GnarlyNormEllenberger

I haven't posted much this year, but figured this might be a good time to start... - Friends, you could see this one coming a mile away. And I am not talking about IU losing to MSU. I'm talking about fans upset/baffled that their team plays well one week and not so much the next. This isn't just an IU thing. This happens a LOT in college sports. Inconsistencies. Unless you are one of the 3-4 best teams in the nation, this happens. You play really well one week. You're feeling good. Then next week happens and you struggle. College football does not operate through the transitive property. Every week can be/usually is something different. One week does not define a team. But a series of games can. And what that has shown us is that IU is a 3-1 team. Not a great team. But not bad, either. Decent. Doubtful we contend for the Big Ten. Probable we can contend for a bowl. - Now... back to the game (as Coach Knight would say.) Yes, I was disappointed. Particularly because MSU didn't play that well, IMO. That is, except their defensive front seven (more on that in a minute.) They turned it over 4 times. They struggled running the ball. Lewerke wasn't particularly sharp. If we played well, we could have won this one. But we didn't. So why didn't we play well? - Let's start with the typical "bad break" for IU. The INT return for TD in the first quarter. Yes, we've seen this too many times before in our history... and it stinks! We were driving and that absolutely killed momentum. It put us behind the 8-ball early and we could never fully recover. Throw in a few other deals like the fake FG TD and those are plays we need to go our way in a game like this. They didn't and we lost by 14. - We heard about how good their D-Line was. And they lived up to the hype. 4 sacks. 9 TFLs. Countless QB hurries. And they held us to 29 yards on 32 carries... that's a 0.9 avg. for those who are interested. Quote simply, our O-Line was thoroughly beaten. They played a bad game and that really hurt us. I saw some people say, "Welcome to the Big Ten, Stevie Scott." Well, yeah. But where was he supposed to go? Just a tough night. - Peyton Ramsey. Friends, he what he is. I said this last year against Michigan and MSU and I'll say it again this season. When he runs the offense, we rely on dinks and dunks. We just do. And against mediocre defenses, that may be enough to win. But against good defenses, we'll struggle to score points. As Wayne said above, the offense is tailored around his strengths. We rely on guys like Philyor, Timian, Harris and Taylor to catch short passes and create yards after catch. Notice how many targets they get compared to our outside receivers with Hale and Westbrook? Those are two great talents at WR, but we can't get them the ball. That's frustrating. Is that a QB problem? Maybe. - Does that mean I was clamoring for Penix? Not exactly. He wouldn't have had time to throw. It's not like our O-Line was suddenly going to pass protect better for Penix. And I dunno if that would have been the best growing opportunity to throw Penix out there in that mess anyway. My hope is that I hope our O-Line gets back on the right track with pass protection (and run blocking) and that we start throwing the ball downfield a bit more. I'm not asking for 20+ yard throws. I''d just like to see a few more 10-15 yd. out routes to Hale and Westbrook. I don't feel they've been utilized well and they're legitimate weapons. Can Ramsey do that? Is Penix ready for it? Evidently, the answer was "no" last night. - I really can't blame our defense. They kept it from getting ugly. Ball had himself a night before his ejection. They were getting some good pressure in the backfield. Had 4 takeaways. But again, we got beat on that last 75 yard run that sealed the game. Just tough. But all in all, I am still very impressed with Allen's defense. He knows how to coach it and with him in charge, we've seen three of the best defenses we've had in decades. I think some forget how impressive that is at IU. - So where do we go from here? Thankfully, we get Rutgers next. Fortunately for us, they have looked downright pathetic this year. However, as fans of IU, we know that we can never take anyone for granted and we are capable of losing on any given night. BUT! I think/hope that the Hoosiers are going to have a mad/rejuvenating week of practice this week. I think you'll see us click and get back on the right track and come out of Piscataway with a win. While I don't believe our offense as-is can lead us to victories against Ohio State, Penn State or Michigan, I do believe we're capable of beating the likes of Minnesota, Maryland and Purdue. I think if our O-Line gels better the Iowa game is a possibility as well. Long story short... I still think 6-6 and a bowl game is entirely possible and we're right there in the thick of things. But for those expecting an 8-9 win season, I am afraid you're going to be disappointed. But that's just my opinion.

Interesting article, although I have never been a fan of the writer, Tom Davis. In regards to his articles about IU basketball, he always comes across to me as someone who watches bits and pieces of certain games and then looks at the box score the day after to try and tell us what happened. Look at this quote... “Our defense was dramatically improved,” Glass said, “which you can see with the eye test.” Again, that is depending on your eyesight. He goes on to point out that our opponents' shooting percentages were higher last year. I mean, sure. Guess we need to scrap the pack-line and move back to playing man-to-man until 7 seconds left in the shot clock then try switching to zone for some ridiculous reason. And we should probably bring back the "call out" signs. Those innovative coaching techniques did wonders for our defense in 2016-2017. Seriously though, there are better metrics to use these days (which is why Glass used defensive efficiency) that are mathematically more accurate to determine the overall success of the defense. It's not really debatable. Points per possession is another one. Plus, when Crean was playing Houston Baptist, SE Missouri St., Miss Valley State and Delaware State, that's gonna pad your stats in a positive manner. The fact is, once conference play rolled around, our defense had structure. There was purpose. There was understanding. Guys were in the correct position a lot more. They were active. They played a lot smarter. They weren't great, but they were better. You could see it by watching the games. Ask any non-biased observer and they'd agree. But the numbers say we gave up a higher shooting percentage... give me a break. And oh yeah... our offense suffered. Imagine that. We lost OG, Bryant and Blackmon and our offense suffers. Must be an Archie problem. He shoulda ran more iso plays for guys like Yogi... oh wait a second... it's almost like his predecessor left him a flawed roster. I just get the vibe Mr. Davis is skeptical of Archie and IU basketball and wants to make sure we know that he is. Sorry for the rant. Little pot-shots like that just annoy me.

I have no inside information, but this recruitment seems to share similarities with Damezi Anderson's recruitment... Last year, it was no secret that Anderson was a top Purdue target. He admitted it in an interview. He was a Northern Indiana guy... the one area in the state where Purdue seemed to have an advantage over IU. A number of people were saying that he was Purdue's to lose. But that went on for a couple of months, yet he never committed. Meanwhile, Archie and Co. was still recruiting him, albeit withholding an offer until the staff was completely sure he was worthy. Then, Archie offered while he unofficially visited. Evidently it was a game-changer because a few weeks later he became a Hoosier. And Purdue lost him. Now, we have Newman. Another Northern Indiana guy. Offered by Purdue early this month. Message board chatter claiming that put them in the driver's seat and that he was a top target for Matt Painter. While it's only been a few weeks since the Purdue offer, he still hasn't committed to them yet. Meanwhile, Archie and Co. has kept tabs on him all this time and still recruited him. Then, he gets an offer this week while unofficially visiting campus. And one crystal baller has already thrown his prediction to IU... What's going to happen? I don't know. I do know that I think Newman is a good player. Personally, I like him better than Armaan Franklin, although some rankings disagree with me. I was impressed with his play at Valparaiso last year. He's a good shooter, but there seems to be more to his game than that. Seems to be quite active.. can hit the boards, fill up the stat sheet. And his team had a pretty good season playing 4A ball. Doing well thus far this summer in AAU, too. Not GREAT size at 6'3 and not a PG, but I think he's got the potential to be a good "2" guard in the Big Ten. Definitely could see him as a double-figure scorer at some point in his career at any Big Ten school. As an IU fan, do I want him? Sure. Right now for 2019-2020, we'll only have three ball-handling guards with Green, Durham and Phinisee. None of which are known to be shooters. Newman can fill that role and still provide other things to help the team win. He's not the highest rated player, but he's still on the radar. He's a top player in the state and if we want to focus on nabbing the top players from the state, I think he qualifies. I'd love to have guys like Carton or Lewis or Ramsey, but if our chances on those guys are lower... Newman would be a great consolation prize. We could still use a PG like Carton or Lewis, but if we're talking a 4-man class, there's a spot for Newman. Do I think we'll get him? Hard to say. Just a (probably biased) gut feeling... if Archie REALLY wants him, I think we'll get him. As in, Archie makes him a top priority. Over guys like Ramsey, etc. But if he's deemed as more of a tier-two guy throughout the rest of the summer, I think he'll head elsewhere. Just my opinion.

