Game Thread: vs. Eastern Michigan 11/9 - 6 pm - BTN

[Hoosierfan2017 20,065]

39 minutes ago, IUFAN1976 said:

Pertaining to prioritizing defense.  CMW is doing it now because he knows if we play good D, it should give us a chance to compete and give us a chance to win!  His offense is more complex and it takes much longer for the players to catch on, in the meantime defense is the name of the game right now!

Let me ask any of you a question!  If you hold a team to 0 points, can you lose the game?  That’s why the emphasis on defense first.  The offense will come around, I will give it about 8 games and we will see a big difference with this team!

Holding a team scoreless has literally never happened during the shot clock era. This exact same thing could have been (and probably was) said during the beginning of the Archie era. A great defense is great, certainly. But you need to be able to score. If you can’t score then teams will still be in the game no matter how good your defense is. We held EMU scoreless for the first 7:15 of last night’s game. However, we could only score 10 points during that period. Two minutes later it was a two point game. 

I'm not saying that the offense won’t get it together. I really hope that it does. But last night felt a lot like what we saw over the past four years. 

[KzooHoosier82 972]

26 minutes ago, HoosierAloha said:

It took one player to get a little warm to put a scare into us coming down the stretch. Our defense was above average until one player started hitting from outside, one!

What does that say?

When we were playing above average defense our offense couldn’t create enough separation to put it away. Against a good team in conference, they’ll have 2-3 players that get buckets. Our defense will have to play lights out or our offense will have to make the shots to win against good teams.


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It says “that’s basketball”. So ya, if the offense is struggling the defense is going to have to be solid to win. The offense isn’t always going to struggle but if the defense is sound with max effort every night this team will be in every game…and that’s all you can really ask for. 

[HoosierAloha 30,018]

It says “that’s basketball”. So ya, if the offense is struggling the defense is going to have to be solid to win. The offense isn’t always going to struggle but if the defense is sound with max effort every night this team will be in every game…and that’s all you can really ask for. 

There are basic things the offense needs to do yesterday to help with the struggles or it’ll only get worse. We are TJD and four other players until we prove we’re not. Yesterday, against EMU, we were much of the same as the past several years. We’ll be that until we’re not.


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[Hovadipo 53,306]

Knock the personal stuff off and discuss the game. 

[Brass Cannon 24,082]

1 hour ago, HoosierAloha said:

There are basic things the offense needs to do yesterday to help with the struggles or it’ll only get worse. We are TJD and four other players until we prove we’re not. Yesterday, against EMU, we were much of the same as the past several years. We’ll be that until we’re not.


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This. Woodys offense is predicated on having 4 shooters and I still don’t think we even have 1. 

[HoosierAloha 30,018]

Knock the personal stuff off and discuss the game. 

?


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[Golfman25 4,831]

7 hours ago, Trish said:

My point was, it’s going to be a major adjustment for Woodson from coaching the best players in the world to players who more than likely won’t sniff an NBA rotation. 
 

We are going to have to hit on recruiting like CTC did and maybe we can make some runs. But I’m just curious how well Woodson can perform with *WORSE* players. Off- Topic of course, we can discuss that at another time. 

Why?  Coaching is coaching.  And coaching the best players is actually harder cause they know it all. 

[Southside 1,914]

8 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

Sounds like the same talk as the last 4 years.  If if if if.  We need to stop living in these if situations. 

It's game 1 in a new scheme. 

I'm no fan of "ifs" either, but isn't it a bit early to be casting the "if" and "last 4 years" doubt narratives.

Some guys are brand new. 3 of our 5 starters didn't play a minute for IU last year. 1 of our 4 subs didn't either.

The guys that did play are adjusting to a very different scheme, and learning to play with a bunch of new guys.

Not suggesting we're going to be great this year. But I'm not going push the doubt button till well into the regular season.

Gotta give just a little time for guys to gel, and for Woody to find the right rotation.

[JSHoosier 19,663]

6 hours ago, mbredenk101 said:

I am glad we have Dane Fife who knows a little bit about going in and out of shooting slumps...

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I loved Fife as a player but the guy wasn't much of a shooter. He didn't hit above 30% from 3 until he was a senior (he shot very well from 3 that year), and never hit above 80% from the line which for a guard isn't good.

[mbredenk101 524]

I loved Fife as a player but the guy wasn't much of a shooter. He didn't hit above 30% from 3 until he was a senior (he shot very well from 3 that year), and never hit above 80% from the line which for a guard isn't good.

I was stating that more to highlight the mental battles he overcame to become a good shooter than to say that he was always a sharp shooter who struggled at times. I didn't specify that in my post. Some players on this team (RP to name one) struggle with their confidence of "in game" shooting. I like having Fife and that he knows how to overcome a struggle like that. It will take time for something like that to be noticed in player development but I think it's important.

