Stromboli

In law school (IU--Bloomington) I was appointed as the student representative to the committee to rename the law school. The purpose, it was said plainly, was so people wouldn't mistake IU-Indy for us (two separate, unrelated schools). I show up expecting a "great experience." Of course, the Maurer gift was all but secured already and the entire committee was a formality. Turns out it was at least a learning experience about how things get done. In the aftermath, IU-Indy just secured a gift from a "McKinney" so now there's IU-Maurer and IU-McKinney. Clear as mud. Every board I've been a part of since operates the same way. Make sure the minutes reflect that procedure was followed, but it's never how things actually get done. Cue WayneFleek, et al to tell how how this relates to recruiting...

Not to pile on Haarms while he’s down, but this tweet is fun.

So someone on reddit calculated the odds of this B1G home win streak happening, based on the combined chance of win percentage. It’s 0.45/1000. Insane.

The mailman delivers! Appreciate it, always good seeing you, bud.

Stromboli in the house! I won’t be here too long, but hope to at least catch through the first half of the Silver Creek/ F Dub Blackhawk game.

Poopy.

Dudes, I loved the ugly win. How many tourney runs come down to the team that can play in the dirt and win? I’ve seen enough ugly losses that I’m happy to see the ugly win. Hurley mentioned several times how physical we are, and I don’t think he was doing it as a shot to the refs. We are a big team, and I do hope that other teams know that when you play Indiana, you’re going to get beat up a little. It was likely frustration from the physical play that caused the ugly flagrant. DeRon. Ouchies. It is no exaggeration that 55 year olds at LAFitness move better. Couldn’t reach to gather that pass from Justin. Couldn’t dunk on an open goal. He’s got heart, but physical limitations. Personally, that was the best I’ve seen of Rob. His sticky defense has always been his best attribute, but to me he was a better PG than ever before. Surprised he only got 13 minutes, hope there wasn’t a setback. This win is very big later. I’d be more than happy with two more ugly non-con wins. There won’t be much for us to analyze here. I think about basketball in the same way you’ll hear coaches talk about football, three phases of the game. But rather than special teams in basketball, there’s this element of chaos that you have to control. Diving for a ball and making a pass from your butt, for example. Al did that (good) only to have Devonte dribble off his foot (bad). Or those tip offensive rebounds back out to a guard, who aggressively gets it. Open floor chaos. It may make for an ugly game, but it’s important to win those situations. No game is ever going to be just the Xs and Os on the whiteboard pregame. I don’t think we were great last night on our fast breaks and all, but ultimately we won a very chaotic game. Um. Some concerns on offense for sure. You know I consider the long 2 a lazy, selfish shot. There were plenty of them. It comes down to off ball movement and passes to get in position for better shots, and that’s a team initiative, not just the player. Lastly. Some of you all are just too emotional. Like maybe add some self reflection into your life and find center, because your coping techniques aren’t good. These NCAA basketball games are entirely arbitrary. Be a fan because it’s something that enriches your life. Not a release valve for negativity. I’m Stromboli, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Sooo, I took my kids to Chriskindlmarkt Saturday and only caught some of the Wisconsin game at dinner afterwards. Having not watched has pretty much saved me from the doldrums the rest of you are enduring. Once again, tonight’s game is supposed to be the kind of game this roster was built to handle. Our bench is about 8 deep with good players, with DeRon, Jerome and Armaan there too. UConn goes 6 deep then sees drop-off. If Devonte feels like going all Jelly-fam and just outscoring them, fine. Otherwise good passing leading to a big in good position, possession after possession, should do it. Maybe once Rob gets back we can disrupt teams plans on offense. We might just be a defense in that kenpom 40ish range, which we can work with but need our offense to click. I’d like to see Jerome drop an early 3, get some confidence, and scrap his way to 15 points.

My (whispered, volume up) take on this topic at this point in the season:

One of my favorite images. You do the heavy lifting around here and we all depend on it.

I got you. Computing machines are pertineer unpossible .

