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If bad shots/bad passes leading to 4/5 point swings were a tracked stat, Gunn would lead the team in it twice over this season it seems.

Honestly if he keeps on playing like this all year, I feel like lotto is a lock too. Maybe that's not a bold statement though lol

Wonderful dribble drive from Banks

Walker has also quietly been more and more impressive each game this year IMO

Then he hits a 3. Lol. Not disputing his shot has been bad all year, just funny timing

Leal, Cupps, and Gallo being the only 3 available guards is pretty much the worst case scenario many feared re: roster construction. Putting that all aside... in terms of who can play at the two tonight ... vs. Harvard, we did see Gallo/Mack/Banks/Reneau/Ware on the court together (I believe that was the lineup) for a few minutes, later in the second half IIRC. I suppose we'll see something along those lines for a few stretches tonight too. Really need Gallo to carry over the momentum from Friday... Time for Leal and Cupps to really step up too! Don't think you can play those two together tonight... so seems like we'll have little choice but to go with a big lineup for some period of time. That would be an interesting wrinkle with this lineup ... whether it's a good or a bad one, I'm not sure yet... but think we'll find out tonight if that is something we only see out of necessity or if we go zone with a long/tall lineup and it looks good enough to be in the mix of lineups/rotations. Big opportunity for Banks to solidify his spot in the rotation/make a case for way more minutes too, IMO

Can I please state for the record that 9pm tip offs suck.

IU: 72 UM: 68

RIP Jerry, thank you for your service. Prayers are with you Josh.

A few fun predictions, because why the hell not, when we still have 8.5 hours to go... 60+ points from KW, MR, and MM. Mack has his first 20 point day on efficient shooting. Cupps and Gunn both struggle on offense but are able to muster the perimeter D we need to squeak out a close one away from home. Michigan can shoot but they're 4-4, not unbeatable by any means. Even Ant Wright said if we can slow down McDaniel, he thinks we win this one. Idk, I've just a good feeling... hopefully I don't jynx us!

I know this is an away game and we've not been playing great admittedly, but neither has Michigan. Am I missing something about this game that's got everyone expecting a L in the prediction thread?? Guess XJ's injury has people more pessimistic about this one than MD?

Michigan 75 IU 80

Oak Hill guards... a timeless classic that transcends eras. Rod Strickland, Steve Blake, Rajon Rondo, Ty Lawson, Brandon Jennings, Nolan Smith... that's just off the top of my head. Pretty unreal. After a quick scan of Kaden Magwood's highlights... I'd buy the idea of his name being added to the list of notable alumni one day

Yeah I would agree PS is useful for 5-10 mins, a small role... KW needs to stay healthy or the season is shot! Sparks looks to me like he sometimes is trying to do way too much and getting outside of himself. Just want to see him slow down and play his game a little more without being as in his head. He was pretty darn good against Louisville. More of that would be great. When he's not playing well though, it's ugly... as is the case with most college basketball players I guess! It's tough playing 10/11 guys. But they've really all made a solid case to this point. I like this team a lot.

I mean the bull in the china closet part, when I say recently. And his freshman year at BSU he shot 70% from the stripe. His sophomore year and this year, he's drastically regressed.

He's been playing like a bull in a china closet that can't shoot a FT recently. A very defined role is fine for him this year. Hopefully he keeps improving and next year can be a solid back up/rotation player.

Don't worry, it doesn't take much time to think about/post at all. if you don't want to read it you can scroll though. I do agree with your bolded point.

By the time we're starting B10 play in January, hopefully X is back to 100%. Assuming he is, I'd like to see the minutes be distributed something along these lines, with a few caveats... Xavier Johnson - 28 Trey Galloway - 28 Mackenzie Mgbako - 25 Malik Reneau - 25 KelEl Ware - 30 (136 total minutes for starters) Kaleb Banks - 20 Anthony Walker - 14 Gabe Cupps - 12 CJ Gunn - 6 Payton Sparks - 6 Anthony Leal - 6 (64 total minutes for the bench) First caveat... as Reneau gets in foul trouble/Mack's defensive lapses rear their head at times we can't afford it, bump up Walker and Bank's minutes. As long as Walker sticks to his floater in the lane game and plays smart with the ball/high motor, I have been liking what he's been showing more recently than start of the year. Banks needs to be our clear and bona fide 6th man IMO Second caveat... Leal getting much more than 6 minutes unless due to injury or something is, in my mind, not optimal for the team. But he has played really smart while on the court and it's just so refreshing compared to CJ. I think you reward Leal with a small rotation role to keep pushing CJ and showing him what he needs to do differently to stay on the floor/contribute to winning. If Gunn steps up and wins back those minutes, we have much higher upside come March with Gunn as our 4th guard than Leal. Especially when Cupps is already our 3rd guard. These minutes set up so there are always 2 guards on the court. Third caveat... I also think come March, you cut Sparks time to spot minutes based on foul trouble/blowout status, ideally along with Leal but in a plausible scenario, CJ who will have been sitting for quite some time and portaling shortly after the season ends. Not trying to beat up on him but his performance was one of the few things to gripe about from yesterday IMO. Keep Mack/Malik in the game a little longer and/or use those 6 rotation minutes to feed the hot hand of the day.

He's very frustrating. Tonight sold me on the idea of Leal taking some (not all) of his minutes. And if he can earn all of Gunn's... that's a good thing for the team at the end of the day.

He seemed obviously upset about his performance by the end of the game. Can't help but feel a little bad for him... but not too bad....

Mack had the second most points and second most rebounds. His slow start has people way more pessimistic about the impact he can have this season than is warranted. Last two games have been a big step forward. No reason to think that development/improvement won't continue as the season goes on. He is a little stiff out there but the upside is obvious. Just has to keep on working.

Beat Michigan and you have every reason to be excited for the rest of this year. Even if we drop the two after that. Tonight was encouraging.

This was a must win. We won and looked good for the majority of the game. Great way to start B10 play.

Gabe Cupps didn't play perfect. But In his first career start, he left it all out on the court. Tipping my cap to him.

He's a totally different player than TJD but we've got virtually no drop off in terms of rim protection/interior scoring. Considering TJD holds many career accolades, that's how you know Ware is special. We're very very lucky to have enjoyed this level of big man play in back to back years, especially with Reneau also taking a big step forward. Mr. Derik Queen... you watching?