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[ap2345 7,099]

9 hours ago, Golfman25 said:

Why?  Coaching is coaching.  And coaching the best players is actually harder cause they know it all. 

Coaching is coaching. If you can coach in the NBA you can coach in college from an X's and O's standpoint. Typically from a player development standpoint as well. What gets most guys that make that jump is the day to day recruiting and that hasn't been a problem so far. 

[ap2345 7,099]

15 hours ago, Chris007 said:

I read on Peegs where Slick Leanord use to say you don't know anything about your team till 25% of the season has been played. So let's get through the holidays first.

The team you have today isn't the team you had yesterday and isn't the team you'll have tomorrow. Teams change from day to day. So overreactions are pointless especially after 1 game. 

[IUFAN1976 2,420]

11 hours ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Holding a team scoreless has literally never happened during the shot clock era. This exact same thing could have been (and probably was) said during the beginning of the Archie era. A great defense is great, certainly. But you need to be able to score. If you can’t score then teams will still be in the game no matter how good your defense is. We held EMU scoreless for the first 7:15 of last night’s game. However, we could only score 10 points during that period. Two minutes later it was a two point game. 

I'm not saying that the offense won’t get it together. I really hope that it does. But last night felt a lot like what we saw over the past four years. 

I am not saying that it will ever happen but the theory is that defense wins ball games.  If you hold a team to zero in any sport, football, soccer, hockey, etc… you’ll never lose.  The worst thing than can happen is a tie but a tied game isn’t losing.  Don’t get me wrong, I like offense too and a team that has a good offensive flow but CMW had to start somewhere and he decided to start with defense first because he feels that will give his team the best chance to win until his offense comes around.  In the meantime, we will just have to keep hoping that the defense shows up the entire game and we start seeing improvement on the offensive end. I for one think that will happen!

[Chris007 42,447]

9 hours ago, Golfman25 said:

Why?  Coaching is coaching.  And coaching the best players is actually harder cause they know it all. 

I think what he is saying is what I was trying to say is in the 4 out 1 in offense it's about either getting shots in the paint or driving to the paint and kicking out to the 3. In the NBA you have plenty of guys who can knock down the 3, here we don't. Can you coach that? Or do you need to recruit that? I'm not worried about Woody coaching the game at all. He without a doubt knows how to coach basketball. 

[IUFAN1976 2,420]

10 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

This. Woodys offense is predicated on having 4 shooters and I still don’t think we even have 1. 

[IUFAN1976 2,420]

We don’t have 4 shooters right now and we may not by the end of the year, but I do think we will have 3 shooters as this team develops and improves throughout the year!

[IUFAN1976 2,420]

8 hours ago, Southside said:

It's game 1 in a new scheme. 

I'm no fan of "ifs" either, but isn't it a bit early to be casting the "if" and "last 4 years" doubt narratives.

Some guys are brand new. 3 of our 5 starters didn't play a minute for IU last year. 1 of our 4 subs didn't either.

The guys that did play are adjusting to a very different scheme, and learning to play with a bunch of new guys.

Not suggesting we're going to be great this year. But I'm not going push the doubt button till well into the regular season.

Gotta give just a little time for guys to gel, and for Woody to find the right rotation.

I agree with this!  It’s 1 game.  This team will improve.  Let’s see how this team looks after 4 or 5 games and again after 8 or 9 games!  I bet this will be a whole different looking team by the end of December!  
 

GO HOOSIERS!!!!

[RaceToTheTop 24,263]

11 hours ago, HoosierAloha said:

?


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I would assume the offending comments were removed which is why you don’t see them.

[mbredenk101 524]

Watched the game again....looked pretty good for the first 26 min, Race got his 4th foul, lost concentration on both ends for the next 10 min or so, then finished the game off for the win. I feel like the team didn't play with any concentration the last 4 years, so only having a 10 min lapse is a huge improvement right? Looking forward to tomorrow night and seeing improvement throughout the year!

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[Stuhoo 76,586]

13 minutes ago, mbredenk101 said:

Watched the game again....looked pretty good for the first 26 min, Race got his 4th foul, lost concentration on both ends for the next 10 min or so, then finished the game off for the win. I feel like the team didn't play with any concentration the last 4 years, so only having a 10 min lapse is a huge improvement right? Looking forward to tomorrow night and seeing improvement throughout the year!

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Seems like the litmus test is how this staff will address ten minute lapses. That’s a pretty freakin long lapse, but can be overcome against MAC teams. A ten minute lapse in the B1G equals another loss to goddamn Purdue.