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So, I'm boarding the plane (in Tampa) to fly up for the UCLA game, fully decked out in IU gear. The old guy scanning boarding passes looks at me and says, "I got nothing against Indiana but your coach is a stick in the mud". I looked him dead in the eye and said, "He wins . . . google him". I haven't experienced that type comments from total strangers since Bob Knight was coaching at IU; I'll take that as a great sign of things to come.

Outside of game analysis, which he is excellent at, I find Bilas annoying on most topics.

^^^ And while it was just an exhibition game and we shouldn't take it for more than that, our guys did hang with a good Baylor team and did so with minimal sideline coaching in at least the closing minutes of the first half and game. a 15-win take from that seems really unwarranted, imo. To me, this is a team that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts -- and that's the opposite of a Woodson coached team.

Its D1 football there is no running up the score. If you don't want us to score, stop us.

Don't disagree with much of what you said at all... but if this team only gets 13-15 wins I will **** in my hat and pull it over my ears. I think the floor is closer to 18/19 wins and the best case scenario is probably an 8/9 seed. Still too soon to tell IMO. Definitely share your concern about Bailey. Will be interesting to see how he fares against Ben Gold and Marquette. Really hope Dorn plays in that one. And Sisley... if he focuses on rebounding and defense, he will see plenty of time on this team. The scoring will come along. I have a lot of confidence in DDV setting his players up for success. There are known deficiencies and things won't always go our way... but beating Baylor in a game where we shot 25% from 3 and lost the rebounding battle by 19 makes me cautiously optimistic about this team overcoming adversity and finding ways to win.

Enright played and started for a P5 team last year. He was also pretty coveted by a coach who had a top 15 DefE last year at a power 5 school. I think the lack of athleticism might be a tad overstated. I’ve seen guys like Bo Ryan and Tony Bennett put out really good defensive teams without a ton of top line athletic talent. But that does kind of bleed into the rebounding. Yes we struggled to rebound on the defensive end. But a huge portion of their advantage was in the 16 vs 4 offensive rebounds stat. I doubt you’ll see us get many this year as guys hustle back to set-up our half court defense. The aforementioned mentioned Ryan and Bennett rarely had prolific offensive rebounding teams for the exact same reason. So we’ll usually get out rebounded but hopefully to the tune of getting good D efficiency (which will somewhat be dampened if we still struggle with defensive rebounds).** We got there in the second half and Coach Drew even praised it in post game. I think the rate at which we will make 3’s won’t affect our floor as much as it does our ceiling. Our floor will be determined by how well they defend. If we defend like the first 10 min of that exhibition somewhere in the mid-teens is realistic. If we defend like we did in the second half, we shouldn’t have a problem making the tourney. **while I agree on some of Baileys limitations, Baylors two leading rebounders were long athletic guards. We can shore up a significant portion of our rebounding issue by getting better at blocking out as a team.

Just read an old story that was a link in a piece about the former LSU coach. Makes it easy to see why Brian Kelly is so disliked. When Kelly was at Central Michigan, a pair of grad assistants were under the impression he had invited them to his Christmas party. Instead, they were there to shovel snow and park cars (think "Coming to America"). Who were those grad assistants? Matt LaFleur -- current Green Bay Packers head coach. Robert Saleh -- current San Francisco 49ers DC and former New York Jets HC. Both vowed if they ever became head coaches, they'd never be such dicks to their staffs.

Post-game comments. Shay Ciezki says Nevaeh Caffey is the team's best on-ball defender while Lenee Beaumont calls her "fearless", high praise for the true freshman Lenee Beaumont talking about leadership after the game, said they had one teaching moment after the game...had to teach all the newcomers IU's fight song Teri Moren: "Nevaeh (Caffey) set the table us for defensively..." she was aggressive from the jump and everything fell in place thanks to that effort and intensity on defensive end of floor. "Nevaeh gives us something different that we've never really had..." makes ball handlers uncomfortable, just heats up the ball on defense Teri Moren: Valentyna Kadlecova got starting nod over Maya Makalusky mainly because of her experience edge and being slightly better defender right now, said both will play a lot, was really impressed with Makalusky gave them tonight Teri Moren: "If there was one area we have to clean up, we can't foul as much as we did..." the Hoosiers had 25 fouls, Zania Socka-Nguemen asked if she got six fouls, Moren joked, "I'm not sure if they taught her that at UCLA" Teri Moren: "Sydney Fenn had to have another (knee) surgery, will not be playing this year"

