JerryYeagley23

Up 7 with four to play, come one Woody, get Kopp out for somebody who can play defense.

Thank goodness for XJ and TJD.

Where’s the T on that alley oop? Looked back and talked ish just like Reneau.

All their bandwidth is in Qatar right now.

What about this idea: swap one of the guys in those pairings. Add a younger more athletic wing like Geronimo/Bates to the first group and a more mature slower paced Kopp to the second group. Most of the run Geronimo/Bates got was with two freshman and Trey Galloway on the floor. I’m not a fan of the five guys in five guys out first and second units. Mix and match it a bit. Find a combo that works.

Remember when Miller Kopp had that Syracuse game last year making us think he was a contributor and then spent the rest of the year getting torched on defense and missing open threes? See: first two exhibition games this year.

1 - like last year, our starting five is not our best lineup. 2 - Race & Trayce on the floor at the same time doesn’t work. Especially when Kopp is with them. Too big + too slow. 3 - XJ and JHS together is tough because they both want to do the same thing.

Early non-obvious takeaways from me: • Meister has a little Mackenzie Holmes look to her game. She’s young and will mature behind the core group of talent in front of her this year, but good looking future for her I think. • Like Kaitlin Peterson’s quickness and defense as a change of pace behind Chloe potentially this season. We have a long athletic starting five, but Peterson has a speed we don’t have that could be key to have when we get into a matchup with a smaller, quick PG on the opposition. • Grace Berger will play WNBA basketball and will be very difficult to replace. • Mack is fantastic, but misses some bunnies, love to see her continue to get better around then rim and stay fresh this year down the stretch with our depth we now have.

Not much to take away from the third quarter in a blowout up 30. But Kaitlin Peterson has a nice spark and could sneak into some backup PG minutes behind Chloe. Scalia needs to be a little more selective from deep. Parrish is a starter. Grace is good at basketball.

An unrelated halftime update: the one Big+ announcer has the enthusiasm of a middle school librarian. Mr. Monotone. If he’s a student and this is his chosen career path I wonder how he came to that decision ? *Though, I do give bonus points to the other one for his use of “she was as open as a Minnesota grocery store during a blizzard.” Ha.

Agree they’ve been good so far, but they’re still only three games into a season with a new team. When I say humming, I mean, fully integrated running on all cylinders. I think there’s a higher ceiling for both when they get comfortable and the team better understands how to play with them. They’re solid now, but to be “we could potentially beat UCONN or South Carolina in a final four game” good, we’ll need even more from them.

Good to see everyone back in the game chats again this year. Sorry I’ve missed the first few games. Prior obligations. Should be a fun season though. Hoping we use the next few games to get Garzon and Parrish humming within the offense. Think they’re going to be necessary contributors for us to go from good to potentially great by seasons end.

Those went quick! See everyone there. Section 23 Row X!

Anyone have a beat on when the IU/AZ tickets go on sale for Vegas?

I had it at 5% chance with him realistically a few months back, and that was only because crazy things happen. But this wasn’t a fit from the beginning. Surprised he even had us in his top ten.

Realistically, 5%

Never in doubt. He went for feedback and the experience. Stand-up young man. He honored some NIL commitments that he wasn’t technically bound to if he didn’t come back next year.

This is a really good perspective I think. I tend to be in this camp as well. Off-season expectations always seem to be rosy because we want to believe and be excited about a new beginning next Fall. But I’ve heard folks say with TJD back we’re a potential top 10, even top 5, team next year. I don’t see it. Last year’s team was a middle of the pack B1G team and outside of a good (losing) effort at PU and couple wins in the B1G tourney with their backs against the wall, played inconsistent and average ball for three months. Even with Trayce back, we’re mostly the same team. TJD is talented, and we all love him, but he’s a back to the basket big who doesn’t create his own shot and needs good ball entry and lots of space to work. As unpopular as it may be, he plays a brand of basketball that the NCAA and Woody are trying to move away from in favor of the NBA style with bigs that can play away from the basket and in the midrange. The JHS and Reneau additions are exciting for good reason, but should probably be exciting because of what it does for the program for recruiting additional high-level talent and attracting “missing piece” top-end portal transfers to put together a top-10 team in ‘23-‘26. Next year I think their impact will be mostly exciting to see their potential in flashes, but still splitting time in the rotation with XJ and Race. Overall I guess I’m more on the side that expects this team to have a season more similar to last season with the same core and think it’s less likely that core and our additions make a sizeable leap to a top-10 team. For what it’s worth, I still believe TJD will be back. The team will be competitive, and the excitement for the future of the program will be strong. But we’re 1-2 years away from being “in the conversation” like we want to be.

Former Hoosier and MLS rookie Roman Celentano picked up his second straight clean sheet last night for F.C. Cincinnati. Playing really well for a team that has struggled since joining the league in 2019. I really believe if he stays in form and continues to work on his footwork and distribution out of the back that he will get a look by Berhalter for the USMNT during next World Cup cycle. Note: F.C. Cincinnati also is coached by former Hoosier forward Pat Noonan. The IU alum in MLS doing big things is impressive.

For high-profile recruits and transfers this is now par for the course. Much like any of us would negotiate terms with an employer or leverage multiple job offers to see who valued you the most. This is the new norm. Actually, it’s the old norm, because it’s happened for decades, it’s just in the open now and expected from both player and program to be a major talking point.

I know it was just part of your hypothetical argument, but it’s worth stating that Dennis is well known as a high character young man and consummate teammate. Believe he won a conference sportsmanship award or some kind of recognition. And generally, guys who win defensive player awards have a certain degree of selflessness to them to dedicate their focus and energy to doing the dirty work for their team in lieu of offensive stats. There’s risk involved in most personnel decisions, but in this case it’s minimal he wouldn’t have a positive impact on and off the court.

The extra few weeks actually give us valuable time to get our house in order to put our best foot forward. His visit will likely be as much about our first proposal of the details of our NIL package as things basketball related.

No.

Ha. Full credit to Chris for breaking the story. Just adding my “crystal ball” pick with high confidence after a dinner conversation today.

I’m feeling confident Trayce is coming back and expect an announcement of some kind will come soon.