HoosierHoopster

You’re really just looking for arguments, I get it, have fun with your ire.

It’s way too simplistic to look at the PU game as just Rob shooting out of his mind - he was - and i never said Rob is the answer to our outside shooting or that we don’t need to add outside shooting, I said we do, so you’re overlooking my point, not sure why. We don’t need out of this world shooting to beat teams, we need good shooting with a more diverse offense that utilizes the outside game, we didn’t do much of that this year, again, at least partly because Kopp and Stew (who is a strong outside shooter) cant create their own shot. Again we need to add that shooting. But Bates is a good shooter, he played spot minutes and as a frosh getting used to the college game. He came to iu a strong shooter, water will find its level (if you want to believe you can just look at his limited frosh numbers and judge his shooting have at it, we’ll just disagree)

Bates came to IU as a strong outside shooter, he has the history, technique, form and confidence— but he was a frosh playing mostly spot minutes and adjusting to the college game, he will get there and i’d lay money down on it. He’s a really strong 2-way player who can score at 3 levels. Nitpicking at his frosh numbers is just pointless. Geronimo comes into a game cold and immediately drills a 3 with good form. His shooting numbers are too low to draw any real conclusions and it just irks me to read posts nitpicking at his percentages, just watch his shot, it’s good. However he doesn’t have the handle at this point to create his outside shot, that will require further development and growth in his game. Based on his big strides this season, i think that will come too, but that’s just projecting, proof Will have to come from him.

Yes and no. We beat PU the first game bc TJD was on the bench and we went to guard play. On the one hand, you seem to be overlooking that I don’t disagree that TJD is our best player and we have lacked outside shooting so we’ve had to go inside. On the other hand we shot by numbers from outside, again, towards the bottom of the conf - you can’t win well playing a 2-point game against the norm, 3-point shooting — and the guys we added for 3-p shooting cant create their own shots, so a viscous circle. Bates and Geronimo will continue to improve including from outside, both are good outside shooters and i will bet you any day the week their shooting is better next season, but yeah of course we need to add shooting and I’ve bern saying that from day 1, with guys who can create their own shot.

This is what I'm really interested / curious about -- TJD is a fantastic player, hands above our best player, but we can't win playing almost entirely through the post, and with Geronimo and Bates / Galloway continuing to grow their games, and JHS coming in, we can be a more complete team that uses the wing and perimeter much more than we did this past season. Defensively, Geronimo is right there on a per minute / per 40 basis in rim protection / blocks and rebounding. Losing TJD (assuming he declares and goes) is a big time hit, but then if he returns Race could play a major role while opening up our outside game. A lot to watch for over the summer --

God works in mysterious ways... :)

Franklin and Al finished their careers here at 43% and 38% respectively, that was just last year. That's actually impressive for them, because, clearly, CAM was not a development coach (for all his faults, Crean was). Of course we didn't show much individual improvement under CAM, that's kind of obvious. Glad those years are behind us. But we're getting off target if you really do want to talk intangibles instead of just kavitching about individual shooting improvement while ignoring the guys who did show improvement. Intangibles to me are right there in Geronimo, Bates and Galloway. Guys who come in as two-way players, who are not just talented from a recruiting/ranking perspective but have that fight and edge to go with work ethic. And Geronimo and Galloway both have already shown significant improvement in their games. Bates was a frosh, he was up and down, but man if you can't see the intangibles he brings I don't know what to tell you, kid is going to be really good, both individually and as a team player. We need shooting and athleticism on the wing, that's not an intangible, but bring it with that type of player with grit, tenacity, drive and work ethic and you have a winning program. I said 'easy' and went back to Vic because he (along with OG, who also obviously improved individually) is a great example of how a player who has all the intangibles coming in can and will grow his game on work ethic and drive -- with player development, and will help the team win. Woodson hasn't even had 1 year of his own recruits on the floor -- but he did land Bates and that's a great start. Now we have, at least, JHS coming in. That dude is a physical, tough guard who brings it in multiple ways. Also a great start.

