Aeggie

Gordon did all that while being injured most of the season he was absolutely incredible and was an impact defender as a true freshman. If it weren’t for injuries he would’ve made at least a few All-Star appearances but they kept him from his true star potential. It’s amazing that he has recovered to still be an elite role player, really speaks to his skill level and bbiq As I see it Gordon came into his freshmen year as a stronger, better shooting, more aggressive to the basket version of Romeo. I do think Romeo is better with the ball in his hands generally, but I give Gordon the nod defensively as well. I would be thrilled to see Romeo eclipse Gordon but I don’t see it. Romeo will get plenty of possessions and opportunities but I don’t think he’ll get THAT many and I’m not sure he’all be aggressive enough to get to the free throw line as often as Gordon did either. I think he’ll be very efficient and score in the mid teens.

Our recruiting ticked up under Wilson and has improved a bit more under Allen, who has only been here two years. I think we COULD have an identity of being a running/play-action team - Coleman and Howard are both balling in the pros and we have a nice stable of RBs that will only get deeper and more talented next year with more seasoning and the addition of a 4* back. I think it’s way early to write off Allen. The team is getting deeper and his first class is looking really nice as freshmen. We can’t be a program that shuffles coaches every three years. I think that if we match today’s effort we beat Minnesota and we’re still alive for a bowl. I think Debord called a better game with Penix in, and Penix’s stiffer passes made the horizontal elements of the offense look better, but I’d still like to upgrade there in the offseason. I think Penix would’ve taken Ramsey’s job if he hadn’t gotten hurt, hopefully it’s not too bad and he can at least return for his fourth game before the end of the season

I thought it might be interesting to track how the computers see the team as the season goes along. Right now S&P+ thinks we have about an 80% chance to go bowling, and could end up having a really nice year overall with a few lucky bounces. It's looking more and more like the plan is to redshirt Penix, which I agree with, but I think we still need to give Ramsey more intermediate passing routes to target to really unlock the offense. Our defense, a question mark coming into the year, is currently ranked in the top 20 but our offense is outside of the top 75. I think we have talent on that side of the ball we just need to press a bit more than we do right now. Hopefully Rutgers sees us get ahead by a few scores and experiment a bit in a game setting

Right, and it's interesting to note as your other post mentioned turnovers aren't really accounted for in this model because they're pretty much random. If we can take care of the ball, we can eclipse this record. Or we could get lucky with opponent's fumbles bouncing our way, or happening at all. That could go the other way too and it's a huge factor to winning and losing games. All that having been said this team does have talent on both sides of the ball and with bolder playcalling offensively I think we can turn the corner but I'm starting to join the chorus on Debord. Ramsey can handle a bit more than what he's being given right now, even stretching the defense another 5 or 10 yards would be huge.

Tonight's game was disappointing but we'll have a shot against Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Rutgers, and Purdue. Michigan State is probably better than all of those teams. Michigan State may not be college playoff material, but their run defense is elite; it's easily the best in the nation so far. S&P hasn't been updated for this week yet, but I don't think we comported ourselves too poorly so I don't expect us to drop too much.

We still have all of conference play to see how our returning players do or don't get acclimated to Big Ten play. I don't know how you project next season without knowing that.

Is the game televised or on ESPN3 or anything?

I'm sure the practices are DIFFERENT but nothing that Miller has said suggests they're too DIFFICULT. Again, he stated that the guys "know how to work" and has reported that practices have gone well so the idea that players are having issues in practice is unfounded. I mean, some of the guys that have had issues on the floor have been top practice players. Robert Johnson has won a gold jersey. I think Morgan has won two. Nothing has been said to suggest practice is an issue, Archie's own statements suggest the opposite.

The idea that the practices may be too hard for the guys... I doubt it. Crean was criticized for overworking players, not underworking them. IU players that did make it to the NBA were praised for their fitness level. Archie Miller specifically complimented the previous staff when noting that the current roster knew how to work...

Green and Newkirk will both be in the starting lineup I think. As long as Josh keeps shooting like he has tonight I really like the idea of them playing together

I would hate to see that happen and I hope he snaps out of it but so far that's how he's played

Same, I wonder if he's healthy

Phinisee will really elevate this team, I can't wait to see him in candy stripes

Love Devonte's confidence! Just keep those toes just behind the line and we're good lol

Deron has really made a lot of mistakes tonight, hope he can clean some of these things up

I like Devonte's aggression there but that shot hit the bottom of the rim, gotta give yourself a chance for an old fashioned three point play

And we really need him while RoJo adjusts to the new system

I also feel like the defense has been extended past what I expected to see tonight, I'm curious to see if it continues

The defense hasn't been great tonight but the effort has been good and that's a start at least

Can't save the ball under an opponent's basket RoJo, gotta know that

I agree with Bielfeldt that Green looks like our most improved player so far, though he needs to think harder about shot selection. Hopefully Deron is just working out some early jitters and he proves to be our most improved player, he looked great notching that block