theronjohn1

I can't be mad when I get the chance to be on the call. :)

First of all, I'm not saying that no one should have expectations. I'm saying expectations need to be reasonable, while dreams and hopes can be set high. Final Four appearances are not exactly reasonable in most cases for expectations.   Secondly, KenPom's system is based on winning projections. It's all percentages to win. It's probability, chance and statistics. It's not expectations. I have a lot of respect for the KenPom system because it is statistically based. Everything in that program is based on numbers and probability, which I admire.   That said, Wake Forest is not a bad team. You claim they are "bottom of the ACC" but according to KenPom they are still a top-70 quality team, which makes me believe that the ACC is deep from top to bottom. It's stacked at the top, that's no question. But down at the bottom there are programs that have done well in the past (i.e. NC State) and I see no reason to think that Wake isn't a team that can make some noise in their noncon season, which they have already done so.

I think expecting a team to reach the Final Four is too much to ask for. Hoping for that is fine, but expecting that is a little excessive if you ask me, even for the best programs. Upsets happen all the time (UK last year?) and crush dreams, but those dreams should never be expectations.   In terms of the expectations of IU at the beginning of the season, I never had the Final Four on my radar. I didn't think that the addition of Bryant and a year of practice would fix the defensive issues that exist in Bloomington.

I see your point, but Vonleh's team had a whole other set of issues. It went 3-10 on the road. Its road wins were Washington, Northwestern and Penn State. That screams "yikes" to me. If that team would have won two more road games it would have been a tournament team.   Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State are all road games for IU this year, and I say win two of those three and it makes up for a "bad loss" to Wake in Maui. Duke is also a true road game, and if IU can get its stuff together by then, I could see both powerhouse offenses running down to the wire. And even a close loss in Durham would look better than nothing.   In terms of tournament play, I don't think that people should be expecting IU to make a Final Four unless there are some major changes on both sides of the floor. Even the No. 1 seeded IU team with Zeller and Oladipo couldn't do that and they were arguably the most talented team since 2002. They spent a lot of that season ranked at the top, and things didn't work out. I think expecting any team to be in the top four of the 351 programs is a stretch.

There will be plenty of Big Ten teams to get quality wins off of. I'm thinking Maryland in Assembly Hall in particular. To your second question, I would rather IU go into the NCAA tournament with a lower seed (anywhere from 5-11) because then they would need to prove themselves in the NCAAT. I think IU is more of an upset type team than a ride the high ranking team, and it's been that way for the majority of the years since the '76 team, with the exception of the '87 squad of course.

Ok, yes IU loses some of its SoS because of this. But Duke and Notre Dame are still on the noncon schedule. If IU manages to beat even one of those two, the Hoosiers are back in the mix.

Here's another point of view on IU's 82-78 loss to Wake Forest on Monday. IU student Aaron Johnson thinks that one loss isn't the end of IU's potentially good season. He explains his thought process here. Sure, Indiana lost to Wake Forest on Monday, but Hoosier fans should not fret.   I was as shocked as anyone that the Hoosiers fell to the Demon Deacons 82-78 in Maui, Hawaii, but I am here to say that it’s not as big of a deal as everyone thinks.   My Twitter feed was full of derogatory tweets directed at the program and at coach Tom Crean, but I had to do everything I could to not yell at everyone to cool their jets.   It’s November.   IU lost to unranked Butler in December of 2012 and that year the Hoosiers were much more talented in my opinion. They later traveled to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Sweet 16 and a 15-5 Big Ten record.   I’m thinking this is the same kind of situation. Wake Forest did not look terrible on Monday and I would not be surprised if they are close to the Top 25, if not breaking into the polls, come next week.   Just to give some perspective, Miami (FL) jumped all the way from unranked to No. 15 in the polls, just from knocking off Utah and Butler, both of which dropped out of the rankings entirely.   So let’s look at some positives from Monday night, because I do think that the positive speak about what we can expect heading forward.   Max Bielfeldt commanded more in the post than Thomas Bryant did. The transfer from Michigan put up 11 points in 23 minutes down low. I’m jumping on the Bielfeldt bandwagon, because he is going to be a good backup if Bryant is having problems.   Troy Williams put up 16 points, which is always fun to see, but I was more impressed with Robert Johnson coming off the bench to record 14. Johnson got 25 minutes of playing time, two more than James Blackmon Jr., who played horrendously throughout. Based on tonight alone, I would like to see Johnson rotate into the lineup a little more often moving forward.   The turnover conundrum did not look quite as terrible on Monday, as the Hoosiers only committed 14, which is down from the average of 18 per game. It’s not great yet, but it’s progress. I would however like to see it below the average from last season: 12. If the turnover average were below 12 per game, it would be the best of this millennium and that would be a fun milestone to watch IU make.   I would go into depth about the improvements that need to happen, but everyone has read the issues of Monday night at length in Terry Hutchens’ article.   So, don’t worry Hoosier Nation, IU will be back to its winning ways soon enough.   Let me know what you think this loss means for IU. Leave some comments and we’ll have a discussion! [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/more-analysis-fret-not-hoosier-nation-r269]Click here to view the article[/url]

