pumpfake

We now know that Arch can't spin straw into gold. Not that he should have been expected to work miracles with a mediocre roster, but it was something I had hopes for. Last year's team was bad and we arguably lost the 3 most valuable players from it before this season, so I have no problem with the above description of our current talent level. What did disappoint me was our lack of toughness, making the same mistakes on defensive switches time after time, and instances of bored or lazy effort. There was a play in the first half when Justin Smith finally got in the game and then just stood there watching when there was a loose ball (that McRoberts dove for) - that was indicative of much of the effort level I saw. We have very little in the way of size. Very little in the way of reliable/consistent shooting. Very little in the way of physical superiority. Fine. But lack of effort, failure to learn and play smart basketball, and playing soft are inexcusable. Also, I really support Collin Hartman, but he hasn't exactly been stellar the last few games (and is deserving of some criticism our other two seniors deservedly get). Maybe this team has a bunch of guys who just don't have the fire in the belly - I don't know. But that is my biggest disappointment with last night's performance. I really hope that much of this is simply a result of our former coach's inability to recruit talented and TOUGH MINDED players, it seems the best players we saw over the past 8 years were more motivated to get to the NBA than to beat the hell out of their opponents. Again, I just don't know.

I take no pleasure in saying this, but the disgusting truths are a) no coach, we haven't improved exponentially since the ISU game and b) we are IPFW's b*tch at this point.

True. And our seniors, as a group (including Hartman), have been next to worthless.

Yep. I think the incident with Knight involved making some kind of flyer or poster for recruit(s) that had some derogatory stuff about TT. I guess it's all part of the game, but how much and how far a coach goes with it is telling. (I suspect having Garland list IU as 3rd or 4th on his list when he announced might have been Drew's idea - just my suspicion).

I have to wonder if Bryce Drew has picked up some of brother Scott's "dirty" negative recruiting tricks. I seem to recall Scott doing something that angered RMK when he was still at TT.

Yep. I don't know if I'd even include Sheehey as his senior year was, IMO, disappointing. I still believe you can compete with a good system and the right players.

The thing that (is supposed to) make seniors so valuable is reliable and smart play. We don't get that from ours, and I think a lot that is because they played the first three years in an undisciplined and chaotic system. When you think about it, how many players did we have in the Crean years that were great seniors? Not many.

I will gladly give $100 to anyone at the game who will punch the P.A. announcer in the throat.

I fully understand and agree with your point. Butler got to two FF's with those type of players and played a solid and enjoyable style of ball. I'll add that there are some 5 stars that you do really want, and plenty you don't. If we begin to have success with the right players, in-state stars will take notice.

Add me to the list of those who don't expect to see much more come from the investigation. The two takeaways, IMO, are that the feds were only concerned about financial crimes and the NCAA will (predictably) continue to act like the three monkeys.

Personally, I'm happy they ruled this way. From all accounts Joey is a good kid and student. I graduated H.S. with his dad, Joe.

I didn't watch the game, but have been a little bit perplexed at all the love for Minnesota. The game we played them last season towards the end of the year was maybe the worst performance by two Big Ten teams I could remember.

It looks like we are really not well suited to go against teams that excel at 3-pt shooting (or have an exceptional night from beyond the arc). Beilein's teams have always shot the 3, so I guess the result was predictable. Despite the most optimistic hopes, we ARE in a rebuild. New system and players that just aren't that good. While I would be happy as hell to get Romeo L., he'll likely only be here for 1 season. We need players. Period. That won't begin to change until next season, but I still expect to see improvement (and disappointment) throughout this season.

This team definitely needs an infusion of shooting ability and at least two players with size to play down low. I had hopes that Davis would come out this season looking ready to make an impact, but half the time he's a non-factor.

Any player that passes the ball to McSwain needs to run laps.

21st Century Jim Rowinski?

Something just dawned on me - the events of the past couple of weeks with Shittu & Garland have shown that the belief that kids make a decision based on facilities is way over blown. Vanderbilt's gym is garbage compared to even the average Big Ten venue. Secondly, the more I think about it, I kind of feel that the players that VU just signed will actually make RL more likely to come here if he really wants to be the #1 option and boost his draft stock. Perhaps wishful thinking, but I think it does have some merit.

Only 8 turnovers, not relying on 3 pointers, and winning with a comfortable margin is refreshingly new. I don't care that it was against Arkansas State or not - for the past many years we did not do these things against good and bad teams alike. I feel we're still in the early learning stages (especially with playing 3 freshmen) with only a modest amount of talent on the roster, so it's not like we're close to contending for anything, but it's hard not to feel very optimistic about the future.

I don't know if Romeo will go to Vandy or not. I haven't heard any specifics on illegal recruiting at Vandy. On the other hand, the circumstances of them suddenly attracting multiple top-10 players out of the blue is highly unusual and reason for suspicion IMO.

I'm wondering if/how pre-emptive Archie is going to be toward blue chip recruits. As it appears that the NBA restriction on drafting H.S. players may be lifted in the not so distant future, I can see an added emphasis on low 5 stars and high 4 stars instead of potentially wasting time on top 10 players. I guess one would have to gauge players on an individual basis, but it seems every H.S. player that has a chance ultimately wants to go pro (i.e. rarely will a super recruit opt to go to college if he knows he can jump to the NBA).

Yep, I totally agree with your first sentence. I've been an IU fan since before I was in high school, but have a Purdue degree in Engineering, and as you'd expect work with many Purdue people. They know I'm an IU fan, but never started up with me and I extended the same courtesy to them. I did overhear conversations between two PU fans saying things about IU but it wasn't directed toward me and I could not have cared less. More often than not it's the ones that never attended either school that want to sling the most crap. Just don't get me started on Michigan grads, thankfully they're few and far between in my travels but the ones I've dealt with can only be described as delusional zealots (and these were grads with a Master's degrees).

That old saying "Live by the 3, die by the 3" contains a lot of truth. Our reliance on 3 pointers is one reason I never saw us going far under CTC - all it takes is an off night or losing one of your shooters (like Hulls) and you're dead in the water.

The contrast I've been thinking about today is roster and style of play. Tom Crean inherited an essentially empty roster and the team played like it. He eventually got players that had talent and his style of play and the total system was still lacking. Archie inherited a roster that has a modest amount of talent (much more than Crean's first year) that wasn't going to be successful whether he or CTC were the coach this year. Even so, with this team you can see what they're trying to do - the defense is far from a finished product but noticeably more capable than last year. As the freshmen mature and Arch stocks the roster with players he feels fit what he's trying to instill, I think we'll see something we'll be pleased with. Personally, I never saw a structure to the offense or defensive under Tom Crean that I really felt was going to get the job done with any consistency. I can already see elements of what I believe is a recipe for success with this team, but right now we're missing some ingredients and they haven't been blended and cooked yet. Now I shall seek some lunch.

I'm mostly confident that we are going to see the program make significant strides in the next couple of seasons. I've been totally impressed with what Miller has done so far, but the only doubt is that I felt this way when Crean took over.

I'd really like to see Archie pull a rabbit out of his hat and get a Max B type guy for next year. I am confident in his coaching abilities and am quite optimistic about the future, but we need some size up front. From my understanding his system relies on more than just guard play so I'm sure he'll be doing everything possible to reel in some big guys.