DougWil

They are clearly IU's three most talented players, but I'm not sure about the order. JHS is probably IU's most talented player, even if Trayce is their most valuable player. And Reneau isn't as athletically gifted as Trayce perhaps, but I would say even as a freshman may have more refined post moves, a softer shooting touch, and appears to be a better ball handler.

Of course, IU barely made the NCAA tournament last year and had a losing Big Ten record. IMHO, if we are expecting DRAMATIC team improvement this season, we should hope that the roles of some of last year's players are reduced somewhat because the freshmen, plus Bates in his second year, are ready to contribute significantly, even though they're less experienced.

This game made me wonder if IU's ceiling is higher at the end of this season if CJ Gunn is playing more minutes than Miller Kopp and if Schifino is playing more point guard minutes than Xavier Johnson.

If you watch Malik's high school games from last year, there's no doubt he's better than Jordan Geronimo. I don't mean that as a slight to Geronimo. Certain guys - Cody Zeller and Yogi Ferrell were others - you can watch in high school and there's just no doubt that they will be standout players in college. When Trace and Race say they couldn't stop Malik from scoring in practice, I don't find that surprising at all.

Watching Reneau again today, I still disagree. There's nothing over the top about the idea that he's ready to play starter minutes. What minutes he actually does play given the presence of Trace and Race will be interesting to see.

I didn't attend many games last season but during one that I did get to go to late in the season, I saw the same kind of thing. Galloway was hitting one 3 after another in warmups.

I agree that we don't disagree. : ). Geronimo is one of my favorite Hoosier players and certainly one of the most exciting and spectacular -- and game-changing at times! I'll be extremely interested to see where he finds his spot and what steps forward he takes next season. Two great things for the team from my perspective would be if Bates grabs hold of the 3 spot and becomes a consistent shooting and scoring threat, and if Reneau is as good as advertised as the backup four and looks like a near future high-level all-Big Ten player. But where would that leave Geronimo? Who knows? These are good questions for a team to have, especially with the chance of injuries along the way.

But would the current day Jordan Geronimo destroy what TJD was as a freshman? Is the current Race Thompson better than TJD was as a freshman? Is Reneau at a similar level of talent and maturity as TJD as a freshman? I think these are at least as relevant questions as how JG would fare against the kids Reneau was playing against. Even so, I wouldn't downgrade that competition. Reneau became a key player for a Montverde program that had a record seven of its former players picked in the 2021 NBA Draft and five of its 2021-22 team sign with high majors - Duke, Texas, IU (2), and Illinois. The Montverde players compete against high-level competition in practice every day. https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/os-sp-nba-draft-montverde-six-selections-20210730-vf7wochp7rh2divrrocthkg3jq-story.html I am not suggesting Race won't start. I do believe Reneau may cause him to play fewer minutes than he otherwise would, which wouldn't be a bad thing. I think Reneau has a good chance of being a core rotational player, despite the logjam at his position. His soft interior shooting touch, high basketball IQ, and team-centered game seem pretty special based on video and scouting reports. I don't think you leave that on the bench most of the game when you're trying to win a Big Ten title. Look at what Woodson has said about Reneau: "Malik has enjoyed success at the highest level in high school and brings a competitive and winning presence to our program,'' Woodson said. "He’s an outstanding offensive player who continues to expand his game. He has great touch and tremendous footwork and he uses his quickness to his advantage.'' Reneau has played with and against a roster full of Division I talent for two years running now, so making the adjustment to college basketball should be easy. Reneau is smart, and has a great feel for the game. "He has a great Basketball IQ and is an unselfish teammate who has benefitted from working with and against some very talented players on a daily basis,'' Woodson said. "Defensively, he is well suited to today’s game. He keeps his man in front of him and can step out in pick and roll situations and hold his own." https://www.si.com/college/indiana/basketball/indiana-basketball-mike-woodson-impressed-with-signee-malik-reneau-both-ends-of-floor

