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Auburn 79 IU 71

I don't mean to get us off topic from the Ware-o-Dactyl and baby photos (congratulations on your beautiful family BtownQB :) ... But I just rewatched the game... you've got to love a conference road win regardless of your thoughts on how strong UM is. --- Cupps defense was better than I gave him credit for, I happily admit. He does so many of the small but important things well it’s easy to see why fans gush over him, even if he is not as lengthy/explosive, etc. as the competition. Late in the first half, he jumped with Reed to contest the alley oop (lol) without fouling when he saw he couldn’t tip the pass away. Gallo had better positioning but didn’t even jump and Reneau was also close but moved out of the way to get ready to inbound the ball. GC was also running the FT huddle early in the game with the starting 5... as a freshman in his first conference road game. Coach’s kid written all over him. Not going to speculate on his potential as a player… just really, really glad he’s on our team. ---- Mack and Cupps are also developing pretty darn good chemistry. I like them playing together. They had a miscommunication in the first half that caused a silly TO but Cupps also found Mack on a couple cuts to the basket. I think he gets Mack the ball where he likes it and is really vocal on defense, which helps Mack a lot at this point. Michigan was not MM's best game - improvement won’t always be a straight line upward - but he was solid enough and clutch at the end. Miles ahead of where he started the season. If he continues this pace of progress… look out. If he's hit his plateau this year already (doubtful IMO), he’s still the best shooter on this team and that’s a role our offense/roster sorely needs. When XJ is back and it's time to get Gunn or Banks minutes, I could see Cupps and Mack playing really well with Gallo/Walker/Sparks (or Ware… obviously). If those two can play efficient “buddy ball” on the perimeter, that would make us very tough to handle. Whether you think he should start or not, everyone can have their own opinion… but it’s kind of silly in hindsight that some wanted Mack benched after less than a handful of games and thought we’d be “worse off” for him getting minutes. This team needs MM to be a real perimeter/scoring threat. Full stop. This was his 3rd straight game in double figures. A lot to things to improve/clean up but excited for the rest of his year. If you still think he needs to be benched/not get 25+ minutes… we can just agree to disagree. --- Gunn’s best game as a Hoosier, probably our best on ball defender when he is at his best. Banks looks like he’s finding his groove. Both still have so much room for improvement, I hope we get to see their continued development as part of our program. Walker did a nice job overall, had a great offensive rebound on a Ware miss around the 10 min mark… --- Still a lot of work needed on the chemistry front and other aspects but the fact we’ve absolutely made real, visible improvements in 8 games (7-1, 2-0) is VERY encouraging. We have not scratched the surface of this team’s potential yet. They have still not played a full 40 minutes of ”good” basketball. No player on this team is perfect but as they learn how to play with each other, Woodson showed us all last night that he will put them in position to win close games. The fellas just have to get better one day at a time and execute the gameplan. For the various faults/criticisms we all have… we’ve got a solid 10 guys. Hopefully the bench continues to be able to contribute as they improve/gel as a team. Other teams will also get better as the season goes on, but you cannot deny the rate at which we’ve improved through 8 games gives reason for encouragement. --- Am I “optimistic” yet though? Beat either of Auburn or Kansas and I sure as hell will be. We’ll have a week between those games. I hope on short turn around time this week, we look prepared and bring the intensity vs Auburn. I don’t know how we match up with them but that game looks more winnable than it did a week ago on paper. Kansas is obviously a great team but you never know in the Hall. I expect us to compete in that game and for it to be close at a minimum. Winning either would be HUGE for our resume. These will be great measuring stick games but if they don’t go our way (as long we they’re not blowouts and we play with effort) I’m not going to be worried sick at all. I’ll definitely be grumpy if they lose in front of me again at Rutgers though lol. Last year was rough and I’m bringing my old man this time. Looking forward to seeing the #1 team in the B1G standings in about a month, especially after yesterday’s gritty win. The Breslin Center looked completely sad, by the way.

I'm really starting to like this team a lot.

Obviously not every part of his game has translated to this level (yet) but I will say, I'm surprised he hasn't been able to show more putting the ball on the floor. Dribble/drive was definitely a part of his game in HS (albeit not the biggest part) so I thought he'd be a little more of a 3-level threat. Just need to keep giving him time to learn and develop...

Right - the nuances of their game are very different. But how fortunate could be to have virtually no drop off on interior production - offensively and defensively - after leaving TJD. Woody sure is making the Oregon coaching staff look like amateurs the way Ware has put it together so quickly

I still don't think it has sunk in just how lucky we are to have someone as awesome as Ware the season after saying good bye to one of our most prolific big men in program history. Absolute STUD.

We will really need Banks/Gunn/Walker to have especially great games.

Auburn just lost to Appalachian State... just sayin. Appalachian State is a good team, to be fair.

He had heart surgery in September

It obviously sucks XJ is injured, but I'll say this... the fact we're winning close games against conference opponents without him at this time of year, is super encouraging IMO. Yes we're all griping about the guard play and there's much debate on Gunn/Cupps/Gallo/Leal. Everyone's got their own view. If there's any silver lining to XJ being out for this period of time, its that our very thin backcourt gets a chance to play more minutes and develop. I think (hope) that will pay dividends for Cupps and Gunn come February/March. Like Stuhoo says. 7-1 baybeee. And......

Huge road win against a conference opponent. We did this without XJ. Gripe about whatever you want.... 7-1, battled the whole time (more than we'd like them to need to, sure)... this team is tough. I think we've cleared the "this is a tournament team" bar IMO assuming no injuries

Wow. Kel'El Ware is THAT guy. So happy he is OUR guy

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