Hillsdale87

Romeo has to pressure the defense. If we are going to take a step back 3 I would rather have Rob or Green take it Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Terrible. Cost us 2 points Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great follow from Romeo Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Green is such a conundrum. Incredibly quick hands and sometimes has the ball on a string, and then other times seems to have no control. If we could just combine Green's ball handling and playmaking with Rob's IQ, we would have a great player Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is 2 straight games we are outplaying good teams. We just can't make open shots. The execution is there though Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We can't have possessions where Romeo doesn't get the ball. He just stood in the corner that whole last possession Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Romeo needs to be aggressive Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm not convinced he will be a star. He needs to develop more quickness with the ball as he can't really break guys down off the dribble. But I think he will develop a pretty good shot and at least be a solid PG for 4 years Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thompson needs to look to do score. We are doing a good job of getting him the ball in the zone, but he's not a threat at all Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't think he's started the last 3 games Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice to see Rob shoot with confidence. His stroke is good. It'll really help if he can make teams pay for not running him off the 3 point line Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BTW, really appreciate all of the insiders that can provide perspectives on issues around the team.

Well then that sucks... Hopefully stuff gets fixed. I've been a defender of Green's this year, mostly because I think he's been better than people think, not because I think he would be an asset if we had better players. For instance, if Green transferring means we can take Beverly, that would be a great trade. Smith is actually somebody I think could be very valuable with his defensive versatility as a bench guy getting 15-20 minutes a game. I thought he was pretty good against Purdue. He had a number of shots rim out, but his activity was good, and he's valuable if he can continue to play like that. But if his attitude is as bad as it apparently seems to be, it's better for him to move on.

Evan Fitzner was a no-risk pickup. We were either going to have an unused scholarship for this year, or we could get Fitzner. He's off the books next year. Obviously he hasn't provided what we and Archie were hoping for, but it's not like he's taking up a scholarship that could have been better allocated elsewhere.

Just saw them. I rescind my comment... I still think it's likely that stuff is being overblown because posters have been frustrated with Green and Smith all year, and so all of their issues get magnified more than with other players. That said, there seems to be enough smoke that there's probably some sort of issue with these guys

There seems to be a lot of personal slander against these guys off of very few facts. They've not been great this year, and maybe they're bad in the locker room, but it seems like mostly speculation Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

These refs are garbage Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Archie has signed 8 recruits, and they're all top 150 guys. How does that scream desperation? He has 6 recruits on the current team. Who specifically would you say looks like they want everything to be easy? Pretty much everybody loves Phinisee, and Romeo was a no-brainer pickup. 2 of the recruits have been injured all year. Jake was never expected to contribute. So we basically have one guy, Damezi, who could be somewhat criticized. I'm sure the season has not gone as Damezi hoped, but it's way too early to make any judgments on him. He tries when he's out there, but his defense is just not ready. Don't get me wrong, Archie has had a bad year, and he deserves to be criticized. But it's way too soon to act like he doesn't have a plan for recruiting or player development.

I've been pretty critical of the IU offensive system this year. I don't think any coach can make these pieces into a good offense due to shooting limitations, but I know that good coaching could pull more out than Archie has to this point. And Romeo has definitely not been used well enough. He's not getting the ball in positions that set him up to score. A very simple offensive wrinkle would be to have Romeo run curl screens off Juwan in/near the paint on every possession. Romeo and Juwan are 2 of the best finishers at the rim in the Big 10. If either guy gets a quarter step on a defender, it's a bucket. This at least puts pressure on the defense and forces defensive movement and switching to get better matchups for our 2 best players... That said, I only give coaching a portion of the blame. The rest falls on Romeo and his teammates. It's not the coaches' fault that he rarely moves without the ball. When a guy drives and kicks to Romeo, he always catches in a standstill, when he should be getting himself in position to catch that ball on the move and get to the hole. When he does that, he finds success. But he lets the defense have the advantage far too often. Romeo is also best as a slasher, but the fact that teams don't have to guard the 3 point line means that he's facing a lot more packed lanes, especially because Indiana's best player also plays in the post. The personnel on this team are basically the worst fit for Romeo's skill set. As frustrating as this team, and Romeo's season, have been, I don't think teams can really use this as a knock in recruiting. It hasn't been great, but it's also not been bad. He's still a projected top 10 pick. He's not having the season the Duke freshmen are, but they're historical outliers. Look at Grimes and Nassir Little. Those guys were nearly as heralded and are having much more disappointing seasons.

Al needs to pull the trigger on these 3s. Guys are giving it to him but he's not shooting them Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Smith may be bad, but Fitz is infinitely worse Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed. I'd like to see Archie run more sets where Langford is running off of screens, but there are plenty of things Romeo should be doing in the halfcourt to put himself in better position

Dakich is right about Langford's usage. The fact that he almost always catches the ball standing still is terrible. That's partly his fault and partly Archie's, but it needs to be fixed.

Possible, but Davis has earned the start with his plays

We have open 3s on almost every possession. We just don't have guys who can take them. On ball screens at the 3 point line, Ohio State was going under and not hedging. If you can't make a team pay for playing that kind of defense, then you're just not going to score points, no matter what type of offense you run. I don't think Archie has done a good job with this team, so there's definitely room for improvement, but I don't think the offense is as bad as it looks. Last year, we thought Romeo was a perfect fit because we got a ton of open 3s but didn't have the players to convert them. Unfortunately, we replaced the mediocre shooters from last year with worse shooters this year. I think the biggest difference from early in the season is not so much the way IU has been playing, but it's the way other teams are defending. Lanes that were open early in the year that Romeo and Juwan could attack are no longer there because teams know our weakness and are exploiting it. I'm cautiously optimistic that Phinisee and Durham will continue to progress as shooters and that Hunter and Anderson will be able to play real minutes next year. If that happens I think the offense will look much improved