IUBB vs Nebraska - Wednesday, 12/7/22 @ 8:30 on BTN

[DChoosier]

1 hour ago, Hardwood83 said:

 

Is it just coincidence that XJ has melted down the 2 games that JHS is out? Obviously, that wasn't an excuse last season, but jarring to see such a change from the first 7 games to the last 2. Unforced TO's, silly fouls, forcing everything. Very odd.  

What’s odd to me is that earlier in the season I thought X was having a bit of trouble (or needed more time) adjusting to playing with JHS as it’s not always easy to find your place in the offense when going from primary ball handler to sort of co-primary handler.  
And then, he melts down, as you said, with JHS out. Surprises me.

[HoosierFan1994]

Good bounce back win. I agree with most of you..don't overlook ANYONE in conference play. But..if we had somehow lost this game..glad they won with ease. Never apologzie for winning!

1) Some may argue the Griesel kid being out played a factor..but IU was without JHS. Evens out. 

2) Trayce is playing like a national player of the year. Right now it's between him and Edey. It is early. 

3) I'm not surprised X didn't play as well. I hate to say this but I think that's who he is. I remember how off he looked against Morehead State. A week later he showed up against Xavier and then UNC. He will be fine. 

4) Gallo and Scoop were awesome! Just need them to do half of that on the road. If Jalen is out long these next two games, those two have to step up. 

5) Malik will be fine but he's going through a bit of a phase. He's got to limit his fouls. I love his aggressiveness. 

6) B1G refs..it's getting bad. Good for Woody for speaking up during the game. I was surprised how calm he was during the UNC game. It's been awful the last 3 games. 

7) Last night if you take Kopp out IU was 10 of 21 (48%) from 3. Saturday they were like 1 of 16 (6%). They have to start being somewhere in the middle of the 30s... they are so capable. 

No such thing as a must win in December. I can take an IU loss Saturday IF they play hard for 40 minutes. Don't get Rutgers'd. I think Arizona is a very good team. Kind of like us, they've played well outside of one game. I think it will come down to the last couple of minutes. Just play hard and it'll all work out. IU belongs in games like this. Kudos to Woody for scheduling this kind of game. I feel all our coaches since Knight have been afraid of these kind of games for the most part. 

[hoosierbgh]

1 hour ago, Hardwood83 said:

 

Is it just coincidence that XJ has melted down the 2 games that JHS is out? Obviously, that wasn't an excuse last season, but jarring to see such a change from the first 7 games to the last 2. Unforced TO's, silly fouls, forcing everything. Very odd.  

No, its not a coincidence. His mistakes and bad games are almost always a result of trying way too hard. Having JHS takes a lot of pressure off of him and allows him to play more relaxed and patiently. It looks like X has felt pressure to make things happen while JHS is out and has pressed instead of being patient and letting things come to him in the game

[Chris007]

3 minutes ago, HoosierFan1994 said:

Good bounce back win. I agree with most of you..don't overlook ANYONE in conference play. But..if we had somehow lost this game..glad they won with ease. Never apologzie for winning!

1) Some may argue the Griesel kid being out played a factor..but IU was without JHS. Evens out. 

2) Trayce is playing like a national player of the year. Right now it's between him and Edey. It is early. 

3) I'm not surprised X didn't play as well. I hate to say this but I think that's who he is. I remember how off he looked against Morehead State. A week later he showed up against Xavier and then UNC. He will be fine. 

4) Gallo and Scoop were awesome! Just need them to do half of that on the road. If Jalen is out long these next two games, those two have to step up. 

5) Malik will be fine but he's going through a bit of a phase. He's got to limit his fouls. I love his aggressiveness. 

6) B1G refs..it's getting bad. Good for Woody for speaking up during the game. I was surprised how calm he was during the UNC game. It's been awful the last 3 games. 

No such thing as a must win in December. I can take an IU loss Saturday IF they play hard for 40 minutes. Don't get Rutgers'd. I think Arizona is a very good team. Kind of like us, they've played well outside of one game. I think it will come down to the last couple of minutes. Just play hard and it'll all work out. IU belongs in games like this. Kudos to Woody for scheduling this kind of game. I feel all our coaches since Knight have been afraid of these kind of games for the most part. 

I actually hope we have Pac 12 refs in Vegas and not Big ten

[IU_FanClub]

All this X discourse sounds exactly like what people were saying last year before he quite literally carried us into the tournament.

[HoosierFan1994]

1 minute ago, Chris007 said:

I actually hope we have Pac 12 refs in Vegas and not Big ten

I was about to say. I'm done with Big Ten Refs. Kevin Warren needs to wake up!!! Nobody wants to play this bully ball Rutgers/Wisconsin crap. 

[Chris007]

2 minutes ago, IU_FanClub said:

All this X discourse sounds exactly like what people were saying last year before he quite literally carried us into the tournament.

