IUBB vs Auburn (Atlanta, GA) | 12/9/2023 @ 2:00pm on ESPN2

[Uspshoosier 45,602]

4 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Based on @Demo’s assessment I’m also thinking that we were expecting a real role for Jakai Newton.

Having two of our top four guards out sucks.

Yeah he would have definitely helped but that means they purposely were going to rely on a true freshman coming off a knee injury that had him out most of his senior year and purposely left a scholly open.   For me that’s not a winning formula for a power 5 program that trying to get back to national relevance.   Staff was always going to have an uphill battle this year because they lost arguably a top 5-10 player in program history and a first round draft pick but in my opinion they made it even harder in themselves with some questionable choices in roster construction 

[IU_FanClub 1,667]

5 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

Yeah he would have definitely helped but that means they purposely were going to rely on a true freshman coming off a knee injury that had him out most of his senior year and purposely left a scholly open.   For me that’s not a winning formula for a power 5 program that trying to get back to national relevance.   Staff was always going to have an uphill battle this year because they lost arguably a top 5-10 player in program history and a first round draft pick but in my opinion they made it even harder in themselves with some questionable choices in roster construction 

This staff does some things well but on the other hand has a ton of flaws that severely limit our ceiling. The most frustrating part is that a few of their bigger flaws are a really easy fix that they either don't see or refuse to implement. We would be in so much better of a spot if we were less picky in recruiting and did in game rotations that don't hang a bunch of bench guys out to dry for segments at a time while simultaneously getting the entire team out of rhythm. My main worry is that the stubborn nature Woody has shown is going to prevent him from doing what is necessary to take this program up a level.

[Stuhoo 80,498]

15 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

Yeah he would have definitely helped but that means they purposely were going to rely on a true freshman coming off a knee injury that had him out most of his senior year and purposely left a scholly open.   For me that’s not a winning formula for a power 5 program that trying to get back to national relevance.   Staff was always going to have an uphill battle this year because they lost arguably a top 5-10 player in program history and a first round draft pick but in my opinion they made it even harder in themselves with some questionable choices in roster construction 

100% 

A portal guard looked like “a good idea” to me back then. Now, with Xavier and Jakai out? It looks like it was a necessity.

[Hoosier987 1,143]

10 hours ago, Golfman25 said:

I don’t care about rankings.  I don’t care about stars.  Many of his recruits couldn’t play at the power 5 level. We are still struggling to repair the damage.  

Right…I agree, which is why I mentioned Lander as an example of being way off. Damezi Anderson is another one that couldn’t gain traction at the power 5 level and there’s a possibility you can throw in Gunn, who was an Archie recruit, in there as well…nonetheless he did recruit TJD who really was the main reason why we had high expectations in Woodson’s 2nd year. TJD literally carried our team during large portions of the season. He was so good. 

[Hoosier987 1,143]

3 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

100% 

A portal guard looked like “a good idea” to me back then. Now, with Xavier and Jakai out? It looks like it was a necessity.

I thinks a portal guard should have been a necessity given both Jakai and X’s injury history. Plus, there’s the uncertainty of how Jakai’s game will translate to the college level since he was injured most of the back half of his high school career.

Hopefully those two are making healthy strides…they’re certainly missed. X would’ve been a huge help in yesterdays game. No disrespect to freshman Cupps or Leal, but you could just sense Auburn was chomping at the bit with those 2 playing large minutes…not sure that happens with X.

[WayneFleekHoosier 48,297]

I thinks a portal guard should have been a necessity given both Jakai and X’s injury history. Plus, there’s the uncertainty of how Jakai’s game will translate to the college level since he was injured most of the back half of his high school career.
Hopefully those two are making healthy strides…they’re certainly missed. X would’ve been a huge help in yesterdays game. No disrespect to freshman Cupps or Leal, but you could just sense Auburn was chomping at the bit with those 2 playing large minutes…not sure that happens with X.

So true. Broome had been their anchor and focus while their guards have struggled most of the season. Pearl let them loose on our guards and we didn’t have any answers.


Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners mobile app

[gfeltner28 128]

Maybe this year the B10 will take a good hard look at it's officiating style and how it's not working in their favor. The argument has always been that they didn't care about changing because of the amount of bids each year. The B10 looks awful right now and it'll be interesting to see how many teams will get in the tournament. 

