iu-dl

With that win over Butler - 7th rated defense in the country according to KenPom. THIS is what we want with Archie as our coach. A functioning pack-line defense with an ability to score from a couple guys. Thanks to the defense plus TJD, AF and Race, this squad has legs. We also have something you can't measure; heart and grit. Destroyed Butler in the 2nd half from the very first possession after getting manhandles in the 1st. And if you watched Archie, our guys are still making a lot of simple mistakes which he's trying to coach them through. 7th ranked defense in the country, y'all.

Do we have to start with an opinion? If so, I haven't liked a coach other than Archie since Knight. I know how Davis got the job and he was bad from day 1. There was never an ounce of respect to or from him until the day he was removed. Bad hire. Sampson could coach but was Calipari level dirty. Bad hire. Crean was bad from the very start and got very lucky with Oladipo. Bad hire....wait, this bad hiring is a trend? Archie can coach; he's Tony Bennett - except to be the coach at IU right now is a massive uphill hike. No one wants the job; too much pressure, years of mediocrity and a critical fan base that expects you to come in and reverse a 20 year trend at the drop of a hat. I don't believe in naming kids, but there were some REALLY rotten eggs over the last few years which Archie could not remove due to the situation Crean left him. The guys he inherited weren't willing to play the way he coached, and also didn't care to try. Some never should have been given a scholarship to begin with. All that said, I actually like what I see out of Archie and also think Cliff Marshall has presented a lot of our shooting issues with turning the kids into mini-body-builders (it's a problem). Archie has recruited very well; people are SO critical when we miss on a Trey Kaufman type, but look at what/who he has brought in. Imagine if TJD had gone to Purdue. Or Lander to UK. Or Romeo to Louisville. Nope, they all came to Bloomington, plus more. Hunter, Galloway, Leal, Rob...he is getting the guys he wants; the simply don't always pan out until they're a JR or SR. We played FSU, on the road and largely outsized, to a squeaker in overtime. Some poor and selfish decisions were made near in OT, which if you were watching, did not thrill Archie. Those "hero ball" quick offensive sets cost us the game, but they're going to correct themselves. We're way, way better than we were last year. We're disciplined, and that's powerful. Last year we were not. And 2 losses to 2 really good teams doesn't mean jack right now. Duke has 2 losses with nothing but 5 stars. UK, 1-3 with all future NBA players. Purdue, 2 bad losses. UVA - not a great start. Also, just my opinion, but IL is a live-and-die by the tempo of the game team. They'll take their lumps... Archie deserves more credit than many give him. There's no one that wants this job, so if we give him the guillotine, who exactly is coming to Bloomington to save the day? "Billy Donovan", right?

Yeah...that's just not right. TK has verbally said IU is in within the last few months. Unless all that was smoke. Who knows...

Agree; pretty nuts. Personally, I just can't understand what's attractive about playing there. If you want to win a championship, it's not the place. If you want to play in the NBA, it's not the place. And speaking from experience, West Lafayette is about as boring of a campus as you can find. The reason kids go there is due to an IU-chip created by the PU coaching staff. They recruit using big brother as a lever.

I'm not saying my glass is half full, but this is bonkers. There's definitely a chance it's a misdirect considering he's been long thought to be an IU lock. Probably not if that recording holds true, but many recruits have used gimmicks to hold recruiting bases in suspense or grabbing one hat then grabbing another right before they commit. Either way, he's a great kid and I hope he ends up in Bloomington. Peegs did change his CB to PU thought...bummer.

Rabjohns just posted (or is posting) an update & interview with TK today. Has anyone listened / can anyone summarize if you're a member of the other board? Without plagiarizing of course.

He's got something special...had an Alabama offer and is top 100 in ESPN.

I agree, back to Aminu! (but CAM>CTC, for what it's worth). :)

He hasn't posted anything in a long while...not just here. Don't look too much into it.

I have had cheap grills all my life until I purchase a Weber. Very solid, heavy gas grill. I use it with a small smoker tube that can burn for a couple hours on the top rack if I want that flavor and the temp can go quite low if you want to do ribs/brisket/whatever. I'm not sure I have the patience it takes to have a Green Egg and I don't want to invest the money in both.

That's an opinion by another user, not ignorance. Durham has hit his ceiling and it's not terribly high. Does that make those of us who feel that way ignorant as well? People are entitled to pass along opinions on this site. Be nice - it goes a long way.

I don't either and that was the first I'd heard of it. Al is a very logical grad transfer for many reasons. One big one is named KLander. He's also, IMO, a much better fit at a smaller program.

Buddy just text me and said he heard Franklin wasn't happy/was considering transferring as well. I hadn't heard a peep about him being unhappy. Could see Al though. Anyone hearing anything other than DA?

