maxwell

To whom are the options wide open?  Has Cuban changed his mind? Has Glass changed his after CTC’s turnaround this year?

Thon tells a little bit about his story:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wTHLZiOUqc

I liked:          1)  The way our guys fought and clawed their way back at the end of the first half.          2)  The way we knocked down free throws on the road.  Especially Bryant.          3)  These players and coaches putting themselves in a position to win at Wisconsin.          4)  Select posters that are really looking at this loss objectively.  I realize that if for some reason things were to completely go south, there will indeed be high volume he77 raising; however, I've been pleasantly surprised by the support of the changes that have taken place.   If rules permit,  I would like CTC take these guy to a wide range of gyms through out the state & have the players shoot with difficult lighting conditions in each of the places they practice.  With the exceptions of Yogi last night & Nick Z in Minny I'm not certain we've really had anyone to really light it up from deep.  I'm not complaining here. Nor am I in any kind of panic mode.  The cooler outside shooting percentages on the road is something that has been on my mind a bit since Maui.  Does anyone have recommendations on what this team may try to stay hot when they have a variety of backgrounds to look at when playing on the road?

Nice first post!   I may have read a similar post that touched on this idea last week in another forum.  The post did not mention anything about Thon; however, CTC creates additional options and opportunities if he has Davis backing up Bryant with a minimal amount of time of them playing together.  I like your ideas on the player combinations.  Lets hope that Thon sees the development in the players of this team and desires to take advantage of the opportunity here.

  uhh... two national championships?

I agree with you here.  I also better understand where Brass is coming from with his concern for the execution of a consistent result.  Freshmen improvement, future balanced rosters, defense, screens, and post feeds all have me stoked for the continued development of this team.  With the players and families that are here currently combined with those that are to come, I believe Crean and staff are the verge of great things with consistent results.

If that were the case, what solid coach do you plan on pulling in here considering a firing post a national championship?

Thomas Bryan'ts significant improvement in defensive footwork & positioning has/will earn CTC & Staff their well deserved stay in 16/17.  Barring injury and the small percentage chance that he will leave for the NBA, next year's team will provide Coach Tom Crean a healthy extension.   The momentum is real! :popcorn:  :popcorn:  :popcorn:  

That's a ton of free throws.

Just as long as he kept it shut long enough for Walton to teach Dan the fundamental differences between man-to-man, 2-3 & 1-3-1 zones, that would be great.

Our son hasn’t played organized ball for a couple of years, but the environment could not have been better for us to celebrate his thirteenth birthday as our guys absolutely took Thad’s boys to the wood shed on Sunday.  He got player autographs.  OG and Doc Libby were gracious to allow him to have pictures taken with them.  We even had a short unexpected exchange with Fred Glass as he was heading into the gift shop.  This is going to be an awesome season and we are very excited about the momentum the staff and players are putting together.   In my opinion there is no reason to be concerned about Z.  I know there was some discussion earlier in the thread.  Somewhere like around an hour and twenty minutes prior to game time the dude was making nice cuts without the ball, catching the pass and knocking down treys from the baseline, wing and top of the key.  We are very fortunate to have very good shooting depth on this team.  About the time someone begins to cool off, Nick will be as hot as ever.  Get well soon James!   Btw my son did convince me to play a little horse, pig and some 1/1 last night in the driveway.  It is amazing the inspiration a little OSU butt kicking will give to a teenager and his father.  I feel  41 should consider the sponsorship of Alford, Wayne, Safety, Stu & Sons.  I think that would be a great return on your promotional dollar.  We are always good at spending someone else’s  money.  J

I like how this lad moves with a low center of gravity on both ends of the floor considering his height.

^^^ @WCH  I agree with most all of your above post.  To the degree in which Troy can tighten up the handles I would like to see this play continue because feel recently he has improved:  1)  a better sense of knowing when his driving lane has been closed off.  2) when the decision is made to make a pass, generally, he is making an accurate passed that puts his teammate in a good shooting position.

Tremendous story in itself:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/bigten/2014/11/05/college-basketball-fran-mccaffery-patrick-mccaffery-iowa-cancer-diagnosis/18558257/   @Pap:  Thanks for all the time you put into this.  This is great stuff. Not that I put near as much stock into the star rating system as I did at one time, however, I feel it is interesting to look at the strong start Iowa has had and the star rating of their 16 class. I hope by the season's end many will appreciate CTC's efforts in the 15 class as they continue to make huge strides of improvement.  Speaking of improvement, is it just me or has anyone else noticed here of late that when we commit a turnover (ok got it... we still need improvement here!) there seems to be much better body language from the rest of the team rather than a hang dog wuss look of "oh, you let me down again"?  I feel there is a genuine development of emotional stability and respect among the players on this squad.  btw I'm out of control stoked for these next two games.   Go Hoosiers

Nice first post and your username is awesome!

Welcome Back!  Thanks for serving our country.  

LOL -- Too much time over in the "Buy or Sell" thread?

I'm a buyer here.        1) Great team chemistry.  Look & listen to both James & Thomas as they took the spotlight and shinned it on other teammates when they were complimented last night during the post game presser.  There was nothing wrong prior with team chemistry.  I just feel we are looking at a whole new level.      2) Two years of forced small ball gives this team many options when Bryant is out resting.  ie The movement of our perimeter players W/O the ball is tremendous right now.  The options CTC [HoosierTravs new avatar after the F4] has this team running off the horizontal cuts is becoming very interesting.      3) I realize that people have not seen from our freshman in the last few days the production that we had from them in the exhibition.  I'm convinced they will take hugh strides by the end of January.   This will all be easier to judge after this next tournament.

Yo...HELLO!  This x 1000 baby.  Anderson is a beast!  He will absolutely change the way we recruit in the future as well as finish out the year in our tournament runs imo.  These guys have more air in the lungs and are running on a higher octane fuel.  I love it.   ---- The momentum is real!

I've had the same thoughts until today.  As much as CTC and staff have developed and imo deserved the identity of a "developmental program", it would not surprise me if the staff crafted their pitch to Rawle or any other guards such that JB as well as all the back court players will account for quality blocks of time on & off the offensive ball.  So the focus would be more of a rotation rather than it's  JB at the 2 or Rawle at the 2.  Could be way wrong... just a different angle on that thought.

It's all good.  Even if it were to turn out to be 3/9 for you, at least percentage wise we are trending up from 28 to 33.  I hope the staff and players blow the roof off of these numbers for you.  Regardless of the outcome, you come with a lot of passion and I appreciate your many twitter updates on a wide variety of iubb conversations.  Thank you for that!

I'm just curious.  What percentage of your posts & "likes" reflect this?

OT:  MSB bringing the Charmin?

^ What's the story behind your name change?  Did you lose a bet?

You let me know when this Indiana team hits your satisfactory level of ‘good’.  I get the feeling that Hartman along with everyone of the players on this team (experienced and freshmen) have absolutely busted their rear ends this summer for knowledgeable and loyal fans like yourself.  Win or lose, I will enjoy watching this group of guys take their collective strengths and compete with the heart and hustle of a Hartman against all teams, especially those loaded with 'real big men'.