Yea, he is. It's interesting -- after he said some attention grabbing things early in his tenure he developed an image as a cocky sh1ttalker and that kinda dominated the discourse around IUFB. I get why, it was entertaining. But as we know his statements (Google me, PU/UM/OSU suck, etc.) were mostly directed at the IUFB program and IU fans to let them know that our old loser mentality is over and we aren't going to be a doormat anymore. But almost no one in the media was going to pick up on that nuance or care. The reality is he's a much more lowkey guy in press conferences. It's nice to see the sh1ttalker "image" mostly fall away and the focus is now on the program and the results, where it should be.

Hilarious. I'm sure LaFluer's driveway could use shoveling up in Green Bay this winter. He should offer Kelly a job.

Idk. I like the depth compared to previous years. Young depth, but depth. Not in the front court so much. Stotjin (sp?) is a bit of a chucker. Can’t get my mind around her game yet. Much of the second 5 has strong potential. Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners mobile app

I was there as well. Thought the energy was decent from the tiny crowd, but it was fun and certainly worth the way too expensive tickets. Agree with a lot of what’s noted above, couple of things to add: 1) The difference early in the 2nd half was really good ball pressure and that was freaking Conerway. In the 1st 4 Baylor possessions he forced a TO in the post with a hard dig, helped off on a driver and blocked a shot and just straight pressured a kid on the wing into a TO. Really set a tone. Easy to see why Chris Jans really wanted him. Thought he was the best player on the floor the entire 2nd half. 2) The Bailey thing is concerning. He lacks lower body strength, gets bumped off path way too easily and gets outleveraged. There may not be a lot teams that can take advantage of him on the block. But the ones that can, yeesh. What made him good at Davidson was playing out of the high post with a facilitation piece and I don’t know if that’s how this is gonna go. He may end up being a bit of a misfit. Side note: the “I’m 15 and can sort of grow a ‘stache now” look has got to go. Reed, cut that thing, you’re an adult. 3) Really hope when Dorn gets healthy he can fill that long wing piece that they lacked yesterday. Carr was really good for Baylor, but he’s not super special. IU just had no matchup for him. 4) DeVries said he didn’t call much late in the game. Didn’t appear to me like he called much at any point. Just looked like they were running tons of continuity. Did the same thing against Marian. Would think that will be a fair percentage of their offense, but I imagine there is a lot we haven’t seen. Thought on the whole it was pretty encouraging and certainly entertaining. It was mentioned a couple of times above, but the 2 pass press break into the 1 on 1 Wilkerson 3 was awesome. 20 years ago that would’ve got you a seat.

247 national sports staff put in a crystal ball prediction for IU to land him with high (7) confidence. https://247sports.com/PlayerInstitution/vaughn-karvala-at-bella-vista-prep-339743/CurrentExpertPredictions/

I'm also more optimistic knowing that PSU's current QB Grunkenmeyer is an immobile RS freshman who has thrown 39 career passes, with two interceptions and a TD. And that's if he survives this week against OSU. Because his backup is Jaxon Smolik, a RS sophomore who has yet to throw a pass in a game. And Jaxon Smolik is questionable going forward with an arm injury. And therefore, PSU is likely an injury away from their QB being either: Bekkam Kritza, a true freshman 3* who has been hurt since training camp and may or may not be cleared to practice for the first time this week, or Jack Lambert, an unranked RS sophomore walk-on that has never taken a snap. Now, current PSU QB RS freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer is a talented (though non-running) young player. But if he is a flat-out disaster or goes down either during the OSU game or against us? They are really, really screwed to an extent seldom seen at the major college level.

The media assumption that it’s a no-brainer that we are going to win at PSU makes me nervous. They have a ton of 4/5 stars, were a top 3 team (must be some talent), 100k fans and who knows how they will regroup after Franklin’s departure? I think we will win but……

It's fair to question if Bailey can hang as a 5 in the Big Ten. But I don't think it's accurate to say he has mid major ability. Not many guys his size who can move and have the ball skills that he does. Dorn I think is also an important piece for this team when he gets healthy. 6'7" shooter, seems a natural fit for us at the 3. UNC and Maryland wanted him out of the portal too.

