incrediboy

I realized and corrected, two of you got posts in before I amended it. I knew it was at Kohl Center, but I figured Maryland would smash the Badgers.

The story I heard from a former Herald-Times reporter was that Bassett agreed to transfer rather than being kicked off the team by Dakich. For the record my friend agreed with all of Dakich's moves, saying Sampson's recruits were mostly thugs.

I am shocked, stunned, whatever the word is that Wisky played Maryland to such a tight game, even at Madison. Hard for me to believe it because I just don't see talent beyond Nigel and Koenig on that team. I see Happ had 16 and 11 in the box score, which stuns me that he did that against the Terps. Missed the game on TV but have seen most of Georgia Tech's pasting of Virginia, altho UVA has just cut it to 7 with 50 seconds to go.   No surprise to me that NW is beating up on Minnesota.

I reiterate I think we would have lost at Rutgers and (more certainly) at Nebraska playing as we did against Wisconsin. I cannot imagine Wisconsin beating Michigan State, Iowa, Purdue or Maryland, even at home (not saying I see Rutgers or Nebraska doing that either). This is just my opinion, but this is NOT a good Wisconsin team, not a team that will make the tournament. Beating them by one is impressive only in that it beats the alternative of losing. I was very disappointed in IU's play. This is a team we should have blown out big-time. Maybe the shadow of Blackmon being out for the season took some wind out of our sails or something, but what we showed in this game was at best mediocrity.

Yeah, I'm happy to beat Wisky. This looked like one of Bo Ryan's old teams with not much talent but a penchant to make the game look ugly. But honestly if we'd played like this all three games we'd be 1-2 in the B1G right now IMO.   If Troy is thinking of going pro, I'm wondering what pro team would want him. Certainly no NBA team. Lately he's losing the ball more often than he's scoring with it, and his rebounding hasn't shown much either. With all the speculation about next year, it's looking more and more that Troy and JBJ will be back in Bloomington instead of getting paid to play as pros. And if Troy keeps playing like this, he won't be a starter much longer.   NZ has one role...to make 3s. If he doesn't, he needs to be on the bench. As Dakich noted, he's a great cheerleader. When is he going to start getting into his rhythm? He was better last year so far.   What's wrong with RoJo? Since conference play started, he's been worthless on offense and not much better on defense. It's like his head is not fully in the game. Stupid mistakes, no-look passes that go to nobody, stepping on the end line... (sighing that there's an etc. that belongs here)   If I were CTC, I would flat-out order "NO no-look passes." I'd estimate that 90% of them this season have resulted in turnovers.   The emergence of OG and Morgan, especially on defense, has given us some spark. Bryant and Max did their jobs. Yogi did what he was supposed to do. Ergo we won.    We know Troy and RoJo can be quality players. If they will just emerge and be the players we know they can be, we can play with anybody anywhere. But if their funks continue, it's going to be a long season. Even without JBJ, our lineup is 20 points better than Wisky IMO. So games like this worry the **** out of me.

I thought of Wilkerson, and I do see some physical similarities, but that's not the comparison I had in mind. Might not even be an IU player, but he definitely reminds me of someone.

This will be a toughie. Remember OSU went into Lexington and beat Kentucky, and Tate played really well as a freshman against us last year.   I'll be happy with IU 79-77.

I cannot recall ever seeing any freshman from any team have his "arrival" in two conference road games like OG has, and I've been watching IU basketball since my freshman year in Bloomington in 1968. What could be a better omen than having a coming-out party in your first two B1G road games?   OG also reminds me of a past great, I just can't recall whom. The build, the hair... Maybe one of the others on here can make the connection.   While we're praising the kids, good things have happened with Morgan on the floor the past couple of games also. The kid plays defense, rebounds and has his head in the game. I love this year's recruiting class.

Indiana 88 Wisky 64

Too many unforced errors by Troy, Yogi and RoJo (what the heck is wrong with RoJo?) Could have put it away much earlier but Bryant missed the front end of two straight one-plus-one's and OG followed by missing the front end of another. Put those six on the board and it's never a close game even with JBJ sitting again.   Other than that, kudos to everyone who stepped on the floor and to the coaching staff's game plan.   OG just keeps getting better, and Morgan is starting to make good things happen when he's on the floor, too.

I came to this thread hoping to learn something. So much for that.    But...while I think we are a better team with JBJ than without him, the fact is that RoJo has shown he can play the game every bit as well as JBJ. So if we're going to be a man short, Johnson will just have to step up and be the man. It's not like we don't have 3-point shooters with one of our main guys down. Beyond Yogi, RoJo and Zeisloft, Hartman is starting to hit form again, and OG and even Burton sank threes against Rutgers. It's not like we're losing our best defender, either (although Blackmon probably CAN guard a chair no matter what Dakich says).   Troy can move to guard when necessary. He plays guard about half the time anyway.   Niego hasn't embarrassed himself if we need another guard off the bench. And let's not forget Fuchs is about to return, so we do have some depth, especially with OG and, to a lesser degree, Morgan, starting to look like Big Ten players.   The fact is we can compete with anyone without JBJ. Yes, we're better with him, if for no other reason than his "scorer's mentality," but even if this is a season-ender, we can stay in the mix. 

