Game Thread: Indiana vs. Arizona (12/10) 7:30 p.m. EST on Fox

[Hovadipo]

42 minutes ago, TTT said:

Takes 33 pages to say last night IU men’s basketball is not as good nor as well coached as Arizona men’s basketball.

It’s almost like there’s a bunch of posts in a game thread. Wild. 

[Rico]

48 minutes ago, TTT said:

Woodson is ok and I like him.  The reality is not known on how much IU in terms of wins, losses, and championships will be….even in comparison to previous coaches.  I am not sold or unsold.  More of just in waiting.

[colonel06]

4 hours ago, JSHoosier said:

Why do we give up so many offensive boards?  Do we just not box out?  Do we completely sell out for blocked shots?

The Cats were a step quicker, on a mission and more determined. Couple that with their size and the delta swells to 10.

[RaceToTheTop]

4 minutes ago, colonel06 said:

The Cats were a step quicker, on a mission and more determined. Couple that with their size and the delta swells to 10.

Kopp has been shooting well, but when he's in you are basically counting on getting 2 rebounds/game from the small forward position.

[str8baller]

4 hours ago, JSHoosier said:

Why do we give up so many offensive boards?  Do we just not box out?  Do we completely sell out for blocked shots?

Two main issues from my couch-watching eye:  

1) We don’t box out thoroughly enough, especially our guards. We give up our fair share of long rebounds.   
 

2) our perimeter defense is giving up lots of drives and TJD and Race go for the block almost every time. It’s good rim protection but they are then wildly out of position to rebound (and consequently their man is in good position for an offensive rebound). 

[sweetpain]

The question is, is Woody going to be able to get the recruits on a regular basis to get us to the elite level? I want to believe he can but unsure at this time because we have to score in 24 and 25.

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[Rico]

12 minutes ago, sweetpain said:

The question is, is Woody going to be able to get the recruits on a regular basis to get us to the elite level? I want to believe he can but unsure at this time because we have to score in 24 and 25.

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How about we just worry about how our team is gonna do this year?  Come the end of the year we may just be playing at an elite level.

[HoosierHoopster]

1 hour ago, IU Scott said:

Last night JG couldn't guard either one of Arizona's big guys so you couldn't play him at the 4

Honestly didn't get enough time to judge that, he's been one of our best up front defenders, and that's been clear for a while. What i see is that he has an extremely short leash from staff, he gets pulled quickly, while other guys aren't getting pulled. Who defended AZ's bigs well last night? That was the problem all around (all of this is just my opinion, but that is what I see)

[Alford Bailey]

18 minutes ago, sweetpain said:

The question is, is Woody going to be able to get the recruits on a regular basis to get us to the elite level? I want to believe he can but unsure at this time because we have to score in 24 and 25.

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You mean like two 5 stars last year?

[str8baller]

1 hour ago, TTT said:

Woodson is ok and I like him.  The reality is not known on how much IU in terms of wins, losses, and championships will be….even in comparison to previous coaches.  I am not sold or unsold.  More of just in waiting.

He’s 60 years old. He’s here to right the program, and that was the general consensus when hired. He didn’t beg for the job. We went for Stevens then had to regroup.  
 

I’d love to get a championship and ten years out of him, but I’m not expecting it. He should’ve been hired 5-10 years ago.   
 

Realistically, unless his recruiting just falls off a cliff at some point, he’s already done that it my mind. Barring a weird collapse this year we’ll be tourney bound two years in a row with a solid roster for next year.  That is an improvement on Archie and the end of the Crean era.  
 

If Woody leaves tomorrow this job is better than it was at any point in the last 5-8 years, imo. 

[sweetpain]

You mean like two 5 stars last year?

We don't have 5 stars for next year, to get and maintain elite status that must happen. Woody could pick up some still.

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[Rico]

22 minutes ago, HoosierHoopster said:

Honestly didn't get enough time to judge that, he's been one of our best up front defenders, and that's been clear for a while. What i see is that he has an extremely short leash from staff, he gets pulled quickly, while other guys aren't getting pulled. Who defended AZ's bigs well last night? That was the problem all around (all of this is just my opinion, but that is what I see)

I would have liked to have seen more of JG last night.

[str8baller]

28 minutes ago, HoosierHoopster said:

he's been one of our best up front defenders,

I disagree with that. I suspect the staff does too, which explains the short leash. 
 

I do think he’s made nice improvements on D. But as others pointed out, his size made him a poor matchup to defend the past last night. He also doesn’t contribute on offense much. 

[JSHoosier]

36 minutes ago, Alford Bailey said:

You mean like two 5 stars last year?

None, yet, for next year.  Gotta stack classes that have 5 stars.

[HoosierHoopster]

51 minutes ago, str8baller said:

I disagree with that. I suspect the staff does too, which explains the short leash. 
 

I do think he’s made nice improvements on D. But as others pointed out, his size made him a poor matchup to defend the past last night. He also doesn’t contribute on offense much. 

I'll update the stats thread, he absolutely has been one of our best front court defenders, and no I don't think the staff disagrees.

Thing is, I'm not saying I know, but I really don't think the 'staff' went with a defense - first approach last night at all, especially second half. It looked like we were instead trying to out-offense AZ. Race was playing really well offensively, as were Bates and Kopp. They were not playing really well defensively, nor do they usually. Those lineups are not defensive-oriented.

We did come back from a huge deficit to make it a 6 point game heading towards the second half, we did it again in the second, but it was on offense. No question Race and Kopp were bringing it offensively, but they weren't defensively.

Edit -- updated the player stats thread. In fairness, Race and Kopp both show up at least in the defensive win shares stats (but they're not defending AZ's bigs)

[Alford Bailey]

 Geronimo was getting 15-20 minutes against the cupcakes around 8 minutes against tougher competition. It’s not rocket science JG is simply not good enough to play big minutes.

[Alford Bailey]

Jordan Geronimo shooting 17% from three

 

btb- play Jordan Geronimo on the wing!

[IU - Kaulie]

3 minutes ago, Alford Bailey said:

 Geronimo was getting 15-20 minutes against the cupcakes around 8 minutes against tougher competition. It’s not rocket science JG is simply not good enough to play big minutes.

This is spot on.  Their is good reason why he is not playing more.  

[Alford Bailey]

2 minutes ago, IU - Kaulie said:

This is spot on.  Their is good reason why he is not playing more.  

JG is averaging 2.2 rebounds in about 13 minutes of play over the season. He is undersized for his skill set and just isn’t getting it done.

[rcbowla]

There's something to be said of his short leash leading to lack of production. He never seems to get a long enough run to get into the flow of the game. Now sometimes that's on him for being handsy on defense, making mistakes or shot selection. However, it's tough to get into a flow by playing 4 minutes per half.

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