Trying to stay positive after yesterday's game. Lol

[GloryDays 5,920]

12 hours ago, cthomas said:

Is it safe to be here yet? Didn't see the game. Had a family Christmas gathering to go to. Saw the score and decided to flush the watch later plan. Granted I am way older than most on here but I refuse, at this point in my life, to let the results of a basketball game affect any aspect of my life. Full disclosure, I wasn't always that way, so I get the reaction. These days an afternoon with my grandkids trumps just about everything. We'll get better or we won't. But the things I enjoy most in life won't change.

I had both.When the writing was on the wall the grandkids and I baked Christmas cookies.5 and 3 and the effort and most certainly the result was better than the other crap I was watching.

Why we couldn't sign a guard in the portal is baffling to me.

[Alford Bailey 12,373]

Some didn’t want Love and academics were an issue but this is a different team with a guard like that on the roster.

[RaceToTheTop 25,616]

16 minutes ago, Alford Bailey said:

Some didn’t want Love and academics were an issue but this is a different team with a guard like that on the roster.

I wanted him but if he were truly asking for offensive autonomy, it was better to move on.  The issue IMO wasn't about not getting Love, it was about not getting any other guard.

One guy I had said IU should have considered was Payton Sparks team mate at Ball State, Jaylin Sellers.  He was a knock down shooter at Ball State -- 45% three point shooter over two years.  And ended up at UCF and while his three point shots haven't been falling (29%), he is absolutely killing it there -- 20.6 points and 5.1 rebounds and despite his low three point shooting percentage right now, is shooting 49% overall.  And the three pointers will start falling for him as there is too much history of him hitting them.

[HoosierFan1994 4,744]

Day after thoughts..

1) The platoon substitutions aren't going to work for this team. Stop doing it. 

2) I like Coach Woodson. I still want him to be the guy here. But he and this staff deserve an F on the backcourt construction of this team. I am a fool for believing that an Xavier Johnson/Trey Galloway led backcourt might work. They HAVE to get better for this team to even make the NCAA Tournament. 

3) Staff has to have a complete overhaul in how they evaluate guards. Trey Galloway isn't a starter on a Big Ten team that is serious about winning. He is the perfect 6th man. I wanted to think he could take a step but he hasn't. Has taken a step backwards if anything. Was told all off-season by Rabjohns how picky the staff was on finding the right guys. That appears to be bologna. There were guys out there that were better than Galloway, Gunn, and Leal. Don't forget about the extra scholarship...

I love that IU is playing in these types of games. But we saw it last year (Kansas and Arizona) and now this year (UConn and Auburn) that they don't belong. Lost by an average of 21 points in these 4 games. A big reason is guard play. Has to get fixed for this program to move forward. We don't have a one and done freshman to bail us out like last year. Indiana University should NEVER have a Gabe Cupps/Anthony Leal backcourt in any game. 

I've never had an IU game where IU led by 12 points and by halftime I turned the game off. I felt so good about this team on Tuesday. That all went away on Saturday. I just don't think Auburn is that good. 

 

[Hoosier987 1,143]

18 minutes ago, HoosierFan1994 said:

Day after thoughts..

1) The platoon substitutions aren't going to work for this team. Stop doing it. 

2) I like Coach Woodson. I still want him to be the guy here. But he and this staff deserve an F on the backcourt construction of this team. I am a fool for believing that an Xavier Johnson/Trey Galloway led backcourt might work. They HAVE to get better for this team to even make the NCAA Tournament. 

3) Staff has to have a complete overhaul in how they evaluate guards. Trey Galloway isn't a starter on a Big Ten team that is serious about winning. He is the perfect 6th man. I wanted to think he could take a step but he hasn't. Has taken a step backwards if anything. Was told all off-season by Rabjohns how picky the staff was on finding the right guys. That appears to be bologna. There were guys out there that were better than Galloway, Gunn, and Leal. Don't forget about the extra scholarship...