I don't believe there will be much clarity in Trendon's recruitment until he (presumably) visits IU. I have no inside information, but let's just take a look at this from a logical standpoint. His brother is in the Top 10 of points scored in IU history and was a Big Ten champion while being remembered for one of the more iconic shots in program history. By all accounts, his family loved their experience in Bloomington. You can even see Trendon in the stands behind the basket of the Wat-Shot picture. The Watford family knows what basketball means in Bloomington. He knows how special it can be and the heights it can reach. I would guess he understands the lore and tradition of IU basketball better than most in-state kids do. I do not believe for one second that IU does not have a special meaning to him. That HAS to be a strong feeling and a major sell for IU in this recruitment. So will he come here? I don't know. But what we do know is that Archie had TWO in-homes with the family during the Spring that supposedly went very well. He has visited several other schools, thus winds may seemingly be blowing favorably in their direction at this point. Admittedly, the Brian Snow prediction caught me a bit off guard because he's more reliable. However, let's see what the vibe is after he (presumably) visits IU. I really believe that while IU may not be THE favorite in this recruitment, it's going to run through us one way or another. Now that is pure speculation on my part. The question is... how bad does Archie want him? More than Keion Brooks? Who knows? But if he visits us here and Archie shows him to be a HIGH priority, I think you'll hear plenty of pro-IU vibes like you have heard about Alabama and now Memphis. That's just a guess, but one I feel strongly about. If IU really wants Trendon, they're not gonna let him go elsewhere without a big fight. If Archie really, REALLY wants Watford, I think he'll be a Hoosier.

A few thoughts on the addition of Fitzer... all of which are simply my opinion... "He’s looking for an opportunity to showcase what he does. Obviously not just as an individual, but he’s a very team oriented guy.” -Fitzner's dad "He wants to go out and have an even playing field so that he can go out and earn his spot on the team.” - Fitzner's dad "He wants to get back to the NCAA tournament" -Fitzner's dad "We wanted him back... He will enhance their program" - St. Mary's Coach Randy Bennett I really like all of the above quotes and I think they pretty much explain what kind of player we're getting. I'll admit, the 5 PPG kinda puzzled me first as to why Archie would pursue him, but then you read these quotes and you start to understand. Notice there wasn't as much focus on "wants to become a more focal part of the offense" or "wants more playing time". Instead, you see him talking about the TEAM. About how he wants to work hard and EARN his spot. He talks about wanting to WIN and making the tournament. His old coach (who is pretty successful in his own right... look up his record) didn't want him to leave and believes he'll "enhance" our program. Those are promising sentiments you don't hear too often from transfers. Will he have a higher statistical impact than what he had at St. Mary's? I would doubt it. (I'm not even sure he'll match it.) Do we need him to produce more than that? Not really. What we could use is senior leadership to help bring along the five freshmen and three sophomores. What we could use is a guy who can knock down an open shot and be an offensive threat when on the floor. Check and check. If this team reaches its potential, it will have to have good team chemistry. While the talent on the roster has been upgraded in the off-season, we're still not talented enough to "out-talent" most other teams. They'll need to play well together. It sounds like Fitzner can help with that. Am I worried that this may mean Morgan is leaving? No. I think there's a better chance of another transfer before Morgan would leave. Am I worried that Fitzer is Priller 2.0? No. By all accounts, Priller was a good guy. But his on-court effectiveness made Richard Mandeville and Robbie Eggers look like All-Americans. Could Fitzer be Eggers 2.0? Possibly, but remember that Robbie Eggers never missed the NCAA Tournament. If Fitzer isn't effective, it isn't much of a loss. He only occupies the scholarship for one season. There are only two ways that this was a bad addition. #1) Fitzer is a detriment to team chemistry (seems unlikely) or #2) there was a more effective graduate transfer out there that specifically wanted to fill this role.

Reasons to feel good about where IU stands with Romeo... - BTownBanners "insiders" feel good about it. Chris007 has been discussed. Don't forget about hoosierpap, either. He's come through with a number of nice recruiting tidbits over the years as well. The fact that both of these guys feel good about the situation is a good sign. - National insiders such as Andrew Slater, Brian Snow and Jerry Meyer have all predicted Romeo to IU. They aren't IU guys and they really don't care where Romeo ends up. Meyer was even quoted in a Kansas newspaper that his sources told him it was a "done deal". When a national recruiting expert says something like that and allows it to be printed, that's a very good sign. - Beat writers from all three contending schools gave their predictions in a recent article from the Tennessean (I think?) and all three guessed IU would be the choice. They all admitted that it was just a guess, however, I think it bears worth mentioning that even the Vandy and Kansas guys think IU is the choice at this point. - Some insiders at other IU fan sites seem to feel good about Romeo to IU. How much stock you want to put into that is up to you, but when you stack it up next to everything else, it seems plausible. - A commitment ceremony open to the public at New Albany High School. First and foremost, there will be New Albany fans there to support him. They have wonderful support for their team and always have even before Romeo came along. However, you can be assured there will be plenty of Hoosier fans there as well. It will be the crowd favorite. The Langford family knows this. Would they open it to the public if Romeo was going to Kansas or Vandy? Perhaps. But I believe it's reasonable to look at this setup to be more Pro-IU than anything else. I guess my point is that there's a lot of positive buzz here that points to IU . I don't know if there is much else that can be said that would make you feel any more confident of IU's position until Romeo announces himself in two weeks. I certainly understand being cautious and not wanting to list him as a commit just yet. I'm with you on that. Romeo isn't a Hoosier at this moment. But if those positive tidbits don't make you feel good about IU's chances, I'm not sure anything will. As someone else has already said, I normally hold off watching too many highlight videos of prospects until I feel there's a good chance that they'll become Hoosiers. Let's just say that I felt comfortable enough to start watching Romeo highlights last week.

I'd be relatively surprised if Crean doesn't land at Pitt. Fogler Consulting definitely seems to be an advocate of Tom Crean...

