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Class of '66 Old Fart

IUBB vs Tennessee Tech - 11/25/20 @ 8:00 ET on BTN

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TTech practiced in Bloomington yesterday. To me that means they passed initial testing and should be good to go.
LETSMAKEITHAPPEN!!
Final guess at starting lineup:
TJD, Al, Rob Race, Armaan
Jerome, Trey, and Khristian first subs in.


Brunk news altered.

I’ll go

Rob, Al, Jerome, Race, TJD.

Subs in order. Franklin, Lander, Brunk (if playing), Galloway, Leal, Geronimo


Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners mobile app

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Credit to Alex Bozich- Inside The Hall

 

The longest offseason ever for college basketball comes to an end today. After the 2019-2020 season was abruptly ended due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the altered 2020-2021 schedule with a maximum of 27 regular season games begins today.

Today’s contests will be a mixture of buy games and various multi-team events being staged across the country. Many games have already been canceled and postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests and varying protocols across conferences.

Those cancelations and postponements will be a staple this season, but games are going to be played. Each program will try to navigate its way to the minimum number of contests needed to qualify for the NCAA tournament scheduled to take place in March.

Up first for Indiana is one of its two guarantee games and the foe is Tennessee Tech from the Ohio Valley conference. The Golden Eagles will be without their head coach, John Pelphrey, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. As will be the case with every Indiana game this season, the teams will have to pass a final round of virus testing today before the ball is tipped.

A QUICK LOOK AT TENNESSEE TECH

The headlining returnee for Tennessee Tech is junior guard Jr. Clay, who was a second team all-OVC selection last season. Clay’s 13.4 points led the Golden Eagles and he also averaged 3.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 29.6 minutes per game.

Clay, who is only 6-foot, shot just 46.4 percent on 2s and 31.7 percent on 3s as a sophomore. Clay scored in double figures in each of Tech’s final 24 games last season and took 107 more shots than anyone else on the Tech roster last season.

Sophomore guard Keishawn Davidson will join Clay in the backcourt after leading the team with 4.4 assists per game in his first season. The 6-foot-2 Davidson was also second on the team in scoring at nine points per game. His efficiency from the perimeter was lacking (33.3 percent on 3s), but as a duo, Clay and Davidson are interchangeable in terms of playmaking and scoring.

Another key returnee in the backcourt for the Golden Eagles is sophomore Tujuatae Williams, who had offers from Texas Tech, Minnesota and New Mexico out of high school before committing to Tennessee Tech. The 6-foot-5 wing averaged 6.4 points and 3.9 rebounds and started 21 games as a freshman. Williams is a good athlete and finisher, but like most of Tech’s team, is a poor perimeter shooter.

Tech’s best returning player in the frontcourt is Amadou Sylla, a 6-foot-8 native of Mali. Sylla is only 210 pounds and will likely have trouble with Indiana’s size in the post. Sylla, however, was the best offensive rebounder in the OVC as a sophomore.  The remainder of Tech’s roster is mostly composed of eight newcomers who will have varying degrees of impact as the season moves along.

TEMPO-FREE THOUGHTS

Like most low major teams with records far below .500, the KenPom profile for Tennessee Tech was ugly last season.

The Golden Eagles ranked 334th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 310th in adjusted defensive efficiency in Pelphrey’s first season. Tech was nearly last in the country in free throw rate (FTA/FGA) at just 21.9 percent and turned it over on 21.6 percent of its possessions.

Defensively, Tennessee Tech did a decent job of forcing turnovers and keeping its opponents off the line last season. The Golden Eagles turned their opponents over on 19.6 percent of their defensive possessions and were 81st nationally in opponent free throw rate (28.5 percent).

Throughout the preseason, Archie Miller has seemed focused on getting his team to take care of the ball much better than it has in his first three seasons while also focusing on generating more assists. The Hoosiers have shown steady improvement defensively in each of Miller’s first three seasons, but this group’s ceiling can only be raised by putting a more efficient offense on the floor.

WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO

Indiana is a heavy favorite in Vegas (22 points) and this is a game it should win comfortably.

While early-season buy games are typically meaningless in college basketball, they actually have some relevance this season for a few reasons. Tonight’s game is the only schedule tuneup for Indiana before the Maui Invitational at Asheville next week. The Hoosiers have not played any exhibitions or closed scrimmages this season due to NCAA rules related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It also marks one of the few opportunities for Miller to get his four freshmen – Khristian Lander, Anthony Leal, Trey Galloway and Jordan Geronimo – some minutes before a scheduled four-game stretch that will likely come against all high major competition.

