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If no X, maybe we go zone for a stretch in this game... don't think we will be able to "trick" Willard in the same way we did Payne though...

Because you lead JMU to a few ranked seasons/bowl wins and everyone outside their fan base forgets you exist in about 2 years max. You lead IU football into the new era of the B10 and make it a respectable program? That's a legacy right there Golfman

I actually feel 100% confident he will not be coming to IU. The troll job he did with his visit pics (basically copying the poses his older bro would hit when celebrating against us) ... is enough for me to say "hard pass" ... not that he's actually considering us, anyway. They're just trying to have some fun at the expense of fans. I'm paying no mind to this recruitment, personally.

Feels like Duke to me if not Rutgers

This is a GREAT point Race. We had Banks at the 3. XJ/Cupps/Trey, Mack, Banks, Reneau, Ware ... could be a lineup worth seeing more minutes of

IMO, hiring one of these firms is really a move that an AD makes to "CYA" as they say. Usually an AD will have a short list already in mind, I doubt this firm is going out and finding us the best possible coach/putting forth recommendations/due diligence on anyone other than who their client at the University (Dolson) tells them he wants them to. From Dolson's perspective - if the coach works out, great, everyone's happy. If the coach sucks and we have to pay $15.5M to get rid of him and the Board says "What the hell is going on Scotty?" He can say "but but but... the experts agreed so-and-so was the best choice!" Of course, timing is all about optics. You don't want it to publicly look like you already had your guy lined up before you officially got rid of TA. So you announce you've engaged a firm, who at this point is (IMO) likely doing background checks/dotting the i's and crossing the t's on a deal that's been tentatively agreed to where - for instance, salary is confirmed but incentives on performance are being negotiated. Then you announce whenever you find most opportune to grab headlines... or avoid them, depending which fish we've landed, lol. That's just my hunch! We'll see.

Geronimo will probably be Mgbako's man a good amount I imagine... JG has never seen MM in practice before, so that's a positive... I think Mack's on-ball defense is actually half decent, but his huge problem is more ball watching causing him to be late on rotations IMO. He looked a lot better against Harvard (definitely not perfect, got lost multiple times. But better.) What he lacks in speed/quickness, I think he can make up for with length once he figures out how to work angles a little better. I think he is figuring out the intensity aspect of things. Still a lot to improve, but Harvard was definitely encouraging. I hope he builds on that performance and we continue finding ways to get him shots as long as he is bringing it on D and crashing the boards.

XJ is one of the most polarizing IU basketball players I've seen in my time as a fan - people either love him or hate him for the most part. It's already been discussed ad nauseam I'm sure and most people's minds won't be changed. Like most things though, it's not all black and white. People typically see their own set of pros/cons about him and value his skillsets in a widely varied way (ex: a lot of people say something along the lines of "we're better off without him" or start Cupps over XJ after the first game, or that he's not a natural leader, etc, etc... which is not what I take your post to say). I think you hit the nail on the head with "he tries to do everything." He'd probably be a lot more effective in a situation where he can play a more focused role (ie scorer, distributor, etc). I think he could play a few different supporting roles well - just not the "do it all" lead guard/star of the backcourt. He is being asked to do too much. Problem is, Trey/Cupps/Gunn are not ready/able to pick up a lot of the slack, so we have to ask X to do too much. Sometimes he is out of control, sometimes his reactions rub people the wrong way (myself included every now and then). A little disappointing from a sixth year player, but you can't expect total perfection from any individual player. We have no other options to go to. It's pretty jarringly apparent how badly we needed to use that last scholly on a guard - any guard really - it was obvious on paper and it looks even worse on the court. Newton's injury doesn't help. Gunn's lagging development doesn't help. I mean, FDU beat purdewww with a squad of D2 guards. Nobody worth a lick in the spring wanted to wear the candy stripes? Find that hard to believe. I read that to mean, staff thought we'd be getting more out of Trey/Gunn/Cupps and/or that Newton would be a go this year. There was no reason not to use the scholarship, even if just on someone that you thought could just be a serviceable back up in case of injury. Yes they swung and missed on big name players (Knecht, Dingle, etc.) I don't mean to beat up the staff about it but I hope they learn from the calculated risk they took and seemingly misfired on. It's a long season though - by Feb/March, could their gamble pay off? That's definitely one storyline for this season, IMO. I hope it works out for them. If it doesn't, we'll really need a huge recruiting hall in the Spring to keep a swath of the fanbase happy with the direction of travel. We shall see, It's a long year! 5-1, won every game we "should" so far. Next few will be huge. LETS GO HOOSIERS!!!!