This one's gonna be a long one... - I am not going to focus too much on this past season. Rather, I want to look ahead to the future because I believe there is definite reason for optimism next year and beyond. Our marked improvement in several statistical categories such as Defense Efficiency and TO% shows me that we have a coach who can identify our weaknesses and address them. This gives me confidence that our poor shooting is something that can and will be remedied sooner rather than later. I don't believe that's optimism as much as it is logical reasoning but I suppose you could debate that if you wanted. Anyway, next year... - Our returners will be key. People have a tendency to want to disregard certain key players during a bad season because they didn't perform to certain standards. While I understand their frustrations, it is important that we keep building onto the foundation that has been set this season. The constant roster turnover was a trademark of the Crean years and is a clear example as to why our teams failed to consistently perform at a high level each year. Stability will be key for this program moving forward. We're already losing 5 scholarship seniors this off-season. That's plenty... we don't need anyone else to leave. - Frontcourt Returners. Juwan Morgan (16.5 PPG, 7.4 RPG) should be a senior. His improvement this past season was remarkable and he developed into a 2nd Team All-Big Ten player. He was a major mismatch problem for the opposition with his ability to both play bigger or smaller than he actually was. His consistent level of production is something that few other players in college basketball can replicate. I know some are worried about him leaving, but I don't see it. Unlike guys like James Blackmon or Troy Williams, Morgan has never come across as the type of player who is bent on playing professional regardless of their draft stock. He may "test the waters", but I think he'll return. If he can continue to work on his outside shot and get even stronger, he's got 1st Team All-Big Ten written all over him next year. I've seen some people downplay De'Ron Davis' (9.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG) role on next year's team claiming he isn't an Archie type of player. I disagree because Archie spent all of last off-season grooming him to become a better player. Coaches don't put that much effort into a player if he isn't expected to be a key cog on the team. Now, I am concerned about him returning from his Achilles' tear and his conditioning. I don't know if we'll see him play more than 20 minutes per game, but he still has the potential to be a strong player for us, especially with post offense. I'd compare him to the effectiveness level of a Sophomore or Junior Isaac Haas. He'll be invaluable going up against the frontcourt of Michigan State and Purdue in addition to guys like Mike Watkins and Bruno Fernando. Justin Smith (6.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG) may be the real key for our future. There has been a lot of talk about needing top talent to be elite. IMO, Smith definitely fits that mold. He has athletic ability that can't be taught. He's the type of guy you see on teams like UNC or Villanova when they're in the Final Four. It'll be interesting to see how his game progresses. He could stay more post-centric and be another Juwan Morgan, or he could develop better handles, defensive quickness and outside shooting to become an NBA-style wing at the "3". At the moment, he has the highest potential to be "great" as anyone on the team, in my opinion. Returning Zach McRoberts (2.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG) will be good for this team because he sets the tone with his hustle and defensive intensity. We'll need him to continue working on his shot to become a better threat on offense. But ideally, we need someone to deservedly take his spot in the starting lineup. That will show progression by the other players. Clifton Moore (0.7 PPG, 0.9 PPG) had all the looks of a guy who was playing against players A LOT better than what he faced in high school. I think he has an interesting skill set and could still play a role on the team, but I'm guessing he'll need to re-evaluate his own expectations. I'm also including Race Thompson as a returner because I think a year on the team will do wonders for his preparedness for the college game. He was a Top 100-level recruit out of high school and he seems to have a body that is built for the rugged Big Ten. I'd say there's a good chance you'll see him in the rotation next year giving us good minutes at the 4 or 5. Don't sleep on how much he could help us. -Backcourt Returners. We're gonna need Devonte Green (7.6 PPG, 2.5 APG) to step up his game as much as anyone. As Archie said, we need singles from him as much as home runs. If this was a baseball season, he would have had way too many 0-4, 3 K types of games this year. He has potential to utilize his ability to create for others and his own shot, but we're gonna need him to be steady for us to have success. A bad Devonte Green really hurts us. But a good one takes us to another level. I was pleased/impressed with how Al Durham (4.8 PPG, 1.9 RPG) ended the season. Similar to Green, I hope he can embrace the role of a steady hand and defensive presence in the backcourt. We'll need him to continue improving his shot to be more consistent from the outside. However, if he attempts to become something he's not (i.e. a "go-to" scorer) it could hurt us more than help us. The fact that these are our only returners in the backcourt makes it imperative that they both take the next step in their development. -Newcomers. I'm a Robert Phinisee fan. As Old Friend has stated on numerous occasions, if there are 100 better players than him in the nation in his class, I'd like to see them. He's got a quick first step and is much more athletic than he looks which allows him to get to the basket. People rave over his play-making ability, but I think he'll be a better scorer for us next year than what many think. While not an elite shooter, he can more than hold his own in that department. He'll need to get bigger and stronger, but I could definitely see him as an effective starter next year. I won't say he'll be as effective as Yogi, but anyone remember Armon Bassett as a freshman back in 2006-07? Maybe something like that. I've also seen some others make some statements about how Damezi Anderson won't help us much next year, but I am not so sure. I love the way he moves without the ball and comes off of screens. He has a shooter's mentality and will provide us an offensive threat anytime he is on the floor. I do agree that he'll need to up his defense, but that is one area that I have faith in Archie. It'll be interesting to see what position he slides into as a frosh... that may be the tricky part. Every time I have watched a clip of Jerome Hunter I have been impressed. He seems to have an advanced and diverse skill set that could allow him to play early and often next year. If rankings are a good indicator of that stuff, he probably will. I'm curious to watch his motor. Guys like him with high motors usually become REALLY good. Guys like him with low motors usually end up like Jeremy Hollowell. We'll see. Jake Forrester seems to be a guy who might be able to provide some athleticism, energy and effort in the frontcourt next year. It seems like he has a developing skill set, but he can still run the floor well and could thrive in the "dump off" role that Justin Smith filled this year. I think you'll see him as our future "5" in the coming years. -Players yet to commit? Personally, I think we'll add 1-2 more guys for next year. The elephant in the room is Romeo Langford. If he comes, we'll have our leading scorer and instantly become a contender in a wide open Big Ten. Our backcourt will go from being a question mark to being a strength. However, I do not believe all is lost should he not come. The grad transfer market always produces a number of quality players every year and I think there's a good chance we could pick up a starter caliber player, there. Maybe even a couple for the backcourt. In short, I believe our backcourt will be bolstered in the offseason. By whom? Dunno yet... -Final Thoughts. Honestly, it's too early to tell. But I'd be surprised if we didn't see an improvement in our overall record next year. I think we could definitely be a bubble team, if not better. If Romeo comes? Let's just say making the tournament won't be a problem... Looking forward to the offseason and seeing how the program is progressing. I really like how Archie seems to be prioritizing the state with the 2019 guys while also looking at guys like Carton from Iowa for the point guard needs. Guys like Jackson-Davis and Keion Brooks will be very important prospects for us and I think we're doing as good of a job recruiting them as anyone right now. Throw in other guys like Brandon Newman, Alex Hemenway, Armaan Franklin, Mason Gillis, etc. It's gonna be fun seeing how that class shakes out. I like Archie's direction, though.

