is up. If edey guards him (which I would expect), high pick n roll with JHS should cause some problems…

I don’t. Edey could ball hawk that way. I suspect they will try to play him straight up. Could be wrong though

 

[IUNorth]

I came away impressed.

I know both were highly ranked coming in to college. But neither Branham or Sensebaugh were really household names coming in. Both are about as good of wing freshmen as I can remember in our league. Holtman, if nothing else, must be good at evaluating wing talent. Or maybe he just got lucky a couple years in a row. Hard to say "got lucky" when they were both highly rated. But dang, they both hit very hard, even for their ratings.

 

[IUNorth]

I sure hope purdouche puts someone else on TJD. He’ll eat whoever that is up. If edey guards him (which I would expect), high pick n roll with JHS should cause some problems…

I honestly don't think we should change our offensive strategy much. Edey can't guard TJD in the post any more than he can away from the basket. Might be that TJD will draw a couple fouls on him down there? If he doesn't guard TJD, then obviously go through TJD, as none of the others can guard him straight up.

We've been working really well the last 5-6 games, off TJD in the post. Lots more movement off the ball, lots more ways we're getting him the ball, lots of different spots he's starting and finishing at. Keep doing that tomorrow and Saturday.

I think we need to gameplan and account for Lerch on our defensive end. The only special plan I think we should have offensively are some specific plays to attack him if he does get early fouls in either half. 1st foul early in 1st half, we're running this play or these plays right at him for a few possessions. 3rd foul in 2nd half, same thing.

Other than that, their defense isn't good enough to need to try to fix something that isn't broken.

 

[kkott]

Of course only help if it’s an easy turn. Morton is the likely guy as he’s not the guy that kills you. He’s not scoring even when teams double off him. If I’m picking poison I’m picking the least damaging one. Morton. IU will double. You can count on that.

Plus, you don't have to leave your man for a long time: really attack Edey's dribble, and once he picks it up or passes, return to your man. Guys have to recognize and help the helper too, if you double down and my man is nearest yours, I've got to take an extra step towards your man and be ready if the pass comes back to him to possibly help. I agree, I'd gamble and try and see if Morton can beat you from 3 because you know Edey can hurt you in the paint. Plus, you don't have to do it all game, or every trip. Mix it up, use different help/diggers, like off Furst, or Kaufman or Gillis. The only guys I don't think you leave off of are Loyer or Smith. Smith is statistically their best 3 pt shooter, and we actually have shot the 3 better than them. We'd be north of 40% as a team I think if it weren't for Gunn's dismal 3 pt %. I'd also really challenge 2 guys defensively: JHS on Smith and what I assume will be Galloway/Bates/Kopp on Loyer.

PS, you know what might actually not be bad to try: Gunn on Smith. CMW gave Kaleb a shot last week, bring Gunn in for a few posessions in the first half and see if he can't hound Smith. I've thought his perimeter D has looked really good. I think disrupting Smith distributing the ball is one of the better strategies besides finding a way to limit Edey. Disrupting Smith's entry passes would do both.

 

[.Gerdis]

Great thread. I love the topic. One game at a time. Focus should be on the next game up, which is Purdue.

 

[kkott]

Great thread. I love the topic. One game at a time. Focus should be on the next game up, which is Purdue.

I hear ya, but the reality is I can barely name a player on MD's roster, it's still hard for me to think of them as a B10 team, and PU is our rival and #1 in the country. I think it's probably OK if we as fans look forward to Saturday, just not that our players do. I don't expect to log any minutes tonight, so I forgive me.