I'll say this - I'm not opposed to a couple of 5 minute stints of Leal playing with the starters to be honest. He does do a good job of keeping the ball moving and talking on defense from the little bit we've seen of him. I just feel like giving him Gunn's minutes seriously caps our upside in B10 play. But hey... maybe Leal gets another chance and takes on a bigger role. Would be great for the team! Totally agree with Banks. He just reminds me a TON of a young OG honestly... he needs to get plenty of burn this season. Could be scary next year. I hope he gets a chance to shine in Atlanta vs Auburn since he's from GA.

Some of your assessment I agree with - I don't see CJ being a contributor on a high level winning basketball team right now. I do see some potential for him to get there and I think he has more of that than Leal. That said, CJ has shown some things on the court that really make you shake your head, and a few seldom glimpses of the upside we need more of. Of course the staff wanted to recruit over him. It's not that I expect him to fill the massive gap we have at the 2 guard, but I think he will be able to make us more competitive than Leal. He's still just a sophomore. Who even knows if we'll get to see what a junior Gunn at IU looks like with the portal being the way it is these days. Banks has been impressive recently.

Leal in mop up duty/when we've got a rotation guard injured is one thing (fine in that role). Playing over Gunn? I don't think he can affect winning better and I think if we are going to be dangerous in March, we need to get Gunna and Banks as much development time as possible. No thanks to playing him over Gunn at this point for me.

Are you saying we need to take more 3s or make more 3s? Lol. I don't think anyone will argue with the idea of making more 3s. But I don't think we necessarily need to shoot more of them. If we shoot the same volume more efficiently, we'll still be able to space the floor because defenders will have to respect the jumper. But the offense isn't about kicking out for 3s, it's been made clear we will score around the basket as a first option.

There are only 200 minutes to give out. For ease of conversation, let's just use round numbers... Ware, Reneau, and XJ you probably want to give each minimum 30 (I'm sure this will be debatable for some) Let's say for Gallo and Mack, it's 25. That's 140. So 60 minutes to divide across the entire bench, which right now we're playing 5 guys. That's not a lot of time and makes it tough for them to get into a good rhythm. Give 15m to Banks and Gunn and 10 mins to Cupps, Walker, and Sparks IMO. Ultimately it's going to fluctuate every game based on match ups. Stinks we'll only have Ware for one year... but better to have had him for a short time than no time, lol.

IU - 77 Maryland - 68

Are we REALLY going to continue the platoon sub pattern? I hope like hell not.

Defense still has a ways to go. Backcourt leaves a lot to be desired. If Ware, Mack, and Reneau play like that on offense most nights, we will be tough to beat. Harvard is an above average team. We got it done despite X being injured/out in the second half and Malik not 100%. A lot to like. A long way to go.

I think there should be 2 starters on floor at all times: one of XJ/TG and one of KW/MR

Don't recall Walker getting injured, must be something from practice? I really hope we come out looking strong tonight after having a decent amount of time between games.

Has Dolson issued a statement yet? I checked but can't find anything, not even a tweet from the Indiana Football account. Would be nice to see something as simple and generic as "we're committed to making Indiana University Football a nationally relevant program." I wonder how quickly we see a hire made.

Considering the last, like 3(?) coaches have been fired after winning the bucket, I don't think the outcome of this game makes a big difference in that decision. JMO

IU - 78 Harvard - 74

Nice Crystal Ball you've got there :-)

I know it wasn't ever really on the table, but man, if we could've picked up RayJ Dennis... he is killing it vs Florida right now

Michigan will be the tougher of the two, but getting out to a 2-0 start in B10 play is definitely possible... and would be huge for our confidence at this time in the season. Especially since I'm assuming Auburn and KU end up being losses. Dropping one of the 2 early B10 games probably won't change my thinking on the team's potential/ceiling but would be a little disappointing, given Maryland has looked objectively pretty bad this year and Michigan is not invincible either. Maybe I've got Cream and Crimson colored glasses on this morning, but I am optimistic about the rate of improvement we make during this stretch without as many games and more time for practice, etc. Of course when we have an ugly stretch in the Harvard game I will curse myself for jynxing us!