I'm sure this has been posted elsewhere, but how about our final ranking in KenPom?!?! Yet another sizable leap for the program and for our defense. It's real, measured progress, folks. 34th overall, 65th on offense, 26th on defense. 2019 was 52/82/32. 2018 was 71/92/65. We call that a 3 year improve/improve/improve. Just projecting here, but 2021....20/52/20.

Yuck. Never understand a kid wanting to play for pork chop...among many other reasons to avoid West Lafayette.

(1) Is Kaufman also considering reclassifying and (2) does anyone have an inside track on whether he's close to committing anywhere? On the only other reputable site, it was mentioned that some thought he didn't want to go to the same school as Lander. That makes absolutely no sense to me as they're a PG and a PF/SF. @Chris007 - where's your intel here? ;)

I agree that Devonte's the X-Factor. I actually love it when he's on and in a groove; he can carry our whole team and the court spreads wayyyyy out. Man...when he's on, we're top-10 incredible (crimson goggles, maybe). However, he rarely puts together back to back halves, let alone games. I'll also give some credit that he appears to have stopped the extremely unnecessary "fancy" passing over the last couple of games. That, more than anything, makes me want to pull my teeth out one by one.

I like how we're positioned. One, it's very good when IU is in the tournament. Our fans watch and travel. The selection committee knows that. Two, forget the NET rankings, Lunardi and all the others that like to play games before the season is over. Just last week "Purdue was a lock" to make it on several sites. Give me a break. We have a strong case to make the tournament and can only improve from here. No bad losses, quite a few great wins and a huge win over FSU. I see three scenarios: We finish very strong: Win both home games, possibly win in Lafayette and maybe pick off a B1G tournament game. And with that, we get a 6 seed. We play as expected, go 2-2 to finish the season and *maybe show up for a game in the B1G, 8-9 seed. We lay an egg, go 1-3 in our final games and lose our first B1G game. 10-12 seed. Just a guess, but I'm guessing an accurate guess, wouldn't you guess?

I don't get it either. They have a few impressive wins, but an absolute ton of losses where they don't show up at all. 14-13 and in the low 30's on net? C'mon... - For what it's worth, the NET hates Virginia too. IU has the same resume with a tougher schedule than half of the teams ahead of them.

Try to keep in mind, with what CTC left CAM, he had no choice. Couldn't get rid of anyone, so the 2 years of waste were the hand he was dealt. It would have been nice to see him perform better, but in my mind, these are not guys CAM would recruit. He is looking for defensive minded guys that understand the game....hopefully with some talent to go with it. I would not classify several of the names mentioned in this thread as guys that play that way. And Green is 100% a "Crean-style" guy, and 100% the opposite under CAM. I'll take my lumps, but I defend CAM if what I read is true. He couldn't make moves, Fisher says there's more to the story than people know and we simply have a few rotten eggs. I only wish CAM was more assertive with benching guys, but look at his situation (and stop comparing him to what Knight did against Illinois). RMK was not in a "bubble" situation, nor was he on a hot-seat. He had the luxury, earned, of doing whatever he wanted. CAM does not. Stress and pressure are the definition of his role right now. CAM wa dealt a hand of 3 queens, 1 king and an off suit ace the way I see it. That COULD play out, but most times doesn't.

Agree with all of this 100%. Question: Is Archie worried about his job?

I get your point as the Lakers have turned it around, but can't say I agree with this in reference to IU. We're on a 20 year run of being down, and the Lakers pennied up for two studs who could take them to prominence. Deep pockets and the only city that can remotely hold LeBron's ego is LA. Aside from that, no one can work with LeBron James. Coaches hate him as he turns them all into lame ducks; He has turned on virtually every teammate. But he's great and he wins. So you get what you get. Also, walton was a great coach who would have thrived on any other team, but then the self proclaimed king came along and ousted him. Anyway, I like what you wrote but that's just not IU. We're looking for consistency, depth and pride. Right now, we're missing all 3. We do have a similar attribute to the Lakers, however, and that's a cancer on the team. We can't do what they did due to a couple restrictions. Brad Stevens surrounded by 5 star recruits from Indiana is a dream world.

Fight Fight Fight! :)

I thrive on your positivity. That's my point.

Tom Crean recruited Al Durham, Justin Smith and Clifton Moore. Archie was brought in after they signed and he was tasked with keeping them. His first recruiting class was 2018 - Romeo, Anderson, RP and Hunter. If you recall, they didn't hire him until late spring/early summer. This is CAM's 3rd year, his 2nd recruiting class. That is, if I recall correctly. But I remember Moore threatening to leave because Archie took over for Crean before summer/practice.