That's exactly what I'm hoping for. He played extremely well at the end of January and February last year

[hoosierbgh]

5 minutes ago, HoosierFan1994 said:

 

5) Malik will be fine but he's going through a bit of a phase. He's got to limit his fouls. I love his aggressiveness. 

 

That phase is called "Big Ten Refs" for the most part. 

[IUc2016]

5 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

That's exactly what I'm hoping for. He played extremely well at the end of January and February last year

He's already had two really really good games this year in games that mattered as well. He was by far our best guard against Xavier and UNC.

I think when defenses pack it in and triple team Trayce he tries to do too much to create offense. He drives into a clogged lane and forces up lobs, crazy shots, or just goes too fast. He doesn't settle for what the defense is giving them which has been the case the last two games.

[HoosierFan1994]

13 minutes ago, hoosierbgh said:

That phase is called "Big Ten Refs" for the most part. 

I know..but he's got to be careful. He will learn like Trayce and Race have. 

[HoosierFan1994]

18 minutes ago, IU_FanClub said:

All this X discourse sounds exactly like what people were saying last year before he quite literally carried us into the tournament.

I'm not worried. If he's going to have an off game let it be against Nebraska. He was All-B1G good against Xavier and UNC. 

[cthomas]

35 minutes ago, DChoosier said:

What’s odd to me is that earlier in the season I thought X was having a bit of trouble (or needed more time) adjusting to playing with JHS as it’s not always easy to find your place in the offense when going from primary ball handler to sort of co-primary handler.  
And then, he melts down, as you said, with JHS out. Surprises me.

He has reverted the early season version of X. He's simply trying to do too much. Maybe we were taking JHS a little for granted in terms of what he brought to the offense.

[hoosierbgh]

4 minutes ago, HoosierFan1994 said:

I know..but he's got to be careful. He will learn like Trayce and Race have. 

He'll learn and he's definitely has some things to clean up but he's still going to get more than his share of phantom fouls because he's a freshman big playing at IU. I guess the refs feel like the few breaks Trayce and Race do get have to be made up elsewhere and Malik is the prime candidate. 

[HoosierHoopster]

Just now, cthomas said:

He has reverted the early season version of X. He's simply trying to do too much. Maybe we were taking JHS a little for granted in terms of what he brought to the offense.

JHS has been key on both sides of the ball, Woodson himself has commented on how well he was playing even when his shooting is off, people tend to forget this team is largely last year's team without JHS and Ren, JHS is absolutely critical, that both Bates and Galloway showed up huge last night is fantastic, but that's almost certainly going to be unusual, and it was against Neb, not an AZ or KU. I find it kind of surprising that people are overlooking how much JHS brings, but then a lot of people tend to just look at shooting, and that's just one aspect of what JHS brings to the floor.

I'm more focused on watching how Ren and JG adjust. We're going to need both as we get into B1G play, and right now Ren is fouling too much to allow him to bring that contribution he was bringing (and that really was to be expected based on his early play, the need to adjust to playing seasoned college bigs on the better teams), and JG has fallen off his early play and isn't getting enough minutes to bring the high level of contribution he was bringing earlier. Both are, imo, important to the team's real success down the road this season.

[HoosierAloha]

13 minutes ago, hoosierbgh said:

He'll learn and he's definitely has some things to clean up but he's still going to get more than his share of phantom fouls because he's a freshman big playing at IU. I guess the refs feel like the few breaks Trayce and Race do get have to be made up elsewhere and Malik is the prime candidate. 

Big 1.o ref staple. There is typically a player on every Big 1.o that is the default fouler. It seems Big 1.o officials keep track of fouls by the star players and then call them on reserves when they come into the game.

[HoosierAloha]

2 hours ago, JSHoosier said:

I've said it before, he has the mental stability of a bag of rats in a house fire.  He can be very good, but bad things can snowball and turn ugly in a hurry; he can be one of the better players on the floor, or the absolute worst.

I'm guessing XJ would have a similar diagnosis as Troy Williams. If he can even it out while staying close to the edge he can easily be our second best player and take us on a run come March.

[Stuhoo]

There is one area where X has consistently improved:

His defense is always a plus, and this year he has stayed out of foul trouble so that he can contribute on that end of the floor.

[pumpfake]

I have to extend a tip o' the hat to Kopp & S. Bardo.

Kopp has been playing & contributing at a high level. I was critical of his previous play, but he's shut me up.

Bardo referencing Big Mac on TJD's one-handed rebound was great.

[DWB]

10 minutes ago, pumpfake said:

Bardo referencing Big Mac on TJD's one-handed rebound was great.

That one handed rebound was THE highlight of the game to me. More so than the triple double final 2 assists.

[IUc2016]

20 minutes ago, pumpfake said:

I have to extend a tip o' the hat to Kopp & S. Bardo.

Kopp has been playing & contributing at a high level. I was critical of his previous play, but he's shut me up.

Bardo referencing Big Mac on TJD's one-handed rebound was great.

Bardo also stating that veteran officials wait to see if the shot goes in before they call a foul, and then saying people at home may not understand that was PEAK bardo.