IUBB @ Northwestern - 02/08/22 @ 9:00 ET on BTN

[Hoosierfan2017 24,656]

12 minutes ago, IU - Kaulie said:

He is our best player.  We don’t know what our roster will look like next year.  I do think our record will be better next year.

We have no big men coming in as freshmen who could replace him. Kaleb Banks is a 6’8 tweener, and the other two recruits are guards. That means we’ll be relying on the portal for a big and we’ve seen this season how the portal can go. We need all the talent we can get, and Trayce is the most talented guy we have.

He’s asked to do everything for us because our roster has so many holes. In an ideal world he’d be able to do less and would be able to play his more natural position, but that’s not this team. So, he’s left banging with 7 footers, leading our team on offense, and anchoring the defense. It’s not his fault that we have poor guard play and poor shooting. Sure, we beat Purdue when he barely played, but that was because Phinisee played out of his mind and had the game of his life. If we got the guard play we’ve had for most of this season we would’ve been blown out. Trayce is not a perfect player, but if he leaves he will leave an enormous hole on both sides of the ball. As it stands right now, we have no one who will be able to fill that hole. 

[Uspshoosier 54,105]

5 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

We have no big men coming in as freshmen who could replace him. Kaleb Banks is a 6’8 tweener, and the other two recruits are guards. That means we’ll be relying on the portal for a big and we’ve seen this season how that can go. We need all the talent we can get, and Trayce is the most talented guy we have.

He’s asked to do everything for us because our roster has so many holes. In an ideal world he’d be able to do less and would be able to play his more natural position, but that’s not this team. So, he’s left banging with 7 footers, leading our team on offense, and anchoring the defense. He’s not a perfect player but if he leaves he will leave an enormous hole on both sides of the ball. 

His natural position is an undersized center that can’t shoot.  He played center in high school and had no problem not shooting the ball and now he is an undersized center in college that still doesn’t want to shoot.  Only difference is in high school he was bigger then most he played against and dominated those teams when he felt like dominated them and struggled with teams with real size and now he is in college and pretty much dominates teams that don’t have true size and still struggles with NBA length 
 

 

[HoosierAloha 30,102]

8 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

We have no big men coming in as freshmen who could replace him. Kaleb Banks is a 6’8 tweener, and the other two recruits are guards. That means we’ll be relying on the portal for a big and we’ve seen this season how the portal can go. We need all the talent we can get, and Trayce is the most talented guy we have.

He’s asked to do everything for us because our roster has so many holes. In an ideal world he’d be able to do less and would be able to play his more natural position, but that’s not this team. So, he’s left banging with 7 footers, leading our team on offense, and anchoring the defense. It’s not his fault that we have poor guard play and poor shooting. Sure, we beat Purdue when he barely played, but that was because Phinisee played out of his mind and had the game of his life. If we got the guard play we’ve had for most of this season we would’ve been blown out. Trayce is not a perfect player, but if he leaves he will leave an enormous hole on both sides of the ball. As it stands right now, we have no one who will be able to fill that hole. 

This is a touchy subject... (bold)

In an ideal world, Trayce would develop a perimeter game or at least a jumper (which was the reason Woody talked him into returning). This would allow him to play as a big wing and be an absolute mismatch nightmare. He could take smaller defenders into the post and make them look silly. He could pull bigger defenders out to drive past them or be respectable from range.

For whatever reason, the massively anticipated development didn't happen. He's pretty much the same player (skill wise) with more freedom to block shots from the weak side.

[Loaded Chicken Sandwich 9,271]

9 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

His natural position is an undersized center that can’t shoot.  He played center in high school and had no problem not shooting the ball and now he is an undersized center in college that still doesn’t want to shoot.  Only difference is in high school he was bigger then most he played against and dominated those teams when he felt like dominated them and struggled with teams with real size and now he is in college and pretty much dominates teams that don’t have true size and still struggles with NBA length 
 

 

I wouldn't even consider him undersized in college. There aren't many massive centers playing. Edey and Kofi are the exceptions in the college game. Most centers in college are 6-8 to 6-10 I'd say. 

