jbeaman9

They've also had success with bringing a double that also has size. If Kent State brings a 6'1/6'3/5'10 guard to try and double, TJD can look right over the top of them. He just has to recognize their rotations and disect it like he has all season.

Makes sense, I thought I had read somewhere that it was about travel distance. Thanks for clarifying.

That was my thought so why did IU get screwed by playing a team with a shorter travel distance than them while being a "protected" top 4 seed?

Crowd wise, what does everyone think it will look like? I know NY is the largest IU alumni hub but will that translate to a heavy IU presence? Obviously Miami is a long way away and Drake is in Iowa, so not much shorter for them than Miami. What I am curious about is I thought the top 4 seeds in each region had "protected" placements giving them crowd advantages. How does matching up IU and Kent State in Albany (Bloomington 834 miles away, Kent St. 495 miles away) give IU the distinct advantage?

41% FG, 35% from 3 on 77 makes this year. Career 35% from 3. 6'5" guard

They did, but Houston also missed 15 3's and 8 FT's. They did force 23 TO's which is a testament to their D. I agree with you, and I'd even bet our B game might be better than their A game as well. Can't have "pick 6" type turnovers and need to team rebound the ball. We do those things, we will win.

Here is some more interesting data I found. Use it as you wish. We have played 10 teams (16 games) that are higher rated defensively than Kent State. Here is that list and their rank. Rutgers (7) IU went 1-1 Kansas (11) 0-1 NW (14) 0-2 Purdue (21) 2-0 Wisconsin (30) 1-0 Illinois (36) 2-0 MSU (38) 1-1 Maryland (39) 1-1 Arizona (40) 0-1 UNC (41) 1-0 IU went a combined 9-7 against teams with a higher rated defense (according to BT) and scored on average 70 ppg. If IU scores 70 Friday night, they will win no question. To add, Kent State has played only 1 team with a higher rated defense than ours all season (Houston). They scored 44 points.

That is fine, but in no way can I believe they are truly believe they are going to be as physical as Rutgers. Maybe I will be wrong. Hope not.

All I have read and heard is how "elite" Kent State's defense is, yet no one has been talking about how is Kent State going to score against us? Or better yet, how will Kent State stop/slow us down? IU Bart Torvik: Overall 33 (O: 34/D: 46) Kent State Bart Torvik: Overall 79 (O: 117/D: 45) In their 3 most recent losses: Gave up 82 points to Ball State (170 overall/121 O/243 D) (Lost 82-70) Gave up 67 points to Akron (108 overall/96 O/144 D) (Lost 67-55) Gave up 86 points to Northern Illinois (241 overall/257 O/210 D) (Lost 86-76) They gave up an average of 78 points to teams rated an average 157 on O, IU is 123 spots higher on O than that. Ball State beat them by 12 by only hitting 7 3's, but they shot 34 free throws. Lastly, in the only common opponent the two teams have played, Miami (OH) (BT: 267 overall/O: 217/D: 312): IU won 86-56 Kent State won 69-66, they scored 69 points against the 312th worst defense in the country (according to Torvik) and only had two players score in double figures. I understand not taking a team lightly but comparing them to Rutgers (36 overall/O: 161/D: 36) might be a stretch. No chance their center is as active and athletic as Cliff Omoruyi (6'11" 240), or their two lead defensive guards are as good on the ball as 6'7" 213 Mulcahy or 6'7" 200 McConnell (they aren't, their guards are 6'1" 185 and 6'3" 194). Trey (6'4" 203) and JHS (6'6" 215) will have their problems from time to time but over the course of a game, no way those smaller guards hold up against our bigger guards who have played against Big Ten/Power 5 caliber guards and ball pressure all season long. I'm sure they are a solid team, to win the MAC tournament you have to be. But I am not here to contribute to the overall hype train that is rolling for Kent State. I do appreciate it though hoping that this motivates IU and makes it less likely they overlook Kent State with the media all jumping on that bandwagon.

Rivals guy put in a pick for him to IU couple of days ago. Seems to line up with others who have mentioned something. Unless its all the same guy, then that is dedication

Best, or one of the best, players on his team. Asked to do more offensively. He comes here his attempts will go down with more skill around him resulting in more efficient scoring, hopefully. I'm just saying he is more of an offensive threat than Race has ever been which will be welcome since we are losing so much point production after this season.

I think he looks the part of a slightly shorter/more athletic Race. Looking at his shooting numbers you can't just rely on the percentages to tell the whole story. For comparison: Chris MADE more 3's, 2's, and FT's THIS SEASON ALONE than Race ATTEMPTED in 4 of his 5 seasons while at IU.

I read someone made a good comp that Max came in as a senior with poor shooting numbers and improved immensely. IT does look good.

Woodson and Kenya. Big/physical kid it seems. I like it.

Chris Ledlum - A few clips Seems like a more athletic Race. I know he was mentioned a few pages ago, time to bring him back to the front.

Malik hasn't needed to be, and I do not remember specifically, but I could almost be willing to bet that Malik spent time on the court without them at some point this season with Race missing time with an injury and TJD resting/healing earlies in the season. I guess if this kid is willing to come in and sit behind Malik then so be it. I don't think our most successful path forward is to continue playing two bigs on the court who are not consistent threats from 3.

Malik, Duncomb, even JG (if they all return) are big bodies. What we need is another (or one) reliable scoring guard/wing who can hit shots from the outside consistently and defend the wing.

I was referring to TJD, the All-American who is 6'9 on our team now. 98% of these 6'9"-6'10" forwards who only shoot from 10 feet and in (even less in TJD case) are not as skilled and never will be as TJD. We need wing/guard scoring if we want to compete for championships in the future. Malik has more than shown he can hold his own in the post and Duncomb "should" be back in the fold as well next season.

IU does not need another 6'10 forward who can't/doesn't score from the outside. We need athletic/scoring wings and guards. That is what basketball is in 2023 and beyond. Big wings/guards that can score in multiple ways. Let Reneau and others hold their own down low.

Update after Minnesota/Illinois wins. The Minnesota upset helped us a smidge. Improved 3 scenarios seed number.

Yes, it would. If that happens, I will have to reset this and see how it all will shake out after that.

I did. Thank you

Absolutely, it is the 4 games that have the most impact on IU's BTT seeding potential. The team listed is the winner of the game at the topic of each column. For example: If Illinois wins tonight against Michigan, Iowa beats Nebraska on Sunday, PSU beats Maryland on Sunday, and Rutgers beats NW on Sunday then IU is the 4 seed in the BTT. All of these are based on IU winning their own game Sunday against Michigan.

Poorly worded by me, thanks for the humor. I'll adjust the wording to avoid further confusion.