Today’s Hoosier Hysterics with Rabjohns is a good discussion of Indiana and its recruiting and money pot. Gets into a lot of the thoughts I’ve been discussing. Winning with less. Our money doesn’t travel like it used too. Hopefully Dolsen is able to figure something out to get another 33% or so to the NIL space so we can win some of these more reasonable recruiting battles.

https://x.com/kayserhoops/status/1983194707338367185?s=46

In one game (Illinois, I think), Alberto didn't even throw a pass so they ran every play. They still scored 2 TD. As for the sh*t-talking/cockiness, some of what people considered to be that was saying that IU would be making the B1G Championship game and CFP. No one believed it possible so they just chalked it up to talk. Yet here we are, having already made the CFP in year 1 and look very good to make both the B1G Championship and CFP in year 2. It's not looking like sh*t-talking or cockiness now, just a great prediction.

Based on last night looks like Fenn (injured), and Ondineme won't contribute at all. Kiaku will struggle to adjust to this level and Spreen and Noyan will play only bit minutes. Rotation looks like Shay and Lenee as clear leaders as we expected, Caffey starting and having a Yarden like impact immediately, Big Z at the 5, and Valentyna (clearly much improved) or Phoenix taking last spot starting with other playing extensively off bench with Faith and Makalusky seeing extended back up minutes as main 8 person rotation. Freshman in Caffey and Makalusky are real deal and even more excited for the three even higher ranked recruits next yr. This is what recruiting is supposed to look like when you are winning. Clearly new recruiting coach over coach Sayavongchanh was exactly what was needed and recruiting fell off as soon as Glenn Box left several years ago. Despite winning, coach Sy was missing on nearly everyone good and glad Moren saw it and replaced her with the new guy getting recruiting results that match the results on court. Speaking of missing, it’s early but I have serious questions if any transfers outside Phoenix and Big Z contribute much. There is a reason they were immediate gets and had to beat everyone and their brother out for them while others were added late with little opposition later. Exactly like men, where Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson are legit players added quickly from portal against serious competition while others were later gets who look like minimal contributors at this level potentially. Expect a similar record to last year as comfortable back end NCAA Tourney team who finishes mid-pack in league. When Caffey and Makalusky are combined with the even better recruits (+portal) and Lenee next year, look out. Outside of Valentyna's improvement, pretty much what I expected player wise and always thought Caffey was an instant stud with athleticism team has lacked as I posted many times last year.

Another narrative that irks me a bit is some people say IU/Cig tries to run up the score. I'd guess they just look at the score in a few games and conclude that. Yes, last year, we did in certain instances (lol!). But, we were under fire from many parts of the CFB landscape and had to make statements to the committee. This year though, as anyone who pays any attention knows, in our two big blowouts we pulled Fernando and other starters at the end of the 3rd. And it's not realistic to ask Alberto and the second stringers to not try for 15+ minutes. Duh. This is not a big deal. But it's just another instance of an odd narrative.

Yeah. This gets constantly misreported. He didn’t say it at his opening press conference, as many have reported. He said it at a press conference during the portal recruiting season in response to a question regarding what he could possibly tell recruits to convince them to come to Indiana given Indiana’s football history and Cig’s lack of experience at a Power 4 school. And it wasn’t the first time he had gotten that question. His answer after being asked a few times, “I win. Google me.”

The most out of context viral quote of all time. The question was something along the lines of how do you turn over the roster so quickly and get kids to a horrible P4 program without any proof of concept at this level and that answer was basically him throwing his hands in the air and being like “idk man, this is all I got.” Or at least that’s always been my interpretation.

That honestly seems to be the NCAA’s goal—an officially sanctioned stepping stone to the NBA. I’m ready for the NCAA to be officially pushed aside and the B1G/SEC create something new in its place.

I"ve read cousin not brother but yeah, family and handlers sound like a situation DDV would not deal with.

Watching the last 10 minutes of the BIG TEN GAME in 60 minutes on BTN. Normally I would not bother watching the ending of a Rutgers at PU game but seeing all the happy/excited PU fans and players, and knowing how they are ultimately going to pee on themselves, is must-see TV.

