Stromboli

https://images.app.goo.gl/z4qDRa69GEti579ZA

Best of luck to Archie and his family! Hope they land in a good situation. It’s hard to be happy right now with yet another tournament starting and our team not in it. And this is why the change had to happen. And I think there was very little evidence that this thing would turn around. Can’t wait to hire our next huge embarrassing failure!

He left all his trophies!

There are tons of people, fans and talent evaluators alike, who don’t understand why this kid doesn’t have an offer. I typically reserve my thoughts until after I’ve watched kids at AAU, but even still I’d love this kid to get an offer. Doesn’t hurt that he’s like 3 miles from my house. Attitude, leadership, court vision, next level skills. Get him here.

Yeah the family dynamic here can't be ignored for these younger coaches. Kids in school. They are going to be looking for as much stability as they can get. It's not entirely relevant but it sucks for Archie, Morgan, and Leah that they are moving from their community of the last 4 years. For Brad, it would help that it's somewhat of a homecoming for him and his family, and we don't know how they, as parents, feel about their kids in Boston. Agree that an additional $1 million annually to Brad means so much less than future stability, in job security and otherwise. Have I mentioned Brad handled rushing me when I was was a wee freshman at DePauw? He was an ATO. He failed to make a successful pitch, so I feel like that's a pretty serious knock against him. I think we can do better.

You forgot to add in $7 mil for Brad next year

Nice to see you again. Please go ruin someone else's day. Nooooo glad you're here. And it's probably better that we're let down now before CAM gets canned and we all get our hopes up!

Yeah putting it together you're right. Assuming Joey's back (sounds like he is based social media and his absence from Senior speeches), we'll have two guys that want to play 5 in Joey and Logan. It will not be a position of strength, but it's not Juwan or Hartman stuck there, either. Two true PGs in Lander and Rob. This could be average to very good. Then you thrown in Franklin and Race as leaders and proven studs. Then any combination of Leal, Geronimo, Galloway, Hunter to fill out minutes? I'm at the point that I'm entertaining the thought that Archie is actually a bad coach. Be it Xs and Os or ability to reach your players or ability to develop. Who knows. At no point did he put out a product that was greater than the sum of its parts. If I were a coach I'd look at Franklin, Race, Khristian, and Geronimo and be very excited. Let Joey and Logan anchor the 5, and get maybe Hunter and Leal out there with a green light to shoot in a better system, and this thing could take off.

He looked resigned the entire game. Checked out. He’s dead in the water. Announcers take potshots at our inability to get the ball where we want it or goofy spacing. Purdue has had a heyday with the Archie era. Recruiting has slowed to a trickle. B1G coaches just coach around us. I wish I knew more of Dolson’s personality. I love that you guys describe him as a huge fan that wants to see IU basketball succeed. Whoever he chooses, the next guy has the tiniest shoes to fill. Like size 6.5. Maybe even youth size. We’ll put up a statue to whoever can drag us back to the tournament.

Yeah so again I benefit from living 8 minutes from Grand Park, where EYBL happens. He’s definitely the combo forward role. Not a power forward, but I’d not classify him as a wing. Frankly I’m a little surprised to see his high usage at 3 pt given the way he plays. High energy. His AAU team was not good, it was mostly him generating plays, and probably sacrificing his efficiency in the process. But he plays big because he’s so active and will gladly challenge a true big for a rebound. He’s not one of those skinny 6’8” kids that wants to be a 3. He’s also not 6’8”. I haven’t heard anything too bad about him. There was a tweet saying he hadn’t broken a team rule or the law. Sounds like he butted heads with the coach maybe? I really liked him. I always love the super active players. And his shooting percentages would be welcome. The likely enrollment at a B1G or SEC school is interesting.