[Uspshoosier 54,105]

3 minutes ago, HoosierAloha said:

This is a touchy subject... (bold)

In an ideal world, Trayce would develop a perimeter game or at least a jumper (which was the reason Woody talked him into returning). This would allow him to play as a big wing and be an absolute mismatch nightmare. He could take smaller defenders into the post and make them look silly. He could pull bigger defenders out to drive past them or be respectable from range.

For whatever reason, the massively anticipated development didn't happen. He's pretty much the same player (skill wise) with more freedom to block shots from the weak side.

A kid has to want to get better and expand his game and he has had plenty of opportunities and has talked about improving those aspects of his game for a very long time.  Maybe he just doesn’t have the drive to want to become a matchup nightmare and is fine with who he is as a player 

[Stuhoo 88,867]

21 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

His natural position is an undersized center that can’t shoot.  He played center in high school and had no problem not shooting the ball and now he is an undersized center in college that still doesn’t want to shoot.  Only difference is in high school he was bigger then most he played against and dominated those teams when he felt like dominated them and struggled with teams with real size and now he is in college and pretty much dominates teams that don’t have true size and still struggles with NBA length 
 

 

All true.

On the bright side, it is reasonably likely that Kofi, Edey, and Dickinson are gone after this year. I’m not seeing the ‘true big’ matchup nightmare for IU next year if we are undersized at the five.

The best 5’s in the B1G next year? Maybe Omoruyi on Rutgers, Zed Key, Bingham, Diabate if he stays. No one that will overwhelm a guy like Race even. And no real role for Durr.

[HoosierAloha 30,102]

9 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

A kid has to want to get better and expand his game and he has had plenty of opportunities and has talked about improving those aspects of his game for a very long time.  Maybe he just doesn’t have the drive to want to become a matchup nightmare and is fine with who he is as a player 

Shocking

Love what he has done for this program and kept himself out of the headlines with distractions. This program lacks leadership and drive to get better. We eat that **** up like pie though.

[Hoosierfan2017 24,656]

33 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

His natural position is an undersized center that can’t shoot.  He played center in high school and had no problem not shooting the ball and now he is an undersized center in college that still doesn’t want to shoot.  Only difference is in high school he was bigger then most he played against and dominated those teams when he felt like dominated them and struggled with teams with real size and now he is in college and pretty much dominates teams that don’t have true size and still struggles with NBA length 
 

 

There are only a few teams on our schedule that he struggles with. When we play those teams it’s on the staff to adjust the game plan. Of course a guy Trayce’z size is going to struggle against a 7’0, 285 pound behemoth like Kofi Cockburn or a 7’1 guy like Dickerson on Michigan. He’s giving up 4-5 inches (depending on how tall you think Trayce is) and 20+ pounds. We recruited Michael Durr for matchups like those. 

Trayce is still a guy that can dominate against most teams. We beat Ohio State in large part because of the 27/12 and 5 blocks he gave us. In an ideal world we wouldn’t need him to dominate every single team we play for us to win. Other guys would step up. On occasion that does happen. Phinisee did that against Purdue and we won. But when that doesn’t happen, well, we get games like Illinois.

I just can’t get on board at all with the ideal that we’ll be better without him or that our losses are his fault. He’s the reason we’re still a tournament hopeful. 

[cthomas 6,617]

On 2/11/2022 at 11:58 AM, Josh said:

Older than what?

I lived in a fraternity on 3rd St for a couple years in the mid 90's.  Jason Collier (rest in peace big man) would park his car in our lot at times and I had to kick him out.  This 7 foot man was driving a beat up Geo Metro.  

If he received extra benefits he hid them real well.

Trying to picture a guy that big in a car that small.

[Hovadipo 61,336]

If all of us dumb fans wouldn’t have gotten so full eating **** up in the offseason, we would’ve had room for humble pie when TJD didn’t develop a jumper or right hand this summer. 
 