You are right that the count of resisting law enforcement using a vehicle was dropped as part of the plea agreement. That's the definition of a plea agreement, of course, which doesn't mean the charge was untrue -- an agreement between the prosecution and defense, sometimes including the judge, in which the accused agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge in return for more serious charges being dropped. You can see that the charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement at Indiana MyCase. https://public.courts.in.gov/mycase/#/vw/CaseSummary/eyJ2Ijp7IkNhc2VUb2tlbiI6InpOcFRyQ3dINEVTdndYWmlVMkZTQVNybERnUFkxenFnUktrdVlzMm9wZWsxIn19 Charges Show all charge details 01 04/03/2022 35-44.1-3-1(a)(3)/F6: Resisting Law Enforcement-Same as 3929, but def. uses a vehicle. 02 04/03/2022 9-21-8-52(a)(1)/MC: Reckless Driving Drive at unreasonable high or low speed so to endanger safety Plea Agreement 08/23/2022 Order Issued State appears by Chris Pierce. Defendant appears in person and by counsel, Joseph Lozano. Defendant pleads guilty to Count II: Reckless Driving as a Class C Misdemeanor. Count I is dismissed. Defendant is sentenced to 60 days all but time served suspended. Defendant has 1 actual day and good time credit. Defendant is subject to a term of Unsupervised probation for 360 days. Defendant is to complete 50 hours of community service and be evaluated for and complete any treatment recommendations. Defendant to pay court costs of $185.50. Court directs the Clerk to release the cash bond to costs and fees and probation fees. Any remaining cash bond to be returned to the defendant. CR 311-c05/mtb

I think the writer of the story probably described North Walnut as a street running through downtown Bloomington to give some context to readers who might not know that, but in this case it was misleading. Does that matter much in understanding what happened? Are you saying he pulled over promptly when the police tried to pull him over or not? It seems the police were saying that he did not. I'm not one to blindly accept what police say as fact. Did Johnson or others on his behalf refute the idea that he attempted to evade police?

It seem like he was trying to avoid the cops in pulling into the parking lot and then running a stop sign. When the cops turn on their lights to pull you over, you pull over. BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — Indiana University point guard Xavier Johnson has been arrested for reckless driving and resisting law enforcement, according to Monroe County Sheriff Brad Swain. Just after 3 a.m. Sunday, a Monroe County sheriff’s deputy saw a Dodge Charger going 90 mph on North Walnut Street, a main thoroughfare through downtown Bloomington. The deputy tried to pull the Charger over, but the driver refused to stop. The car drove into a parking lot at an apartment complex and ran a stop sign while trying to get away from the deputy. The car eventually stopped and the deputy saw Johnson, 22, get out of the car and switch seats with a passenger, identified by police as Lee Marrioti. https://www.wishtv.com/sports/college-basketball/iu-point-guard-xavier-johnson-arrested-for-reckless-driving-resisting-law-enforcement/

The aspect where I may disagree with you is when you said that if Malik is as good as TJD was as a freshman than Malik would be starting. I don't think that's necessarily true. And you say that Malik won't be as good as TJD was a freshman because he won't be starting. Which again may just be an indication of being on a better team. But like you say, "as good" is subjective. In any case, it's probably just semantics and doesn't really matter. Let's hope he's a strong contributor and not worry any further about ranking his place in history just yet. : ).

You seem to be saying that him being an effective backup to TJD and Race Thompson means that he's not one of the best players on the team. I think he could be one of the best freshmen IU has had in many years and still be a backup to TJD and Race Thompson. As a sixth-year senior who was honorable mention all-Big Ten last year, Race may not be dislodged from the starting lineup even if Reneau is as good as TJD was his freshman year. I don't see a problem with that as long as Reneau is getting his share of minutes, too.