Checking back in after another 4 games to see which of our players are producing. Again, I'm using Bart Torvik's site, and looking at his PORPOGATU! stat, which is supposed to measure how much of an advantage (or disadvantage) a player is giving you over the average. You can see where I posted this after the first 4 games a few posts up. Here's a look at individual stats after 8 games, including 2 games against better teams (I believe you can click the image for a better look): My first takeaway is that we are trotting out a better team. Four players who are legit talents in TJD, Devonte, Justin, and Al. And then another 4 providing very solid play in Race, Rob, Joey, and Damezi. I think most of us saw Damezi and Race in the bottom 3 coming into the season, but they've shown to be good contributors so far. Obviously Al has made a jump and deserves some credit. Trayce is a monster. Jerome is a surprise. Between the recruit ranking, the gold jersey, and the performance at HH last year, many of us put some big expectations on him. In retrospect, those weren't fair, and the fan base has largely let it be. He feels like a bit of an Ace up the sleeve for future years, in that it just seems like he's still going to become a very good basketball player. Armaan's numbers are surprising and maybe display the failings of any analytics number. Surely he's played a bigger role for us than shown. Armaan has taken on being a safety net for us as we've struggled keeping a stable of healthy guards. I love that he's got this much experience. I've said before, there's no reason Armaan can't be the best guard on the roster. Not there yet. I've also wanted a place to talk about watching Joey at the SDSU game. I got pretty good seats for that. When IU was on defense, he was the only guy you could hear communicating. It was constant, almost robotic, and you could see the other guys responding to it. I think he improves the whole team, outside of his individual play (which is still good). There's a can of worms sitting in the image, also. Torvik differentiates between "Close 2" and "Far 2." A true numbers guy would do that. There's a massive disparity between the two, and within that disparity sits the line between a good offense and a bad offense. And the more you shoot long 2s, the greater the damage to your team's overall efficiency. They are a lazy shot. It's not that there aren't situations where they come in handy. I can think of a couple against FSU that went in and kind of saved a possession for us. But the point is, the more you settle for them--rather than working for a higher percentage shot at the rim or a 3 from a good shooter--the lower your PPP will go. I think my biggest gripe with them is when guys advocate for more of them. That's exactly how you kill your efficiency. Sure, take them from time to time, situational type stuff. But I really don't even buy the argument that taking the long 2 sets up more room for interior play by pulling defenders out. With percentages at <45%ish for a long two, there's little reason to aggressively defend them. Just sit tight for the DR that's coming 55% of the time, with your man already in terrible position to get the OR. Add in that they are directly contrary to Archie's plan to wear a team down with fouls and waves of bigs, and it's hard not to view them as a selfish, lazy shot. Alright. Unfortunately the Tony Adragna guy hasn't posted his film study videos after the last two games. But here's videos of Archie and Al/Joey previewing Wisconsin, for good measure: Get ready to be reminded about 100 times that IU hasn't won at the Kohl Center since Tommy Coverdale was earning Mr. Basketball for the mighty Noblesville Millers (class of '98, yo). GO HOOSIERS.

Old Fart, I hope you can track down plenty of game reports on Jordan’s senior year. As a guy just becoming self-aware, I’d bet there will be a big bump in production. For those that haven’t seen it, it’s his birthday. Here’s a screenshot of one post:

Yeeeeaaahhhhhh!!!! Man that was good! Keep it rolling dudes.

That has to be the General, no?

GAMEDAY This is exactly what Archie's been building this roster for. We can send waves of guys on the inside, and we can absorb a few fouls as well. Last year, we'd have Juwan starting the 5, and then get hit with two fouls early. Trayce should be the best player on the floor, but he won't be on an island out there, either. Let's see our juniors and senior(s) step up and play 40 minutes. Vegas and the analytics sites all like IU, but the overwhelming fan consensus is that FSU should win. Maybe this will be our coming out party. I'd like to see us win the game through two halves of good basketball. Put some folks on notice and get this team some confidence.

Well done, BTB! Totally derailed in two posts lol

Not going to allow that kind of behavior, Fkfootball. We'll aspire to be better around here. To all those who quoted it, sorry your content got deleted/hidden also. Let's hang out somewhere else. Like, oh, I don't know, Stromboli's Analysis Articles and Discussion thread. Such content. Much analysis. Wow.

Let’s be real. You’re about to get pissed either way!

