Things to like about this team so far:

[The RUN DMCer 89]

DEEEEFENSIVE. the offense will come as they become adjusted to Coach Woodson's style of play! 

 

[HinnyHoosier 4,343]

Rob is a defensive stalwart. All of our guards did well pressuring the ball, but of all of them Rob is least likely to be beaten.

Less popular opinion, his offense will be sufficient when shots start to fall. He attacks more in the half court and his ball handling seems more confident. He looked to score last night, and I’ll take that over what was happening the last two years. Yeah, he needs to push the all more like XJ and KL did. But Rob will be better than he has been the last two years.


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[JSHoosier 19,578]

3-0.  Not Miller's packline defense getting lit up.

[Hoosierfan2017 19,902]

9 minutes ago, HinnyHoosier said:

Rob is a defensive stalwart. All of our guards did well pressuring the ball, but of all of them Rob is least likely to be beaten.

Less popular opinion, his offense will be sufficient when shots start to fall. He attacks more in the half court and his ball handling seems more confident. He looked to score last night, and I’ll take that over what was happening the last two years. Yeah, he needs to push the all more like XJ and KL did. But Rob will be better than he has been the last two years.


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Rob’s shots don’t ever fall. He’s a career 35.7% from the field, 29.5% from 3, and 66.7% from the free throw line. That’s across 89 games. He only shoots 0.6% better from the line than TJD. 

He’s even worse in conference play. In 56 career Big Ten games, he’s a career 34.8% from the field, 27.5% from 3, and 67.5% from the free throw line. 

There’s really no reason to expect his offense to be better than it has been in his extensive IU career. He’s a senior who is no better offensively now than he was when he was a freshman. Last night was yet another game where he gave us 0 points. 

[HinnyHoosier 4,343]

Rob’s shots don’t ever fall. He’s a career 35.7% from the field, 29.5% from 3, and 66.7% from the free throw line. That’s across 89 games. He only shoots 0.6% better from the line than TJD.  He’s even worse in conference play. In 56 career Big Ten games, he’s a career 34.8% from the field, 27.5% from 3, and 67.5% from the free throw line. 

There’s really no reason to expect his offense to be better than it has been in his extensive IU career. He’s a senior who is no better offensively now than he was when he was a freshman. Last night was yet another game where he gave us 0 points. 

 

 

I give people the benefit of the doubt when circumstances have changed. 🤷‍♂️

 

And maybe his shooting doesn’t get better. Looks like we have more offense contributors around him now to cover that up. As long as he’s solid with the ball and keeping the defensive prowess, I can live with that. Overall his confidence seems improved so I’m hoping that pays off over the course of the season.

 

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[Hoosierfan2017 19,902]

15 minutes ago, HinnyHoosier said:

 

I give people the benefit of the doubt when circumstances have changed.

 

And maybe his shooting doesn’t get better. Looks like we have more offense contributors around him now to cover that up. As long as he’s solid with the ball and keeping the defensive prowess, I can live with that. Overall his confidence seems improved so I’m hoping that pays off over the course of the season.

 

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I don’t know why people assume Archie was the reason Rob played the way he played when Archie regularly yelled at him during games to play at a higher pace. It seems more likely that that’s just the way Rob plays, because he’s doing the exact same things under Woody that he did under Archie.

Through three games we’re shooting 27.7% from 3. That’s not good enough. Rob doesn’t help our 3 point struggles. He’s a bad shooter. He also isn’t a good facilitator. He can’t create for others. That results in playing a 6’1 point guard who can’t score, shoot, or create easy baskets for others. Perhaps you think his defense makes up for his total lack of offense, but I disagree with that. Team defense is more important in basketball than individual defense, especially when we’re not talking about a rim protecting big. You can scheme around a bad defender and hide him. There’s no hiding a bad offensive player, particularly a bad offensive guard. Their defender saga off and clogs the lane. 

[cthomas 5,930]

3 hours ago, iu eyedoc said:

He is like the Benjamin Buttons of college basketball careers.

Classic!

[HoosierDYT 1,746]

Not about the team, but the game. Man, that was a fun one to watch. I desperately hope the Big 10, or at least us, can adopt that style of play going forward.

So much better than watching a slow 55-58 game


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[HinnyHoosier 4,343]

I don’t know why people assume Archie was the reason Rob played the way he played when Archie regularly yelled at him during games to play at a higher pace. It seems more likely that that’s just the way Rob plays, because he’s doing the exact same things under Woody that he did under Archie.
Through three games we’re shooting 27.7% from 3. That’s not good enough. Rob doesn’t help our 3 point struggles. He’s a bad shooter. He also isn’t a good facilitator. He can’t create for others. That results in playing a 6’1 point guard who can’t score, shoot, or create easy baskets for others. Perhaps you think his defense makes up for his total lack of offense, but I disagree with that. Team defense is more important in basketball than individual defense, especially when we’re not talking about a rim protecting big. You can scheme around a bad defender and hide him. There’s no hiding a bad offensive player, particularly a bad offensive guard. Their defender saga off and clogs the lane. 

