Hillsdale87

Well after arguing about Zach McRoberts all day, he’s apparently not going to play tonight... [emoji102] As much as I think he's a liability, he's possibly less of a liability than the guys behind him. This team is a special combination of bad and incredibly unlucky Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sure, but so does everybody except Morgan. Everybody on this team except Morgan and Langford is mediocre to bad. Nobody else is good enough to start on Michigan, MSU, or Purdue. I'm not down on the future of the freshmen and sophomores, but they're not ready to make meaningful contributions right now. Nobody who's defending Green thinks he's awesome. We watch the games too and realize he has plenty of flaws. I wish we could say that we don't need Green because there are tons of better players, but there aren't. Without Green and Davis we have 2 good players and 3 decent ones. Anybody else that plays is bad. We can't play 5 guys for 40 minutes, so adding a decent player will help

If you're replacing a bad basketball player with a mediocre one, then it's an upgrade. Yes it's not an upgrade that's going to vault us to the conference championship, but keeping negative guys off the floor is a positive. That's the issue right now. McRoberts tries hard, but his presence on the floor hurts the team. We saw the same thing in the Maryland game when we had to play Fitzner while Smith was in foul trouble. Smith is not great, but the guy coming in after him is so much worse that it was demoralizing.

I can't understand your argument. If Green is not playing, somebody else will. With our current roster, that somebody is going to be McRoberts. If Green plays more, McRoberts likely plays less. That's why I set up the comparison. I'm not even arguing that Green is awesome, because he's usually not. But Green is at worst our 7th best player, so having him back would be helpful. Earlier comments on the thread show that some on here believe it will be bad for the team. Green would not be an upgrade for a top level team, but he is for IU. The other reason we need Green is just that we don't have many guards. I basically think Green, Al, and Rob will provide equivalent value over the course of the season, but their value in any particular game can vary significantly. If one of the guys is off, the other 2 can step in. Rob has not been great the last 2 games, which isn't surprising from a freshman guard, but we haven't had anybody to spot him. At the least Green provides depth and options for a team desperately needing both.

I'm not hamstringing the question by asking about McBob. You said that getting Green back is not good news at all. If Green is not playing, then McBob is going to get a bunch of minutes. Sure it would be great to have other options, but there aren't any. Yes, that is the fault of Crean/Archie, but there's no fixing it now. Our roster is what it is. You can give Green or McRoberts 25 minutes, and Green is definitely the better option. Green takes 7 shots a game. He misses 4 of them. Unless every shot he misses is a bad decision, then he's not burning many possessions.

As maddening as Green can be with his up and down play, a team as offensively challenged as Indiana needs his playmaking ability. I like Rob, but right now he's not a guy who can create his own shot or really attack the defense. He runs the offense well, but without solid offensive players, we need a spark on offense. I like playing both of them together. Outside of Morgan and Langford, Green is the only other guy on the team who can create out of structure. Considering that we don't have much structure right now, and what we do have has been ineffective, I think you have to take your chances that you'll get good Devonte. We've lost 6 games in a row. If we get good Devonte, we have a shot to win. If we get bad Devonte, we maybe lose by a few extra points, but it's still a loss. I know that's a bit simplistic, but we need a third guy to step up. Green probably won't be that guy, but I think he's the only one who has a chance to be.

The Green hate on this board is so wild... He's not an invaluable piece, but would you rather see McRoberts playing 25 minutes a game? Outside of getting suspended for smoking pot, what evidence is there that he's a locker room problem? I could be wrong, but I'm guessing he's not the only guy on the team to have done this, but he got caught. In the last 5 games, Rob is average 6 PPG and 1.5 APG on 26% shooting. You don't think it would be good to have another option at times? Rob's and Devonte's season stats are almost the same, with Rob averaging 0.5 less turnovers per game. Rob is more careful with the ball, but Devonte's carelessness is completely overblown too. He's not a great player, and I hope we have better options in the coming years, but right now he's better than the other bench guys we have.

He had 12 points and 4 boards. He did not kill us. I think 8 of those points came on 4 uncontested dunks. He was fine, but had nothing to do with why we lost. Rebounds in total were equal. Purdue's size did not have a significant impact on the game. If Indiana had a guy like Cline, that would have changed the game. If we were 7-20 from 3, which is still not great, we would be in the game. But you can't win when nobody can shoot and you're 4-20 on 3s Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I don't think we've had a lot of avoidable injuries, or at least any more than most teams. Concussions and whatever is going on with Hunter are impossible to predict. Davis just playing at all after his injury is remarkable, but he was bound to be injury prone coming back so quickly. Al took a knee to the thigh. I guess McRoberts has had some nagging stuff, but that seems to be it. I don't know if Marshall is any good other than that guys have nice before and after pictures. So no reason to be sold on him, but I don't see how to blame him for injuries this year. It's just been unlucky Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed, but I think TJD will have the size to play with those guys if he's actually the 6'10" 235 lbs that he's listed at. He will put on 10 pounds once Marshall gets with him too Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edwards is averaging 25 PPG. He's pretty awesome... The problem with IU's starters is that most of them are redundant from a skills standpoint. Athletes withediocre ball handling, good defense, and middling shooting. That player is valuable when there are one or 2, but when 4 players fit that description it's a problem. Purdue's pieces fit together much better. For instance, if IU had Nick Zeisloft, I don't think anybody would say he's an awesome all around basketball player, but the fact that he's a great shooter would have an outsized impact. The threat of Cline's 3s got Haarms a couple dunks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Someone making a shot is the most important thing IMO. Teams can win without a dominant center, but an offense is predictable because nobody can shoot, there's no chance Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep. The Marquette game was great, and everything since has been downhill. We had some good wins, but they were all squeaked out. There's something to be said for winning close games, but those usually even out, and that's been happening. I want Archie to succeed too, but I'm not confident. I see no reason to think he's an improvement on Crean at this point Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m fine playing McRoberts if it’s a close game as his defense on Edwards has been ok. But we need points and are playing 4 on 5. Green or Durham need to be in Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pulling Morgan at the end of the half when he has no fouls... I don’t understand Archie’s personnel decisions Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How did they miss that goaltend?! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Morgan might be a better free throw shooter if his foot weren’t pointing at the sideline Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Romeo is completely out of it Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Archie needs to hire an offensive coordinator Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That intentional foul call against Michigan was terrible. One of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in that spot Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This to me is the concern. I can forgive the fact that we're not scoring a lot because we have no shooters, and that's not Archie's fault as he only has 1 recruiting class. But I'm not seeing a system that will translate once we get the players. Thank goodness for Langford and Morgan being able to score on their own because they almost never score from an offensive set. It's all Romeo driving from behind the 3 point line or Morgan catching from a stand still and going to work. Smith isn't a great offensive player, but a guy that athletic should be slashing and coming off screens, using his strength and leaping ability to get shots at the rim. Instead, he's usually going off the dribble too, which is not his strength. A good coach figures out how to minimize a player's weaknesses and maximize strengths. It's how Belichick has made the Patriots amazing. He doesn't have guys with the most overall talent, but he finds what they do really well and makes sure to maximize that. Beilein does a good job with that too. Michigan got so many better looks than us. I'm not seeing anything with Archie evolving to fit the team. Without shooters, I don't expect this team to be great offensively, but it shouldn't be this hard, and that concerns media the future. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Down 12 and bringing in Fitzner and McRoberts is giving up Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We can play see teams tough, but we have a very limited ceiling when we have no 3 point shooters. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fitzner as the sub for defense on the last possession makes no sense Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk