IU vs Uof6 Game Thread

[MikeRoberts 6,921]

Whatever predictions were here doesn't matter to me.  I think many had un-necessarily tempered expectations based on last season; but this is a completely different team.   We have the best back to the basket player in the conference (except maybe Ethan Happ)  in Morgan who's also versatile enough to space the floor.  We have a returning 6'10" kid who's shown himself to be effective.  We have one of the best athletes in the conference in Smith, who played a year ago like he should be better this season, or at least more consistent.  We have a top 5 freshmen who's a McDonald's All American; a freshman point guard who I know many here under-rated.  And we have depth.  Fitzner, McRoberts, Durham, and Green have all shown they can play and contribute at this level.    
The ceiling should be higher than a 4 seed.  I know we're not a contender, but we handled Marquette who just beat Wisconsin, and we beat Louisville who beat Michigan State; both of whom are ranked in the top 12; so we're not THAT far off of a top 10-15 team.
Seriously....Furman, Buffalo, Nebraska, Kansas State, Virginia Tech, Iowa, Texas Tech, Maryland, Florida State, Arizona State, and Nevada are all ranked ahead of Indiana right now, and who among those teams has our talent or depth?  (Hell, we beat Iowa twice LAST year...and we're worlds better this season from a talent perspective.  We also beat Maryland a year ago. Why expect Indiana to finish below them this season?  Like I said, I think 4-seed expectations are too low)
We only have one player with true iso talent, so why we're an iso offense, I have no idea.  I don't need to see the Bob Knight motion, but we're  not very good in transition right now and we do a lot of standing in the half court.  We just fired a guy whose offense looked like this; but he was far better in transition.   If we're going to rely on winning 1-2 point games because of an iso offense; we'll struggle.  Yeah, we won 3 close ones and it feels good to do that.  Experience and some luck involved, but I'll take it.   I also know those things tend to even out unless things change.   

Well said. I think some have similar concerns but just aren’t articulating them

We have enough depth, experience and talent to put it together to make some noise in March. Maybe we aren’t final four Duke material yet but no reason this team cannot make it to the second weekend of the tourney. Maybe we can keep eaking out painful/close games but not a great recipe. Need to see more growth in our offense soon


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[Southside 1,914]

Just read that yesterday's game was Louisville's worst offensive output this year. IU's D held them to 1pt per possession. 

[mdn82 25,510]

Whatever predictions were here doesn't matter to me.  I think many had un-necessarily tempered expectations based on last season; but this is a completely different team.   We have the best back to the basket player in the conference (except maybe Ethan Happ)  in Morgan who's also versatile enough to space the floor.  We have a returning 6'10" kid who's shown himself to be effective.  We have one of the best athletes in the conference in Smith, who played a year ago like he should be better this season, or at least more consistent.  We have a top 5 freshmen who's a McDonald's All American; a freshman point guard who I know many here under-rated.  And we have depth.  Fitzner, McRoberts, Durham, and Green have all shown they can play and contribute at this level.    
The ceiling should be higher than a 4 seed.  I know we're not a contender, but we handled Marquette who just beat Wisconsin, and we beat Louisville who beat Michigan State; both of whom are ranked in the top 12; so we're not THAT far off of a top 10-15 team.
Seriously....Furman, Buffalo, Nebraska, Kansas State, Virginia Tech, Iowa, Texas Tech, Maryland, Florida State, Arizona State, and Nevada are all ranked ahead of Indiana right now, and who among those teams has our talent or depth?  (Hell, we beat Iowa twice LAST year...and we're worlds better this season from a talent perspective.  We also beat Maryland a year ago. Why expect Indiana to finish below them this season?  Like I said, I think 4-seed expectations are too low)
We only have one player with true iso talent, so why we're an iso offense, I have no idea.  I don't need to see the Bob Knight motion, but we're  not very good in transition right now and we do a lot of standing in the half court.  We just fired a guy whose offense looked like this; but he was far better in transition.   If we're going to rely on winning 1-2 point games because of an iso offense; we'll struggle.  Yeah, we won 3 close ones and it feels good to do that.  Experience and some luck involved, but I'll take it.   I also know those things tend to even out unless things change.   