Sad. :(

[IU - Kaulie 2,090]

11 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

There are only a few teams on our schedule that he struggles with. When we play those teams it’s on the staff to adjust the game plan. Of course a guy Trayce’z size is going to struggle against a 7’0, 285 pound behemoth like Kofi Cockburn or a 7’1 guy like Dickerson on Michigan. He’s giving up 4-5 inches (depending on how tall you think Trayce is) and 20+ pounds. We recruited Michael Durr for matchups like those. 

Trayce is still a guy that can dominate against most teams. We beat Ohio State in large part because of the 27/12 and 5 blocks he gave us. In an ideal world we wouldn’t need him to dominate every single team we play for us to win. Other guys would step up. On occasion that does happen. Phinisee did that against Purdue and we won. But when that doesn’t happen, well, we get games like Illinois.

I just can’t get on board at all with the ideal that we’ll be better without him or that our losses are his fault. He’s the reason we’re still a tournament hopeful. 

I don’t think anyone has said our losses are his fault.  He plays hard and plays with a lot of energy.  His effort has definitely improved from his freshman year until now.  He has been the face of the program and represented IU well.  It’s debatable (maybe) how much he has improved skill wise.  
He’s obviously a huge reason why we are projected to be in the tournament right now.  That’s THIS year though.  It’s my hunch that next year our win-loss record will be better without him being on the roster.  That’s really all I care about.  

[HoosierAloha 30,102]

2 minutes ago, IU - Kaulie said:

I don’t think anyone has said our losses are his fault.  He plays hard and plays with a lot of energy.  His effort has definitely improved from his freshman year until now.  He has been the face of the program and represented IU well.  It’s debatable (maybe) how much he has improved skill wise.  
He’s obviously a huge reason why we are projected to be in the tournament right now.  That’s THIS year though.  It’s my hunch that next year our win-loss record will be better without him being on the roster.  That’s really all I care about.  

Are you replacing him with someone currently on the roster or with a transfer when thinking about the win-loss record? We've had a pretty easy Big 1.o schedule this season and our noncon SOS was kind of a joke. I think both increase in difficulty next season. We could be a better team next season with a worse record. (not knowing how this season finishes and players coming/going)

[IU - Kaulie 2,090]

With no idea who is going to transfer in or out it’s just a hunch we will have a better record.  We have a staff now that will help develop players.

We have a freshman coming in that is special.  I’m still really high on Mr. Bates. Trey will be back with hopefully no injuries and most on here know how much I love me some Galloway.  He should be playing around 30 minutes starting today hopefully.  As much as I like his game already right now the kid is just going to get better.  Jordan G will take the leap everyone expected this year.  I have liked Jordan but the game was always too fast for him even earlier this year.  It’s starting to slow down for him.  
I would like to see X, Rob, and Race come back.  I think Race can hold down the 5 spot most nights with Durr an option depending on matchups.  I have never really liked Race and Trayce together in a CMW offense.  Race has been here awhile though so he might want to move on.  Race leaving scares me 100x more than TJD leaving.

[Southside 1,914]

25 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

If all of us dumb fans wouldn’t have gotten so full eating **** up in the offseason, we would’ve had room for humble pie when TJD didn’t develop a jumper or right hand this summer. 
 

Sad. :(

I was hoping the same, but not surprised much that we've seen status quo given we still have to use him the same. For him to really develop like we all want, IMO we'd need a true "big" to fill that gap. Personally didn't expect one early, but thought we'd see a "big" develop throughout the season. And the only true "big" we have is Durr lol... And we're using him less than his previous team did.. 

[Hoosierfan2017 24,656]

4 minutes ago, IU - Kaulie said:

With no idea who is going to transfer in or out it’s just a hunch we will have a better record.  We have a staff now that will help develop players.

