Old Friend

I think it's official. Tonight was the worst win in program history.

Is he that athletic? I haven't yet seen that in him, but I have only watched him live twice.

Galloway will remind people of Dane Fife. Leal can flat shoot it.

Why jump off a cliff like a lemming? The Big Ten has been weird all week and I don't know why you'd be humiliated by a win when you've seen some of the upsets which have happened this season. Hell, Maryland lost to Penn State who barely beat Yale. You don't see the positive in out rebounding a team by 23? I do. I also see positive in shooting 38 FT's. Nebraska deserves some credit...they made a whole lot of tough shots and kept pinching when they got down. We missed a whole lot of open looks which had we made....30% more? Completely different game. We didn't defend well. No doubt. That has to improve, but the reality is we have 2 guards in Durham and Green who are awful defending the ball. We're 10-1 and I still say the trend is upward, even if I'm alone on that island. Indiana has won 2 games this week it loses a year or two ago. That, to me is positive. Not pretty and a hell of a lot to work on, but at the end of the day? We're 10-1 with every realistic possibility to end December 13-3. Ugly? Absolutely. Needs improvement? Absolutely. Some veteran players need a foot in the backside? Absolutely.

The good news? Out rebounded them by 23. Shot 20 more FT's than they did. Phinisee had 4 assists and 1 turnover in 30+ minutes. TJD is a ballplayer. I guess shooters are on the way in a year and I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty. And it was not pretty. I'm not jumping off the cliff like some; and I have a whole lot more to say; but that was not their best performance.

I think it's part relief, part expectations (nobody talks much when they're met), and part "that was hard to watch and there's not much to talk about..glad we won."

Indiana 74 Nebraska 61

Agree 100% and your reason is spot on. There are WAY too many people who expect every player to be great as a freshman and as soon as they walk on campus, and it just doesn't work that way. Indiana is by and large recruiting kids Archie expects to stay 3-4 years and develop. Damezi is one of those kids, and as a sophomore, it's already paying small dividends.

The discussion's been had on here frequently that we need a point guard before we can judge what this team really is. Last night, there were only glimpses. I'd guess it'll start to look better and better the healthier Phinisee gets. There were things I really liked last night, and things which are still painfully obvious. We need shooters and we need scorers. The nights Indiana makes shots, we'll be damned near unbeatable the way we guard and frankly the way we rebound most of the time. The Big Ten is good at the top. Indiana will lose some games. But in the end, I think they'll win 21-23 games and get an NCAA berth and grow from there.

Every post you make seems to be a dictatorial, so your mind is obviously made up. You asked above if you're delusional, but you already seem to have all the answers. You don't want a rebuttal or even a discussion. In fact, you seem to already know what the rebuttal would be. Just drop the mic and go to bed.

I have obviously seen the good in his games. But I have seen games like tonight far more often. One man's opinion. He's a maddening player. I wish he would approach games trying to make plays for other people and let opportunities come to him. I think he tries to do too much for himself first, and if he's not making shots, it gets ugly.

He's not to blame for anything. Let alone to blame for "everything." We won the game. But...come on. He's also (like several others) not beyond criticism, either. He's a senior many were begging to have start because he had one "in the zone" game. Tonight? 2-10 from the floor; a couple more hero plays that weren't needed, and 2 critical missed FT's at the end. He leads the team in turnovers again this season and after tonight is 2nd in missed FG's. Maybe he's 3rd. He's a maddening player and just doesn't seem to improve some of the controllable things.

To quote Bob Knight : "he can shoot three pointers. His problem is he can't make three pointers" Oh...and Justin Smith isn't an NBA player, so does it really matter what he'd be if he were? A 6'7" guy with no jump shot is a 6'7" guy with no NBA career.

Help me understand, please. 1) What do you mean by "seems he should succeed and hasn't?" That seems to ignore the reality of his first 2 seasons, the very obvious longer term strategy. His 3rd season is only 30% complete and they're 8-1. 2) He tried landing big fish and misses? Langford, Phinisee, Jackson-Davis, Hunter (who was Ohio's Mr. Basketball and #37 in the country), Leal who will be in the conversation for Mr. Basketball.... NO coach gets every kid they're after. Miller has likely already landed his 3rd straight Indiana Mr. Basketball. Langford had a different agenda than everyone else on last season's roster. Why would we want more "big fish" like that? Unless you want to become a program that recruits most of its roster that way. Disagree with you, here. What "big fish" has he missed? It's certainly not yet an area of concern for me. 3) Crean won 2 Big Ten titles. Sampson also paid recruits and allowed them to do drugs in the locker room. No thanks. Crean couldn't sustain it, but that is not an accurate statement. 4) How does anyone know at this point Indiana hasn't recruited the right kids to win? What does "win" mean to you? I firmly believe next season is the year to have expectations higher than "Make the NCAA tournament" (which I think is reasonable this season) and I will be happy to explain that if you want. 5) I don't understand the "theme" comment. The media knows nothing. They don't watch games and they generally don't know sports very well. Bob Kravitz used to get a vote for the Big Ten preseason rankings and that guy has less knowledge of sports and athletes than my dog. Yes...I have met and talked with him. He wouldn't be able to name 3 players at more than half the schools in the Big Ten. What the media says means less than nothing. And we're in the 2nd season with Miller's players playing for Indiana. A season + 30% and there's a "theme?" Disagree. There's not even a pattern, yet. 6) It's not a question of talent. Basketball is a team game and you need players who can play as a unit and the pieces have to fit. Indiana has plenty of talent. What they need are leaders and kids playing in the right spots. They have not had that much in Miller's tenure. For that reason alone I'm willing to give him grace. Unless you believe Davis and Hartman's injuries 2 seasons ago along with having to lean on Zach McRoberts is a reasonable season on which to judge Miller's acumen as a coach (I don't), I think it's awfully early to talk about themes and disappointments of not winning.