Indiana’s non-conference schedule is ambitious and could either act as a springboard to a solid NCAA tournament resume or put the Hoosiers in a position where they need to outperform expectations in league play to return to March Madness for the first time since 2016.

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On 11/23/2020 at 7:54 PM, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Comments from tonight's radio show.

Archie Miller, talking about an intrasquad scrimmage, with officials. Says he's concerned about IU's conditioning because of the weird offseason.  "I just feel with what we've had to deal with here and where we're at, we're going to need some games to get in game shape."

"For this team this year... it has to be a team that is much, much smarter with the ball.  Executing with the ball... to be successful in the Big Ten."

"As we head into early Big Ten games, we are going to have to be a lot tougher"

On the strength of IU's defense, says last year's squad was bigger, limited in what they could do. "We have the ability to be different this year ... this year's team is a little bit quicker."  Is concerned about defensive rebounding, though.  

Miller says he could see more switching with a smaller squad. Also, says IU's guards are going to have to do some dirty work. "I don't want to say dirty players, but they are going to have to get muddy."

This year's team is a lot more perimeter oriented.  Notes the amount of ball handlers/ability to stretch the floor with this lineup.  Hopes to run more.

"The unique guy on this team, shooting the ball is Jerome... he showed that last year... we need him to make 3's. If he can start the season off more consistent, that will help."

Talks about the "ongoing issue" of not being able to hit open shots.  Says all three freshmen guards have hit shots. "Anthony (Leal), Khristian (Lander), and Trey (Galloway) have all showed the ability to make shots at different times."

Trey Galloway:  "He's going to bring us a big guard that I'm hopeful, early in the season, gives us another playmaker."  "Trey... ball dominant, very shifty with the drive... maybe our best driver."

Jordan Geronimo: " Doesn't know what he's doing and then he'll make freak plays out there and you're like 'Holy cow.' ... Great on the boards."  "Jordan... he is probably the most talented guy I have recruited in a long time." Noted he is still learning and developing a well-rounded game. Also talked about his ability to guard multiple positions.

Anthony Leal:  Puts himself in a position to possibly contribute.  "He's a tremendous worker, he has unamatched work ethic. ... If you work as hard as Anthony, you're going to be successful at anything."  "(Anthony) shoots it... very, very intelligent guy. He put himself in position... we are going to trust him."

Khristian Lander:  "People want him to be something right now ... you have to establish that ground level that you can do this, and then you can get to this and that."  Says he's learning to play harder, more physical.  Lander is going to get "thrown in the fire" and that should "speed his progression up."  Miller says he hit four 3-pointers in the scrimmage.  Didn't even hit the rim.  "Khristian... people forget he graduated early at 17 yrs old... getting better. Learning how to play harder, more physically." He notes how different the game is for Lander from HS to college. 

On his rotation: "About eight guys, those guys have experience ... and then you add in our four freshmen and watching them practice every day, they are playing a big role in practice, I don't see why they won't see the floor here."

"This is a team that they (fans) are going to like."


Thanks for the recap, OF. 
 

I've said this before. Archie tends to be extremely transparent during these interviews. Not just Coach speak. When he tells us what our strengths will be, we need to believe it. Same with the weaknesses. Same with expectations for the freshmen. 
 

I’d encourage all of you to dig up the podcasts interviewing Archie in an informal way. The guy has been living among basketball for decades, has very close relationships with some huge names, and he can sit there and pull up stories at will. I’ve also seen him interacting with other coaches at EYBL. He’s a popular guy, kind of one of the gang. He cuts up and has some swagger. He presents the very stoic Coach thing, but I think he’s affable and the real deal. He’s got some depth and wisdom to him too, not just dumb enthusiastic sound bites. 
 

We all want the same things here: an improved offense, more wins, and a fun team to watch. I can’t stinking wait to see these guys play!!

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Loaded Chicken Sandwich said:

Anyone know who starters will be? 

*Fingers crossed Brunk won't be starting*

After comments by Archie that Brunk had a sore back and they weren't pushing him in practice, I'd be very surprised if he started and would expect very limited minutes for him.   

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3 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

After comments by Archie that Brunk had a sore back and they weren't pushing him in practice, I'd be very surprised if he started and would expect very limited minutes for him.   

Good. We need to see more of the better duo in TJD/Race. 

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