Old Friend

Indiana 77 Furry Little Rodents 65

MSU 78 Indiana 62

Indiana just hired Ryan Carr. Add tonight's game, and I'd say he's failing miserably. Tonight's game and performance were dog sh*t.

Cignetti all day long. Not close.

We 87 They 71

Indiana Agricultural College Northwest 84 Indiana University 72

Indiana Agriculture College Northwest 84 Indiana University 73

IL 83 IU 75

Anyone who says that has absolutely no idea why Cignetti and IU succeeded. It's an easy take....lazy, but easy

It wasn't a comparison. Just a reference.

With an entirely new roster and coaching staff, my response and opinion boil down to one thing : We're getting better. Improving. And have won a few games late we wouldn't have previously. That improvement didn't happen under Mike Woodson. Is the roster perfect? No. Not close. But I can't find great fault in DeVries because we're improving and he is likely going to make the NCAA Tournament with a very different set of circumstances than Woodson had. DeVries didn't have the luxury of a group that had spent ANY time together. TJD, Race Thompson, Phinissee, Galloway, Leal, and Geronimo were all at the very least familiar with each other. DeVries isn't perfect like Cignetti has been, but I am definitely encouraged.

We 83 They 67

Of this entire list, the pick I love the most is Riley Nowakowski at TE. That dude was an unsung hero and as a Colts' fan, I want him on my team for the next decade. Lot of people would have overlooked him. Kudos. Hard for me to put Jordan Howard over Levron Williams in any scenario. Williams in 2001 has 1890 yards from scrimmage and 19 TD's. He was also a 4 year player at IU in one of the most explosive offenses in the country. Howard had ~ 1300 yards from scrimmage in his one year at IU. Certainly good, but I can't put him ahead of Williams. I gotta' have Kaelon Black as honorable mention, too. Leave alone his running ability and I get he was part of a platoon, but that guy was the best blocking RB I think I've seen at Indiana since Anthony Thompson.

I think we're learning on the fly that "in state" doesn't carry the weight it once did.

Hoosiers 84 Rodents 71

Speaking for my home state only 1) Indiana has one. 35 point lead/deficit in the second half...running clock. I think most states have similar 2) See above. Careful what you wish for. 3) Officials have left the profession in huge numbers because of sh*t parents and coaches. This isn't a battle - in my opinion - worth fighting. 4) Play by play in the gym or on the air? If in the gym, whoever that person is should be immediately relieved of his/her responsibility. Less is more.

Here's the question. Many schools can't get a competent person to work the scoreboard and game clock. Now we need to find 700+ competent people to run the shot clock, too? Asking for problems. Be careful what you wish for.

Where's the help defense? High and low. Nothing there. No fan of Coach Boling, but his kids let him down. No way they were coached to leave the lane wide open. Happy for Alan...but damn.

Indiana 82 USC 74

UCLA 73 Indiana 65

Morbid curiosity. I don't post much anymore...where do we disagree?

Theory.... College basketball is bleeding. Not dying, but in need of care. There is more of a personal connection to players- by and large - with basketball than there is with football. I understand there's the occasional Fernando Mendoza, but I'm not talking about him or the anomaly. Basketball players are visible and people know who they are. People knew Anthony Leal even though he never did anything. They wouldn't know Amare Farrell if they were in line behind him at a Starbucks and that guy just won a national title. People knew Luke Jiminez, for the love of God. With 13 kids on each team, many very visible; yearly roster turnover doesn't allow that connection; nor does a roster full of kids who leave trying to get paid and have no loyalty and especially regional loyalty. That was critical to fans' love of teams and now that it's missing..... the sport suffers. Ratings don't, but the sport does. With people having to search for games on various streaming services many don't have, which also means announcers are unfamiliar and don't know the teams or players very well....the sport suffers. Broadcasting has become sterile. More like reporting, less like a column and entertainment or local news. The NCAA Tournament will always be huge because it's an incredible event, people gamble $billions on it; but we have already had a point shaving scandal; college basketball already has a ton of 1 and done players who are the best players IN college basketball....and the sport suffers. Are people tuning in now to watch a Washington vs Rutgers game on Peacock? That would be out-drawn by a shake weight commercial. Blue bloods still draw on TV; mediocre draws only to gamblers. And there are a TON of those. My point? We connect with people...not laundry. We would all have been over the moon had IU won a title with Kevin Wilson or Bill Lynch. But no one will ever convince me it wasn't 10000x better because we did it with Curt Cignetti. Darian DeVries is not a draw. His team is not a draw. I don't think college basketball is much of an emotional draw anymore unless your team is top 10. Purdue is good again, and here in Indianapolis, they're discussed far less than the Indiana Fever...whose season doesn't even start for 3 1/2 months. Indiana is boring, vanilla, and a victim of "the times." Football is a weekly event. A huge production with big games highlighted every Saturday...but only once a week. College basketball is diluted. GameDay Saturday, Big Monday! Power Thursday..etc. You can find 200+ games on TV every week and people watch (and they are definitely watching) for different reasons than they used to. Indiana can BE a huge brand again, but they have to win. If they don't, there are plenty of other things to do and now we have the transfer portal, spring football, etc. I fear the thing that finally DOES kill IU's basketball brand will be Indiana Football. That reality needs to be rectified in a hurry. We don't HAVE 4 years w Darian DeVries.

Michigan 95 Indiana 71 And DeVries' seat gets VERY hot very quickly

I'm not on the "fire him" bus yet, however I got crucified here for saying I wanted McCollum.... He is ready for the Big stage. DeVries so far looks and sounds completely like he's be more comfortable coaching at Wheeling West Side High School. Today, he said his team is "fatigued." They have played 3 games in 3 weeks. And they're "fatigued." He also said they're not buying into his offense. HUGE problem. His son is incredibly lazy and generally careless; he successfully recruited not one single "physical" player or anyone with upper body strength. We have no size. We appear to have no idea how to get a good shot when needed and settle for bad ones. I mean 20 for 52 on your home floor is embarrassing. Woodson was awful, and I am very glad he's gone. But this is almost worse because he said the right things and now just looks baffled.

He's a good one. Our offense next year is stacked