Tasmanian Devil

So, winning a bunch of games is “success”? ”Not doing squat” is in reference to expectations. How many times has UK had top recruiting classes? Yet not a single Final Four since 2015. Isn’t the main goal to win a National Championship? You really think being perpetually young is the optimal way to achieve that? Or is the celebration because you had 6 players from your team selected in the NBA draft?

Look at all your years since 2015: 2016 - overrated talent (led by Skal) lost to IU in round of 32. 2017 - Lost to eventual champion UNC. But absolutely blew a chance for a Final Four by allowing 12 straight Tar Heel points in the last 5 minutes. 2018 - Had a Final Four for the taking but laid an egg against Kansas St. 2019 - Had another Final Four practically given to them when they faced an Auburn team they had beaten twice during the regular season AND the Tigers had just lost their best inside player to an ACL injury. And still lost. 2020 - no way they were going to be a 1-seed, not ranked 8th in the final polls. Kansas, Gonzaga, Baylor, Florida St and Dayton all would have gotten nods over the Cats. And, remember, this is the same UK team who was ranked #1 and lost to Evansville AT HOME. Even though they only lost 6 games, they were extremely inconsistent most of the year. Probably a GOOD thing for Cal that Covid canceled the tournament. 2021 - Can’t blame that on Covid. Just a really bad team. 2022 - Again, lost to an opponent they had no business losing to. Just like in 2018. Just like in 2019. As I said, Calipari does a great job coaching up young talent. But he hasn’t had a top talent like Townes since 2015. Without a player like that, the inexperience comes back to bite you almost every time. Do you have good teams with the OAD approach? Maybe - but in my admittedly-biased opinion turning your roster over nearly every year doesn’t give you the best chance for success, especially the deeper one goes in the Tournament. UK’s results since 2015 prove that out.

Calipari hasn’t done squat since KAT. Does Cal do an absolutely phenomenal job coaching up talented frosh and getting them to play together? Without question. But with the yearly roster turnover, UK is going to be perpetually young. That inexperience is too much for his teams to overcome, no matter how talented. It’s interesting to note that of the two teams to truly embrace one-and-done (Duke and UK), each only have a single title - which was won as a direct result of senior leadership (Quinn Cook; Darius Miller).

My money is Kaiser first, then Page.

1. INDIANA 2.(tie) ILLINOIS, OHIO STATE 4. MICHIGAN STATE 5. MICHIGAN 6. RUTGERS 7. IOWA 8. WISCONSIN 9. PURDUE 10. PENN STATE 11. MARYLAND 12. MINNESOTA 13. NEBRASKA 14. NORTHWESTERN

“It’s time to be selfish!”

Guard play is the key element lacking for the Boilers. It was this past season and is amplified even more now. If Morton is your lead guard, you’ve got big issues. And he’s the closest thing Purdue has to a competent PG. Everyone else (Ivey, Hunter, Thompson) from last year has either gone pro or transferred. Morton’s not a BAD player, but he more of a complimentary guy. Asking him to be you main PG option is equivalent to expecting Trey Galloway be our top PG.

Here’s a great article by Tom Brew from SI on this subject: https://www.si.com/college/indiana/basketball/tom-brew-my-two-cents-trayce-jackson-davis-leadership-most-important-tool-this-season?fbclid=IwAR0yyFFsQLYaLr68979nCfFfQPIo5ey6ZIRkx9yrzxyKqgIjP1txiyyF0Y0

Although I get why some of you say it should be kept private, I still approve of it in this case. IMHO, he’s setting the bar HIGH for the team. You are here PRIMARILY to play basketball and REPRESENT the University. My opinion it helps eliminate any issues of guys possibly going astray by stating that if team first is not your top priority, you’ll be gone. Winning at a high level is tough enough; trying to do it without having everyone pulling in the same direction makes it even harder. After watching some IU teams in the last decade struggle because of leadership (or lack thereof), I have no problem with Trayce setting the standard for everyone. You’re either IN, or you’re OUT. Period, end of speech. And if you end up OUT because of this, you really have to question what your priorities really were.

That’s one way to look at it. Then, again, it can be looked at as Trayce demonstrating strong leadership. He’s making it CRYSTAL CLEAR that he wants everyone focused - you’re either in on the things TRULY important that are going to help you win, and if you’re not mature enough to understand that you need to be gone. Period. Just as long as he’s walking the walk, he can talk the talk all he wants in my opinion. That statement was for his CURRENT team going forward, not guys no longer there. And if those departed have issue with what was said, too bad - it’s likely why you’re no longer in Bloomington.

From my understanding, he’s a wing/3,

Again, true. Juwan shot 30% from three? I had to look at stats to confirm, but I’d bet .03 % or less of all FG attempts by Trayce were from behind the arc. (EDIT: while bored waiting for a program to compile, I looked it up - for his Indiana CAREER Trayce has taken 3 three-point shots (all this past season) out of 1053 total FG attempts, meaning less than .003% of ALL shots he’s taken in an IU uniform have been behind the arc.) You’ve had more experience working within the league, so I truly respect your opinion. But as athletic as Trayce is, he’s not his dad as a down-low banger. IMHO (which, admittedly, isn’t worth much) he has to show SOMETHING of a perimeter shot to have any long-term success in making it in the NBA.

True - but both of those guys had demonstrated they could shoot an outside jumper. Trayce never has.

Thing is, how often do you even have to play against an Edey? Not very often. A front court of Race, Jordan and Dennis is gonna win you a LOT of games. I’m still betting on TJD coming back, though. Just wondering if he does if that means a no on Dennis, or is there something that can be done to make room for him?

Gotta love the “pop” of the net

Welcome home, Jordan! And thanks for the fond memories like these.

NIL is supposed to reflect he was “a” leader of an Elite 8 team? So what the hell do the “other” leaders get? If I’m Miami, I let him walk. Wanna enter portal, big boy? Go for it.

Is there a PISSED emoji I can put on here? We need one for instances like this. Just what the hell was Dane thinking?

Normally, no. Lightfoot was an allowed “Super Senior” due to the extra year of eligibility to all players from the pandemic.

This never gets old.

Let’s be honest: Do you REALLY think Woodson would even ENTERTAIN the thought of going elsewhere? Regarding any additional money, he’d probably lobby for more for Kenya than himself. Being at Indiana is personal to Coach. He is driven to get us back to the top. And he’s well on his way.

With what happened today - and how Coach is establishing a connection with Monteverde - this scenario very well could play itself out.

Think they still lead after today?