Stuhoo

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

He came back in the game thereafter. Good to go.

Oh yeah? Then this play is everything too:

It’s never a trap game when your team is playing incredibly well. Maryland has some playmakers and could get theirs, but a Curt Cignetti vs Mike Locksley coaching battle is not a fair fight.

Gonna disagree here, but it's not a knock on Franke: Franke hits kickoffs for touchbacks pretty much 100% of the time. He's crazy good. Warren handled kickoff duties and hit for a touchback on about 1/2 of his kickoffs. He had multiple five yard deep in the end zone kickoffs. On the kickoffs that weren't touchbacks, Warren must be getting some really good height, because none of them got returned as far as the 20 yard line, which is better than a touchback Now admittedly, a non-touchback comes with risk of a big return (it also comes with risk of a fumble or holding/illegal block penalty that would really pin back the offense). For me the biggest void without Franke is that it limits our field goal range to 50 yards instead of about 58. That matters about once every three or four games, and even then there's no guarantee that Franke will hit from that distance. In summary? Sucks to lose Franke for awhile, but it's not nearly as serious as an injury would be to an offensive lineman, another defensive end injury, a serious injury to Fisher, or lord forbid, an injury to Fernando. Those would be every play injuries with notable dropoff.

Haven’t had a four trailing as a distance threat since Watford; that was 12 years ago

Here’s the proof: On Tayton Conerway’s winning bucket, where was the weakside help defense? It was watching two guys who were 25 feet from the basket; Lamar and Tucker:

Wilkerson didn’t shoot especially well today; 6-15 fg and 3-9 from three. Yet he scored 26 points on 15 shots. That constant threat of the three opens up the entire court; even on days when we don’t hit that many. The spacing and need to guard us on the perimeter allowed Conerway to cruise to the basket for the game winner. Modern offense + really hard work on defense = a team that was a lot of fun to watch.

Wilkerson looked pretty damn good shooting 11-11 from the free throw line today. Shot 6-15 from the floor and 3-9 from three. Maybe, just maybe, that threat of him launching from deep pulls the defense away from the basket and allows him to get a first step on defenders. Because the kid scored 26 points on 15 shots from the floor. That, Old Friend, is what people seem to call ‘modern basketball’; threes, layups, and free throws. It’s a change that takes some getting used to, and today it was a breath of fresh air for me. Wilkerson shot 33% from three today, just like Myles Rice’s % last year. But he was nothing…nothing like Myles Rice. Wilkerson’s offense was a major factor in a gutsy IU win over a good team.

Today, we got over the hump without even mentioning (until now) that the hump existed.

Sam had a really rough first ten minutes. After that he was pretty solid.

Shoulda hired Pearl or Pitino Sr.

Holy ****, bonus game! BTN+ is televising a four minute live game between ours and Baylor’s walk-ons and reserves

That final drive was so good that Jordan Rayford almost jumped out of his walking boot.

Bailey looks way softer than his teammates

Geez .. gotta keep one of them on the court lol! On the other hand, it’s an exhibition—who gives a hot sh!t.

Conerway and Enright are defensive predators. And Tucker is gonna play in the league; he’s got old man game maturity. The guy is 100% an alpha.

We need Ristic and/or Drake back— can’t play with only three active guards.

Leadership, roster construction, culture, attitude, beats Mackenzie Mgbako and Oumar Ballo.

Connor Enright for a full game will wear other teams’ a$$es out.

Sisley is about to make a play… wait for it…….

I don’t need to see a win. I’ve already seen enough to know that this a team we will enjoy.

Our opponents are going to hate Enright. Hoosier Nation is going to love him. He is so well schooled defensively, knows his role and protects the ball on offense, and always, ALWAYS plays like his life depends on it.

Team looks pretty mutha******* good from the neck up to me.

This year when our guys get pushed around? I’m thinking they will not pout, force shots, slack in defense or commit silly fouls. That’s not an athletic measurable, but it’s a very valuable skill.