Indiana 67 UConn 63

I don't think this is a worry, necessarily. I have thought similarly, and my example is his pivot in recruiting. He's not going to win at Indiana with Jake Forrester. That kind of long, lean athlete who's limited in skill and not very strong can do okay at Dayton. He cannot at Indiana. He started focusing on kids who can shoot and all 3 commits next season can do that. His first class really only included Anderson as a shooter, and Franklin, while he "can shoot," does other things well before that. Indiana is a unique place. Almost any coach we hired would have to figure it out. Davis never did and should never have been given the job. Crean never did and was a pretty standard hire who ended up being the wrong one. Sampson was a wretched hire to begin with. This is a problem that's now a generation old, and any coach is going to have growing pains. I know some are just fine with a revolving door until we "win now," and I just can't get on board with that at Indiana. I think Archie Miller is by far the best hire Indiana's made since they punted Knight, and I'm willing to let it play out for another year or two before I raise the red flag.

You're putting toothpaste back in the tube. It hasn't happened on a regular basis this season. The rear view mirror is exactly that. Last year was last year with a completely different team and roster. Means nothing about what will happen. Let's see what happens when we get our point guard back and play a few more games. At that point, if signs are negative you'll have company. Plenty of it. Nobody here...not one person is happy with mediocrity or losing. Don't pretend people are accepting losses or have lowered their standards or that you're by yourself with high expectations. You're not. The difference between you and a couple others and everyone else is you seem to believe one bad sign is a definitive indicator of what WILL happen. As if the house of cards just fell over because we lost at Wisconsin. And you seem to want every game...every play to show whatever you want to see or your reaction falls off the cliff. Indiana University screwed up the basketball program 19 years ago. Archie Miller is the first coach since then who's truly taken positive steps to fix the problems on a permanent basis, He has changed the roster. He's changed the kids he recruits (and if I agree with Dan Dakich on anything it's that you cannot recruit just one kid who has an alternative agenda); and he has changed some things offensively. That said, without a point guard and on ball defender, we can't get into our stuff and we can't take things away the way we need to. That was on full display on Saturday. It has not yet happened on a regular basis. Any more than the positives have against good teams. What I see here is an emotional reaction to an event. I understand that, but emotional reactions don't define anything. Nor do the events that cause them unless ....they become permanent. This isn't permanent in any way yet, and if it becomes permanent, you'll get your wish. Personally? I think he needs more leaders and more kick-a$$ kids who can pull a team up when a game like Saturday happens. I don't think that player exists right now, and it manifested into a problem on Saturday.

I would be guessing, but if I did it would be "he's short." He has smallish hands. He's fast enough, but not "fast" compared with some. He's a football player. A winner.He reminds me in persona of Mitchell Paige, and we all know how he turned out by the time he was a junior. If Spegal stays 4 years, I believe everyone here will love the kid. If people expect him to contribute in a significant way immediately - while I think he could in some way - I think they'll be disappointed.

I know, right? This guy looks completely lost. Weird how a snapshot and a single moment in time can totally define a guy!

Beat me to it. Agree 100%. I bet he earns one before he begins his sophomore season. What do you think? I LOVE this on top of love this commitment. As much as I love the kids Allen is getting, I like this one the most. He is the kind of player Indiana needs. His story and that of his family is really cool; and he's built himself into what he is. He set the Indiana all time rushing record. And beat the OLD record by 2700 yards. For perspective.... Indiana high schools play 9 regular season games. So a player would have to average 300 yards a game in regular season play just to EQUAL those yards. I would take 2 or 3 more off that team. You can never have enough winners. Tom Allen is winning me over quickly. Everybody saw what that big dude from Purdue did to IU? Spegal's better. Way better.