A 21.5 point favorite in a November road conference game! Wow, I never thought I'd see this day. The whole world knows about Coach Cig now

We’ are also not going to shoot 25% from 3 very often either… imagine 2-4 more of those of fallen… completely different game. I hate playing the IF game but I expect our percentage to be way higher

NOT CANDY CORN! Correct answer.

Man, when it comes to Halloween candy -- I'm all about the chocolate. I'd say less than half these dudes went that route. Sour Patch Kids, Skittles, Sweet Tarts -- meh. GIMME CHOCOLATE! https://x.com/B1GMBBall/status/1983211235874132260

Note we checked in with Grivna back in April

I got tickets for the Empire Classic in NYC a couple years ago through IU. And had the same frustrations you guys are having. Took months for them to tell me whether or not my request would even be filled. (While the available stock on Ticketmaster gradually dwindled down during that time) IU ticket office needs to do better.

I just called the ticket office and they said a ticket download instruction email should be sent out by the end of the week. The young kid answering the phone didn't sound all that confident though.

The Marquette game is in 12 days, the fact that tickets haven't been sent out yet is a little ridiculous.

Agree! For me Wiseman was better than expected last year in spot minutes, yet last night she looked overmatched against inferior competition. I think it's notable that Noyan was the first true big off the bench and played in with the starters - she looks to be clearly ahead of Wiseman in the rotation currently.

As Dizzy Dean said: "It ain't bragging if you can do it."

Mildly surprised Wiseman only played 9 min. and Spreen 12 min. and then considered this was an ideal game to give Caffey (23 min.) and Makalusky (20 min.) a real taste of college bball even if it was a D-2 opponent. Wiseman and Spreen have both "been there, done that". Also, unlike years past, CTM is going to have to rely on her freshmen far more than she historically has and can't just give them mop up minutes. Interesting to see the starting lineup and minute distribution in our season opener next Tuesday vs. Lipscomb.

The ol’ Lou Holtz routine. Of course, Lou was pretty good at getting his guys up for big games and navigating tough schedules. Cig is good in these press conferences.

He’s got kind of a high center of gravity. He looked decent enough in space at times. I wonder if the staff can work with him to continue to get low and apply more leverage in the post defensively. You can see why CDD mentioned playing him and Alexis together, though. There’s too much roster turnover for me to keep up with but I wonder how many B1G teams even have a guy who can punish us down low. I still worry more about the rebounds. All those guys seem to be below average rebounders for their position. Maybe that’s where a more athletic wing comes into play over Enright.

We got great looks

Read earlier that apparently he accepted the LSU job while on a recruiting visit. He stepped away to take the call then returned to gorge himself on the mother’s cooking before leaving. Apparently the news had leaked by the time the family checked their phones after the visit. Sounds like the kid wasn’t then recruited to LSU

Both those ladies are going to play a lot as Fresh(wo)men. Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners mobile app

Btw above pics are courtesy of my mom, she’s a women’s bball regular, has been going to all their games basically since we had a women’s team. She’s liking what she sees fwiw

I’m waiting for Lebron James to announce his college decision because MJ has an NCAA championship and he’s gotta chase that now. The court argument will be that James was more of a professional actor than basketball player so he will be allowed to play. im only half joking with this

Still 5 min. left to play but both Caffey and Makalusky with solid outings for their first collegiate games. Caffey hasn't scored in the 2nd half but she's recorded 2 reb; 5 asst; and 2 stls. She had 2 TOs, but both were early in the 1st Q. She's played 23 min. thus far. Makalusky in double figures with 11 pts; 8 reb; 3 asst in 17 min.

He has 3 years of eligibility left. Kid doesn’t look a day over 30.

Thank you but no thank you.

If Fisher can practice and lead the team he will be out there on Saturday. Football players play football.

The best thing he did was get out ahead of the NIL era. I heard this morning there will be > $250 million in dead money paid to coaches (James Franklin, Brian Kelley, etc) as contract buyouts. That's crazy. In college football, no team can win consistently without an elite coach. There might be a dozen of them nationwide and we have one of them who is happy at Indiana. Scott being ahead of things and finding that coach before everyone else found out they had to changed the game and everything about athletics at Indiana. Basketball will benefit from football's success AND get better on its own. We're sitting in a really good spot and Indiana is most definitely here to stay. We have perfect alignment - for the first time since Ralph Floyd and John Ryan - between coaches, athletic director, and school president. That's rare and we get to enjoy it.

Woody was the hump.