We can agree to partially disagree. We’re 3 games in. New team. New system. Let’s see how it plays out.


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[Hardwood83 4,512]

31 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Rob’s shots don’t ever fall. He’s a career 35.7% from the field, 29.5% from 3, and 66.7% from the free throw line. That’s across 89 games. He only shoots 0.6% better from the line than TJD. 

He’s even worse in conference play. In 56 career Big Ten games, he’s a career 34.8% from the field, 27.5% from 3, and 67.5% from the free throw line. 

There’s really no reason to expect his offense to be better than it has been in his extensive IU career. He’s a senior who is no better offensively now than he was when he was a freshman. Last night was yet another game where he gave us 0 points. 

Ugh, those are ugly numbers. I can live with it from a back-up PG playing 8-12 mins a game....but as mentioned, giving those minutes to Lander likely pays off in the future. 

[Hoosierfan2017 19,902]

27 minutes ago, Hardwood83 said:

Ugh, those are ugly numbers. I can live with it from a back-up PG playing 8-12 mins a game....but as mentioned, giving those minutes to Lander likely pays off in the future. 

If he was only playing spot minutes I wouldn’t hate it as much, but he’s playing 20 mpg. He would’ve played way more than 18 minutes last night if he hadn’t injured his calf (at least that’s the reason Woody gave for him coming out). 

Last night really showed how important Xavier is to the team. There will be nights like last night where he’s in foul trouble and we need a backup pg to step up. I’d love to be wrong about Rob, but I don’t think he’s the guy who can fill that role. That’s definitely my biggest concern with the team. Our front court is great. Race and TJD have been outstanding. However, the guard play as a whole has been underwhelming. 

[HoosierAloha 29,897]

DEEEEFENSIVE. the offense will come as they become adjusted to Coach Woodson's style of play! 
 

Would love to see the defense be more consistent for the entire 40 minutes. This might be something they’re still trying to shake from the Archie era.


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[Trish 11,414]

Finally have some time to share my thoughts from an ANTI-Woodson hire (me lol)

I like a lot of what I've seen so far.

Like:

- Woodson taking responsibility in post-games for style of play. CTC never did, Archie sort of did his last two years.

- Our coaching staff. I have so much more confidence with Dane on our sideline along with Woody. Yasir for player development and recruiting along with Kenya. 

- Armond Hill and Thad Matta as "consultants" on staff is huge as well. Credit to Woodson and Scott.

- Retaining Race, Jordon, Kristian, and Rob. Credit to Archie staff as well, these are great / solid players and of course TJD. 

What I'm worried about

- Our spacing when teams take away Parker and Kopp. They both seem to be players who can't put the ball on the floor, that scares me in the Big Ten. Parker will get picked on defensively in B1G play. 

- We appear "deep" but I'm not so sold on that offensively. Rob and Kristian are both up and down. Has Galloway improved his shooting? We'll see.

- We need to be a defensive first team imo. Rob, Jordan, and Galloway are all solid defenders who we need to count on off the bench to turn that defense into transition offense. 

 

I like what I've seen so far. I wish our non-conference was more challenging, hopefully that doesn't bite us in the butt come February and March. 

 

 

 

[Stuhoo 75,729]

55 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

I don’t know why people assume Archie was the reason Rob played the way he played when Archie regularly yelled at him during games to play at a higher pace. It seems more likely that that’s just the way Rob plays, because he’s doing the exact same things under Woody that he did under Archie.

Through three games we’re shooting 27.7% from 3. That’s not good enough. Rob doesn’t help our 3 point struggles. He’s a bad shooter. He also isn’t a good facilitator. He can’t create for others. That results in playing a 6’1 point guard who can’t score, shoot, or create easy baskets for others. Perhaps you think his defense makes up for his total lack of offense, but I disagree with that. Team defense is more important in basketball than individual defense, especially when we’re not talking about a rim protecting big. You can scheme around a bad defender and hide him. There’s no hiding a bad offensive player, particularly a bad offensive guard. Their defender saga off and clogs the lane. 

If Lander can defend the whole discussion becomes a moot point. Lander is a work in progress, but he has some serious natural ability on the offensive end.

[HoosierHoopster 6,063]

A lot that I like has been covered above. Honestly, I see a lot to like.

- The team's spirit, the joy of playing this game. Man it was missing under CAM. That's big. That leads to wins, and it makes the game a freaking lot more fun to watch.

