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I feel the exact same way Dave. Sad, because I want to be excited about this team. Just one 20+ win would be great! Right now that looks like something we may not see this year though. I'll be in the building today, as I'm sure a lot of other Hoosier fans will be! I haven't seen that much red outside of Assembly Hall in a long time.

Louisville has as much, if not more, talent on their roster than we do. Yet they've been awful the last two years and took a ranked Texas team right to the wire yesterday. How we come out after being drummed by 20 will tell us a lot about the locker room. Schematically, we probably see more of the same, but is Payne actually good enough with X's and O's to exploit our weaknesses? Woody is definitely the better coach IMO but this team is just tough to watch right now. I do think come January it could be a different story but we'll see... CJ seems to be finding his feet a bit which would be huge

I was sitting very close to the action and there were at least two instances where XJ was way late telling MM whether to switch or stay on screens in the post. Another instance with Trey on the wing. MM does not know the scheme and needs to be guided, but it's tough for our backcourt to play defense themselves + think about where MM specifically needs to be on the court. The backcourt is already working with their own talent disparity. He is uncomfortable on offense and a mess on defense. The thing is, if this team is going to have upside and make any noise in March, he's got to be able to contribute. So I think you have to let him keep taking his lumps and hope it works out. Freshman hump is bigger for some than others. It's concerning but it's only been 4/5 games tomorrow. Let's see how things look in mid January... the schedule is pretty tough from here on out. Hopefully that pays off come B10 play.

IU 69 UL 64

Happy it's not Texas but this will not be a cake walk either. This game is the one I view as the real early season barometer for where we are as a team. I feel like we lack intensity right now. Louisville will probably be tired/emotionally flat after a game like that.

Yes Mack played poorly. He's got to figure it out or the team's ceiling is seriously capped. Just doesn't look anything like the player he was in HS/AAU. Don't know what the answer is, or if there is one, right now. X and Trey also played pitifully on perimeter D. We don't seem to box out when a shot goes up. That's frustrating with so much size. The guards absolutely let the team down on the boards tonight. UConn's Newton had a crap ton of them and damn near a triple double Cupps got blown by Spencer once, then played really tough D on Newton. He might've looked the best of the guards defensively today, granted XJ sat a ton early. If Malik didn't go off, the score would've been a lot worse. Gunn, obviously not a perfect game, see him getting better even since the exhibition games. The 3 point D and rebounding will probably be weaknesses all year. But if we can give it enough time I think this team can still be good. I do think our back court and Mack will be what ends up limiting us/propelling us. Beat Louisville. 4-1 is about as good as we could've hoped to start. One game at a time.

These refs are @$$

I can't for the life of me understand anyone asking for Leal over Gunn in this game. As you said, he's not there yet... but he's got potential and the length/athleticism to compete with these guys. The shots need to fall and the defensive decision making a little better

Hurley and Woody had a very pleasant exchange at the start. Here we go IU

The cheer for IU coming out for pre game warm ups was orders of magnitude larger than UConn's. Big difference in attendance so far. Looks like an IU home game

There's a wholeeee lot of red in the building. Still early

XJ is jumping around and not limping at all for what it's worth

X is dressed and going through stretches. Will let you know when they start warming up if he's going full speed

Train to New York Penn Station (direct access into MSG) has a very healthy amount of IU fans on it. Imagine the next hour's train, which gets in right as the doors open, will have a fair bit more. IU fans tend to show up pretty well at the Garden from what I've seen. Let's shock the world Hoosiers!!!

Based on his IG story, looks like today is Mack's bday. Going off in the Garden tomorrow would be a hell of a present to himself and the fans! Lol... a guy can dream right...

Just awful luck for him...

I have not been able to find one. That makes me think it's not good news...

I don't have stats on that specifically, but one of their fan forums has an in depth scouting report on us (...interesting... to see their perspectives) and are rightfully very confident heading into this one.

Danny is better with X's and O's than his brother. I don't think Bobby is bad, but Danny is pretty great IMO. Definitely helps that dad, Bob, is retired and has all day to watch film and give his son tips. Not sure if he still is, but I think when Danny first got to UConn, he actually hired his father in some sort of non-coaching staff role. I do think we've been playing down to our level of competition, that is what keeps me cautiously optimistic/hopeful for Sunday. We need XJ to be at full go, didn't look good though.

I think Ware surprises a lot of people v Clingan and Karaban.

It's gonna be bad guys. Castle being out will make it a little less bad, though.

Those arseholes are probably thinking "Damn kid decides to try after he's no longer here, of course, just our luck" They could never be the problem themselves! LoL. Woody has shown he can develop the hell out of big men if nothing else. Edit: To clarify before anyone assumes I'm implying something, he's obviously good at other aspects of coaching. Woody is a good coach. Not perfect. Good..... no such thing as perfect in sports. That's what makes it fun (sometimes)

I hope he does prove a lot of people wrong. And if not? Personally, I'd hope he sticks around for year 2 in Bloomington... him and McNeeley :O

UConn 94 IU 66