Honkyman

Indiana -- 101 Miami -- 63

It is not realistic to watch IU's performance against Xavier and believe we will beat North Carolina, Kansas and Arizona. Maybe IU beats Arizona if TJD and X shoot as well as they did against Xavier. The team looked like they did much of last year with the addition of Reneau, who looks ready make an impact. Hood-Schafino appears to be a very talented player except he can't shoot. Geronimo looked just as lost on defense as he did most of the time last year. Bates and Galloway scored zero points between them. Race Thompson was zero for four from 3-point range. Maybe IU is a top 25 team, but definitely not a top 10 team which means it is highly unlikely they will beat bona fide top 10 teams like North Carolina and Kansas.

IU 77 Xavier 69

IU 90 Bethune 48

Miller Kopp is IU's most reliable 3-point and free throw shooter.

It looks like free throw shooting is still a problem.

I remember John Pont, who took IU to a Rose Bowl in 1967. Pont coached immediately before Corso and he had losing record over his 8 years--31-51 (.380). No Indiana coach has had a winning record since Bob McMillin when he was there from 1934-47.

IU 88 Morehead 59

There is no reason to believe Lander would have been a better college player had he stayed in high school one more year. Another year in high school may have been more personally rewarding than riding the bench at IU. Obviously, he was misled by some people who should have known better. Possibly his ranking may have dropped some had he stayed in high school giving him a more realistic idea of what he could do in college. In any event, athletes make poor choices about their schools all the time and they move on.

Isiah led IU to a national championship his sophomore year and helped lead it to a Big Ten Championship his freshman year. If he was so "erratic" as you say, Isiah would have been benched by Bobby Knight. Instead, he was a spectacular player both years he played at IU. He is probably one the top three best players ever to play IU in spite of the flaws you have cited. Someone should ask Coach Woodson about Isiah's "erratic play" during his freshman year. Woodson was a senior member of that team. My guess is he would take issue with your characterization.

Isiah Thomas was not erratic at first when he came to IU. The summer before his freshman year he started for the US team in the Pan Am games when Bobby Knight was coach. By the time he arrived at IU he was every bit as composed as JHS if not more. Let's not re-write history in our enthusiasm for these two very talented new players.

You say last year has nothing to do with this year and then you cite last year performance in support of your position. ??

Neither Gunn nor Banks seems to be among IU's top 9 rotation players. I hope Gunn gets playing time. He can definitely shoot it. The question with him is whether he is ready to play defense against teams like North Carolina, Kansas and against conference opponents. Banks was the last player to enter the game against Marion which suggests coaches don't believe he is ready yet.

There may be other flaws. What we do know is that outside shooting was a major liability for last year's IU team. All but one of the starters from last year's team are back this year except the best 3-point shooter (percentage wise). The one disappointment with the incoming class was the failure to land a top outside shooter. So it stands to reason that last year's primary weakness without the addition of a sharpshooter will likely be this year's principle weakness. Yes, players improve over the summer. But it is rare for a player to develop from being a poor shooter to being a very good shooter. We can predict great improvement, but at best that is conjecture.

I hope Woodson is right. He also said last year that players were hitting their 3s in practice but not in games.

Seems more realistic than many pre-season rankings.

Either that or IU has been overrated in the pre-season polls. I think the team will be good and easily make the tourney. But we still have a serious flaw--namely reliable 3-point shooters. As good as the recruiting class was, IU did not bring in a sharp shooter. Fans are pointing to a good showing in an exhibition game against a weak opponent as proof that perimeter shooting will be significantly better than it has been. We need to wait until the competition is more serious before jumping to any conclusions about our shooting.

What's the score?

That means we won't be able to see progress on TJD's right-handed jump shot

It TJD and Tamar Bates are banged up, I hope they don't play. Give them time to completely heal for the regular season. Besides, it will provide more playing time for others like Malik Reneau, Logan Duncomb, Kaleb Banks and CJ Gunn.

Xavier Johnson is a starter on this team so I wouldn't bet on those five as the starting lineup. Trayce, Race and Jalen, yes. But Woodson is not bringing Xavier off the bench. Trayce said this summer that he encouraged the coach to mix up the teams during practice and not always play the starters against the reserves. That seems to be what is happening here.

IU will likely be underdogs against North Carolina and Kansas. IU-Arizona will be even odds. And, we will be slight favorites against Xavier. It is entirely possible that we will be out of the top 25 by the start of 2023. Or, with a couple of upsets IU could be in the Top Ten.

Bobby Knight had many faults but cheating wasn't one of them. Press outside of Indiana would have nailed him if there was anything approaching cheating that was real.

In your opinion is Mike Woodson an average or below average coach? You say "you think he is good enough to win with elite talent" suggesting you believe he is border line average.

That's my point. When we are a top program we are worthy to criticize rival programs. Otherwise, it is sour grapes.