incrediboy

And we just saw that half

Halftime. Well, that was embarrassing.

Looking at the difference from game 1 to game 7, it's dramatic, especially in protecting the ball. If we can make half that much improvement in the next 7, come January we'll be looking good. Meanwhile, beating Michigan on the road would be a great step forward.

Big Red 83 Corny blues 77

All I really want for Christmas to hear these four words Wednesday night (deja vu from 2011): "Hartman...for the win" Then I come back to reality. Big Red 76, blue evils 82

Does he play defense?

Hoosiers 80 Eaglets 64

I like your lineup and your conclusion. I don't necessarily agree that it would be a worse nightmare with Crean at the helm since the guys already know how to play his style of game...they might actually be looking better than they have so far but the ultimate ceiling would be lower. I wouldn't go back for anything. I'd LOVE to see this team win 20 games, which would mean at least 11-12 wins in the conference.

Without doing any research, I suspect this group of players has as much or more talent on its roster than any Dayton team Archie coached. Granted, this team is just learning how he does things, and some of his Dayton teams had experience with him for years (which certainly counts for a great deal), but if you look at the number of four-star and three-star recruits on the floor and on the bench, it wouldn't surprise me if this was the highest pool of talent Archie has ever had to work with. So...with that in mind...we might have a much higher ceiling ahead this season than the first games indicate. To me, the key men are RoJo and Morgan. RoJo is a four-year starter, and there are times a guy like that must put the team on his back and carry it. I saw a little of that last night for the first time this year. Ditto Morgan on the front line. Apparently he hits 3's well in practice, and if that starts to translate to games, he would become a nightmare to guard with his slashing ability to go with that jump shot. Hey, the title of this topic was 'a reason for optimism'

Big Red 74 Red Doggies 54

Ironic, isn't it, that our lowest-regarded recruit could turn out to be the most valuable? Oladipo and OG come to mind. And while I'm high on Smith, Durham could turn out to be the best of this group.

Hoosiers 74 South Florida (isn't that redundant?) 66

IU 67 Sit n fall 75

IU 101 How? Ward 67

Hoosiers 70 Sick Um Whores 61

Just watched the game and listening to Max B. do color was at least mildly entertaining. What I took away from the game: 1) Davis doesn't look awkward like he did last year; Miller's conditioning drills have at least shaken that out. First half he looked timid, but I think he'll come on to be the monster we want him to be. He appears to be a kid that has to be coached tightly, and fortunately I think we have a staff that will do that. 2) Moore looked like a boy among men. Obviously he needs to bulk up some. Don't see him as a legit backup center. The fact that he didn't get into the game until about midway through the second half says to me CAM isn't counting on him too much right now. 3) Green was the man of the hour. Max was slobbering all over himself about how he expects him to be the leading scorer on the team. 4) RoJo didn't take ridiculous shots, so it concerns me that at least a couple of them didn't fall. However, I'll hold off saying he has to get out of his slump for a couple more games. 5) It seemed we played excellent defense until the shot clock got down to the final seconds. A lot of Marian's points came in the closing seconds of the shot clock. I wish I could say it was because desperate shots went in, but many of them were decent shots that weren't contested as they should have been. We can't release guys to the other end too soon. This can be fixed quickly. 6) Morgan and Newkirk had solid games, but Juwan's old foul bugaboo showed up in the first half...surprising to me because I attributed his high fouls/game last year to the fact he was running at half speed due to injuries. One or two of those fouls might not have been called in a more competitive game, though.

Last I heard Matta was planning to take at least a year off to get it back together physically.

I expect the FBI to cave on this one

Things have sure changed since I went to school. If I could have graduated early, I certainly would have, but way back in the 60's that was impossible. Three top 100 prospects in a month would be an incredible accomplishment. It appears Miller's done it in a couple of days. Of course, that's only the payout...the recruiting has been going on for some time. Welcome to IU, guys! May you hang many banners over our hardwood.

With that mob of guards plus Johnny Jager and Zack McRoberts from the walk-on crowd, playing time will be very thin for some of the guys. Only one can emerge as our PG, and I don't think that will be RoJo or Newkirk -- but both of them will eat up a large percentage of guard minutes. I think someone redshirting in the backcourt makes sense. I believe Green is the most likely candidate to emerge as our point man. How much PT does that leave for Curtis or Al? Unless someone gets hurt, I think it makes sense to give one of the group an extra year because the PT just won't be there this year. Just my opinion.

I have to say Archie won me over with his comments about Davis getting into playing shape. I see Davis as a kid with incredible potential, soft but dependable hands, nice touch on his free throws, willing to bang and mix it up inside. The only thing he lacked last year was that he seemed awkward, as though he hadn't yet adjusted to being as tall as he really is. If this conditioning program puts him where he's mastered that, we will be in great shape. If all the rumors (JBJ, OG and Bryant gone pro) are true, I really like our chances to finish as high as third in the B1G (2nd if by some miracle both Swanigan and Vince Edwards go pro). A front line of Juwan, Hartman and Davis with Moore and Smith as primary backups (and McSwain as insurance against another injury) looks good to me. We're a little backcourt heavy, and I'd suggest someone (CuJo perhaps) be redshirted, but whether it's CuJo, Green or Al D. who gets to wear red needs to be determined by who shows the least likelihood of being our PG.

RoJo returns: http://albersangle.com/robert-johnson-plans-to-return-to-indiana/

I will give him that much. He is indeed an excellent rebounder for his size.

Go Zags!!

First, let me say I hope you're right. But after JBJ got hurt, we played pretty darn good defense (even with Crean as coach) in the B1G in 2016 with Blackmon out. I don't wish the kid any failures, but I don't think he cares. I think he's a selfish "me first" kind of guy who will never pursue something he personally doesn't want to do. Ergo, I have virtually zero expectation of him being a great player his senior year. And, for the record, Dakich didn't make that remark on his radio show, he said it on ESPN for the world (not just his local followers) to hear. We all know the quote had to get back to JBJ, and it obviously had no impact. Which is a shame. And which, I think, supports my opinion.