Whatever RoJo did last night, don't ever let him do it again. He looked like he'd never played a college game before.   What's happened to NZ's deadly shot?   Yogi and Troy weren't exactly valuing the ball when they had it, either. Guess they thought someone had to turn it over a few extra times since Blackmon wasn't there to drive to nowhere.   At least OG stepped up, he could be the gem of this recruiting class. That jam that didn't count was impressive, too. This kid could really be something.   Other positives: Hartman seems back in form, Morgan and Burton gave some quality minutes (I had no idea Burton was deadly from the corner). And we'd have been lost without Max.   A win is a win, but we won't win another road B1G game playing this poorly.

IU 104-64

We did that last year with minimal impact...just another body on the bench.

Does it get better than IU winning and UK and Purdue losing?

Very encouraged by two things:   1) Hartman appears to be getting into form after his early injuries. When he's healthy and strong, we're a far better team   2) OG no doubt gained a ton of confidence today. An effective ninth man in the rotation makes big difference over 8 in the conference.   My Christmas wish list:   That Troy would play more to win and less for highlights   That Blackmon would work half as hard on his defense as his offense.

Hard to disagree

I pay the proper homage to the record of Bo Ryan. His record of past success speaks for itself.   Nonetheless, I predicted last summer that he needed to get out sooner rather than later before he became part of the mediocrity that would begin in Cheeseheadland this year. Not surprised that he did it. College basketball always begs the question, "What have you done for me lately?" Ryan, of course, is legendary at Wisky and could have stayed as long as he wanted. It appears he wanted no more of this team.   So when does his ESPN contract start?

Hoosiers 87, Irish Stew 81

Not much to say about the game, obviously.    But I was delighted to see Morgan and Burton back on the floor and not showing a lot of rust. We need bodies to throw out there come conference time.   Looking forward to the Notre Dame game to see if we've adjusted to the point we can play with big boys again.

And in case no one caught the final, Creighton demolished Nebraska by 16

What a roller coaster at the start...it looked like "here we go again" the first few minutes. Then the team we've all expected showed up.   Now we have to see if we can do this against a real team.   And, frankly, we'll need more than an 8-man rotation (I know OG played, but not much when it counted and what did he accomplish when out there against a weak opponent?) to prosper in the B1G.   I am encouraged but not convinced.

Ultimately I wouldn't go through with the forfeit, as my contract wouldn't permit me to do such a thing. But I'd want the players to think I might right up until game day. Because if they're not going to give the proper effort on the floor, why should they get to play the game? Of course, the fan base -- beyond the hardcore fans who might understand the move -- would be disappointed, ticket sales would have to be refunded...it wouldn't be doable. But someone needs to do something to get through to these guys.   My updated prediction (to be applied on game day): IU 101, MS 73

If I were coaching IU, I'd forfeit this game just to prove a point and the final score would be   Morehead 2 IU 0

This is a painful time for me as I lost my father last week so I haven't been posting throughout this house of horrors on the courts.   However, right now I am amazed that this team is worse than last year's. Who could have believed Stan Robinson and Max Hoetzel were better than Thomas Bryant and Max Bielfeld?   Who could have believed that Yogi and some of the others would have their games go DOWNHILL?   I would love to blame Crean for all this, but honestly I can't. Yes, he deserves his share of being piled upon, but I am sure he doesn't coach guys into making no-look passes that always (I mean 100 per cent of the time if you haven't noticed...go back at watch the UNLV replay and you'll see at least half a dozen of them) end in turnovers. I am sure he doesn't coach lack of hustle that results in second-chance points for our opposition. I am sure he doesn't coach a player turning his back and then realizing the man he's supposed to be defending is scoring.   While you're watching the UNLV replay for no-look passes, watch how bad our offense interacts with each other when Bryant is on the floor. THAT is either a coaching problem or a horrendous communication problem centering on Bryant.   I am totally LOST for any explanation about all this on the whole.   I believe I would bench everyone and start as many walk-ons as I could to make a statement.    On the plus side...if there is one...I would rather we go through our house of horrors in November and December than in January, February and March. But what I've seen so far is that we have no reason to think we're going to turn it around. This is a team that obviously doesn't give a sh*t (whether it's a 2-point sh*t or a 3-point sh*t is irrelevant at this point).   Yes, I'll continue to watch. And by the end of the year my dog will be so afraid of me she won't be in the same room with me.   I think there's a song with a line that says, "disappointment was my closest friend."