Walking Boot of Doom

Weird, because you still seem to be posting plenty. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Yeah the late game all in and win was a Crean special on the recruiting trials. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Ohp and I thought we were getting somewhere. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Mods - can you move this convo to a thread where we can continue this? Apologies for derailing. I don't think I'm alone here, but I very clearly saw well designed offensive sets and plays coming out of dead ball situations last year. I have not seen any of those this year. Something is very off this year, and I really don't know what it is.

See, resources is a consideration, but I think Indiana's struggles are around the severity of the identity shift with a "hangover" roster. Archie is a system coach and is shifting Indiana from a run-and-gun offensive focused identity to a principled defensive focused identity. Just a more dramatic shift than most programs, in my opinion, but I haven’t dug into a lot of the ones listed above.

Yes, if Romeo is exhibiting, call it, the toxic one and done behaviors... that's incredibly disappointing. I choose to believe that he's not though, given all we heard about the kid coming into his time at Indiana. Regardless, it's February 2019 and he's about four months out from the biggest night of his life thus far - it's got to be difficult to remain focused on the task at hand, especially when anyone can see it's going to take more than four months to fix Indiana's problems. On 2021 - sounds crazy, but I absolutely agree. Everyone knew we were undergoing a massive culture shift switching from Crean to Archie. Indiana fans of all people should realize as well that there's only a handful of right ways to succeed at Indiana, especially if we're to remain "clean". I know discussing "giving Archie years" get's people upset, but culture isn't a thing you go out and acquire. You know you established a culture when you see the same trends year over year over year. Consistency is key, and that's why regardless of who the coach is it will take years to understand if they're successful or not at Indiana.

Also - no comment on Archie’s player development. Al progressed, Deron has some sweet new moves under the basket, and Juwan looks like he made improvements as well. Many of the rest look the same. Devonte actually shows bursts of progress too, but reverts back to his flawed play often. I think this is another wait and see, mostly looking at the freshman and next recruiting class. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

I added text after you quoted - all of those Nova players I listed are in the same position as Keion rankings wise. They’re the top talent, but outside of the top 10 or so it really becomes a crap shoot of who’s a one and done and who’s sticking around. Not sure how much of that is luck or recruiting in that sweet spot for Wright, but I think it’s a bit of a gamble either way, but a worthwhile gamble. Arguments were made that Zeller and Bryant were one and done. They both came back. Keion and TJD seem to be in the same vein. Regardless, the recruiting strategy is to lock down the borders. That means the top in-state talent barring glaring issues. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Not quoting just to save space... Villanova has been signing the top talent in recent years, including McDAAs. They have exactly what you described PLUS the one/two and dones. My argument is that we need both. A heavy hand of juniors and seniors with the added bonus of a Romeo or Keion. I see your point, but I don’t think Brunson nor Spellman not Quiverly nor Swider had plans to be in school longer than it took to get drafted. Romeo was never going to fix the problems of this roster. He’s not a primary ball handler and he’s not a dominant post presence. Not his fault, but he wasn’t the answer. I’d still say we needed him. Good for Indiana in the long run. Hope it turns out to be a good thing for him as well. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Yeah I kind left out Sheehey since he took a few more years after that to get there. Regardless, he was a stud 6th man. His athleticism, shooting, and cocky/aggressive would be welcome on this team. Turns out he wasn’t a great leader though either... Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Certainly he’s done a great job. I think there are many factors that are difficult for fans to see. Fit, culture, etc. Something is very wrong with this team. End of the day, we all know Archie can coach. He honestly looked better as a coach last year! I think we also know that even if he’s not the answer, he’s certainly not this bad of a coach. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

That roster had, what? Five 1,000 point career guys? Experience man. They also had the immeasurable pride of bringing Indiana back from the bottom. Crean was recruiting guys with a chip on their shoulder back then. We got good and he got cute with recruiting. My two cents... Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

Crazy the difference between replacing a Hall of Fame coach at a program with multiple Final Four appearances and a banner (well, there was one, where the hell did I put that thing...) in the last 10 years versus a program that was barely rebuilt from the ground up and achieved its highs winning the B1G regular season title and getting knocked out of the tournament early. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Thomas Bryant?? If anything that kid played with too much heart. Like it or not, you need all of those guys and all the guys to come who you will likely not be a fan of in order to win it all. It’s going to take a combination of the old school upperclassmen heavy teams with some new age star power. Villanova is damn near the best example out there. Also, what’s wrong with a kid looking out for his own best interests? Did you go into work every day for the name on the front of your time card? No. Like it or not, it’s a business now. Indiana needs to be a place that creates mutually beneficial opportunities for these kids. Kentucky, like it or not, has done a great job of this. Probably in an unsustainable fashion, but they did it well. In short, no need to answer your three questions, the only one that matters is do we need Keion Brooks? That my old friend, is a big hell yes. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Come on. He’s been signing autographs since middle school or high school or something. Fans line up expecting it now. He gives a damn. You’re painting a picture that just isn’t accurate. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Recruiting strategy has immediately been successful and continues to look successful in the future. I’ve also seen a lot of great defense from the Hoosiers of late, with break downs usually attributable to the same individuals... Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

I would love if someone had Dakich on their show and introduced him as "unemployed coach Dan Dakich". He's such an @$$ to everyone.

That's actually what you have to do if you want to recruit the state of Indiana.

Smith and Romeo are constantly bickering on the court after one of them messes up on the offensive end - at least that’s been my read. Maybe it’s positive communication, but it certainly doesn’t look that way... Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

This season sucks. But if you think we’ve seen enough from Archie to make that call, then holy ****. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

And that team couldn’t play defense. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Love how after a loss the same people head to the recruiting threads to ***** and moan because *******and moaning in the game threads wasn’t enough. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

He gone. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners

And the facts are that there were only a handful of hires that were realistic and made sense, with Archie up in that first tier. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Okay so Marshall was the only realistic one. Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app