mdn82

  Because we have absolutely nobody else who can.  If you put Noah on him, he will foul out early.  Who do you want on him that physically can for extended periods of time?  

Cold in Bloomington?  We have been since the season started.  

Hanner should absolutely never dribble the ball.  

Way too much dribbling.  

I would love to see Noah get the ball in the high post and be a decision maker.  Right now, he is one of our top decision makers.  Wouldn't mind seeing Stan come in on Gary Harris.  I think he can match his better than most on our team.  

  I think 2 so far.  But, they led to very easy baskets.  

What is the over/under on TO to have a chance?  I am going to say 15.  

Lmao, I love this board.  

Great play by Troy.  

Shut that kid up.  

Wow, a Crean Quick Hit that work.  

That might have been one of the worst form shots I have seen from a guard in my life.  That was ugly.  

Noah absolutely can't get into foul trouble, or its over.  Only chance we have.  IMO

Please play nice today, lol.  

I apologize for being late to the party.  I had to work today.  As you guys have discussed for a couple of hours now, our turnovers were the story of the game.  To me there were a few items that caused the outcome of the game.     1.  Turnovers.  We had like what?  100 for the game?  If we continue to have the boneheaded turnovers we have had over the last few games more than early on, we won't win more than 7 B1G games.  There is no way you can turn the ball over close to 20 times per game in this conference and win.  We had 23 in this one.  That is downright disgusting.  If we hit 3s at a normal clip for us, we get beat big.  A better team beats us by 20 if we do that.     2.  We got to the foul line in a manner we will have to if we want to compete against most teams.  We got there 30 times.  We have to do that in conference, because quite honestly our offense isn't any good.  Crean has everybody moving in a hectic pace, which is fine.  At some point you have to run something that involves setting picks away from the ball.  We don't do that.  We set easy picks to defend at the top of the key.  Whomever has the ball is always going one on one.  It is frustrating watching the ball movement for the sole purpose of making a move one on one.     3.  Law of averages.  For the first 30 minutes we hit plenty of shots we should not have and normally won't hit.  We were also hitting shots that just aren't good.  For a team that is void of good shooters, I would hope we would take an extra effort of getting guys in position for an easier shot or lower stress shot.  Not a contested 3 at the top of the key, over and over again.  Yes they fell early, but if I am any coach in the B1G, I am telling my players to keep letting us take that.  They will eventually not fall.     Unfortunately, I don't have too many nice things to add to the game.  I was really happy Crean released Stan a little.  His stat line wasn't great, but things happen when he is on the court.  That aspect of his game reminds me so much of Vic as a Freshman.  I know Troy is the ultra athletic kid Crean likes to compare to Vic, but Stan is the kid who reminds me most of Vic.  Dude is just where the ball is every time he is on the court.  That is what I remember more than anything about Vic.  Noah was an absolute beast when he was on the court today.  Unfortunately he fell into a little foul trouble today.  Many teams will try and go right at him to do just that.  If you take Noah away, we will not win.  We will see in the future the importance of this game.  Until then, we get a team on Saturday who we can only hope is looking forward to their top 5 showdown with OSU.  Unfortunately, they have a coach named Tom Izzo who won't allow that.  

I should add, if anyone has seen the deal, it is a 3 year guaranteed deal with 4 option years at the end.  3 years/$54 million Guaranteed, and 4 very expensive option years.  At most this is a 3 year deal.  He will either re-negotiate, or be released after his $18 million per year, which is an increase of $3 million per year.  That is of course if he got no signing bonus, which we all know that is not the case.  His per year salary is actually less than what it was last year.  So, that is why I am saying its a great deal.

I am a Bears fan.  I am not so much a fan of Cutler.  That said, I still think it was the right deal if we were going for it, which we are.  We have an offense in place, and cheap.  We have a clean slate on defense.  We have a GM who built this offense for the most part in under 2 years.  The key players on this offense have a window in the same area as Cutler.  Getting a young QB doesn't make sense.  There isn't a FA QB better than Cutler.  Trestman has done wonders with Cutler in his one year.  I am excited to see what he can do beyond.  I guarantee this isn't just an Emery decision.  Trestman was brought here for Cutler.  If he couldn't do anything with him or felt like he couldn't, he would have got that contract.  Everywhere Trestman has been, the QB has played better than before he got there.  I don't think he plays out the contract either.  Only one QB who has signed a big contract has in the last 20 years.  Usually, they restructure after a couple of years or get cut.  That is what will happen here.  He won't even get that big of a bump in pay from before.  I know people don't realize that.  That is why I honestly am not that stressed about this. 

  Bears got to one with Rex Grossman/Kyle Orton.  I think Cutler could do fine in that argument lol.  I agree with you there.  

  I wouldn't go that far.  I have seen plenty of people happy over it.  Only one of these mega-deals has actually been played out I remember hearing this year.  If I am not completely nuts, I am thinking it was Ben Rapelisberger.  This is a deal for a window.  We won't draft high enough over the next couple of years to get a stud QB.  Its not my money.  I am a Bears fan.  I understand why they did it.  Emery does things his way.  So far, he hasn't been wrong often.  Hopefully this is one of those things.  

I think as a Bears fan it shows they are going for it.  Every player from the offense is coming back.  I would be willing to bet McCown is coming back if he isn't retiring.  As a player, the weapons believe in Jay.  The way the contract is set up gave them the flexibility to make moves on the defense.  I would assume they are releasing Peppers due to the cap hit they would take.  Melton is a long shot, but may be cheaper due to the injury and recent arrest.  Ratliff is interesting due to how he played down the stretch.  They also signed Jennings, but wouldn't be surprised if they went Corner or Safety in the 1st round.  Everyone keeps saying d-line or corner.  I think there are enough players out there we could find on the d-line in FA.  Sounds like you will see the Bears very active in FA on the Defensive side of the ball.  Emery built that o-line and got other pieces in one year.  I think he can do the same on the D side in 2.  For Jay, that contract is as good as 3-4 years if he doesn't perform.  That is their window anyway with Marshall, Forte, Briggs, Jennings, and Bennett.  That is why I think its a smart move.  

I am all for a fast paced team.  But, when it is causing more harm than good, you need it to slow it down to your personnel.  I understand the fast break, and the secondary break is our offense at this point.  Once you get in a situation you understand you aren't scoring with the break, slow the offense down.  What is our offense at this point?  Everyone complained the last few years because of our lack of movement.  Comparing this team to the 4 years prior and those 4 years might as well be RMK motion offense compared to this.  Crean has to work with these guys on offense.  I don't know if he was so used to having to teach defense to his last couple of teams, and not offense, that he does not spend as much time as others.  To me its like having a rookie QB.  You minimize the playbook and get them comfortable.  We need to do that at this point cause this isn't working.  IMO

I would like to see Evan shoot more.  

  They are a completely different team and roster.  That is why I didn't comment on them not improving much in the article.  Groce had a lot of turnover on the roster.  

Yeah man, it really does suck.  Unfortunately, I would feel wrong wiping him from IU history because I am butthurt.  Not fair to him or anyone else.  I wish he was still here, but that wasn't the hand that was dealt.  We just have to move on.  

  Yeah, we have our opinions as every person does.  We are IU fans as you guys know.  At the same time, we try and allow you guys the space to say your peace either way.  Now, if its something that becomes a distraction of the mass or just plain annoying over time, we step in.  Luckily we haven't had to do that much.  People here are pretty cool about that.