So this is the way it ends, huh? - Let me state that I am a pretty big fan of Archie and really like 95% of the decisions he's made both on and off the court since taking over the program. I believe he is more than capable to bring IU back to consistent success where (at minimum) we are in the tournament every year. That being said... - This Rutgers game was absolute garbage from an effort and execution standpoint. Extremely disappointed with the lackluster and lackadaisical effort from the team last night. We got on top of them early and had them stymied with our defense. Then, we played extremely careless with the ball and stopped moving on offense. This level of play carried over to the defensive side of the ball where we allowed them to drive to the hoop, gain some confidence and ultimately win the game. I simply cannot believe some of the lackluster passes we were making last night. And the decision making was every bit as bad at times. I was absolutely shocked when we had a guy who's mired in a shooting slump take a step-back fade-away three in a close game with 5 minutes to go. Absolutely unbelievable. Our offense has been inconsistent under pressure all season long and last night proved it once again. And how we let a team that is more void of offensive threats than we are go on the runs they did is beyond my comprehension. - Perhaps what frustrates me the most? We have a win or go home scenario. A chance for a re-match against Purdue in the next round in the Garden. An opportunity to extend our season and build some sort of an NIT resume to build for next season. And we just allowed Rutgers to out-tough us and win the game. They wanted it more and it wasn't even close. We were so mentally soft for the last 28 minutes of this game that it wasn't even funny. That was a trend in several games this year and I expect that Archie will remedy that soon. - So there's your motivation for next year. To be honest, I hope Archie has TVs inside our locker room all off-season showing all of the Rutgers dunks we gave up. Add it to the compilation of Indiana State and Fort Wayne running us out of the gym. Throw in the stupid Nebraska bench and all the choreographed nonsense that they rubbed in our face, too. Whoever is on this team next year is going to have to have a whole lot more pride and desire to win or else we'll be right back at 16-15. - To quote Coach Knight, "I had to sit around this (expletive) league with an 8-10 record and you will NOT make me go through that again!" Archie can replace that with 16-15 and it works all the same.

A few thoughts on this one... - I'll start with a positive. We turned the ball over 18 times and still won the game. I think we proved that we're clearly a better team than Illinois. We didn't play particularly well, but we won. That didn't happen in November and December. It proves that while our talent level isn't up to our usual standards, we're still a step ahead of the bottom of the conference. That and Juwan Morgan was the best player on the floor, yet again. - Illinois' ball pressure. We succumbed to it. Green, Johnson and Newkirk combined for 13 turnovers. And it wasn't just them. We displayed some of the worst, laziest passes we have seen from this team all year. Granted, Illinois turns you over. It's what they do. They turned Michigan State over something like 25 times a few weeks ago. That means you have to be crisp and precise. We were not and it kept Illinois within striking distance. Kudos to them... they could be a major pain once they improve their talent level. - Our defense the first 10 minutes of the second half was poor. Yes, they were hitting some tough shots, but we weren't near locked-in (haha, Crean phrase) enough on that side of the ball. We looked a lot slower than we actually are. Couldn't stay with our man. We rectified that a bit and started getting some stops when it counted most, though. Again, that never happened vs. Indiana State and Fort Wayne. Progress. - Durham and Smith combined for 27 points. Good effort from those guys. Especially Durham. It seems like he has been struggling for the last month or so, so it was especially nice to see him break out of that funk and gain some confidence. He may be a key cog for us for the remainder of the year. Smith has the potential to be a REALLY good player down the line. There's no reason why he can't be the next Juwan Morgan. If he could just continue to improve finishing around the rim... - The fouls. 59 free throws combined tonight. The last few minutes of the game was almost painful to watch. You pretty much knew there was going to be a whistle called on every possession. It would be one thing if those calls were consistent throughout the game, but they weren't. Yes, Illinois' pressure defense makes them prone to fouls. But it's like because of that, the refs wanted to blow the whistle on almost everything. And they did. - Point guard play. Not great in this one, but just good enough. We need them to bounce back soon. Not sure that effort will get us a win in any of the remaining three conference games. Props to Newkirk for making a couple of key buckets in the second half. I'd still ride Green as the starter, though. - Already 8 conference wins with three games to go. Surpassed last year's conference win total. Even though the Big Ten is down this year, I think it proves all the more how last year's team under-achieved even with the injuries they had. Still, we're gonna have to fight hard if we want to add to the win total. Iowa is due for a good game, so we'll definitely need to play well on Saturday because we're not THAT much better than them. Then you add Nebraska (fighting for a tourney birth) and Ohio State (fighting for a Big Ten championship) and we'll be playing some hungry teams. The question will be... do we want it more?

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A few thoughts/opinions on this one... a little long, as per tradition... - Defense. We made a struggling offense look downright pathetic in this one. Held them to 24% shooting from the field and 43 points total (some of which were due to questionable officiating where they got to the free throw line... more on that later.) We played the ball screens nicely (particularly Morgan... I love that kid) and pushed their offense away from the basket. We did a pretty good job fighting through screens and staying with our man. Our rotations were good. We almost always had a hand in their face on their jumpers and rarely gave up a good look. Again, it was against Rutgers, but this very same team dropped 76 on Purdue two days prior. This defense has improved dramatically from the Indiana State/Fort Wayne days. Very encouraging performances the past two games. - Offense. It's good that we have seemingly taken a defensive identity, because half of our rotation is mentally spent on the offensive end. We have three players who look comfortable taking shots right now. Morgan, Johnson and Green. That's it. If we want to make any sort of run here in the last bit of the season, we're gonna need about 2-3 more guys who can step up and shoot at least 40% or so from the field on a consistent basis. It doesn't really matter who it is. It just has to be someone. Outside of Morgan, Johnson and Green, we shot 3-21. If that isn't a mental thing, I don't know what is. We're not a good shooting team, but we're better than that. We need to prove it. We're getting open looks... we just need to hit them. Particularly the gimmes. And the free throws. - Court awareness. People don't talk about this aspect of the game much when evaluating players because it's hard to quantify. But it's a big reason why some players play and others don't. We saw that tonight with one of our guys. It's something that is particularly hard for some freshmen to get acquainted with. It's when to go for the block or when to block-out. It's knowing where the defense is around you. It's knowing where your teammates are within a play. After that, you see that execution can be hard for younger or inexperienced guys to follow through with. For example, another one of our freshmen is frequently in a position to make a great play, but has trouble finishing. An off-season of workouts could go a long way in him becoming a good player. - Playmakers. This is why guys like McRoberts, McSwain and Green are getting the bigger minutes right now despite their limitations. They can make plays. McRoberts can disrupt plays on defense and create turnovers while making the correct passes on offense. McSwain can't shoot and struggles to finish, but he's active on the glass and in the paint. My perception of Green has always been that it looks like he's making the game much more difficult than what it is, but he's one of the few guys on the team who can hit a tough shot or make a high-level pass. - The mental state of the team. We need some guys to break out of their mental funk in the worst way. We still need guys like Newkirk and Hartman this year because we don't really have anyone else right now. I hope our crowd really encourages those guys along with the rest of the team on Friday and gives them a boost because they need it. If they can break through, I think you could see us go on a little run to end the season and challenge for a postseason bid. If not, we'll struggle to stay above .500 overall. - Robbie Hummel. I loved his game at Purdue (and I badly wanted him as a Hoosier... as much as Eric Gordon) and I love him as a color commentator. Doesn't babble or give arrogant or pointless opinions. Simple and straightforward. Calls the game. A great representative of the Big Ten. I look forward to hearing more of his games in the future. - Finally... Officiating. Some folks say that no one ever complains about officiating after a big win, so here you go. The inconsistencies on some of the calls are mind-boggling. What wasn't a foul in the first half is a foul in the second. Evidently, you're allowed to blow the whistle on something that happened 3 seconds prior. If it's a slow game, spice it up with some whistles! The touch fouls around the post are ridiculous. Rutgers was in the bonus 6-7 minutes into the second half. The offensive foul call on the Smith fast break was absolutely atrocious. I know that officiating can be a very tough occupation, but let's not be naive... they are making VERY good money doing this. Why the Big Ten conference allows certain officials to continue refereeing the games is beyond my comprehension.

