str8baller

I guess I’m old. But this basketball facilities thing cropped up not long after I graduated some two decades ago. It rings true in football (lots of time spent in film rooms, weight rooms, indoor practice facilities, etc…) and the guys I knew talked about it quite a bit. In basketball I almost never heard a facility discussion and I played with or were friends with or were acquaintances with guys who went everywhere from Div 3 to the B1G and Pac 10. I just can’t see how facilities matter that much when programs like Duke play in shitty band boxes or ancient stadiums like Kansas, Kentucky and UCLA. Beyond that we just got a renovation and Cook Hall. It really reeks of excuse masking on the IU administrations part to say we can’t compete because of facilities. Imo, if Brad Stevens showed up as coach very few would believe we couldn’t compete at the top because of Assembly Hall.

Realistically, I think even if we lose tonight and we can possibly win one in the BTT and be in. I’d rather not leave it to chance though.

And got swept by Wisconsin. Hell, we did too, but I could make the case IU should’ve won one or both games moreso than Purdue.

O$U is one of our signature wins. I think it helps us to have them and Purdue rated high.

That guy has been snakebit this year. Hopefully he’s ready in a week or two.

Goodman is a moron. And all those questions have been more or less answered, or heavily hinted at a hundred times in the last decade-plus. —Stevens was out there (although “get-able” is quite speculative, imo) but Crean was winning. It was obvious to anyone with a brain he couldn’t coach, but the admin/board doesn’t fall into the category of “with a brain”…at least not to the point of jettisoning a winning Crean for an up and coming Stevens. Smart folks wanted Stevens. —I don’t know the numbers but IU seems to spend plenty on basketball. What’s Gonzaga spend? Villanova? I doubt $$ is the issue. —Beard was a waste of a $.25 phone call. —Facilities are overrated in CBB. Another excuse for finance alumni to make money of donors. —Coach is the driver. Admin and board hire the coach. Pick your issue. IU is out maneuvered at all levels. Davis ran the program down. Sampson even further. Crean took extra money off IU cause of Ssmpson and left the program no better. Archie wasn’t prime time. If Woody gets us to respectability for the next hire he’ll have done more than anyone since Knight. Stevens ship has sailed. So has anyone coaching at a P5 currently. Now you know more than some loser like Goodman ever will.

That I doubt. But maybe…top 10 teams need decent back-ups. Currently, he’s the second best post player on a fringe top 40 team. I’d guess if he transfers it will be to some place where he thinks he can showcase his talents for a chance at overseas ball. Ideally he stays. But if he is really thinking about transferring it makes me wonder if TJD isn’t at least giving serious consideration to coming back.

Big IU fan and huge basketball guy in general. Been many years since I’ve talked to him. Glad to see he’s doing something a lot of basketball fans are in to.

I generally am in the same boat. The problem I have though is that most of the “other” systems the NCAA comes up with are 1) crap and 2) used by people who don’t understand them and have no idea what they’re doing. Most people on the selection committee, of both football and basketball, couldn’t pass a stats 101 class.

Good lord Rutgers played a tough 7 game stretch there. Let’s hope they’re on the down swing. I have a feeling this game will be tough though.

For sure. I just don’t think all the concern in the world is going to change who we are at this point. Maybe I’m wrong about that…who knows. But I fully expect this season to end with us playing crappy, mainly from the perimeter, in a tight game. At this point I’m content to see us navigate our obvious flaws to pick up needed wins. The 5 game Feb losing streak was brutal for everyone.

Good stuff for a rotation guy. He has the tools to be special. His aggressiveness will have to grow with his skill set. Let’s hope he’s more Victor Oladipo than Andre Patterson in that regard. His jumper looks really good too, imo. Lots to work with there.

Agreed. If Minny came out hot and IU roared back to a 5pt win the mood on here for some would be completely different. It’s no secret we can’t close games. We have awful guard play and can’t hit FT’s, so we’ll never close games well until that improves. I’m with you and choose to give a little credit to the staff for a good gameplan and the team for coming out ready to compete on the road in a big spot. Btw, Wisconsin has the best guard in the B1G and another senior guard who hits FT’s and doesn’t turn the ball over, and they are the best team in country in close games. I think they are closing in on a historic rating in Kenpoms “luck” rating (which is really just a measure of how well you do in close games and deviate from his predictor rating). I dream of the day IU returns to smart basketball and great guard play, but for now we have the team that we have. At this point I don’t see much changing. *If* we get into the tourney, our matchups, more than anything else, will decide if we have a chance to steal a game or two.

Don’t care. We’d all have been happy with a one point win earlier in the day. We stink at closing games out, but that’s why you get up big in the first place., Good road win. Knight teams went up there and lost. We’re knocking on the door of the tourney. Let’s go baby!!!!

Nothing. Same as when they missed them earlier

Good job by XJ to go to the rack

Lol…minny got hot and we can’t close. Hopefully we still win but Kenpom won’t be happy

5min to go. A little sloppy. Let’s not sh!t the bed here.

Let’s hope they start that way. You won’t hear me complain after we’ve taken several teams hot nights and recorded a loss.

Dear divine entity of your choice, let XJ play his best basketball down the stretch. With superior guard play from 1 guy this team is near top 25 level. Without that we’re less than a tourney team.

I thought Maryland was “must win.” Mostly because it was home and they are not good. I think we need 1 between Minny and Rutgers. Then maybe another in the BTT. So let’s win this and remove most of the doubt about our tourney chances.

67-66. IU ekes it out and almost secures a spot in the tourney.

There’s where I’ve been at. Just to simplify things a little, 19 win teams in the B1G, especially those with a couple big wins, tend to get into the tourney.

I think we’ll need a superhuman effort from TJD to win at Minny. So maybe it will motivate him a little that he didn’t play that well today. Would love to see Geronimo have a break out game and we need the bench scoring. His jumper looks good.

Damn it, I can’t believe we dropped both UW games. Win one of those and we’re probably already in the tourney.