HoosierHoopster

Well, having a good time so far :)

IU 71 PU 69

I'm back and forth in what I think will happen -- But I'm encouraged by the fact JHS is coming off his worst game ever -- I'm confident he'll be 100% dialed in and ready, and really both Gallo and Bates are more likely than not to have bounce back games after those underperformances from them. Really wish we had JG (a healthy and ready JG) for this game, but the Hall will be rocking for sure, our guys will be motivated and especially after that embarrassment that was our last game. Let's get it

Sounds like JG is still out along with X. On Xavier Johnson and whether he’s close to a return: “Not really. He’s been out there trying to shoot a little bit. He just got out of the boot. I mean, I just don’t know. It’s hard to say when he’s going to actually be back. On the status of Jordan Geronimo and Logan Duncomb: “With Geronimo, I think he shot a little bit yesterday. He’s had a calf strain. That’s what’s keeping him out. Logan has got a major sinus infection again. I mean, I’ve known players that have had calf problems, and that’s something you can’t mess around with or you can be out for a longer period of time if you come back too soon. https://www.insidethehall.com/2023/02/02/mike-woodson-updates-status-of-xavier-johnson-jordan-geronino-and-logan-duncomb-ahead-of-purdue-matchup/

In the practice of law, we say we never finish worse than 2nd

Scott's in his 50s :)

We agree on Purdoodoo!

PU FF: 0 During this span, we've gone through 4 HC's and are on our 5th, with, of course, the utter destruction of the program as a result of Sampsongate (when we were 24-4), and the resulting rebuild, and attempts to find the right coach, during which Crean won regular season titles and got us back to SW16s after starting playing baseball players with zero scholarship players. Is it really that surprising to you? BTW, Purdue's a joke.

I generally want him on the floor, paired with TJD and/or JG (when healthy). I'd take the fouls, let him learn/play through it, his skill level is right there with the best, imo, along with size and strength. If we're talking this year, it's TJD for me going forward, but I don't know who I otherwise have the most confidence in. I hear you, but I tend to look more at how guys play when paired with others, and just accepting some faults and letting them play through them because of how they help us win as a group. For me those are JHS, Malik and Gallo, all of whom have their areas to work on, and I'd slot JG in there when playing with/complimenting TJD and/or Malik (despite his off games, for what he showed in our unbeaten run playing good minutes with TJD). I think Bates' is close, still up and down but the talent is there.

I don't know, the floater is generally one of the most efficient and difficult to defend shots out there. Why everyone was missing is a question, but as a shot for a guard attacking the basket, it's one of the better ones.

Been saying all year that Malik (who fouls by far the most) is learning, as a frosh, how to play / defend B1G level bigs without fouling. He is. I don't see his work as film study, it's timing/defensive work in games against quality bigs. He's been getting better and I am fully sure he'll get there, he is exceptionally skilled on the offensive end/footwork, the defensive timing will come. Gallo is still prone to getting out of control, with all the energy and defensive tenacity he brings, I want him on the floor regardless, he usually elevates the team's play, but yeah it's something he should continue to work on as well.

I just think his shot wasn’t falling. He just came off a great game and we needed offense tn. Once he starts hitting he hits, rhythm shooter maybe, out of sorts tn, don’t think was just looking to get his

Yes, agree

Good point, no pun intended

Probably will be the worst offensive game of his career, surprising it comes after such a strong game from him but it happens

I’m sorry and some will disagree, no offense to Race I think we’re better with him than not, but not like this, not starting and taking the bulk of minutes at the 4. Malik still has work to do to learn how to avoid fouling (though refs are just crap tn), and JG has been up and down, but we played a Hell of a lot better, tougher, quicker, more in your face ball during our strong run with JG and Race.

Had a young dentist friend. He got a personal license plate that read “Dr DK” - he thought that was a great dental thing, but my friends and I were all like, “Dr Dick?” he was mad too

Virtually any and all programs that lose their starting, veteran point guard and 4 have and will go on bad stretches. We lost both, then we suffered badly. It’s just a cop out to say oh those are excuses, or just elite teams don’t have such ignores what we were dealing with. On the other hand, I agree we’re still building back to playing at a consistently high level (and having to adjust to losing key players impacts that, but we weren’t playing very well when Race went down) and the core group is the same as last year except for JHS and Malik and the subtraction of Parker (addition, also the insistence on starting and playing a veteran heavy minutes no matter what), and yeah 3 or so years under CAM is still evident, but we looked and played like a legit contender in that 3-game winning stretch, and not many, even really good IU teams have gone into Ill and won like that. Tonight and the PU game will show us a lot as to where we are now as a team, but there’s still a lot of games to play regardless and it’s where we end up, not any 1, 2 or 3 games that will ultimately tell the story of this season

Wow that's a heck of a list

2023 rate $475/hour. Bill on the way.

This is a tough one. Line now we're a 3-point dog. MD's very good at home, healthy, and ready for us and pumped as we're ranked, and I'm, well, concerned about our start with the same group. Come on staff, recognize who's really producing and what got us to our unbeaten run. We're now down to 123rd in points allowed -- but 36th in scoring to their 192nd in points scored, and 16th in offensive efficiency per KenPom, interesting, and we've allowed 61.2 ppg over our last 5 (though our lineups are in flux). Meanwhile MD lost to PU by just 3 and has won 3 of their last 4. Will this be the IU v OSU team or the IU v Minn team? Against my better betting judgment, I'm going with heart, another upset road W by our guys. Because, what the Hell. IU - 70 MD - 68

I'm not sure if you're focusing on the beer

Wait, do you have a camera in my house?

This and it took the guys time to find (in addition to their mojo) timing and chemistry without both Race and X -- I was then in the camp that thought we were largely lost without those two. Woodson stuck with JG in the starting group while he looked lost and wasn't impactful over the first 3 of those games, had the sit down with him, JG got focused on film and just playing without overthinking, and then we had 3 in a row with him playing strong and complimenting TJD (in my view, better than Race, and the front court D and scoring was simply better), and Malik continued to improve on limiting his fouls and play within the offense and he's now looking like the 5-star that he is. The team was down, but then ended up playing better than we were before Race went down. Now question is how we play against teams like MD at MD, PU and Rutgers at home, etc., with Race starting again and playing 24-25 minutes, or whether Malik's minutes will grow (that they should is beyond clear imo) and related whether JG gets back from his injury and reinserts himself after being displaced just because Race comes back. Rutgers considered us weak, mentally and physically, when we played them. We were. We sure as Hell weren't during our run, before Minn. Those athletic lineups were gelled. We took off again end of the first half against OSU with Malik. I'm hoping that continues.

Rewatched the game this morning for an enjoyable Sunday start. The separation came with about 2-3 or so minutes left in the first half, with TJD, Malik, Kopp, JHS, Gallo -- that's when TJD started to take off, with Malik playing a big part, and then Banks came in for Kopp to close the half and JHS hit yet another 3 -- on a kickout by TJD -- 15-0 run with Banks hitting another, and we took off, 46-30 at half. That should be the starting group, with either Malik or JG we're noticeably better. We started down 9-2, JHS almost single-handedly kept us in the game with his outside shooting (which was beautiful to watch, again). Malik has an excellent jump hook, with his positioning that over the should turn is hard to defend and he gets to that spot so well with his footwork. I'm big on this team and largely the staff, but the insistence on playing experience is an achilles' heel. MD is 11-1 at home (not a great team but a heck of a lot better at home and far better than Minn), then comes PU. Hope not to see slow starts.