HoosierHoopster

The more we play X and Rob together, the better. They compliment each other well, and Rob had a nice game against ND.

We lost in double OT at Cuse, and were up big at Wisconsin, where we haven’t won in almost 2 decades, but didn’t adjust and played not to lose resulting in a close loss, and are 9-2. I don’t see a lack of effort.

I see a lot if effort but at times, and often at the start of games, not enough focus. X tends to play to his emotions, haven’t seen him once play without effort.

Yes re Rob with X - those 2 got us clicking, but what the simple plus-minus misses is how much Rob helped in the first when we went down 10 - and this is not to dis X but he was missing on several bad shots during that early play. Yes also on Race, he’s not only gotten stronger on both ends he’s leading the team in steals

I don’t understand anyone saying lack of effort. The guys are playing hard. But, there were several lazy passes early in the 1st, including by TJD that resulted in TO’s and that, along with ND controlling the pace, was why we went down 13-8 and then it spiraled to a 10-point ND lead. Rob then played a major role in turning it back around, including changing the pace and our D picked up along with some full-court press. Race was big too. I don’t see any lack of effort, but I do see repeated slow and often careless starts, one hand passes in traffic, etc. i’d like to see a quicker sub when we start like that, but Woodson sometimes seems to let them play through it with sideline direction and there’s something to that too. It’s a continuing issue though, hope to see them continue to gel and avoid the early TO’s and slow starts

He had a death in the family.

Rewatching first half the slow starts and lazy passes leading to TO’s need addressing. The span where we went down 11-8 then 21-13 was part lazy play and part ND setting the tempo. Rob helped get us going at that point

I like what Galloway was bringing early, he does see the floor well and he's a hard nosed defender.

And we were missing Tamar’s 20 mpg. That’s no little thing, he does a lot on both ends

So you’re saying you’re a glass half full guy?

Exactly. I mean an L is an L, but the team is a couple broken plays and misques from being undefeated and ranked

See - I said X should shoot more threes! Oh wait :)

Heart’s out, condolences to Tamar

71 - 65 IU

Starting to sound like trolling

Agree here too. He's only taken 4 shots from the arc and went 1-4 (25%). Of course that tells us nothing, can't draw any conclusion on 4 shots, so we'll need to see how his shooting ends up on a lot more shots. I was just chiming in to say agree but from what (little) I saw this season from him his form looked better. Related, the team's deep shooting numbers show whose getting the great majority of the outside shots up, how that's panning so far, and who should be taking more of those shots. - Kopp and Bates are basically the same from the arc. Kopp is at 42% and Bates at 36%, on the same number of shots - 31 - the difference is a whopping 2 made shots, Kopp 13-21 and Bates 11-31. I am looking to see Bates grow his minutes as, imo, he brings more overall, especially defensively, but he's still a frosh and makes frosh mistakes, so time will get him there. - Leal is at 50%, but has taken only 10 outside shots (due to minutes). He came here as a shooter and he's been showing it, as he grows his minutes I would bet on him staying in the 40's, the more he is integrated into the outside game the better, imo. - Flip side, Race is now down to 14%, on 2-14 from the arc. I'm one who has thought he'd improve his outside shooting with more shots, he shot well in high school but wasn't asked to shoot much here before this season. 14 shots is still too few to draw real conclusions, but, yeah, 14% is not good. - Stewart is outstanding from the arc, 47% on 51 shots. That's the most on the team from outside, and that's a good thing. - Rob, unfortunately, has not found his stroke. He's at 17% from outside, on 3-17. He's a better shooter than that, but like with Race, not good so far, and 17 outside shots 4th most on the team (behind Stewart, Bates, Kopp). That doesn't line up. - X has taken only 13, 1 less than Race - his form is whack, but he's at 46% on 13 shots. Also think that's misleading, again that form, ugh, but he's hit at 46% so far, so should be taking more than Rob and Race. He also creates space better. - Numbers on outside shooting go only so far, Geronimo at 22% but only 9 shots - he is a much better shooter than those numbers reflect. Hope to see more balance in the outside game going forward with guys like Leal getting more integrated....

Completely fair and accurate on the numbers. However, I think people seeing an improved shot are basing it on what they saw (the dreaded eye test). I'm kind of one of those - his form looked better, and he looked more confident shooting. Again, you're right on the numbers, and time will tell -- echo your hope he makes it clear when he returns. Kid brings a lot of game, sees the floor like a point guard, goes 'downhill' to the rim really well, and plays solid D. Looking forward to seeing him healthy again.

Elf reference! Anyone who quotes Elf can't be all bad....

And Galloway was really coming along well this season before his injury. He'll need time to get back into game shape etc. but timing's not too bad. Plenty of time in the reg season to get him going again, he can help a lot.

Seriously it’s more important to you then me. Again, though ignored, It was about why the UH players were pissed. I just said I don’t care. Later

Yes and Woodson’s recruiting has been good, the kind of players he’s recruiting fit his style well and are all strong players. I’m very much in his camp right now - I believe he’ll be successful and that we’re on a good path, time will tell, but I’m optimistic. There’s room to question how the roster is being managed (not that I’m qualified to be a D1 coach lol), but yeah, I like the direction of the program regardless

Does any of this matter? Let me step back for a moment. My first post on this was about the clip of UH players angrily kicking things going into the tunnel because of an obvious goal tend - that is what they were angry about. You responded you disagree. Ok, i disagree, the clips i’ve seen show what appears to be a goal tend, and a lot of people saw it that way. And for what it’s worth, that people are still talking about it shows it was an issue - refs got it right or wrong, game is over either way. But you know, I don’t care one way or the other, i simply said that’s what the UH players were angry about. If this is about who is right - i really don’t care.

It's an interesting dynamic to watch. He's an excellent shooter, that's bearing out well. But for me the trade off is between Kopp and Bates. Kopp is now at 42% from the arc, and Bates fell to 36%, but that's a drop from where he was, over 40%, and he's by far the better defender. Kopp starts for his experience and his offense (and he's hitting almost all his free throws) and Bates plays like the frosh he is at times, including against Merrimack, but he's now up to 20.5 mpg, with Kopp at 25.9. I can see Bates play his way into the starting lineup over time, and think that would help avoid the slow starts and hole the team often digs for itself in the first half. Not saying Bates has shown he should start now, he definitely still has his frosh moments (surprise, he's a frosh) but that's an awfully closer call to me, and I think he should get there, he brings the scoring plus the D, and if he shoots more, I'd bet on the increased scoring coming with it.

The sucky thing here is that is in conflict with developing guys on the bench.

You actually can't see if his hand is in contact with the ball in this picture, that's not clear at all, and in the vid clips, which are from behind so you can see, it very much appears that he tips it away above the rim.