We have a freshman coming in that is special.  I’m still really high on Mr. Bates. Trey will be back with hopefully no injuries and most on here know how much I love me some Galloway.  He should be playing around 30 minutes starting today hopefully.  As much as I like his game already right now the kid is just going to get better.  Jordan G will take the leap everyone expected this year.  I have liked Jordan but the game was always too fast for him even earlier this year.  It’s starting to slow down for him.  
I would like to see X, Rob, and Race come back.  I think Race can hold down the 5 spot most nights with Durr an option depending on matchups.  I have never really liked Race and Trayce together in a CMW offense.  Race has been here awhile though so he might want to move on.  Race leaving scares me 100x more than TJD leaving.

Fans say this every year. “XYZ will take a huge leap during the off-season and we’ll be way better.” On one hand you’re talking about how TJD hasn’t improved and then on the other hand you say “we have a staff now that will help develop players.”

You’re counting on a bunch of mediocre players making big improvements. You’re discounting our all-Big 10 center averaging 18/9 with 3 blocks a game as a guy who just “runs and dunks.” It’s preposterous. 

[Hovadipo 61,336]

5 minutes ago, Southside said:

I was hoping the same, but not surprised much that we've seen status quo given we still have to use him the same. For him to really develop like we all want, IMO we'd need a true "big" to fill that gap. Personally didn't expect one early, but thought we'd see a "big" develop throughout the season. And the only true "big" we have is Durr lol... And we're using him less than his previous team did.. 

I think we could use him in an even bigger role if he would’ve developed even just a reliable right hand, let alone a jumper. He’s very easy to guard by anyone with decent size and the slightest idea of how to play post defense, but if he would’ve expanded his game we could’ve really opened up the floor. Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve though. 
 

I didn’t really expect much more out of Durr than we have seen, personally. He was an ok player on a bad USF team. 

[reconmkd 4,741]

Just now, Hovadipo said:

I think we could use him in an even bigger role if he would’ve developed even just a reliable right hand, let alone a jumper. He’s very easy to guard by anyone with decent size and the slightest idea of how to play post defense, but if he would’ve expanded his game we could’ve really opened up the floor. Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve though. 
 

I didn’t really expect much more out of Durr than we have seen, personally. He was an ok player on a bad USF team. 

I will say at least Durr has shown the ability to shoot, but it’s a shame that he is so limited in many other areas especially speed.

[TheWatShot 15,458]

1 hour ago, Stuhoo said:

On the bright side, it is reasonably likely that Kofi, Edey, and Dickinson are gone after this year. I’m not seeing the ‘true big’ matchup nightmare for IU next year if we are undersized at the five.

 

I always get a kick out of comments like these. "Reasonably likely?" Based on what? I'd say there's a much better chance at least two of those three will still be around next year, still kicking our butts, while we hope against all hope our best player doesn't leave for the G-League. 

[Hovadipo 61,336]

Just now, reconmkd said:

I will say at least Durr has shown the ability to shoot, but it’s a shame that he is so limited in many other areas especially speed.

His shooting ability is honestly shocking given the type of player he is and how long it takes that shot to actually leave his hands lol. He’s kind of money though, relative to IUBB at least. 

[IU - Kaulie 2,090]

3 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Fans say this every year. “XYZ will take a huge leap during the off-season and we’ll be way better.” On one hand you’re talking about how TJD hasn’t improved and then on the other hand you say “we have a staff now that will help develop players.”

You’re counting on a bunch of mediocre players making big improvements. You’re discounting our all-Big 10 center averaging 18/9 with 3 blocks a game as a guy who just “runs and dunks.” It’s preposterous. 

Your making my argument for me.  The book has been out on TJD since he has got here and he still has no jumper and has one hand.  If that’s who he wants to be that’s fine.  I love his dunks.  Sometimes it’s up to the player.

I have seen Galloway and Geronimo improve This year.  The form on Trey’s jumper is much improved.  His shooting % will improve too because the kid will put in the time and work on it.  Geronimo is getting better in season.  I think the staff has a lot to do with it and him just growing up and becoming more comfortable and dedicated to basketball.  Bates has had a lot going on this year.  Still believe he is special.  I value them more than mediocre.