Easy, Vic. From shooting in the 20’s to the 40’s

1 - Izzo, complete and total douchebag, whiney little man who turns a blind eye to anything in favor of winning 2. Gard, no explanation needed 3. Rest - ambivalent

Allow me to take this moment to say goodbye to my bracket

I said I couldn’t see this team finishing in the bottom 5 — and they didn’t — they finished in the bottom 6 — suck it!

Hell of an ending to the Ill game

Overall B+ Can't give last night so much emphasis, it was 1 game in the tourney, where we haven't been since 2016. Improved from 12 W's to 21 counting tourney. Met my expectations / hope after a horrible 12 W season under CAM, with essentially the same team. Staff B - Took a team from 12 W's to the tourney, - beat PU, beat UM - won 2 games in the B1G tourney, only lost the semi-final game against Iowa by a half-court banked in 3 with 1 second left, and - got us into and won our first NCAA tourney game. Clearly substantial improvement. - Recruiting has started off well, JHS is going to impact from day 1, kid is a big, physical guard who can play and defend 2-3 positions. Improvement needed - need to work the starters/lineups better, continuing to run with Stew and Kopp as starters no matter how little or poorly they shoot is just not good - related, failing to establish an inside - out game with low shooting numbers from the outside is not good, come on, but in fairness it's also likely at least partly a byproduct of not having shooters who can create their own shot, we need more versatile outside shooters - only recognizing how important Geronimo is to the team towards the end of the season is not good (his play and 'numbers' on a per minute basis were there almost the full season), - and generally Woodson needs to learn to listen to his assistants better/more and stop turning to his former NBA colleagues. Man, you have some really good experience on the bench with you, listen to it better. Players B to B+ - NONE of these guys had ever been in the NCAA tourney, or even moved past the first round in the B1G tourney, they learned how to win, as players, they beat and almost swept PU, they came together and played together without the silly drama or cliques we sometimes saw under CAM. - Some showed real growth, Geronimo stands out above all on improvement and potential, imo, Galloway has become an impact player on both ends, jumper away form really good, needs to slow down his hectic drives but that comes with experience, X turned into a strong point guard in the second half of the season, he was often the difference between W's and L's. - Some didn't really expand their games individually, but not bashing any of them, collectively as a team they grew together and improved, significantly, as a team together

Think @Uspshoosier and @FightFor6 pretty much nailed it above. Yes we got drilled but St M's is both a strong team and a balanced veteran team, starters all average double digit scoring, their experience playing together was clear, that's a good team. And yes no matter who you are, if you play 5 games in 8 days it's going to take its toll, Hell there's a reason why NBA teams generally lose the second night of a back to back, and they don't mess around and play 5 games in 8 days. Then people on here talk about effort -- you guys really think our guys weren't trying last night? Really? Of course they were, but they were gassed, they started making desperation plays, and things went south fast. But hey, we weren't the 2 seed that lost to the 15 seed - lol - THAT is a failure. Our season was not. Our season was, under season 1 for Woody, a 20 win climb back to the tourney. That's where we are today. Where we are next season and going forward is up to Woodson, and his recruiting. And Schifino, Banks, Gunn is a good start - JHS is outstanding, big, strong, physical pg/cg who should bring impact from day 1. We know Woodson/staff will be recruiting for shooting, our clear weakness, and wing depth, and Geronimo is going to be a flat out beast next season. I'm over the bad loss, the season was a success.

Oh F it, we got to 20 W’s and the tourney in Woodson’s year 1, Geronimo is going to be a beast next season, Bates is going to be tough, excellent pg / cg coming in and now we can see how Woodson builds a team with his recruits and actual time to work with for transfers. That game was a disaster but I’m happy we got there in year 1 and I’m looking forward to watching the team build from this and recruiting going forward.

GERONIMO!!

Pretty even so far

Whatever happens tonight, so good to see IU again in the tourney -- Here we go!

Except its light beer lol

Richmond's playing strong

A productive week at the office.... :)

Yeah taxes tend to collapse on me fast :)

Al tying team high for Prov with 13 on 5-12 shooting, 8 boards, 6 assists to 2 TO's -- That's a nice line, and good to see him in the tourney for Prov

UCLA is good. I'll be very happy if we get by St M's, hey, I'm already happy lol

Yeah Mich has this in the bag now