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Indiana 76 OSU 65

The talking heads know nothing about how the selection process works. I've listened to Greg Shaheen 3 times on the radio since last Wednesday, and he'd be the best authority on that matter. Amazing how differently he explains things than the talking heads seem to believe the process works. Indiana has 4 wins against teams (MSU twice, Marquette, Wisconsin. How high did Louisville get?) which have touched the top 12 this season. I don't know of many if any other teams (in similar situations) which can say that. Indiana (and God this is refreshing to say) is playing its best basketball right now. That matters. Indiana's worst loss on paper was to Rutgers, who's 79th in Sagarin this week. (Northwestern is 74th). For the sake of the discussion, Indiana is 32nd right now. Texas lost to Radford..#137. That's a horrible loss. They also lost to our friend Tom Crean at Georgia. They have some GREAT wins too....North Carolina being their best, and their SOS is #5 (Indiana #13). They have a case...but I don't think as strong as Indiana. Florida was 1-9 against top 25. Indiana 4-6. Florida was 3-11 against top 50. Indiana 6-12. Our resume is better than Florida. Florida doesn't have any horrible losses; but they did lose to Butler; who has fallen off the map. Alabama lost to Northeastern, #99 Sagarin. They lost to Georgia State. #119. They lost to Texas A&M #80. We shouldn't have to worry about Alabama. If Indiana wins one in Chicago, it's at least 50/50 we get in. If we win 2, I think it's a no brainer.

Or...that could be creepy.

That's kind of how I look at it, also. Morgan will be a huge loss. I don't personally believe Romeo will be as huge a loss as he would be a huge gain if he happened to return. Franklin has a similar skill set; even as I don't think he'll put up the same numbers; and add Hunter and an improved, stronger, more experienced Phinisee/Durham; Romeo won't be missed nearly as much as Morgan's post offense and rebounding will. Davis + Brooks is far better than the rest of the seniors, so I'm with you on this thought process.

Let's assume for the sake of discussion we get Brooks. Is adding Davis, Franklin, Brooks, and Hunter while losing Morgan, Langford, Fitzner, and McRoberts a net gain or a net loss?

Indiana 81 Rutgers 67

Late to the party... Other than a few occasions of collapsing too much into the paint and being late to shooters, and a few cases of weak post defense; I'm not sure there's much not to like about where this team is "right now" and how they played tonight. Certainly can't forget about the last 6 weeks; but now that they're healthy, it's pretty obvious Indiana is a much better basketball team than they have shown. * It was discussed in January "what was wrong? Could it be as simple (in part) as Phinisee's concussion throwing off the balance? You know what? It may have been (in part) just that simple. * Was happy for Fitzner. He only played 5 minutes and only made the one shot; but it was a big one. Indiana had not shot well at all to start the game, and got down 16-12. I don't remember exactly what the score was when he hit his 3; but I do remember it changed the momentum and definitely broke the ice for Indiana. * Tonight, Green MADE 2 of his 3 his bad shots. I'm not sure if I'm happy or still frustrated, but what a difference. * Between Smith and Green - two kids many have been pretty hard on - tonight? 26 points, 11-18 from the floor; 11 rebounds, 6 assists.....zero turnovers. That's monsterous. Nice win and I think it's safe to say the ship has changed course. THAT's more like it!

Talk to me. That's news to me.. How so?

I don't like Rutgers in the Big Ten. I don't have a problem with any of the other teams. I hated the BTT in NYC last season. Stupid. And the football divisions are a joke....Indiana, Rutgers, and Maryland have the toughest climb in college sports and it's not close. But....aside from those things Jim Delany was an incredible commissioner; and the Big Ten is WWWWWWAAAAYYYY more financially well off than it was when he took the position.

I saw this on a Yahoo! feed and posted it asking if I'd missed something today. Article has been altered but not yet removed...picture is gone now. https://sports.yahoo.com/m/84c11df4-e02a-3935-90e1-c5bbcf0d7efa/romeo-langford-to-transfer.html

IU 71 Illinois 62

You know what's worse? I got that article from a Yahoo! feed. Yahoo had posted it as if it were real. Explains a lot, honestly.