I think it could be argued that Vonleh was a good post presence, but there wasn't anything surrounding him to make the team look good as a whole.

You're not wrong on this one. Ottawa was 16-12, but the record didn't show their quality.

the defense looked ok, but honestly a little difficult to say because of the offensive power.

Aaron Johnson served as the play-by-play broadcaster for the Big Ten Network Plus stream, and here is his account of Hoosier Hysteria for BtownBanners.com. As I sat on the sidelines at Hoosier Hysteria, I got those chills that roll down my spine every time I see the Indiana men's basketball squad enter Assembly Hall.   I was on the call for the Big Ten Network with the BTN Student U program, alongside Ben Wittenstein and Karley Marotta.   I saw Thomas Bryant, Juwan Morgan, O.G. Anunoby, Josh Newkirk, Max Bielfeldt and Harrison Niego enter Assembly Hall to be formally introduced as Hoosiers to fans and I have to say I was impressed.   Thomas Bryant looks massive up close. No question on that one. He's a 6-foot-10, 245 pound monster who will be a big impact immediately in the Hoosier post.   Juwan Morgan and O.G. Anunoby are not quite as big of surprises, but they will certainly deliver.   The real surprise of the night, however, had to be Troy Williams in the 3-point and dunk contests.   A lot of fans believed that Williams was going to take the dunk contest easily, which he did, but the junior also took the 3-point challenge over the prolific shooters on the team.   The junior from Hampton, Va. took down Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell, Nick Zeisloft, Robert Johnson, and James Blackmon Jr., the sharp shooters who all averaged 38 percent or better from behind the arc last season.   Williams was victorious in both, becoming the first player to win both Hoosier Hysteria events.   Williams' outstanding performance in the dunk contest proved his athletic ability for the umpteenth time.   A between the legs dunk sealed the victory for Williams, but I was more impressed by his first attempt; a 360-degree windmill slam that brought Assembly Hall to its feet.   In the scrimmage, the Cream team came away with the win over the Crimson with a 35-28 win.   Bryant, the freshman out of Rochester, N.Y., led the Cream with 13 points in the post, proving that he will quickly jump into the rotation, serving as the center that IU has needed since Noah Vonleh departed for the NBA.   Bryant also attempted the infamous Michael Jordan dunk from the free throw line during the dunk contest, but could not quite throw it down. His athleticism was amazing to watch.   I could not resist enjoying the introduction of the newcomers.   Bryant started off his career at IU in the right way; a dance performance that could not be matched. His personality and charm instantly won over thousands of fans in Assembly Hall.   Bielfeldt, the transfer from Michigan, knocked down a guarded three-pointer late in the scrimmage, so I can only hope that he will be a dual threat kind of reserve player.   Morgan and Anunoby, a pair of high school foes turned into teammates, will also act as key reserves in the post, as they averaged 18.5 points per game in their senior seasons.   Overall, I have good thoughts about this IU men's basketball squad.   Bryant will be a great addition, and he has the backups of Morgan, Anunoby, and Bielfeldt.   Of course, the shooters have all returned, and we can all trust that all four veteran guards will come back ready to go.   The Hoosiers will start off their exhibition season on Nov. 3 against Bellarmine at 7 p.m. on BTN Plus before opening the regular season on Nov. 13 at home against Eastern Illinois. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/aaron-johnson-my-impressions-of-hoosier-hysteria-r239]Click here to view the article[/url]

