incrediboy

IU 90-87

My take:   Positive: all three freshmen contributed and looked liked they belonged. Bryant banged hard with heavy competition underneath. Morgan looked to me like he could be something special. Anunoby wasn't out of place and appears to be an exceptional 3-star recruit. The other newcomer, Bielfeld, did most of what's expected although he turned his back to the ball once and got beat as a result. Otherwise, I think he played really well. Blackmon and NZ haven't lost a spin on their bombs, and Blackmon seemed a little more comfortable handling the point when Yogi moved to SG. Bryant and Bielfeld give us more smart size (as opposed to Perea and Holt, who were big but not so good at positioning) to combat our horrendous problem of giving up offensive rebounds last year.   Negative: Troy was out of control more often than not, it seemed. As always, he made a spectacular play or two but tried to do too much and got some very silly fouls along with a ton of turnovers. Blackmon also did a couple of drives to nowhere. Yogi had no business leaping the bench to make that save. He didn't come down on his feet, and that could have been disastrous. Far too much sloppy play that can be chalked up to opening night, but that excuse vanishes next time out. Defense was incredibly vulnerable to drive-and-kick which led to a ton of open 3's. Fortunately Ottawa wasn't hitting but we can't play defense like that in the B1G and expect to win. Our screening needs a lot of work. We have shooters who could benefit greatly from better screening.   Neutral: RoJo was okay in every facet but I wish he could work to get himself open off the dribble like Yogi can; I didn't see any of that. Hartman obviously hadn't practiced too hard because of his injuries; his outside shot was awful but his hustle and sense of the game were right on.    Overall it was an okay effort but I wasn't wowed by anything except how well the freshmen are already integrated into this team.

Wonder if the stench comes from the all-beef patties or the special sauce?

Oops...

Incredible quote from Calipari...could he really have said this:   http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/05/21/john-calipari-kentucky-players-drafted

I'm in. This is my retirement year so I'm not sure I can be ongoing every year, but for now I'm in the paying flock. Love the site and happy to support it when I can.

I think Morgan will be the surprise who impresses so much it's impossible not to put him in the lineup. But it might be a few games before he or Bryant get in the starting five. Opening game:   Yogi, RoJo, JBJ, Troy, Hanner   Big Ten season opener:   Yogi, JBJ, Troy, Morgan, Bryant

Starters: Bryant, Yogi, Morgan, Troy, Blackmon.     If Devin is able to come back full speed, I think it might be wise to redshirt Holt this year. With Hartman, Hanner and Davis all filling the 6-7 or better bench slots, someone could be saved for later.   With Zeisloft and RoJo in the mix, that gives us 10 guys (barring injury, of course), which is about the max. that can get significant playing time even with a redshirt.

In the end, I doubt anyone lost a recruit because of too much interest.   I learned the hard way as a sales manager that when a customer tells me I don't need to call him for two months that if I wait that long, quite often he's bought a competitor's product and was really gauging my interest in doing business with him.   I say, "More d***ed letters!"  

That sounds like the perfect complement to our run-and-gun Yogi-RoJo-JBJ-Troy combo...get the rebound and the outlet pass and the Hurryin' Hoosiers are hurryin' away!

I think Bryant is waiting to see who stays and who jumps to the NBA from Kentucky. If enough guys leave to the point he could get tons of playing time, he might go there. Otherwise, I think we have as good a shot as anyone.    And...we need to understand he is another Vonleh in that he'll be one-and-done in all probability unless the NBA adopts the minimum-age rule that has been floating around a while.

Iowa continues to amaze me at how good they can play and how bad they can play. Bardo (I think) commented Iowa lacked floor leadership from any player. I think they're scary in a lot of ways.

We could do much worse than Muschamp...OSU's not doing so bad with an ex-Florida guy (of course he went on his own terms). But if we really want a fantastic SEC ex-coach, I suspect Mark Richt will be available at the end of Georgia's season. With his star running back going down with a torn ACL, Georgia (already with two losses including one to Muschamp) is likely to lose to Georgia Tech, which will be enough to send the Bulldawg lovers into a firing-frenzy orbit.   Richt is a class act and knows his stuff. He's had Georgia in the SEC mix EVERY YEAR. When's the last time we were in the Big Ten mix for any number of consecutive years?