This Coach Adragna guy is really putting out some great videos. This is now the 4th on the season, and each kind of builds on the last. The things he points out in prior videos, he follows up to show new wrinkles. In his most recent breakdown of the Troy game, he hits on defensive assignments again, the in-bounds plays, offense against the zone (really interesting here), and then just some other stuff. And, just because I didn't post the last one, here's from the North Alabama game: Last year I did a decently long breakdown of my thoughts on the season, and why we just weren't built to compete from a talent standpoint as shown in the analytics from Bart Torvik (I use Torvik's site because it's free, but it's crunching the same data as Kenpom). One of the big take-aways was that IU just didn't have the horses. Using his "PORPAGATU" stat (points over replacement player adjusted per game at that usage), which basically puts the average player at a 1.0. If you come in above that, you're giving your team an advantage over the average. Of course under a 1.0 and you're a liability. Last year we had Juwan and Romeo each scoring very high, above a 4 score for each. After those two, we basically had placeholders. No other player on our team was really giving us an advantage. When you went to the rosters of the Sweet Sixteen teams, you'd have 4-6 players who had excellent PORPAGATU stats. *I get that the scheme/coaching can affect how efficient player can be individually--no stat will be perfect. Not looking for a debate on that. Of course, this season is very young, and so we really need some games to create the data to see any trends. After our first game, Al Durham was almost off-the-charts in efficiency after not missing a shot. At this point, we've got 4 games in and so we can start to get a feel for what we've got. The competition is obviously weak and so that might be inflating some of our numbers, but at least it will be a good starting point to follow along. Here's where we are after 4 games (you can click the pic I believe): Al has come back to earth, but still sitting at the top. Very nice spread of talent there, rather than haves and have-nots. How about Race Thompson, in 4th with a very healthy 3.7? Joey Brunk sitting at 2, which is very close to where he was at Butler, and one of the reasons I opined he'd be starting over De'Ron this year. Again, it's very early, and I'd expect those numbers to decrease as the defenses we play improve. But we have absolutely seen some development from last year, especially guys like Race and Damezi. Coming into the season I think the worry was whether our lack of a star would be a weakness or a strength. Thus far it appears it's a strength. The offense is better. As Coach Adragna says in his video, it's more interesting, and more fun to watch.

Some gems from Reddit: As an Evansville fan for the past 30 minutes, this is the greatest day of my life. Calipari about to refuse home and homes with the entirety of Indiana. Kentucky is 1-3 in their last 4 vs teams from Indiana. Pointed out: Kentucky paid $90,000 for this loss. Why is it called an upset if everyone's happy?

Don’t forget this great pic of Archie walking into Assembly Hall the first time.

Man, I’m bullish on this one. I think it’s been IU for some time. I have no sources beyond my own bias. Which is significant, lol. I think he likes our program the best. I think there’s enough connection (Ostrom, Race, Leal and Galloway) to make it easy. I think the absence of another 4/5 in the recruiting class helps, as does the presence of older guys to handle the 5 his freshman year. None of these programs are doing that great right now, so I don’t think he’s concerned with that. And that interview by Brent Tipton just felt very pro-IU. He really didn’t seem interested in talking about the other schools. But for IU he did, listing coaches and players by name and saying it felt like home. Reports are that his parents were engaged and enjoyed themselves. Of course he may choose Marquette. He and his family have been great through the whole process and so I’m sure we’ll wish him well. ...be a lot cooler if he came here though. Let’s stack talent all over the roster. I can’t wait for us to maintain a top 10 rank through a season.

Now this is interesting. Both Inside The Hall (by Ryan Corazza) and The Daily Hoosier (reposting Tony Adranga) have their film study feature. Both included the same defensive breakdown by IU that resulted in a PSU bucket. While Corazza blames Al for not covering the guy with the ball, Adranga breaks down assignments and attributes it to a miscommunication between Brunk and Thompson. For my money (exactly $0) I get more from Adranga. First, check the first slide by ITH: https://www.insidethehall.com/2019/11/11/film-session-portland-state/ Now watch the video by Adranga starting at 3:19:

And after three days.... Let’s resurrect this bish. We’re lucky that our giant fan base can support multiple content providers. One of the most thorough new guys is The Daily Hoosier. Rather than providing his own film study, he just linked an excellent video done by Tony Adragna. More than just showing the plays, he explains our system, and even trends he sees. I learned a ton just from this one video, and I really hope he keeps posting them after each game.