The Sky is Not Falling

[Old Friend]

My Lord.   To read the ISU game thread, Archie Miller can't coach, Indiana may never win again, and we will lose every recruit that ever considered Indiana.

Folks, Tom Crean left a bare cupboard.  That's a simple reality.  Josh Newkirk is a transfer.  Kids transfer for reasons.  Not many are overly positive.  Freddie McSwain is a JUCO kid with hands like frying pans.  Juwon Morgan is not a starter on any good team.  Especially as a kid expected to rebound.  Davis is in his first season with any real expectations on him.  As recently as 9 months ago, Robert Johnson was considered something of a cancer along with Blackmon. Same with Green as Davis....expectations that are probably too high  (and a kid who I don't think is anywhere NEAR ready for that kind of role)   Hartman didn't play.   We don't have shooters.  We have a team of kids who need to break old, bad habits.  We don't have a ton of talent.  We don't have a ton of leadership.  We don't have kids who know their roles.   We don't have a single Miller recruit in the program (let that sink in).  

What did anyone expect this season to look like?  Especially game 1?   6 weeks ago in a thread, I said 16-18 wins would be really good for this team.   Many agreed.  If 16-18 wins is good, 10-14 might be more of a reality.

Here are some positives.   We got to the FT line 33 times.  We made 23.  They shot 18.    We forced 19 turnovers.  Okay...that's really it; but the point is the same.  This is a coach trying to play with another coach's recruits and players, playing with a completely new style, and a huge lack of depth and size.  Few teams will shoot 17-26 from the 3 point line; and yes...I know our defense was bad.  But for the love of God and all things holy, be realistic about where we are; and please stop with the incessant blaming of coaching for this loss or the way this team looks.  That game had ZERO to do with Archie Miller and his outlook at Indiana.

[Brass Cannon]

The sky isn't falling the message for the better part of 2 decades now. 

[TheWatShot]

A few nights ago I had a dream that took place about 10 years from now. I was discussing with a friend how lucky we were to have Archie and all the great basketball he had brought us, and I said "remember how it all began with that game against ISU?"

 

9th place in the Big Ten looks pretty good right now.

[Old Friend]

12 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

The sky isn't falling the message for the better part of 2 decades now. 

You need to hibernate for a year.   There is not a single one of his players or recruits on the roster.  Not one.  The players are not very good.  Sorry, but that's reality.    We are not good.  We were not going to BE good.  

[Uspshoosier]

You need to hibernate for a year.   There is not a single one of his players or recruits on the roster.  Not one.  The players are not very good.  Sorry, but that's reality.    We are not good.  We were not going to BE good.  

Race Thompson is on the roster but I️ get what you are saying


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[Old Friend]

Just now, Uspshoosier said:

Race Thompson is on the roster but I️ get what you are saying


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Touche'.  Forgot about him.  He won't play this year, will he?  Did I hear that?

[hoosierpap]

2 minutes ago, Old Friend said:

You need to hibernate for a year.   There is not a single one of his players or recruits on the roster.  Not one.  The players are not very good.  Sorry, but that's reality.    We are not good.  We were not going to BE good.  

OF and I agree. Sorta how I order my steak

[Old Friend]

Just now, hoosierpap said:

OF and I agree. Sorta how I order my steak

Well done, right? =)

[Magnanimous]

Nick Saban lost to Louisiana-Monroe in his first season at Alabama. I didn't even watch the game tonight (other commitments), but am completely unfazed about this result, and I was as big a Crean critic as any for losing games like this. Rome wasn't built in a day. We have a coach whose philosophy is on par with what makes a program great. These are his players now, but he's trying to make his approach work with what he was left with. In all honesty, I'm not sure we win this game with Crean coaching either. This team is a collection of role players who are now being forced to implement this coach's philosophy. These kids don't know how to win. In many ways, they don't know how to play basketball.