- I see a lot of OG (more than Vic) in Geronimo. Think back on how OG played early. I've been beating the Geronimo drum for a while now, but this kid is a monster in the making, and undervalued offensively.His shot is solid (and hit again last night at a critical time). Defensively he can guard across the floor. His weakness has been getting positioning and rotations in speed at the college level -- and that is coming along. More he plays the better he will be, both individually but the team, he's a workhorse, a team player, and a beast. 

- The asst coaching staff,  exceptional, and Woodson listens -- thank God they were yelling to get OG, sorry, Geronimo, back in. 8 minutes, 7 points, 5 boards,  1 steal. All key.

- X. better than I realized. Brings a man's game.

- Bates. Next level player. I do think he's NBA-bound, has all the tools, the drive, the attitude (both positive, as a team player, and nasty, for the opposing players). 3-level scoring. Oh, that's nice to see. 

The flip side

- OK FT shooting. IU used to be a fantastic  (uh, it's been a while). Hard to get struggling at the stripe. Part of that is emphasis on athleticism and player culture in AAU etc., but come on, we should be solid at the stripe, and we will lose games at the line. I know the team works on free throws, it's not as simple as saying put in the work -- they do. But whatever more can be done, needs doing. Recruiting will be part of that.

- Rebounding -- but imo this is a byproduct of the emphasis on shooting . Kopp's weaknesses include rebounding. Kid can shoot and expect him to hit more, but let's say Geronimo takes up more of those minutes, our rebounding should immediately improve. I think our minutes, whether its starting or not, need to continue to adjust to our strengths, and think they will.

The X factor / Developing Stuff

Lander. This kid is uber talented, he was one of the top-rated JUNIOR point guard in the country because of it. He sees the floor exceptionally well on the offensive end. He clearly wasn't ready, physically, or defensively, for college ball last year, though CAM's horrible "offense" played a role, as did his hamstringing his point guards with play calling. I do think the more he plays the better he will be as well, his D still needs work, but his individual offense, in limited minutes, looks better to me, and come on, he helped last night. I hope to see him continue to get integrated over time. We need backup point guard play, I think he's it.

Rob. The arguments on him get beaten to death. I think he'll be better playing with X / another pg than running the offense, but he can help the team well, especially defensively, but also as strong combo-guard, imo. OK I get he's a vet, but I've seen this kid shoot well. Listen, CAM just flat out killed our outside game and the "offense" generally, I couldn't even figure out what the hell he was trying to accomplish half the time, and he killed the guys' confidence, including Rob's. I mean that, he killed confidence, and shooting needs confidence. I'm one for giving Rob time to figure it out this season. I do think he's better as combo than running point at this point, but I also think he can bring a lot more.

 

 

 

[Hoosierfan2017 19,902]

1 minute ago, Stuhoo said:

If Lander can defend the whole discussion becomes a moot point. Lander is a work in progress, but he has some serious natural ability on the offensive end.

I'm just a big Lander fan. I think he's going to be a special college player, and I want it to be at IU. Guards are so important in college basketball. A trio of Lander, Bates, JHS next year would give us three 5 star guards. I can't remember the last time IU had that. Lander isn't nearly as good of a defender as Phinisee, but I think he looks stronger out there than he did last year/in the Bahamas. I'd like to see him get a lot more playing time during the cupcake portion of the schedule to help him continue adjusting to defending in college. You can't really replicate that game speed/feeling during practice. He picked up two fouls almost immediately last night but I felt like he did a great job keeping his composure in a pretty stressful part of the game.

[HoosierFan1994 4,631]

This might sound silly, but they're having fun. Remember how enjoyable the 2012 and 2013 teams were to follow? A big reason was they were having fun. Obviously a lot of that has to do with winning. But this early in the season I can tell this team has confidence. I think the Syracuse game in two weeks could be like the NC State game the 2012 team played that year. Believe it or not the NC State road win was when I started to believe in that team, not the UK win a few weeks later. 

IU had numerous guys step up last night when a basket was needed (Lander, Trayce, Miller, and Race at the end). That is very encouraging. Archie Miller teams played not to lose. I feel Coach Woodson's team is playing to win. Suhr kept saying it, don't take bad shots. I felt Indiana was patient when they needed a big basket. 

[fwgreenway 474]

"Things to like about this team so far:"

I like every made free throw so far........I have room to 'love' more!

[RaceToTheTop 23,765]

Thoughts --

Xavier is playing Durham's role this year, but X is a better ball handler.  That said, we need X to hit free throws like Durham did.

Bates is playing Franklin's role.  He's better than Franklin was as a freshman and IMO will be as good as he was as a sophomore by the end of the year.

Kopp has taken Hunter's role, but Kopp's effort is consistent and his attitude is better than Jerome's.

Durr can stand around and be tall.....so he fills Brunk's role.

So, in essence we didn't lose any players from last year and added Stewart while giving everyone a year experience.

[HoosierCoop 3,816]

I might be able to cut back on my anti-depressants and blood pressure meds!