I dunno' about Reuvers, but he's averaging 15ppg and shooting ~50% from the floor. His numbers have been pretty steady this year, and he's had a couple of similar games. One against a then-ranked St. Mary's team. And he's a junior who's played in 71 games in his career, He's clearly a smart player, and he had a great game. Others may NOT have great games. I guess I don't believe yesterday is a predictor anymore than I think Duke's loss the other night was a predictor. I agree on Durham, but I believe strongly that a team's primary ball handler HAS to be either a facilitator or a badass scorer. With Phinisee out, Indiana is using 3 combo guards to do that job, and none of them are close to as good defending the ball as Phinisee is. I just meant Anderson isn't ready for 20 minutes a night from a skill standpoint.

Brunk's slow. He doesn't concern me at all because it's not like he was a dominant player at Butler, either. He is who he is. He's played better than he did yesterday, but that's true for the entire roster. If it were limited to Brunk and HE was the reason Indiana lost, I'd have a different opinion. But yesterday was a team effort. My thoughts are simply that Al Durham (a Crean recruit) is slow for a ball handler and can't guard the ball very well. Against Wisconsin who's patient and well coached, that's a bad recipe. Franklin is not a ball handler but is being asked to. Green is a scorer first and foremost. The back court is playing out of position. All 3 of them. Anderson playing 20 minutes isn't a good recipe. Our roster isn't yet perfect and we need a big AND a point guard in the next 2 classes. We need the shooters we've recruited. (We are still not there from a shooting standpoint) The holdovers from Crean are Green and an injured Deron Davis who moves like he's in a 50 and over league at the Y. Brunk is needed because Davis didn't get his quickness or his lift back. I do think Brunk will help and be better than that in the end. Wisconsin got and made shots early and the game got out of hand. That happened. Is it a sign? Was the Marquette game a year ago when we made everything a sign? Was Duke's loss to Stephen F Austin a sign? I don't buy "signs." Sports aren't linear....one result rarely dictates the next; that's why sports books make money. Time will tell in my opinion. I like our roster and I see it as a work in progress. I do not yet love it. I want to win as much as the next guy and I still firmly believe a top 5-6 finish in the Big Ten and an NCAA berth with a decent seed are in the cards for Indiana this season. And I think Indiana will be terrific next season assuming TJD stays, and yesterday showed he needs to. If I'm right? A lot of people will be silenced. If I'm wrong? Archie's seat starts to get warm. Simple as that in my mind. Edit : What DOES concern me a little is the leadership of this team. I don't think there's a natural leader in the junior or senior class; and a couple of them seem to deflect opportunities to lead..Smith in particular. I also think Phinisee has some growing up to do. I think yesterday showed some "let me make a play for myself" stuff that can become a problem if not addressed. I'm raising antennae, but not yet alarmed.

If it becomes a pattern in year 3, and if the results don't change, I get your point. I don't given Indiana is 8-1 and has plenty of opportunity to show that's not who they are. If it doesn't happen? You'll get your wish sooner than later; but I'm not sure the coaching carousel is the way to go at this point.

I sure hope some of you don't have jobs where a bad day or a bad result doesn't result in your being judged the way some of you are judging. Yesterday was bad. But....that's all. Yesterday was bad. Even the effort was bad. I get it. That doesn't affect one thing moving forward. Why are you hitting the panic button? Same reason many of the same people hit the panic button after the Michigan State football game??? It's like people forgot we beat a ranked team on Wednesday night and have another game in 48 hours. I'm a big picture guy. I don't focus on the results of one event and let it affect my opinion too much. Right now? Indiana doesn't have a true point guard or anyone who facilitates the offense. Green and Durham are both scorers first. Franklin's a 2 guard who can bring the ball up. Far different than a point guard. Wisconsin made shots they haven't been making early. Indiana missed shots early. You guys who have played sports know how hard it is to stop a run on the road when a team gets hot. Plus, Phinisee is our best on ball defender, and because he wasn't out there, Wisconsin was able to get into their sets in large part because they're patient and well coached. Those of you focused on Wisconsin's 4-4 record? Marquette beat Purdue by 10. Wisconsin beat Purdue by 16. And if your argument is "one game doesn't matter!" I'd say..."right." The season will play out how the season plays out. I'm here to tell you the kids coming next year are good. Very good. We have a deep and talented team now, even if the roster isn't perfect; and yesterday - while awful - was no more indicative of who Indiana is than the Marquette game was a year ago. Brad Stevens wasn't available. Billy Donovan wasn't available. We can sit here and name drop all we want; and we can whine about who wanted who. At the end of the day, Indiana is on a good path, and I guarantee there will be a day - probably soon - where all of the nay sayers who want him gone or think he was a bad hire are hushed. Indiana beat Michigan State twice a year ago. All MSU did was go to the Final Four. Indiana won a game against an experienced, big, ranked team this week. Before you panic, why not let a few more games pan out....give it a legitimate reason instead of an emotional reaction to a result? It WILL play out one way or another. I'm not saying it's all good and I'm not saying anybody's wrong. I'm just saying I don't believe the results of one game are worth the absolute lack of reason I see here. Are some really that deep into "I need it NOW and I need every game...every play to satisfy that need!" ?