Honkyman

Archie probably asked Keion for the last word.

Your 75% is continent upon IU beating Ohio State on Thursday and then Michigan State on Friday.

I was an IU student when Coach Lou Watson won the recruiting battle for George McGinnis and Steve Downing in 1969. Keion Brooks and Trayce Jackson-Davis would be a somewhat comparable recruiting coup, though McGinnis was in a class by himself--arguably the best player to put on an IU uniform. Freshman couldn't play back then but McGinnis led the Big Ten in scoring and rebounding his Sophomore and only year at IU before signing with the Pacers as a "hardship" case as they were called then. McGinnis, Downing, and Joby Wright--three high school All Americans--weren't enough as IU had a disappointing season leading to Watson's dismissal and the hiring of Bobby Knight. In other words, don't expect too much next year even if IU snags Brooks.

If Indiana wins Thursday and Friday, the Brooks announcement will be buried somewhat by IU's winning streak and likely (if they beat Michigan State a 3rd time) entry into the NCAA tournament. If IU loses to Ohio State and Brooks chooses Kentucky, it will be a double dose of bad luck. Brooks picking IU will be celebrated either way.

Brooks and Jackson-Davis communicate all the time. He doesn't need to see him in person to talk to him.

I hope Romero Langford enjoys playing in the D League next year because he isn't good enough to play in the NBA. You have to be able shoot when you playing shooting guard in the NBA.

Big Ten basketball is slower than other conferences. He probably prefers an uptempo style of basketball.

I agree with Old Friend. Dakich calls him as he sees them. He understands the game and makes timely observations. Sometimes those observations are critical of IU play (much deserved for most of the season) and sometimes they are praising IU play. The idea that he was rooting for Wisconsin is absurd. IU won last night. Why are people focusing on Dakich? Give it a rest and enjoy the victory.

I've been on teams with troublemakers. Leadership from the top--Coach & captains--usually fixes the problem. The lack of strong leadership from coaches and on the floor with top players usually results in the problem continuing.

It would be nice to blame IU's woes on a couple of players who don't fully buy into the team concept. But the real problem is that Coach isn't using his best players (Langford, Morgan & Davis) to full advantage. So let's not blame IU's poor season on a couple of knuckleheads. Even if Green and Smith were gone (and Green was banished for a couple of weeks), the team still has the same problems, i.e., unimaginative offensive scheme and extremely poor 3-point shooting.

They were all over Langford. No way a clean pass gets to him. At least they played hard and played good defense. Turnovers and inability to make bunnies cost IU the win.

I don't remember anyone thinking the world was ending when Garland decided to pass on Indiana. There were a bunch of folks who bad mouthed him and Vanderbilt. But I don't think anyone thought it was disastrous since Phinisee had already committed. The problem with Brooks passing on Indiana is that none of the players scheduled to return are true scorers. If Brooks chooses IU, we will have a big mobile player capable of creating his own shots. Without him, we have Trayce Jackson-Davis to replace Morgan but no one to replace Romeo. As bad as we seem to be this year, that makes it unlikely we will improve much if at all next year. That's why so many are concerned about Brooks going elsewhere.

I think we'll win. Coach will find a way to involve Romero more. Maybe he will figure out how to play Morgan and Davis together more effectively. The defense will have to be a lot tougher, especially agains the three. And, hopefully, there won't be too many boneheaded shots taken. (e.g., Green, Phinisee, Durham, Anderson, Smith)

If I'm Archie there are a few players that I'm sitting down with at the end of the season and telling "It would be in your best interest to transfer elsewhere. You will not see the floor next year because I don't trust your work ethic." ________ That won't work. Coach won't have five players left to put on the floor.

It doesn't make sense for anyone on this team to transfer. With four players either graduating or going to the NBA, there will be more opportunity for playing time. Plus, top schools won't be interested in these players. If Davis graduates, he might want to use his last year of eligibility to go to a program that has a chance to compete for a title next year. Like or not, the current squad minus the three graduating and one going to the NBA (plus the two commits) is probably the IU team next year. Unless the current team shows some life during the rest of this season, it will be difficult to attract any more players of real value.

I'm feeling nostalgic for Kelvin Sampson. His Houston Cougars are ranked #12 in the country and some are calling them a potential Final Four team--with no NBA draft picks. Too bad he got slippery with the text messages while in Bloomington. He can coach. In article in Yahoo Sports today says his singular skill is "his ability to motivate and connect with players to drive them to play with unflinching aggression." We could use some of that motivation this year.

The team moves the ball much better with Davis at center, as was demonstrated in the Michigan State game. Davis should start at the 5 and Morgan at the 4.

Knight didn't walk into a pot party--he heard about it. Then he quizzed the players. The ones who lied to him were tossed off the team (Baker, Roberson & Cox). The ones who admitted it to him were suspended but kept on the team (e.g., Mike Woodson).

For somebody who grew up watching Indiana basketball, it is painful to watch this team from the players who can't score to the coach who can't seem to devise a fluid enough offense to put the players in a position to score. Archie may have been a good coach at Dayton but he hasn't learned how to coach at this level yet. I bet I'm like a lot of fans--willing to give Archie latitude. But he has to make adjustments. This team doesn't lack talent--it has two of the best players in the conference. And some of the other players like Justin Smith were highly recruited.

Actually, the only current IU player who is both basketball savvy and not soft is Juwan Morgan who was not recruited by Archie. Watching last night, I was struck by how lacking in good basketball judgment most of our players are. Over and over Rob Phinisee drives into a crowd of bigs for a layup only to have his shot blocked (although his dunk was sweet). Justin Smith can't finish on many of his shots because he seems to be going for a highlight dunk instead of an easy lay-in. Aside from the occasional hustle play, McRoberts can't shoot, is a poor defensive player and has a tendency to cough up the ball. Romeo is a great talent but too often he exercises poor judgment and shoots a 3-pointer when he isn't really open or when nobody is underneath to rebound if/when he misses. Yes, Archie is here to stay and I believe the vast majority of fans are all inclined to give him latitude. But he clearly hasn't figured out how to coach this team. It's time to go with Al Durham--he makes more than his share of boneheaded moves but he plays with grit and at least is capable of hitting a few shots. Archie has to fix the offense which is absolutely dreadful and find a way to guard against the 3-point shot (his pack line defense has yet to prove itself). There were times down the stretch last night when this team looked good but they couldn't get over the hump--they dug too deep a hole. Archie has to find a way to get the team to play with intelligence and consistency.

My opinion is not that IU won't make the tourney or is not capable of making the tourney. I think and certainly hope they can and will. My opinion is that the way IU has played the past 2 games (2 1/2 games), they are not tournament worthy and if the coaches and players don't fix what is wrong, they will lose many more games--probably too many games to make the NCAA Tournament. The offense is stagnant and the defense is porous. That has to be fixed or IU will not only lose home games to Michigan, Iowa, and Ohio State but also road games to Northwestern, Rutgers, and Illinois.

The last two games, IU has looked like a team that may not win another game this year. That is not a tourney team.

Obviously IU is not playing like a tourney team.

McRoberts makes a couple of hustle plays per game and those are great. But he can't shoot and his defense isn't great either. He should be coming off the bench and playing 10 minutes maximum.

Trump talking is way more painful, although IU's offense causes severe indigestion.