I still think we pull some shockers in the non-con. I can just tell from Archie's demeanor, he's going to run their ***** into the ground (figuratively). He is as prideful a coach as there is, understands what IU basketball stands for,, and is personally insulted by the performance his team put on the floor tonight. I would also not be surprised to see at least one player dismissed from the team at some point this year, not for character issues, but for not buying into what it takes to build a program based on fundamentals. 

 

[hoosierpap]

2 minutes ago, Old Friend said:

Well done, right? =)

Always respect it. Reasonable minds etc...

[Old Friend]

Just now, hoosierpap said:

Always respect it. Reasonable minds etc...

Yep.  I would love to know why you disagree as often as you clearly do.  Just for the simple knowledge of it.  Gotta' admit, your post surprised me a bit, but yes...reasonable minds..

[Brass Cannon]

This is the most talented team he has ever had. He's had the same amount of time, more actually, to get this group in order as he will Romeo and Darius if we get them. 

If it truly does take 3 years to learn Archie's system like It appears, how useful are 1 and dones going to be?

[Old Friend]

6 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

This is the most talented team he has ever had. He's had the same amount of time, more actually, to get this group in order as he will Romeo and Darius if we get them. 

If it truly does take 3 years to learn Archie's system like It appears, how useful are 1 and dones going to be?

The pieces don't fit and he has no leadership or size.  He has no players who have ever bought into defense before.  Who have ever been asked to communicate defensively this way before.  I don't know about talent; but even if that's true; it means little if they don't play well together.   These kids were recruited to play in a system that counted on spacing the floor and making 3 point shots.  Stop me when you see a team that would be good at that.

 

[Uspshoosier]

Touche'.  Forgot about him.  He won't play this year, will he?  Did I hear that?

Yeah he is supposed to redshirt


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[hoosierpap]

8 minutes ago, Old Friend said:

Yep.  I would love to know why you disagree as often as you clearly do.  Just for the simple knowledge of it.  Gotta' admit, your post surprised me a bit, but yes...reasonable minds..

1

PM me if you want, I'm not going to derail the thread started bc the site may need this one to stay on topic

[TheWatShot]

I've seen plenty of high school games over the years where a big city team full of athletes goes up against a small-town team with fundamentally sound players. The athletes usually look great in warmups, but in an actual game they're surprisingly limited in what they can do. Right now, we're the big city team of athletes.

[cthomas]

I think this year is about finding out, among the underclassmen, whose in and whose out in terms of Coach Miller's style. This year could very well be something very different than the smooth transition we had hoped for. What I expect going forward is improvement and a much better product by year three than we had under the previous coach.

[Walking Boot of Doom]

This is the most talented team he has ever had.

Talent is easily spoiled by poor practices and teachings.


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[Brass Cannon]

24 minutes ago, Walking Boot of Doom said:

Talent is easily spoiled by poor practices and teachings.


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Very True. 

And im not trying to dump on Miller. But this team is clearly not going very far this year. 

I would understand playing the seniors if they were playing well or hard. But I see no upside with JN and RJ getting so many minutes give them to the young players who may develop their skills and help future teams. 

And Frankly after 9 years of seeing players not giving effort and still getting minutes I am frustrated because I was led  believe that was over

[BGleas]

4 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

Very True. 

And im not trying to dump on Miller. But this team is clearly not going very far this year. 

I would understand playing the seniors if they were playing well or hard. But I see no upside with JN and RJ getting so many minutes give them to the young players who may develop their skills and help future teams. 

And Frankly after 9 years of seeing players not giving effort and still getting minutes I am frustrated because I was led  believe that was over

It’s literally been 1 game. I get the whole “bench guys for poor play” thing, I really do, and I know we’re all frustrated for nine years of Crean, but as a new coach you don’t bench two seniors 30 minutes into your tenure. Like it or not, you’re going to need those guys and you risk losing them before you’re even started. 

This is coming from someone who thinks RoJo is one of the more disappointing players in recent IU memory, so I’m definitely not trying to make excuses for him.