I think I see your point and I would agree with you most of the time, but I truly feel this situation is different. It's true that IU and Ohio State were ranked similarly in the preseason. But back then we were counting a healthy Davis and Hartman. You throw those two in the mix and the talent differential is a lot closer. Instead, we all saw what was put on the floor Tuesday evening. I don't think it's revisionist when the makeup of one of the teams has changed over the course of the year. I guess the way I look at it was put our five on their five and who is more talented? They have the front-runner for the Big Ten Player of the Year in Bates-Diop. They also have someone playing at an All-Conference level in Tate. Throw in a Freshman of the Year candidate in Wesson and two other very solid guards who could garner all-conference honorable mention in Jackson and Williams. We have Morgan, Johnson and random pieces. Holtmann absolutely deserves credit. What they have done this year has been outstanding. As a matter of fact, it's been so outstanding that it has been something that has never happened before in the history of the Big Ten (referring to a 9-0 start for a first year head coach in conference play.) As in, their play considering their circumstances in the preseason has been unprecedented. They've been THAT good this year. So does that mean we are to expect Archie to do the same thing here? As in, why is he not close to setting a new Big Ten record for a first year head coach? It is my opinion that that Ohio State's immediate success this year is an outlier. It's extremely rare for something like this to happen. Setting that as the expectation or any sort of bar for Archie is unfair. Again, Ohio State is doing something this year that's never been done before in the Big Ten. Look at Illinois. They were in the same boat as us and Ohio State. And they're really struggling this year. We're doing better than them. But what does that really mean? In the grand scheme of things, not much because each situation is different. But if we use the first-year coach comparison logic, Archie is far surpassing Underwood. It's like... who is the standard. Is it Holtmann? Is it Archie? Is it Underwood? But this is all just my opinion and I may be way off base. It certainly wouldn't be the first time. :)

A little disappointed by some of the comments in this one. I guess I'll add a few thoughts about the game and the season as a whole.. - This game was over by the first TV timeout. The defensive effort for the first ten minutes was absolutely atrocious and a major disappointment. We didn't compete on that end. The lack of focus on our part was extremely frustrating. That's when you need your senior leadership to step in before it got out of hand. They didn't. I wish Archie would have called a timeout or two during this period, but hindsight is always 20/20. Offensively, we settled for outside jumpers way too much and once a guy missed a shot, they lost all confidence. - Now, we played them even for the last 30 minutes of the game. 46-46. The defensive effort was much more impressive. We were more aggressive. The offense... not so much. Our passing was sub-standard and we were having trouble simply catching the ball. Our heads weren't in it.When we had open looks, we could only convert occasionally. And folks, that's execution. It doesn't matter what plays the coaches run if the players can't execute them. - Very poor senior leadership. There's nothing more to say on that issue. - We're a poor shooting team. Johnson is the only guy on the team who played last night who has ever been considered a good jump shooter (and he's not shooting well this year.) Everyone else ranges from streaky to poor. When you don't have players who can hit shots with any regularity, you shoot 30% from 3 for the season. I can't blame the coaches. They're getting them open looks. But Archie can't put the ball in the hoop for them. Question for anyone... who do we run offensive plays for outside of Morgan and Johnson? What is the staff supposed to do here? And what happens when Johnson doesn't show up on offense? - Quick kudos to Green. Normally, I don't believe one good game warrants a major increase in playing time, but with the lackluster play from our guards this season, we'll take what we can get. - We had negative post depth last night. Smith has a bright future, but he is being thoroughly outplayed by more experienced opponents right now. McSwain tries, but his size and overall basketball skills are extremely limited. People clamor for Moore and even Priller, but neither one has shown us anything during their limited playing time that makes me believe they would be any sort of upgrade. That means it all relies on Morgan and bless his heart... he can only do so much. - Are we really comparing rankings saying who had the #130 best player vs. the #143 best player? I know we as fans like to do that because we like to quantify things on paper, but everyone here knows that doesn't allow for variables like experience, improvement, environment, style, effort, etc. Do we have players ranked somewhat similar to those at Ohio State? Maybe. But no one can honestly say that we are as/more talented than them this season. If the rankings say we're equal (and I don't believe they do) they were wrong on some evaluations. Last night made that abundantly clear. - The future. I'm still optimistic. We're bringing in four guys next year who all have the ability to crack the rotation and then some. Three of which can shoot the ball. Two can make offense happen with the ball in their hands while another excels off of screens. The point guard coming in is a special talent and will give us an instant boost at that position. We're bringing in a bouncy forward who already has the skills necessary to provide depth in the post. We've also got a pretty talented red-shirt post player who will be eligible next year that will have a year of seasoning under his belt. This is not to mention the possibility of adding Romeo, a once in a decade talent. - I can assure you, Archie did not forget how to coach. If we see this stuff in two years, then it's another story...

A few thoughts on this one... - Juwan Morgan had his own Willis Reed type of game. He's the type of player that exudes confidence that spills over to his teammates. He makes other players better. He knows how to play college basketball. From crutches to 25 points in a matter of three days is absolutely amazing. He understands positioning. He understands spacing. He rarely takes a bad shot. His post defense on guys bigger than him is very good. He's just about everything you want as a Hoosier. Hats off to him. - Coaches cannot make shots for their players. But they can draw up plays to get open looks. Our coaching staff is doing that right now. We're just missing A LOT of open looks. We're gonna have better shooting and more talented teams in the future. When that happens, our offense is going to take off. - Make no mistake, Archie is directing this team. Our point guards had 3 assists to 9 turnovers. Yet, we still won. There is absolutely no doubt who is in charge of this program right now.

A few thoughts on this one... - This is assuming he brings us back to "where we are SUPPOSED to be." I think those parameters need defined. I'm assuming that means going to Final Fours and winning the National Championship... given our history of the heights this program has reached when it is being run successfully. That is a very tall task, BUT the basketball program has the resources to make it attainable. Which leads me to my next point... - If you're going to Final Fours and winning National Championships at IU, you're reaching the pinnacle of college basketball. You just are. You've made it. I think some people have either forgotten or never experienced what it is like when IU is "on top" of the college basketball world. When IU is championship-caliber, we have the same draw as UK, Kansas, etc. It's a big deal locally and nationally. It moves the meter. That's why IU, for all the struggles we've had in recent years, STILL gets among the most national TV exposure every year. We just got on CBS for the Northwestern game! IU is still a draw for people's interest... especially when it gets going. - So if Archie has us in Final Fours and winning a national championship on a regular basis, we're reaching the levels of UK, Kansas, UNC, Duke. We would be at that level. Someone used the Roy Williams comparison with how he went from Kansas to UNC. I don't think that's a great example because Williams was an assistant for Dean Smith at UNC for years and even played on the JV team as a student. He had strong Carolina connections... THAT was a big factor. So does Archie have any similar ties with those other schools? I don't think so. He might, but it's not as apparent as it was with Williams. He already turned down his alma mater at NC State. So again, if we're going to Final Fours and winning national championships, he's already reached the pinnacle and created a load of job security at IU. He'd be adored. Would he want to then laterally follow a legend at one of those other four schools? - Money. Archie is already making a pretty good wage at IU and he hasn't really even done anything. If he starts making Final Fours and winning championships, you'll see his pay rise significantly to the point of being among the highest in college basketball. As in, Top 5 or so. I mean, I suppose UK could come along and offer some absolutely ridiculous number that could sway him, but again... he would still be leaving a top program that he already built. He could leave... but it would be risky. - My concern of him leaving in that circumstance would be problems with our administration. That could be the impetus. I think that's more likely to happen than being swayed by the allure of Duke. But I don't think that happens, either. Honestly, I don't know if he'd leave or not. What I do know is that he was very selective on leaving Dayton for a "high-level" job. His whole family said that. Therefore, that leads me to believe there would have to be extraordinary circumstances for him to leave IU after having success here. Maybe for the NBA? Even then, I doubt it because of his college basketball roots. But this is all my opinion.