Have you watched the tapes of Reneau playing in high school against high-level competition? As gifted as Geronimo is athletically, I don't see how he will get more minutes at the 4 and 5 than Reneau. In terms of skill level, Reneau is a clearly better player. Geronimo has potential obviously, but in his sophomore year, he averaged 4.4 points and 3.6 rebounds. He is still a project and is learning and possibly transitioning to a new position. Reneau is not a project.

How do you know Reneau isn't better than Race Thompson, whether or not Malik starts? I predict that Reneau will right away be a more effective post scorer than Race. He might be a better defender, as well.

I suspect the coaching staff will make sure there's enough offseason roster turnover to bring in another shooter or two from the portal. Q. On things to improve on... MIKE WOODSON: Well, shooting is a big part of it. I thought our defense carried us guys, and we didn't shoot the ball extremely well this season. You guys know that. You watched us play, and we got to get better in that area. I'd be foolish to say we don't because we do.

So your argument is that college athletes - no matter what their value they may be - should not make closer to their true worth because employees at other big businesses do not make their true worth. You are correct that my mindset is quite different than yours, although I wouldn't characterize it as myopic.

Here's a report that says the average annual athletic scholarship at IU-Bloomington in 2017-18 was $23,065 for men and $21,929 for women. That includes full and partial scholarships. The report doesn't break IU's numbers down by sport, but nationally it shows that the sports with the highest average annual scholarship amounts for NCAA1 were women's hockey at $41,693 women's gymnastics at $40,172, men's basketball at $38,246, women's basketball at $36,758, and football at $36,070. http://www.scholarshipstats.com/average-per-athlete.html These amounts are a lot of money for young people, but not much at all in comparison to the money being raked in by the high-profile sports at many large universities. IU reported $123 million in athletic revenue in 2018. Archie Miller makes a salary of $3.35 million per year. Tom Allen makes between $2 and $3 million depending on the incentives he earns. In that environment, I'm glad if a star player can legally earn some additional money to put in the bank. After all, is Archie Miller or any coach truly worth more than 800 times the value of his best player in a given year? If you go by Archie's financial compensation compared to a player's (800x$40Kscholarship=$3.2M), that's what the numbers suggest.

There were some thoughts from Archie Miller about that during his radio show this week: On Sunday’s loss at Crisler Center: “We did not control the controllable things. Why are we getting in trouble early? Why are we taking punches? To me, the identity of your team for the full 40 minutes, how we start the race — we’re not running fast enough. We’re not running hard enough at the start of the race and then we’re playing catch-up. We have to come out tougher defensively and more disciplined on offense. The freelancing on offense in the first four-to-six minutes is not giving us quality offense. … We shoot too many perimeter jump shots, then we get back to what we do. If you watched the second half, we had a really efficient second half. We got great shots. We didn’t finish as well around the basket and we had some ones that didn’t go down (but) I think we had it to seven with 11 minutes to go. That’s a workable margin for us. Give them credit. They were on their game, too, on the other end. We struggled to defend on the pick-and-roll. There’s a lot to learn from the game, but we have to get back to work because going to Maryland is going to be just as difficult.” On whether IU’s lack of toughness at the start of games is partly a mental hurdle: “We’re a big game on the schedule. That we’re an improved team this year has made a heightened awareness of it. I felt it against Butler. I felt the charge in the Louisville game. I felt the charge in Crisler Arena. At the same time, it’s part of it to understand that we are a big game. For our team, especially at home, it’s understanding how ready you have to be to come off the ball and set the tone. Setting the tone, to me, starts with your upperclass players. For me, we’re gonna have to look at Juwan and say, ‘Set the tone and start demanding the ball.’ Our guards have to think more about playmaking ability rather than trying to shoot early in the game. Think about making somebody better. Make the extra pass. Drive not to shoot, but to pass.” https://www.hoosiersportsreport.com/2019/01/highlights-from-archie-millers-weekly-radio-show-6/

Other notable Ohio State alumni: Jeffrey Dahmer and felons Art Schlichter and Maurice Clarett.