Let's get some different discussion going, eh? Earlier this year USPS posted the chart showing that Indiana has the dubious distinction of being the best team at creating excellent looks, and then missing the shot. Look at us. Just dominating the Bad Shooters, Good Shots quadrant. Elite. USPS also posted this graphic demonstrating how many high percentage shots we're taking. Again, very high. Last I heard Trayce was still leading CBB in attempted free throws, which has mostly been this team's MO for awhile. Wear them down inside. Again, higher percentage of made free throws would likely result in a few extra wins a year. Life is pain. To my eyes, this offense is much, much better conceived than in years past. Much faster passes that actually create space for good shots. Trayce and Race both end up clearing out underneath, popping up to the free throw line, quick passes in then back out. Rob is being far less conservative with his passing while maintaining his excellent TO percentage. Galloway shows some excellent passing ability. Really, the entire thing is working better. Is it personnel? Scheme? Probably both. Tony Adragna has been making the excellent breakdown videos, but I think he is very obviously a fan and needs space from the team after bad losses. So while he had been posting some great videos earlier (if you haven't seen, he created a website now rather than just a youtube channel, iufilmroom.com), he hasn't posted since the Maryland game. Still he did post earlier on some new offensive wrinkles this year: Sooo, it's not as spelled out as normal, but you can notice some things. First, we're no longer driving into clogged lanes (or our own players) as he pointed out last year. I'll be honest, I'm not advanced enough to get all of his notations without him spelling it out for me, and why it is significant compared to what we were doing. So Coach Adragna's last breakdown was the home game against Maryland. The good Xs and Os stuff doesn't start until around 5:20, when he delves into the hard hedge, and our 2nd half adjustment away from it. I'll let the remainder of the video speak for itself: Coach Adragna makes the same point we've all noticed, Trayce's play can be affected by how he's playing. Yes, it's circular. But that's basically what he is, like a positive feedback loop where the better he's playing, the better he plays. Like a turbo. You get it. We all see it. What I want to point out beyond that is that Trayce is very, very good. He's the best player Archie's had, and it isn't that close. I often check in on the PORPUGATU! stat from Bart Torvik, which is a player's value compared to a replacement at the same usage. Here's his explanation: https://www.bigtengeeks.com/new-stat-porpagatu/ And here's our roster today: You'll notice that the PRPG! stat is that second column, Trayce at a 5.1. This image is of the entire season. FWIW, if you check the same for just B1G games, it is mostly the same, with Al making the biggest jump up to 3.1. For those curious, Parker Stewart was a 3.5 PRPG! last year for Tennessee Martin. He'd be our 2nd best player on this team. For sake of comparison, here's the team at the end of last year. Really just Trayce out there: Here's 2019, a year that was basically Juwan and Romeo and role players: Aaaand for good measure, 2018. Wooo, boy. We were bad. Ranked #71 at the end of the year by Torvik: The point I'm making is that the quality of player we're putting out there is appreciably higher than what we've had in the past. Without Joey, we only have 10 guys to choose from. Not necessarily deep at any position, and yet we are able to fill most of our minutes with guys that are better at playing basketball than their counterparts. In looking at the stat, just assume that the darker shade of green, the better you are than the average player and thus creating an advantage. I've followed this for awhile and the truly dangerous teams will have at least 4 studs, with then a few others in that 2.5 range. Some quick examples. Iowa, much more than just Garza: The Texas team that I kinda enjoyed watching, even as they dismantled us: Kentucky: The question has always been, how much does the scheme affect a player's PRPG! line, putting him in better position to improve his stat. You know, it's something, and I don't know. Wisconsin, for example, has no business being as good as they are. But, it's a place to start. I do not mean this to be taking a stand pro-Archie or otherwise. But, our scheme is better, our players are better, and there's evidence that the scheme isn't as rigid as we've feared. We are not seeing great returns in the W/L column, but we're also the best 7 loss team by a mile. Kenpom ranks us at 23, the next closest 7 loss team is Penn State at #43. We're not going to get AP rankings losing the way we do, and I understand we need the wins bad in the NET. Ideally over the remainder of the regular season water will find its level and we'll get more wins with a team that on paper isn't as bad as it appears.

I was just looking him up earlier this week. He was a guy I really liked at EYBL. Cross was pretty good down there for a freshman. Former IU recruit Harlan Beverly is down there too, playing pretty poorly. Cross was a little polarizing because he’s in that awkward tweener 6’6” to 6’7” size but not really a guard. When I watched him play he was making plays on both ends. Sounds like Miami fans are sad to see him go. Without knowing the story I won’t comment on whether or not I want him here. Thanks as always, OF.

Just here. This was so good.

Aw, shucks. I can guarantee Stuhoo doesn’t mind if you disagree with him. But if any one of you try to say there is a sandwich superior to the Stromboli, loaded chicken or otherwise, we’ll have a problem.

Dusted off the old Chess Club set after watching Queen’s Gambit. Holy moly, what a great show! About the most I’ve enjoyed a show since GoT. I heard good things about Ted Lasso. It’s up next.

Erm. Nevermind. 3.4 pounds of weed. Driving.

Possession of Marijuana. Who cares. Sucks that now he’s got his mug shot circulating. He’s 23, wrong place/wrong time. 2:00am party. I’m 40, my friends are all parents and professionals, mostly health nuts and into goofy athletic stuff like adventure races, ultra-running, and crossfit. Well over half of them get high when the right situation presents itself, and return to their lives the next day. 416? Maybe Mr Swanigan should try some ultrarunning. In all honesty I hope the kid finds a good life after basketball. Unrealized dreams can really wreck a person.

For those that didn’t see it, Luka Garza had 34 pts last night against Iowa State... in 17 minutes. He was 13 of 14 FG, including 6-7 from 3pt. He scored 21 straight points before he got pulled. Insane.

Yeah we should take a ton of them. I mean, we could make 40-45% of them! Just imagine!!! Keep playing hard, Hoosiers! Love watching these steals and blocks. Better ball movement than I think we’ve ever seen with Archie.

Man, it was good to read! You’re back!!

Thanks for the recap, OF. I've said this before. Archie tends to be extremely transparent during these interviews. Not just Coach speak. When he tells us what our strengths will be, we need to believe it. Same with the weaknesses. Same with expectations for the freshmen. I’d encourage all of you to dig up the podcasts interviewing Archie in an informal way. The guy has been living among basketball for decades, has very close relationships with some huge names, and he can sit there and pull up stories at will. I’ve also seen him interacting with other coaches at EYBL. He’s a popular guy, kind of one of the gang. He cuts up and has some swagger. He presents the very stoic Coach thing, but I think he’s affable and the real deal. He’s got some depth and wisdom to him too, not just dumb enthusiastic sound bites. We all want the same things here: an improved offense, more wins, and a fun team to watch. I can’t stinking wait to see these guys play!!

Dark horse UWHK has a real shot here. I’ve read that Aminu really prioritizes team cohesion or other attributes!

So we’ve eliminated 20 possible days of the commitment. Sources tell me he will choose Indiana or a different school.

It’s almost hard to believe! Indiana in the same graphic as those powerhouse programs. This has been so much fun to see this team build and grow

I couldn’t even get through it. It’s hard to watch!!