I love that IU is playing in these types of games. But we saw it last year (Kansas and Arizona) and now this year (UConn and Auburn) that they don't belong. Lost by an average of 21 points in these 4 games. A big reason is guard play. Has to get fixed for this program to move forward. We don't have a one and done freshman to bail us out like last year. Indiana University should NEVER have a Gabe Cupps/Anthony Leal backcourt in any game. 

I've never had an IU game where IU led by 12 points and by halftime I turned the game off. I felt so good about this team on Tuesday. That all went away on Saturday. I just don't think Auburn is that good. 

 

Well said. Concerning your last paragraph…I think Auburn went on a 42-12 run which all started with the hockey lineup change. At that point…Pearl made the adjustment and really started attacking our guards and it snowballed from there. I’m not sure I’ve seen such a prolonged run of domination like that. Unfortunately, we were on the receiving end.  As another board member said, we have elite front court but mid major guard play. 

[Hornsby 1,797]

Day after thoughts..
1) The platoon substitutions aren't going to work for this team. Stop doing it. 
2) I like Coach Woodson. I still want him to be the guy here. But he and this staff deserve an F on the backcourt construction of this team. I am a fool for believing that an Xavier Johnson/Trey Galloway led backcourt might work. They HAVE to get better for this team to even make the NCAA Tournament. 
3) Staff has to have a complete overhaul in how they evaluate guards. Trey Galloway isn't a starter on a Big Ten team that is serious about winning. He is the perfect 6th man. I wanted to think he could take a step but he hasn't. Has taken a step backwards if anything. Was told all off-season by Rabjohns how picky the staff was on finding the right guys. That appears to be bologna. There were guys out there that were better than Galloway, Gunn, and Leal. Don't forget about the extra scholarship...
I love that IU is playing in these types of games. But we saw it last year (Kansas and Arizona) and now this year (UConn and Auburn) that they don't belong. Lost by an average of 21 points in these 4 games. A big reason is guard play. Has to get fixed for this program to move forward. We don't have a one and done freshman to bail us out like last year. Indiana University should NEVER have a Gabe Cupps/Anthony Leal backcourt in any game. 
I've never had an IU game where IU led by 12 points and by halftime I turned the game off. I felt so good about this team on Tuesday. That all went away on Saturday. I just don't think Auburn is that good. 
 

An F for the backcourt is legit for sure.

Sent from my SM-A146U using Tapatalk

[Hornsby 1,797]

100% 
A portal guard looked like “a good idea” to me back then. Now, with Xavier and Jakai out? It looks like it was a necessity.

Not getting a portal guard is beyond baffling and I don't believe the whole oh we tried but nobody wanted to come line. A good guard would have started over trey on day one. And gunn probably would not see the floor which would have been a good thing.

Sent from my SM-A146U using Tapatalk

[Golfman25 5,329]

Hindsight is 20-20.  Who would you be able to get in last years portal?  They did try and it didn’t work out.  I’m sure part of the thinking was Gunn and Galo would improve during the offseason.  That didn’t happen and now we are what we are.  

[RaceToTheTop 25,616]

As slow as Trey is, with X out he is still our only guy that provides any dribble penetration.

[RaceToTheTop 25,616]

Just now, Golfman25 said:

Hindsight is 20-20.  Who would you be able to get in last years portal?  They did try and it didn’t work out.  I’m sure part of the thinking was Gunn and Galo would improve during the offseason.  That didn’t happen and now we are what we are.  

Pretty much everyone on here wanted a guard in the portal, so I wouldn't say it was hindsight.

[JSHoosier 20,158]

We allowed 1.4 points per possession, we haven't done that since we gave up 90 points to UM, in 2017. Archie Miller didn't even hit that low of a level; forget rock bottom, we grabbed a shovel and started digging.

[RaceToTheTop 25,616]

I will say I didn't understand the Anthony Walker signing, but he has been excellent in a reserve role.  I was expecting much more from Payton Sparks.

[Hornsby 1,797]

Hindsight is 20-20.  Who would you be able to get in last years portal?  They did try and it didn’t work out.  I’m sure part of the thinking was Gunn and Galo would improve during the offseason.  That didn’t happen and now we are what we are.  

There were all kinds of guards in the portal. Woodson is going to need about three guards in this year's portal. Gunn and banks are not the future.

 

Sent from my SM-A146U using Tapatalk