Indiana held with top-ranked Ohio State until the very end, falling 34-27 on a tipped pass in the end zone at the end of the fourth quarter. For Indiana fans, it seemed a bit like a pipe dream.   A date with No. 1 Ohio State in Bloomington and the Hoosiers led on Saturday heading into the locker room for halftime.   And Indiana ran it down to the wire.   The Buckeyes took the eventual 34-27 win after a big scare in the final Hoosier drive in front of an announced crowd of 52,929.   The Hoosiers took a shocking 10-6 lead in the first half, with a field goal from Griffin Oakes in the first quarter and a touchdown from Devine Redding in the second.   Once Ohio State (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) returned from the locker room, it was a different ball game. Two touchdowns from Ezekiel Elliot in the third quarter started the OSU run.   Indiana (4-1, 0-1) held tough late, with a 79-yard touchdown run from Zander Diamont in the fourth quarter that brought the Hoosiers within seven.   A forced OSU punt late in the fourth put IU down seven with possession, pushing the last drive to the 9-yard line. An incomplete pass from Diamont on a misplaced snap at the buzzer gave Ohio State the win.   “We’ve got a lot of strengths, and we’re just trying to build on them,” IU coach Kevin Wilson said. “Offensively we’ve got to keep coming along.”   Nate Sudfeld was benched in the third quarter after tweaking his ankle and Diamont burned his redshirt to fill in against the Buckeyes. Diamont threw for 76 yards and ran for 79.   “I’ve been ready to go,” Diamont said. “I’ve felt confident since training camp. The experience from last season really prepared me for this situation.”   Elliot’s 286 total yards let the way for the Buckeyes, after starting cold, running for only 31 yards in the first half. A bulk of his yards came from his three touchdowns, which were 55 yards, 65 yards and 75 yards respectively.   This was the first sellout crowd in Memorial Stadium since 2010, which gave Indiana the strength they needed to push the top team in the country to its limits.   “It means a lot to finally get a crowd out here,” Diamont said. “But we don't want that just to be for this week coming off an undefeated game. We appreciate it; it really makes a difference in how we play.”   Jordan Howard, the usual powerhouse running back, was taken off the field in the second quarter due to an ankle injury. Howard saw a few plays here and there after returning in the second half, but only gained 34 yards on 14 attempts.   Regardless of the score, Hoosier fans and players noticed how good the IU squad was.   “I think we can play with anyone in the country,” Diamont said. “I think people around here are starting to realize that this is a very good football team and a good football program, and we've known that for the past few years. When we play as a team we are really good. We came here to win."   The closeness of this matchup sprung up a lot of questions regarding Ohio State, Indiana and the Big Ten.   Was Ohio State overrated?   Was Indiana really good enough to hold with the Buckeyes until the end?   Is the Big Ten deeper than everyone thought?   All of these questions will, of course, be answered during the coming weeks when the Big Ten teams face off against the rest of the league. With No. 2 Michigan State only escaping a Purdue visit with a 24-21 victory, Ohio State leaving Bloomington with a scare and Iowa securing a 5-0 start, the Big Ten looks wide open.   The Hoosiers will be on the road against Penn State for their next contest on Oct. 10 and will come back home for the matchup against Rutgers for homecoming on Oct. 17. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/football/indiana-goes-toe-to-toe-with-the-top-ranked-tea-r227]Click here to view the article[/url]