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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!

Having had plenty of rest/time to regroup after our last game, keen to see us come out looking better here. Harvard is no slouch but they also aren't UConn. Can we take lessons learned onboard and apply them quickly - both the players and the coaching staff? If so, I'll be very encouraged about what this means for the rest of the season. We've got to win this one and the Maryland/Michigan games IMO.

Man, I understand not using a timeout when you have a chance to go get a transition bucket in the final seconds. But when the other team is already able to get set up in a halfcourt D, or you just grab that final rebound with a chance to win on a 3 point shot.... and the coach doesn't use their timeout (Shaka had 2 left)... what are you saving them for?!

EDIT: deleted, already posted

I will say this... watching Texas-UConn right after, was clearly a different level of basketball than we were playing. Do I think we are capable of playing that kind of basketball? Maybe... but without the guard play, it will be really, really tough this year. Just got to get hot at the right time. Keep getting better one day at a time.

I think Boyle at Montverde just runs such a strong program, with so much talent, the kids there just are outliers in terms of college readiness. Practicing every day against a bunch of top 50 guys on a college-lite regimen works more wonders for them than as you pointed out, a place like IMG. IMG still a great opportunity for kids but MVA is in a tier of it's own IMO.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but now that I think more about where Mack is coming from... Gill St Bernard - a really good academic school with a basketball program that just so happens to be pretty good Roselle Catholic - an NJ bball factory, always just recruiting the most talented guys they can find and playing a semi-national schedule, but not really excelling outside of the state... not the best coaching in the state... Losing the Hurleys and Boyles, who now run MVA, has definitely hurt the quality of NJ HS BBall... NJ Scholars AAU - i mean, it's AAU, enough said. Not a lot of teaching that goes on there to start. I think like a lot of freshmen, he's pretty in over his head when it comes to understanding what's actually happening on the court in real time. He's got the physical traits and the skill in shooting that makes me think his mental will catch up and he will find a better groove. I'm very much still hopeful that he figures it out. Will be embarrassing for him otherwise given all the 1 and done talk he created to a degree. Banks performance was so clutch yesterday. I like that those two will be pushing each other in practice.

IU 78 Harvard 62

Just finished rewatching. I'm glad we got the W, it wasn't always pretty but a lot to like too, I think. Ware and Reneau are good, but I worry about them in B10 play. Can Reneau stay on the floor? Can Ware effectively post up and rebound? I tend to think there will games where the answer is yes and others where the answer is no. Hopefully it gets better over time. Hopefully the rest of the team steps up - it's tiring seeing those two be the only ones expected to get rebounds. Trey and X getting 4 each in this one compared to one each in the first game made a huge difference. Sparks and Walker as back ups, if they show up like they did against Louisville, we could be competitive. If like UConn, we will have a rough year in the conference. The conference being down this year gives me hope we can have a decent finish in the standings. MM's defense honestly didn't seem bad to me. I don't hate the two quick aggressive fouls. The shots will eventually fall, I was happy we schemed looks for him early in the second half. What I'd really like to see from him is obviously continued improvement on D, but also, be much more active on the boards. I think that would help him get into the flow more easily. His passing was really good in this game. Banks - maybe the MVP of the game? Can't understate how valuable his rebounds and defense were... I want him to keep getting minutes. Gunn - my 2 3pt prediction unfortunately did not come true, but I think he is looking more comfortable each game. Also want him to keep getting minutes. Playing 10 guys all year is gonna be tough if that's what we stick with... What I'm most optimistic about coming out of this game? Woody switching things up with the 2-3 and 4 out, 1 in... being adaptable to the personnel is obviously key and I think he does it better than some of his peers, it just takes time... As the guys continue to develop and build chemistry - get more comfortable rotating the ball, get the defensive rotations fixed, trust each other, etc... we can be a good team. There's a lot to clean up obviously, but I'm choosing to focus on the positive. 4-1. We really need to beat Harvard, Maryland and Michigan. Get to 7-1, 2-0 in B10. Kansas is probably a loss but you never know in SSAH. Auburn, they are really good but hopefully you can steal one. 7-3 would be a pretty decent start with an early lead in B10 play considering we haven't really strung together an entire good game yet. 8-2 or better would be overachieving IMO. Coming out of New York still cautiously optimistic and looking forward to mid January.