Been a little while, but my two cents on this one and the current state of the team... - Big win for confidence purposes. Penn State is actually a solid team (#41 Kenpom, I think), so for this season, it is a good win. This is the first time all season where we have experienced some "real" success and sustained it in the next game. In the future, we'll be expected to beat Penn State (and pretty much everyone else) at home, but for this team right now, this was most certainly a good win. - People say it was an "ugly" win. I mean, maybe? We didn't shoot well, but we had 14 assists to 9 turnovers, went 18/22 on free throws, out-rebounded them 36-31 and led almost the whole game. Folks, we're just not a good shooting team. And that's not something that will suddenly change this year. If we're gonna consistently win games this season, we're gonna have a number of games that might look like this one. It's just who we are right now. - Tony Carr is a good player, but he should have had at least three offensive fouls by the 12 minute mark in the first half. He was pushing off and stiff-arming his defenders A LOT and they were rarely called a foul. Officiating is something different every game... - Very, very impressed with the continued progression of Juwan Morgan. He's easily our most consistent and best player at this point. He's become an offensive threat at pretty much any spot on the floor. Perhaps even more important has been his play on the defense. Did you notice how many points Mike Watkins or Lamar Stevens scored when he guarded them? Not many. He was switching his assignments all night long, but was consistently a defensive presence. Also played 39 minutes. He's become a VERY good college basketball player. - Zach McRoberts deserves every minute he gets. Yes, it would help if he could keep the defense honest. But all the same, he still deserves to play as much as he is. He disrupted things defensively from the start and helped facilitate the offense all game long. Six rebounds, three assists, three steals and just one turnover. He produces in every aspect of the game outside of scoring. He's constantly moving and always hustles. - Glad to see Newkirk and Green bounce back with some solid performances. They didn't play GREAT, but much better than they did at Minnesota. Each knocked down some IMPORTANT free throws at the end of the game. And even though Justin Smith struggled, I really liked his confidence. That drive to the hoop early in the second half was special, he just didn't finish. I hope (and think) Archie sticks with him in the starting lineup and continues to give him good minutes because I think he's growing into something special. - So does this mean we can all the sudden chalk up the Northwestern game on Sunday as a win and start thinking about the NCAA Tournament? No, so pump the brakes on that one. We're still a substandard jump shooting team that gives up WAY too many open looks on defense. We lack quality depth and we take a big step down when Morgan isn't on the floor. Therefore, I don't know if there is any conference game that I am completely confident that we'll win. However, outside of the game @Michigan State, I think we can compete in any of the other games.

I was about to comment in the Purdue thread when I realized most of what I have to say is about the 2017 season as a whole. It didn't look like there was a thread for that and this was going to be a long post anyway (as per usual) so here goes... This campaign will go down in the record books as 5-7 (2-7). We rode into the season with some momentum coming off back-to-back bowl seasons and returning the majority of our (much-improved) defense while returning our QB along with a lot of WR talent/production. There were question marks surrounding our O-Line, run game and coaching staff as we brought in a lot of new faces in those areas... particularly a first-year head coach. While some believed this season was ripe for a "breakthrough", many (including myself) simply hoped that we could sustain the momentum created in the past couple of season and make it back to a bowl for the third season in a row. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. So what went wrong? My thoughts... - Quarterback play. We were hoping Lagow would take the next step this year, but it didn't happen. His QB rating dropped from a not-great 128.8 in 2016 to an even less-effective 124.8 in 2017. Perhaps the biggest drop in efficiency was the fact his yards per attempt decreased from 7.68 to just 6.56. His completion percentage slightly rose from 57.8% to 58.3%. To his credit, he did limit his INTs to just 8 in 295 attempts compared to 17 in 438 attempts in 2016. But as a whole? There wasn't much improvement. At least not near what we needed to "breakthrough"... So we got to see what Ramsey provided us. From a passing standpoint, his QB rating was slightly better than Lagow at 127.9. He did have an impressive completion percentage of 65.4% but only a measly 6.11 yards per attempt. His INT ratio was similar to Lagow with 5 INTs in 205 attempts. But to be honest, we saw a lot of "dink and dunk" with Ramsey at QB and there were a lot of punts. He did provide a spark at times with his ability to scramble/run, but it was limited as the season progressed. Personally, I don't believe our coaching staff ever felt comfortable with either QB. And it showed with the play-calling. I completely understand that they didn't want to put their guys in positions where they wouldn't succeed, but after awhile, I would have figured they would have tried to throw in some new wrinkles. I didn't really see that this year. It seemed like we were "searching" on offense in just about every game this season. And I think a lot of that started at QB and trickled down to the rest of the offense. - The Rest of the Offense. The O-Line could never make up for the loss of Feeney and Co. from the year before. Players who were we hoping to step up in a big way like Knight and Cronk battled injuries throughout the year and never seemed to get in a groove (although Wes Martin had a good year.) Guys like Stepaniak, Littlejohn, Crider, Baker and Nworah struggled a lot. I knew our RB unit would be a problem when Redding left early for the NFL draft and Patrick got a medical hardship waiver. We just didn't have near the talent or experience to make up for those losses and it showed. I thought both Ellison and Gest showed promise for the future, but we need a lot more than that. Hopefully Ronnie Walker can help us with that next year. Our talented WR corps took a hit early in the year with injuries to Westbrook and Hale. I do believe that hurt us quite a bit because that put a lot of pressure on Cobbs and some of the other guys like Taysir Mack never provided enough consistency on a game-to-game basis. Timian was solid in the slot and I loved the emergence of Philyor. Also would have loved to see what a healthy Ian Thomas could have given us all year... But I think we were getting beat at the line of scrimmage more times than not and that pretty much affected everything else. Our QBs were pressured too much. Our already suspect RB unit didn't have much space to run. I would have loved to have seen a bit more creativity in the running game (kinda like what Purdue did) to mix things up. But I'm guessing our coaching staff wanted to play conservative to prevent turnovers. Not sure if that strategy paid off for us... - Defense. For the second year in a row, this was the strength of our team and it wasn't really close. We were able to generate a pass-rush against a lot of teams. Our LB duo was probably as good of a combo as any in the Big Ten. Our secondary made more than enough plays to keep us in games. So how did we end up with a losing record? I'll tell you why... The Maryland and Purdue games. Our defense let us down in these two. There was absolutely no reason why we allowed Maryland to have as much success on offense against us as they did with their 3rd-string QB. We allowed 10.7 yards per passing attempt. While they only amassed 345 yards total, it was still a lot more than our defense should have allowed. Even more shocking was the fact we allowed Purdue to run for 272 yards. They didn't have much of a running game, but we showed the poorest tackling display that we had all season. How disappointing. Don't get me wrong. I loved our defensive efforts against teams like Virginia, Michigan and MSU. I loved how we got two shutouts this year.The defense certainly played up to their potential in those contests. But man... the Maryland and Purdue games were "swing" contests that would have a major impact on the season. While I certainly wouldn't blame the defense for our struggles this year, their lackluster performances in those two games really hurt us in the end. So where do we stand on defense with all the graduating seniors? We'll have to replace a lot of production, for sure. But I'm honesty not as concerned as some might be. We'll hopefully get a healthy Marcellino Ball and A'Shon Riggins back. Crawford is back at safety. Guys like Barwick, Stallings and Robinson give us some experience on the line. An eligible Bryant Fitzgerald should help. My main concern is at LB... especially if Dameon Willis forgoes his final season. That is a legitimate hole to fill. But that being said, Allen is a defensive guy and has shown that he knows what he's doing on that side of the ball. I think we might take a small step back next year, but not a dramatic slide like some may be fearing. But that's just my opinion. - Coaching. I'm not gonna dive too deep into this because I'm not a coach. But I felt there were a number of times this year when we went too conservative and settled for field-position wins instead of scoring points. I think the Purdue game was a perfect example of this. Purdue ran gadget plays, misdirections, trick plays, fake punts, etc. They did whatever they had to do to win the ball game. Now I know hindsight is always 20/20, but I'd like to see some more creativity next season on the offensive side of the ball. I defended DeBord mid-season, but in the end I felt his overall play-calling was WAY too vanilla. Also, we had a number of blunders and gaffes on special teams that really changed the momentum of several games this year... we've got to minimize those. Never been a fan of the "DeBord coaches the offense" idea. Tom Allen is the head coach, so I would hope he takes more charge of the offense next year. Also, I understand the idea behind #breakthrough and #LEO but if you don't back it up with wins it sounds hokey and cliche' and hollow. Recruiting seems to be going well for IU standards and should allow us to keep contending for bowls in the coming years. Hopefully this continues. -Final Analysis. We had as much momentum going into the season as we have had in a long time, but we regressed. In the end, that's the size of it. We lost the Spittoon. We lost the Bucket. And we'll miss a bowl game. Did we have an awful year? No, not even close to awful from IU's historical perspective. But considering the hopes and expectations for this team, it was a let down. I felt the season as a whole was a microcosm as to our historical struggles. We never seem to be able to put everything together at once. Sigh. Next season will be pivotal to the future perception of our program. Make it back to a bowl and I think we're about where we were at the start of the season. And I do believe that we will have a roster that is capable of being a bowl team. But miss out on a bowl for the second year in a row... we'll have dug another hole to dig out of from a perception standpoint. But hey... at least we didn't verbally abuse/mistreat our players this year, amirite? ;)