He has 37 guys in the NBA since 2008; all but 5 of them 20 years of age or under. 13 top ten picks and 3 #1 overall. Yeah, most may have gone anyway, but that's not really the point. A kid who used to play for me was one of Calipari's managers for 3 years and told me all about the financial people and money managers he brings in to teach the kids; the nutritionists, the trainers; the holistic medical people; legal people... There is a whole lot more to getting a kid ready than what happens on the floor. Yeah...he does get them ready, and I mentioned mentally and conditioning specifically because I am well aware of the skill development that doesn't happen in college....which was the point of my post.

Our students would do well to listen to this advice and clean up our own backyard. There is no need for a f*** ____ chant at any time against any opponent. There is a right way to do things, and I commend Painter for this. In fact, when PU fans were whining about the F*** Harmes chants, I mentioned specifically the "IU Sucks" chants vs. everyone they played and suggested they clean up their own act, first. Good for him.

In bold tells me a lot. At one time, they had out-rebounded us 18-8.

I've been hard on Green, and for most of the season he's deserved it. He was a key in the win today and I'll commend him for it. Smith is showing what he can be as well. Is that a light I see at the end of that tunnel??

Calipari is one of if not the best coaches in terms of getting kids ready to play at the next level. Sometimes that takes a year; sometimes it takes 2 or 3, but he's great at it. If that's solely what a player wants in a college experience; that's where he should go. I don't believe it's Archie Miller's job at Indiana to take kids one year at a time and get them ready to play in the NBA, which for me opens up the same question : what's best for Indiana? As many one and done's as we can get, or very few of them? Seth Greenberg said - and I agree - it's hard to have just a single one and done kid because his agenda is different from the rest of the team. As much as I wanted Romeo; that made a lot of sense. Skill development isn't generally done during the season anyway. Kids don't develop a left hand or become much better shooters in-season. They can improve footwork, get stronger, etc. But skill development is generally done in the off season; so who knows what Keion's tweet was about? Romeo has a great right hand. He has a mediocre jump shot and a weak left hand. It would be VERY difficult to fix those problems during one season at Indiana and it would be very hard to fix those problems in one season at Kentucky or anywhere else. Calipari gets kids ready mentally and certainly from a conditioning perspective; but like most young players, UK kids take a year or two to develop in the NBA while they work on whatever skills they need to. Point? If Keion's tweet was directed at Archie, I think he's off base and wrong. If Romeo were going to be at IU for 2-3 seasons and didn't develop skills; that's a different question, but Archie, like every coach in-season is trying to win games and spending far more time with team stuff and system things than he is individual development.

Why can Michigan State get layup after layup and execute an offense that produces good shots on a consistent basis and we....can't? I hate our offense. This is a recording.

IU 76 MSU 71

Great point

IU basketball irrelevant, but they're on national TV 9 times.(not FS1 or BTN), draw Duke in the BT/ACC challenge and are still being talked about by bracketologists as an NCAA team despite 14 losses. They also move the needle on local and national radio shows where...say Purdue does not. I'd disagree with irrelevant; but replace that with a program that's down which a whole lot of people of influence want to be good.

Mostly because not one word of what I said had anything to do with his broadcast last night. He's not broadcasting to Indiana fans. Yeah, he placated the people who believe people get homered in Assembly Hall; but you know what? The rest of the Big Ten believes teams get homered in Assembly Hall and have for decades. He made that point. And it's true. So what if others act differently?

Yep. This, I think is the missing piece nobody could put a finger on. I said in January "can it be that simple?" Yeah,...I think it can.

I'd submit the kids need to clean those up, whatever they are unless there are drugs involved. I've heard a girl and I've heard a fight over a practice disagreement. Players can clean that stuff up.

I don't think Dakich is a saint at all. I just don't disagree with him the way some do; and I didn't find him insufferable at all. The way he sees things may not be what many want to hear and his style isn't as smooth as it could be; but I appreciate the way he does games and he knows his stuff. He's not supposed to be John Laskowski. If most are sick....why? I happen to know him, and I know he loves IU maybe more than anyone here. He also knows WAY more than anyone here. He's not one to sugar coat anything; and I don't want him to. He's been right about effort. Right about who needs the ball and that same kid not wanting to get on the floor or standing in a corner. It's not what IU fans genuinely want to hear; but I don't have the problem with the guy many do. Probably no surprise to a lot of people who will roll their eyes at my comments. But....I said two years ago Green was awful. This season, some said we "need" him. I disagreed then, and there was an exchange. I don't see that opinion anymore.