I have said I agree with you our ceiling is higher than that. Think of looking at it like a Bell Curve. You have your floor. You have your ceiling. Then you have what is most probable area. There is a reason it is most unlikely to hit your peak in any season. As long as we aren’t hitting our floor I am fine with what’s going on with the talent we are seeing cycle through here. Again I agreed our ceiling is 3-4, which is what being ranked in the 10-15 range would be. We aren’t far from it due to our wins whether or not it is aesthetically pleasing to you guys. Also I am not sure being frustrated to what others are ranked at this point is also a healthy exercise. That literally means nothing and I would gladly take my chances playing all of those teams minus Nevada. Can we use the eye test to agree on this? Nevada would beat us consistently this year and I think they are going to be there at the end. Keep an eye on Pomeroy and and our adj offense and defense. We are in good shape even if your eyes don’t like it right now. Mine did just because we were very successful finding our matchups we were trying to set up yesterday. That’s why we didn’t lose in spite of being horrible from the line which we have to be a lot better at. I think we mostly agree but great discussion .


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[mdn82 25,510]

Well said. I think some have similar concerns but just aren’t articulating them

We have enough depth, experience and talent to put it together to make some noise in March. Maybe we aren’t final four Duke material yet but no reason this team cannot make it to the second weekend of the tourney. Maybe we can keep eaking out painful/close games but not a great recipe. Need to see more growth in our offense soon


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I definitely agree. Depending on draw I see us as a second weekend team. The main reason I feel we can win close games consistently is because most nights we will have the best two players on the court. Really wish we had a knockdown shooter. A Jordy Hulls or similar. That would make teams pay for doubling JM in the post imo. That’s the one area I think could be a lot better.


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[MoyeNeeded 3,073]

7 minutes ago, mdn82 said:

I definitely agree. Depending on draw I see us as a second weekend team. The main reason I feel we can win close games consistently is because most nights we will have the best two players on the court. Really wish we had a knockdown shooter. A Jordy Hulls or similar. That would make teams pay for doubling JM in the post imo. That’s the one area I think could be a lot better.


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Still early on in the season. I can see RP getting there. He's got a nice stroke. 

[Brass Cannon 24,271]

5 minutes ago, MoyeNeeded said:

Still early on in the season. I can see RP getting there. He's got a nice stroke. 

Yep plus Fitz can be that. Just gotta fix some things

[JaybobHoosier 11,839]

Loved the fight the Hoosiers showed in this game (just a fun back and forth battle all game). I’ve been critical of Justin Smith this season because I expected him to be a major contributor, but he played a good game. I feel he is the missing piece to elevating this team right now. If he can turn it on, we may have a top 2 or 3 trio of any team in the country with Juwan and Romeo.

Team still needs to grow a lot on offense, but love the fight in this team. It’s nice getting to really enjoy IU games again (did last year as well, just love the brand of ball Archie brings).


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[bleedhoosier 3,627]

I've watched that JSmith dunk a few times now. He definitely looks back at Morgan who got hit. Doesn't matter really but makes me wonder if it lit a fire under him before that dunk. Then the lady commentator said Jmo was on the bench and told Smith, Al and Green that somebody needs to step up and be a 3rd scorer. I'm going to miss Morgan when he's gone. Want a run this year just for him battling through everything over the years, for IU. 

[HoosierAloha 30,024]

I've watched that JSmith dunk a few times now. He definitely looks back at Morgan who got hit. Doesn't matter really but makes me wonder if it lit a fire under him before that dunk. Then the lady commentator said Jmo was on the bench and told Smith, Al and Green that somebody needs to step up and be a 3rd scorer. I'm going to miss Morgan when he's gone. Want a run this year just for him battling through everything over the years, for IU. 

I saw Davis jawing a bit after that too. Another few levels of toughness and passion would definitely go a long way.