A few thoughts on this one... - There are a lot of good guard prospects that are still/become available every Spring via transfer, de-commit or never committed in the first place. It's not like what it used to be ten years ago. There are many solid players that Archie could go after in the Spring if he wants. Anyone remember McKinlay Wright, Archie's prized commit to Dayton who de-committed? He's leading 7-2 Colorado in scoring right now at 15.7 PPG. And there are others out there like him. This isn't a situation where we'll be desperate for bigs and end up with April and Priller. That was a completely different situation. - Watching a little bit of Damezi Anderson and Jerome Hunter, I'd say there's a very good chance you'll see both of them play on the wing next year. Especially Anderson. If you get a chance, watch him move without the ball on offense. He moves like a guard, always moving, cuts hard off of screens, etc. Is he quick enough defensively? Not sure yet. But it's rare you see a player move around the court that much if he doesn't plan on having the ball in his hands a lot. So if he and Hunter are playing the wing with any regularity, that means we just need guys at the PG and another off-guard/wing. - I believe a lot of this Romeo Langford speculation is just that. Speculation. There has not been any indication that a decision is anywhere imminent. How some people can be so sure that one team is leading another seems extremely premature at this point. His recruitment has been full of "School A is trending... no, wait! School B is hot now. Nah, he's got buddies at School C. He'll definitely go there." and plenty of that has been from some national guys. IMO, pay attention near the April signing period. That's when any of this will have some substance. I believe IU has as much shot as any school. And side note... are some people really THAT confident he's going to Vanderbilt? Really? I mean, I guess it could happen. But wow. Potentially the all-time leading scorer in Indiana High School history will go to... Vanderbilt. I'd be completely shocked. Not saying it can't/won't happen. I've been shocked before. But from a logical basketball perspective, that would just about take the cake. Not Indiana. Not Kansas. Not Duke. Not UK. But Vandy. Sheesh. - Let's not pigeon-hole Green and Durham with their potential improvement for next year. Sometimes I think we as fans want to take their present production and just assume that's all they will ever be. But don't under-estimate those guys. Look at Juwan Morgan. 2.4 PPG as a freshman. 14.1 PPG as a Junior. Guys can improve.

This one deserves commenting on... our best performance of the year. - Just an absolutely dominating performance from start to finish. Outgained them 503-190 yards. +1 on turnovers. Just one penalty. The offense showed some life. Our second shut out of the year (first Big Ten shutout since '93). This game showed that we're clearly better than the bottom of the league right now... which is huge for perception purposes. - How about our O-Line and running game. 267 yards at 5.6 per carry. The O-Line was opening up some nice holes and built off a solid showing last week. Both Ellison and Gest hit the 100 yard mark. Great for both of those guys. Ellison's bruising ability is such an asset to have while Gest's burst is impressive. Both are freshmen. They can build off this... - Lagow threw that pick and missed a couple of receivers, but I felt he managed the game very well. Made some nice throws on third down to some receivers who made some great plays after the catch. The weather could have really messed him up, but he succeeded in spite of it. Good for him! - As well as our offense played, our defense was better. Rutgers never really threatened. Yes, they were aided by the weather and Rutgers' passing game stinks, but still. Rutgers hit the red zone, what... once? And that was in garbage time. And they allowed zero points. Our D-Line is playing very well. Our LB's are playing very well. And our secondary more than holds their own. Tom Allen knows defense. If you give him an even playing field talent-wise, I think he'll successfully scheme you more often than not. (Maryland was the exception, unfortunately.) - Next week is the biggest bucket game in several years. Both teams playing for a bowl. Purdue will be tough. Their offense doesn't scare me other than some trick plays they'll pull out. But their defense is legitimate. We need Lagow and Co. to have another good game. The turnover battle may be critical. Perhaps Purdue comes in a little over-confident after the Iowa win? Maybe. But in my eyes, this is a matchup between two evenly matched clubs. I think it'll be all about execution and who wants it more!!!

I'm definitely optimistic about the Archie era. I'm still optimistic about this season. You know, when you have a team that is void of superstars, it is imperative that you get leadership and production from your seniors and upperclassmen. We haven't gotten that yet this year. Newkirk and particularly Johnson have played way under their potential thus far. I have a feeling that's gonna change here in the next month or so. Hartman and Morgan have already been hurt... once they get healthy, that will help a lot. If/when we can get those guys playing close to their potential (and I honestly believe it will happen this year) we'll have a completely different ball club. And we'll be more than competitive. Remember last November? We beat Kansas and UNC. And what did that really tell us about the team? Not much. My opinion is that it is WAY too early to write off this team. I'm not saying we'll rebound and make the tournament, but we're gonna be a lot better. If we're still playing like this at the end of January, I'll admit that I was wrong.

A few thoughts on this one... - First and foremost, we got the win. And it was an important one. Of course, we needed it to keep our bowl hopes alive. But every bit as important (if not moreso) is the fact that we showed we're not the worst team in the Big Ten. I know that sounds pathetic. But if we lost this game, I think it pretty much would have erased any sort of progress we made during the Wilson era and we'd have to climb ourselves out of the Big Ten basement yet again. So yeah, winning this one was huge from a perception standpoint. - Illinois is just not a good team right now. They are more beat up than we are. Did I see correctly their O-Line starts 3 freshmen? They really have no stability at any position. They have no consistency at QB. Their defense is better, but still nothing special. They're just a poor team. - The final stats make me feel better than the final score. We out-gained them by a lot. Won first downs, 22-10. Won the time of possession by 10 minutes. Kudos to our defensive coaches exploiting their O-Line to the tune of SEVEN sacks. We kept their running game in-check. Held them to less than 300 yards. We were able to move the ball better this week and had some semblance of a running game. Won the TO battle. How we only won 24-14 is what bothers me. - Lagow was Lagow. He is what he is at this point. I hate that we seem to put so much responsibility on him, but it's not like our O-Line or running game is anywhere near consistent enough to carry the load. Illinois was clearly scared of our WRs, so that allowed our RBs to haul in 10 catches for 93 yards. Hey, you take what you can get. Still, 289 yards on 48 pass attempts isn't great. - So where does this leave us? Can we win out? I mean, yeah. But am I confident? No. Our defense is gonna have to lead the way. Very pleased with the efforts by our front seven today. We'll need that the rest of the year. We'll also need a couple of our DB's (names have been omitted to protect the guilty) to step it up in pass coverage because that was exposed some today. But they are good enough to stop Rutgers and Purdue. And we'll need them to because our offense has never looked in-sync or been able to score points with any consistency this year. Maybe we're saving the best for last. I keep hoping the light will finally "come on" this year...

A few thoughts on the game, but mostly thoughts about where this team and program stand after today's loss... it's a long one, as per usual. - I did not expect IU to win this game. I did expect IU to come out rejuvenated because no one gave them a chance in this one. They did... to an extent. But after the first 20 minutes or so, I saw a team that was deflated and resigned to losing. I am extremely disappointed in our composure and effort in the game today. From the coaches and the players. - The Ellison fumble. That was garbage officiating. The play was blown dead. There were no replay angles that showed indisputable evidence of a fumble. How they ruled Wisconsin ball is beyond my comprehension. You think they would make that call in the Ohio State vs. Michigan game? Of course not because it would be all over the sports news the next day. The play was whistled dead. Even if it wasn't, where was the indisputable evidence??? Absolute garbage call. Now, they still kicked our butts and we pretty much stopped playing afterwards, but still. I'm looking forward to hearing the officials' explanation on that one. But you know what's worse? We probably won't hear a thing because it's IU football and no one really cares. Sigh. - Mike DeBord/Offense. I defended DeBord earlier this year. Personally, I don't feel he is a bad coach. But he seems at a loss with this offense. Doesn't matter who the QB is. Neither Ramsey and Lagow are good enough right now and that's disappointing. The O-Line has been bad. Guys like Cronk and Knight were supposed to step up this year, but they're struggling. What's tough is that they're still two of our best options. We do not have a RB who can gain yards on the ground except Ellison, but he is prone to fumbles. All our other RBs seem WAY out of their league. Cobbs is fantastic, but all of our other receivers have been inconsistent and don't play near well enough to offset everything else. The playcalling seems unimaginative and borders somewhere between overly cautious and not having any faith in much of anything. - Defense. Honestly, they weren't horrible and once again, they were put in horrible situations on short fields. That being said, it was just like the Michigan game except against a better QB. Taylor is a beast and we couldn't stop their power running game. Plain and simple. And that's about all that needs to be said. They did seem to lose interest at the end of the game, which was extremely disheartening. Okay, I'm tired of talking about this game. So here's the big picture... in what was setting up to be one of our deepest and most-talented teams in years, we are 3-6 (0-6). Very, very disappointing. I had faith in this team and defended them a lot this year. Folks, I badly want to see Tom Allen succeed as head coach. Badly. But as a whole, we have taken a sizable step back this season. It's obvious. The whole "breakthrough" marketing mantra was stupid to begin with because it adds undue expectations that a first-year coach doesn't need. I think the marketing department really dropped the ball, there. They did the same thing in Wilson's first year with "Win Today!" If you don't live up to it, you look stupid. And guess what? We look stupid. Fortunately, we have three games remaining against the worst of the conference. And these are HUGE games for the perception of the program. Win all three, we tread water and can at least say we are 6-6 again. Not great, but okay. Losing one means we lost to a bad team, eliminates a bowl game and ensures a losing record. Not good. Losing two means we've lost any confidence built from the season. Really not good. Losing all three means we're the worst team in the Big Ten when we were supposed to be mediocre. This last outcome pretty much erases any momentum we had from the Wilson era, costs us any respect we had been given and pretty much forces us to start from scratch once again. I so hope this team gets it together and wins three straight because the alternatives really hurt the direction of the program. But my confidence in this team is waning fast...

Very good advice. I'm afraid that there are some who are taking a few (unsubstantiated?) rumors and pairing it with high-level optimism to suddenly think that a Langford commitment to IU is likely to happen soon. Reading all the different stories out there right now, an imminent commitment is possible, but is nowhere near the certainty that the last few pages of this thread may lead you to believe. From everything I am reading and hearing, an early commitment is possible. As in, it COULD happen. It's not out of the realm of possibility. But I have yet to see an accredited source be willing to bet on it right now. It seems like there are some of our Hoosier comrades who are suddenly worried about if he takes the Kansas visit because Langford's dad was quoted in saying that they don't HAVE to take the Kansas visit if they don't want to. I agree, that's a quote that COULD be a positive for IU. However, the plan all along was/is to take the visit to Kansas. And seeing how methodical, careful and level-headed this recruitment has been, I think it would be foolish to get your hopes up into thinking he's not going to visit Kansas this weekend. And if he goes as scheduled, I don't necessarily believe that it suddenly means he didn't have as good of a time at Hoosier Hysteria as we thought he had. It just means he's giving due diligence to one of the other schools he likes. My point? Optimism is always refreshing and more fun. But be careful to not let optimism and wishful thinking inaccurately portray the reality of this recruitment. I think we're in good shape, though.

I don't quite understand this narrative that our D-Line is "weak as always" and our rushing defense is horrid. True, our tackling was poor against Michigan. I'd like to see the missed tackles statistic because it had to be high. Higdon had a breakout game, for sure. That kid is a good RB. But this notion that our defense could NEVER get a push was false. Was it inconsistent? You bet. Too much so. But we were in their backfield on numerous occasions last weekend, but could rarely finish the job. Look no further than HIgdon's run in OT. The D-Line got a GREAT push and broke up the play. I think it was Nate Hoff who pushed his man all into Higdon himself. Of course, they didn't finish the play, but it wasn't because there was no push by our D-Line. Also, I know it's fun to cherry-pick stats, so let's be fair. We already mentioned the rushing yards we gave up against OSU, Ga. Southern (an option offense) and Michigan. But what about 5-1 Virginia? Held them to 55 yards. What about everyone's favorite Heisman candidate, Saquan Barkley? 56 yards on 20 carries, less than 3 yards per carry. We held Penn State as a whole to just 39 rushing yards. That's very good. Let's not make things seem worse than reality...