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[Hovadipo 55,211]

Just now able to post on the site again (thanks, pop-ups). Can we talk about how poor of a viewing experience FOX provides? It was miserable all around. 

[rcbowla 7,037]

I really didn’t see anyone in the prediction thread guess higher than a four seed. So I am not sure at all about that. Myself included in this I said 3 was our maximum high end if everything went right. The chances of everything going right to hit your ceiling is usually minimal unless you are stacking the deck with talent like Duke and Kansas. Even when RMK was here he hit his ceiling three years. In ‘76 they played according to their talent but didn’t lose. The other two title years they played above their talent. It doesn’t happen at all that often.
 
Duke is a glowing example of probably having more teams that should have won a title that didn’t. This team we have constructed isn’t a title contender. I am less concerned about the years we played to our superficial ceilings and more concerned about years we don’t play up to the way we should. This year currently we are exactly playing up to expectations. I am content until we don’t. If we were 6-4 I would be very, very concerned.
 
The next few weeks have improvement that are needed. But if you have issues with the offense you will always have them. We are not a motion team and will never be. Our plays are constructed with iso concepts at the forefront. We have decreased our turnovers this last four games. That’s something that has to continue with the type of offense we are running. We also have to become a better free throw shooting team if we are an iso team.
 
 
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I agree with everything you said. I also would be fine with the type of offense that is being played if we didn't turn it over and made FT's. I say that because that's pretty much what this system is intended for: drive the lane and get FT's, limit TO's to maximize possessions to counter lack of 3 pt shooting. My problem is solely when we don't execute on those things.

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[Dalton26 16,892]

Back in the top 25!!!


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[Lebowski 2,472]

Is it me or does Robert Phinisee always seem to be in the right place at the right time during big time situations?  The last two or three games I have noticed #10 making some really important plays during key moments in the game.  I don't know, maybe it's just me.  

[mdn82 25,510]

I agree with everything you said. I also would be fine with the type of offense that is being played if we didn't turn it over and made FT's. I say that because that's pretty much what this system is intended for: drive the lane and get FT's, limit TO's to maximize possessions to counter lack of 3 pt shooting. My problem is solely when we don't execute on those things.

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Yeah I can’t disagree with that.


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[JaybobHoosier 11,839]

Just now able to post on the site again (thanks, pop-ups). Can we talk about how poor of a viewing experience FOX provides? It was miserable all around. 

Good to see ya man! Hope you’ve been well!


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[Uspshoosier 45,245]

Wayne- did you see how little Pt V.J. king is getting for Louisville? 12 min 0-1, 0 rebounds against IU. I wouldn’t of thought that for the former McDonald’s all American. I thought he would be a stud from watching him a little in high school

 

 

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[WayneFleekHoosier 47,983]

Wayne- did you see how little Pt V.J. king is getting for Louisville? 12 min 0-1, 0 rebounds against IU. I wouldn’t of thought that for the former McDonald’s all American. I thought he would be a stud from watching him a little in high school
 
 
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Agree completely. Not sure what to make of it. Is he in the doghouse?


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[Hovadipo 55,211]

4 hours ago, JaybobHoosier said:

Good to see ya man! Hope you’ve been well!


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You too! Trying to keep up with Baby Hova like you are with Baby JayBob!

[JaybobHoosier 11,839]

40 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

You too! Trying to keep up with Baby Hova like you are with Baby JayBob!

Congrats!!!  Greatest thing in my life are my wife and son, mean the world to me.  Love everything about being a dad, and also love knowing I'm raising another die-hard IU fan :) 

[Bobman1 2,909]

Wayne- did you see how little Pt V.J. king is getting for Louisville? 12 min 0-1, 0 rebounds against IU. I wouldn’t of thought that for the former McDonald’s all American. I thought he would be a stud from watching him a little in high school
 
 
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Was thinking this too, I remember being pretty salty when King when to Louisville. He was a real skilled player in H.S. I wonder what happened


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